What is the key difference between Thebrain and Personalbrain MCP?

Thebrain belongs to the Developer Tools category with local stdio execution, while Personalbrain MCP belongs to the Developer Tools category with cloud HTTP/SSE execution.

How do I install Thebrain or Personalbrain MCP in Claude Desktop or Cursor?

Copy the mcpServers JSON configuration snippet provided on this page into your claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json file and restart your AI client.

Are Thebrain and Personalbrain MCP free or paid?

Thebrain operates under a Free / Open Source model (No auth required). Personalbrain MCP operates under a Free / Open Source model (No auth required).

Which MCP server has more tools and community activity?

Thebrain lists 16 tools with 0 views and 6 GitHub stars. Personalbrain MCP lists 0 tools with 0 views and 3 GitHub stars.

Can I use both Thebrain and Personalbrain MCP together in the same MCP host?

Yes! MCP hosts like Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, and VS Code support configuring multiple servers under the mcpServers object simultaneously.

Side-by-Side Model Context Protocol Comparison

Thebrain vs Personalbrain MCP

In-depth architectural comparison of the Thebrain and Personalbrain MCP MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.

At a Glance & Executive Verdict

Thebrain

Developer Tools · Local stdio

Quality: 56/100 (Good) | Auth: No auth required

Personalbrain MCP

Developer Tools · Remote HTTP/SSE

Quality: 37/100 (Fair) | Auth: No auth required

Verdict Summary: Choose Thebrain if you need specialized Developer Tools tools running via a local process. Choose Personalbrain MCP if your workspace requires Developer Tools integration with remote web transport. Both servers can be configured concurrently in your client's mcpServers manifest.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose Thebrain when:

You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).
Primary tools included: brain_list, brain_get_thought, brain_search.

Explore Thebrain Details

Choose Personalbrain MCP when:

You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
You prefer remote streaming HTTP/SSE transport architecture.
Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Personalbrain MCP Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	T Thebrain Developer Tools	Personalbrain MCP Developer Tools
Summary	MCP server for TheBrain 15: search by meaning, graph traversal and batch writes over the local API	FastMCP server for TheBrain API — AI access to a personal knowledge graph, Tollbooth-monetized
Category & Scope	Developer Tools	Developer Tools
Quality signal

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Thebrain Tools (16)

brain_list

Brains, which one is open, whether the index is ready

brain_get_thought

A thought, its graph and its note in one call

brain_search

Search by meaning

brain_traverse

Walk the graph several hops out

brain_list_types_and_tags

The brain's vocabulary

brain_recent_changes

What changed, in plain language

Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations

Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).

Thebrain Configuration

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "thebrain": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "thebrain-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Personalbrain MCP Configuration

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "personalbrain-mcp": {
      "url": "https://img.shields.io/badge/License-Apache_2.0-blue.svg)](LICENSE"
    }
  }
}

Frequently Asked Questions

Thebrain is categorized under Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. In contrast, Personalbrain MCP belongs to Developer Tools using remote streaming HTTP/SSE transport. Select Thebrain when you need capabilities focused on developer tools and Personalbrain MCP when you require tools for developer tools.