Time MCP vs Variflight MCP
A side-by-side look at the Time MCP and Variflight MCP MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Time MCP for developer tools work as a local process; choose Variflight MCP for developer tools as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Time MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
current_time, relative_time, days_in_month.
Choose Variflight MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
VARIFLIGHT_API_KEY. - You want tools like
searchFlightsByDepArr, searchFlightsByNumber, getFlightTransferInfo.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Quality signal | 60/100 · Good | 67/100 · Great |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | VARIFLIGHT_API_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 72 | 33 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 6 | 9 |
| Full listing | View Time MCP | View Variflight MCP |
Tools & capabilities
Time MCP tools 6
current_timeGet the current date and time.relative_timeGet the relative time from now.days_in_monthGet the number of days in a month. If no date is provided, get the number of days in the current month.get_timestampGet the timestamp for the time.convert_timeConvert time between timezones.get_week_yearGet the week and isoWeek of the year.
Variflight MCP tools 9
searchFlightsByDepArrSearch direct flights by departure and arrival location plus date. Use depcity and arrcity when the user specifies cities such as BJS or SHA. Use dep and arr when the user specifies exact airports such as PEK or PVG. Provide one departure field and one arrival field, and do not mix city and airport codes for the same side. All codes must be valid IATA 3-letter codes. Date must be in YYYY-MM-DD format. For today's date, use getTodayDate instead of hardcoding.searchFlightsByNumberSearch a flight by flight number and date. The flight number must include the airline code, for example MU2157 or CZ3969. dep and arr are optional and should only be provided when the exact airports are known. Date must be in YYYY-MM-DD format. For today's date, use getTodayDate instead of hardcoding.getFlightTransferInfoSearch connecting flight options between a departure city and an arrival city on a specific date. Use city IATA 3-letter codes such as BJS, SHA, or LAX. This tool is for transfer or connection itineraries between cities, not for airport weather, airport facilities, or realtime tracking. Date must be in YYYY-MM-DD format. For today's date, use getTodayDate instead of hardcoding.flightHappinessIndexUse this tool when the user wants comfort-focused details for a known flight, such as punctuality, aircraft type, cabin configuration, seat comfort, meals, entertainment, or other onboard experience details. This tool works best when a specific flight number and date are already known. Do not use it for fare search, itinerary recommendation, or raw price comparison.getRealtimeLocationByAnumGet realtime flight location by aircraft registration number, also called tail number, such as B2021 or B2022. Use this only when the aircraft registration number is known. If the registration number is unknown, first try to find the flight through searchFlightsByNumber and then use the aircraft registration number from that result.getTodayDateGet today's date in local timezone (YYYY-MM-DD format). Use this tool whenever you need today's date - NEVER hardcode dates.getFutureWeatherByAirportGet the 3-day airport weather forecast for today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow by airport IATA 3-letter code, such as PEK, SHA, CAN, or HFE.searchFlightItinerariesUse this tool when the user wants a concise recommended itinerary summary in natural language. It returns a text-style result that summarizes how many sale flights match, the overall lowest price, the shortest duration, and several recommended options. Use city IATA 3-letter codes only. If the user instead needs structured raw flight pricing data with each flight and cabin price, use getFlightPriceByCities.getFlightPriceByCitiesUse this tool when the user needs structured raw pricing data. It returns sale flights between two cities as a list of flights, and each flight contains cabin entries with prices. This is better than searchFlightItineraries when the caller needs per-flight, per-cabin price details instead of a natural-language recommendation summary. All city codes must be valid IATA 3-letter codes (e.g. BJS for Beijing, SHA for Shanghai, CAN for Guangzhou, HFE for Hefei).
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Time MCP
{
"mcpServers": {
"time-mcp-2": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"time-mcp"
]
}
}
}
Variflight MCP
{
"mcpServers": {
"variflight-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@variflight-ai/variflight-mcp"
],
"env": {
"VARIFLIGHT_API_KEY": "YOUR_VARIFLIGHT_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Time MCP is categorized under Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. Variflight MCP belongs to Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Time MCP for developer tools work and Variflight MCP for developer tools.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Time MCP has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Variflight MCP has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add time-mcp-2 and variflight-mcp as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Time MCP has a quality signal of 60/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 72 GitHub stars. Variflight MCP has 67/100 (Great) with 0 views, 0 installs and 33 GitHub stars.