Contrastapi vs MCP Shodan

In-depth architectural comparison of the Contrastapi and MCP Shodan 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.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose Contrastapi when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Security domain.
• You prefer remote streaming HTTP/SSE transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).
• Primary tools included: 55 MCP tools for security intelligence, CVE, CWE, EPSS, and CISA KEV lookups, Domain, IP, IOC, and OSINT investigation.

Explore Contrastapi Details

Choose MCP Shodan when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Security domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: API Key required (BYOK (Pay Provider Direct)).
• You have access to required keys: SHODAN_API_KEY.
• Primary tools included: ip_lookup, ip, shodan_search.

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Contrastapi UPinar Security	MCP Shodan BurtTheCoder Security
Summary	Security intelligence API with 31 MCP tools for CVE/EPSS/KEV lookup, domain recon (DNS/WHOIS/SSL/subdomains/CT logs), IOC/threat intel, OSINT (email/phone/username), and code security scanning (secrets, injection). Free 100 req/hr.	MCP server for querying the Shodan API and Shodan CVEDB. This server provides tools for IP lookups, device searches, DNS lookups, vulnerability queries, CPE lookups, and more.
Category & Scope

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

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).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "upinar-contrastapi": {
      "url": "https://api.contrastcyber.com/mcp/"
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "burtthecoder-mcp-shodan": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@burtthecoder/mcp-shodan"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SHODAN_API_KEY": "YOUR_SHODAN_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

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