Question 1

What is the best MCP directory for discovery?

Accepted Answer

For pure discovery and largest catalog: mcp.so (17,186+ servers) or Glama (9,000+ servers). For quality curation: Smithery (2,880+ verified servers). For Cursor users: Cursor Directory with rules + MCP combo.

Question 2

Which platform offers MCP server hosting?

Accepted Answer

Smithery offers remote, local, and self-hosted options for free. Glama provides Firecracker VM hosting ($0-80/mo). MCPize offers managed hosting with CLI deployment. mcp.so, PulseMCP, and Cursor Directory are directories only with no hosting.

Question 3

Can I monetize my MCP server?

Accepted Answer

MCPize offers 85% revenue share (highest in market). RapidAPI gives 75-80% (they take 20-25% commission). Glama is 'actively building monetization tools' but not yet available. Smithery, mcp.so, PulseMCP, Cursor Directory are free directories with no monetization.

Question 4

Which MCP platform has the best security?

Accepted Answer

Glama leads with Firecracker VM isolation — each server runs in dedicated VM with separate CPU/memory and end-to-end encryption. Smithery offers sandboxed execution. Self-hosted options give you full control but require your own security setup.

Question 5

What's the difference between directory and hosting platform?

Accepted Answer

Directories (mcp.so, PulseMCP, Cursor Directory) only list servers — you host them yourself. Hosting platforms (Smithery, Glama, MCPize) can run servers for you. Some platforms offer both listing and hosting options.

Question 6

Which platform has the best developer tools?

Accepted Answer

Smithery has strong CLI and SDK (open source). MCPize offers CLI deployment workflow. Glama has API gateway access. PulseMCP provides REST API for building MCP tools. mcp.so has a playground for testing servers.

Question 7

Is there a free option for MCP hosting?

Accepted Answer

Smithery offers free hosting for remote/local servers. Glama has a free tier with 3 shared servers. MCPize has a free tier. mcp.so and PulseMCP are free but don't host — they're directories only.

Question 8

Can I convert my OpenAPI spec to MCP?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Two approaches: 1) MCPize generates native MCP server code from OpenAPI specs (mcpize init --template openapi --from-url your-spec.yaml) — this creates proper native MCP with optimized descriptions. 2) RapidAPI/RapidMCP wraps REST APIs at runtime — faster setup but with limitations: 10+ endpoints may overflow AI context, descriptions are auto-generated.

Question 9

What's the difference between MCPize OpenAPI conversion and RapidAPI?

Accepted Answer

MCPize generates native MCP server code from your OpenAPI spec — you get real MCP protocol, can customize descriptions, no context limits. RapidAPI wraps REST calls at runtime — faster initial setup but auto-generated descriptions, 10+ endpoints overflow context, adds latency. For production, MCPize native generation is recommended.

Question 10

Which MCP platform has an affiliate program?

Accepted Answer

Two platforms offer affiliate programs: Apify has the highest rate (20-30% recurring, up to $2,500 per referral). MCPize offers 10% welcome + 2-5% lifetime recurring. Other MCP platforms (Smithery, Glama, mcp.so, PulseMCP, Cursor Directory, RapidAPI) don't offer affiliate programs.

Question 11

Which platform is best for web scraping MCP servers?

Accepted Answer

Apify specializes in web scraping with 7,000+ MCP servers and 11,000+ Actors. They offer 80% revenue share, strong affiliate program (20-30%), and pay out $500K+/month to developers. For general MCP servers, consider MCPize (85% revenue) or mcp.so (largest catalog).

Feature	Smithery	MCPize	mcp.so	Glama	PulseMCP	Cursor Directory	RapidAPI	Apify
Creator Revenue		85%		Coming soon			75-80%	80%
Platform Commission	N/A	15%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	20-25%	20%
Affiliate Program		10% + 2-5%						20-30%
Stripe Payouts

Feature	Smithery	MCPize	mcp.so	Glama	PulseMCP	Cursor Directory	RapidAPI	Apify
Community Size	Active	Growing	Active	50K+ businesses	Active	44,600+	4M+ devs	36K+ devs
Open Source	CLI/SDK	CLI + Templates				3.8K stars		Templates
Official Registry					Sub-registry

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What Developers Actually Ask

Complete Feature Comparison

Catalog SizeNumber of MCP servers listed

Hosting & DeploymentServer hosting capabilities

MonetizationRevenue options for developers

Features & SecurityPlatform capabilities

Community & SupportCommunity size and resources

What's Best For Your Use Case?

I want to discover MCP servers

I want to host MCP servers

I want to monetize my MCP servers

I want to earn as an affiliate

I need enterprise security

I use Cursor IDE

I want to stay updated on MCP news

I want developer tools (CLI, API)

I need multi-language support

I have OpenAPI spec to convert to MCP

I need web scraping MCP servers

Platform Details

Smithery

MCPize

mcp.so

Glama

PulseMCP

Cursor Directory

RapidAPI

Apify

Quick Decision Guide

Discovery Focus

Hosting Focus

Monetization Focus

Frequently Asked Questions

Detailed Platform Guides

Still Not Sure Which Platform?

Feature	Smithery	MCPize	mcp.so	Glama	PulseMCP	Cursor Directory	RapidAPI	Apify
Server Count	2,880+	500+	17,186+	9,000+	6,970+	1,800+	2M+ APIs	7,000+
Native MCP
Daily Updates
Category Filters

Feature	Glama	RapidAPI
Remote Hosting		On-the-fly
Local/Self-hosted		Enterprise
One-click Deploy
VM Isolation	Firecracker
CLI Tools

Feature	MCPize	RapidAPI
AI Chat UI
API Gateway
Analytics
OpenAPI → MCP	Native gen	Runtime