AI tools for MCP developers (2026)

SDKs, gateways, registries and identity tools for developers building and running Model Context Protocol servers. We picked the top tools for 4 jobs MCP developers do every day: 20 tools in all, 19 of them free or with a free tier.

Jump to: Build MCP servers · Connect tools with MCP · Agent identity and logins · Run code safely

Free tools from AgentScout for MCP developers: MCP config builder · Tool schema builder

How we picked: each section takes the tools matched to that task in our directory, putting tools whose category and stated use cases fit the task first, then ordering by tracked GitHub stars. No paid placements.

Build MCP servers

Tools and SDKs for building, hosting and publishing your own MCP servers. All 247 tools →

• REA Open source
  MCP server and CLI that lets coding agents reverse engineer native binaries, Electron and JavaScript apps, .NET assemblies and live websites, using Ghidra, Hopper or IDA under the hood. · ★ 301,645
• MarkItDown Open source
  Microsoft's Python tool and MCP server that converts PDFs, Office documents, images, audio and web pages to Markdown for LLM and agent pipelines. · ★ 190,824
• Langflow Open source + cloud
  Visual drag-and-drop builder for AI agents and workflows that you can run locally, deploy as an API or expose as an MCP server. · ★ 155,757
• CC Switch Open source
  Desktop manager for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, OpenClaw and other coding agents that switches API providers in one click and manages MCP servers, skills and prompts. · ★ 145,685
• MCP reference servers Open source
  Official collection of reference MCP servers. · ★ 91,237
• Scrapling Open source
  Python web-scraping framework with fast HTTP requests, stealth browsers, adaptive parsing and concurrent crawling, plus an MCP server for agents. · ★ 88,372

Connect tools with MCP

MCP servers, clients and registries that give agents safe access to your apps and data. All 383 tools →

• MarkItDown Open source
  Microsoft's Python tool and MCP server that converts PDFs, Office documents, images, audio and web pages to Markdown for LLM and agent pipelines. · ★ 190,824
• CC Switch Open source
  Desktop manager for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, OpenClaw and other coding agents that switches API providers in one click and manages MCP servers, skills and prompts. · ★ 145,685
• MCP reference servers Open source
  Official collection of reference MCP servers. · ★ 91,237
• Scrapling Open source
  Python web-scraping framework with fast HTTP requests, stealth browsers, adaptive parsing and concurrent crawling, plus an MCP server for agents. · ★ 88,372
• OmniRoute Open source
  Self-hosted AI gateway that puts hundreds of model providers behind one endpoint for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and others, with quota-aware fallback and MCP/A2A support. · ★ 77,863
• Headroom Open source
  Library, proxy and MCP server that compresses tool outputs, logs, files and RAG chunks locally before they reach the LLM, cutting tokens for coding agents. · ★ 75,629

Agent identity and logins

Identity, auth and credential tools that let agents sign in to apps, prove who they act for and use secrets without ever seeing the raw passwords or keys. All 17 tools →

• Kong Gateway Open source + cloud
  Cloud-native API, LLM and MCP gateway that adds routing, auth, multi-LLM support, semantic security and MCP traffic analytics through plugins. · ★ 44,278
• Casdoor Open source
  Agent-first identity and access management with an MCP and agent gateway. · ★ 14,592
• Tyk Gateway Open source + cloud
  Cloud-native API and AI gateway supporting REST, GraphQL, gRPC and MCP, with rate limiting, auth and analytics. · ★ 10,863
• Bindu Open source
  Identity, communication and payments layer that lets AI agents talk to and pay each other. · ★ 10,056
• Agent Governance Toolkit Open source
  Microsoft toolkit for policy enforcement, identity and sandboxing for AI agents. · ★ 6,435
• Open Connector Open source
  Open-source auth gateway connecting SaaS apps to AI agents via SDK, CLI and MCP. · ★ 6,031

Run code safely

Sandboxes that let agents run code and tools in isolation, away from your machine and data. All 36 tools →

• Context Mode Source-available
  Context window optimizer for coding agents that sandboxes tool output and persists session memory. · ★ 30,192
• Cua Open source + cloud
  Open-source infrastructure for computer-use agents: sandboxes, drivers across operating systems and benchmarks. · ★ 29,966
• NVIDIA OpenShell Open source
  Sandboxed runtime for autonomous agents with declarative YAML policies on file, network and credential access. · ★ 16,156
• OpenSandbox Open source
  Secure, fast sandbox runtime for AI agents to run code. · ★ 15,907
• CubeSandbox Open source
  Lightweight, concurrent sandbox for running AI agent code securely. · ★ 12,960
• Open SWE Open source
  LangChain's asynchronous coding agent that takes work from GitHub issues, Slack or Linear, implements it in an isolated sandbox and opens a pull request. · ★ 11,034

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Best-of lists for MCP developers: Best MCP servers for Cursor · Best MCP servers for Codex · All best lists

Facts come from our directory listings; pricing is as each maker states it and can change. Missing a tool? Submit it free.