---
title: "Official MCP Registry vs GitHub MCP Registry | Agent MCP Directory"
description: "Official MCP Registry vs GitHub MCP Registry: one sourced difference and a verdict for product engineers, platform leads and agent builders."
canonical: https://agentmcpdirectory.com/compare/official-mcp-registry-vs-github-mcp-registry
site: "Agent MCP Directory"
last_updated: 2026-11-05
section: "Head-to-heads"
---

# Official MCP Registry vs GitHub MCP Registry | Agent MCP Directory

> Official MCP Registry vs GitHub MCP Registry: one sourced difference and a verdict for product engineers, platform leads and agent builders.

Source: https://agentmcpdirectory.com/compare/official-mcp-registry-vs-github-mcp-registry
Site: Agent MCP Directory
Last reviewed: 2026-11-05

# Official MCP Registry vs GitHub MCP Registry

Product engineer: Publish to the official registry first; it is the source others read. Developer-platform lead: Treat GitHub's list as curated reach inside VS Code and Copilot, not as the registry of record. Agent builder: Query the official API for breadth and GitHub's for a short list with repo metadata.

## The sourced difference

The official registry holds 56,677 latest entries published by anyone who proves a namespace; GitHub's registry lists 773 servers, 587 with a remote, with GitHub metadata such as stars and licence. (Official MCP Registry: [Official MCP Registry API, GET /v0/servers](https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0/servers), counted on 4 November 2026 and [modelcontextprotocol/registry on GitHub](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/registry), read 5 November 2026; GitHub MCP Registry: [GitHub MCP Registry API, GET /v0/servers](https://api.mcp.github.com/v0/servers), counted on 4 November 2026 and [GitHub MCP Registry API, GET /v0/servers](https://api.mcp.github.com/v0/servers), observed on 4 November 2026)

## Verdicts by reader

| Reader | Verdict |
| --- | --- |
| Product engineer | Publish to the official registry first; it is the source others read. |
| Developer-platform lead | Treat GitHub's list as curated reach inside VS Code and Copilot, not as the registry of record. |
| Agent builder | Query the official API for breadth and GitHub's for a short list with repo metadata. |

## Side by side on the rubric

| Dimension | Official MCP Registry | GitHub MCP Registry |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Remote transport | records both | records remotes |
| OAuth with client registration | not applicable | not applicable |
| Per-tool auth scoping | not applicable | not applicable |
| Hosting and scale limits | not a host | not a host |
| Observability | not applicable | Copilot usage metrics count MCP servers |
| Pricing | free | free |
| Registry submission | CLI with namespace verification | not documented on the page |
| Discoverability by agents | open paginated API | open API and install buttons |
| Own server in the registries | not applicable | yes |

Evidence for every cell is on the profiles: [Official MCP Registry](https://agentmcpdirectory.com/hosts/official-mcp-registry/) and [GitHub MCP Registry](https://agentmcpdirectory.com/hosts/github-mcp-registry/).

Edition

4 November 2026

Method

[How rows are verified](https://agentmcpdirectory.com/method/)

Data

[CSV and JSON](https://agentmcpdirectory.com/data/)

Markdown

[This page as markdown](https://agentmcpdirectory.com/compare/official-mcp-registry-vs-github-mcp-registry/index.md)

## Sources

-   [Official MCP Registry API, GET /v0/servers](https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0/servers), read 4 November 2026 (Count taken from the registry API at registry.modelcontextprotocol.io on 4 November 2026.)
-   [modelcontextprotocol/registry on GitHub](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/registry), read 5 November 2026
-   [GitHub MCP Registry API, GET /v0/servers](https://api.mcp.github.com/v0/servers), read 4 November 2026 (Count taken from the registry API at api.mcp.github.com on 4 November 2026.)
-   [GitHub MCP Registry: github.com/mcp](https://github.com/mcp), read 4 November 2026
-   [GitHub MCP Registry: github.blog/changelog/2026-10-22-custom-skills-agents-and-mcp-servers-in-usage-metrics-api](https://github.blog/changelog/2026-10-22-custom-skills-agents-and-mcp-servers-in-usage-metrics-api), read 4 November 2026
-   [GitHub MCP Registry: registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0/servers](https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0/servers?search=io.github.github%2Fgithub-mcp-server), read 4 November 2026

Last reviewed 5 November 2026