Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to MCP-Shield – Detect security issues in MCP servers

I noticed the growing security concerns around MCP (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43600192) and built an open source tool that can detect several patterns of tool poisoning attacks, exfiltration channels and cross-origin manipulations. MCP-Shield scans your installed servers (Cursor, Claude Desktop, etc.) and shows what each tool is trying to do at the instruction level, beyond just the API surface. It catches hidden instructions that try to read sensitive files, shadow other tools' behavior, or exfiltrate data. Example of what it detects: - Hidden instructions…

MCP-Shield is an open-source security scanning tool for Model Context Protocol servers used in applications like Cursor and Claude Desktop. It analyzes installed MCP servers to detect malicious patterns including tool… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.

1. 1
   MCP Defender▲152

   Hi HN, MCP Defender is an open source desktop app that automatically proxies your MCP traffic in AI apps like Cursor, Claude, Windsurf and VSCode. It then scans all requests and responses between the apps and the MCP tools they call. If it detects anything malicious, it alerts you and lets you allow or block the tool call. While the threat landscape of MCP is still being actively researched, there are dangerous things that MCP Defender can block today. For example, a developer asks Cursor to fix a Github issue with an attached crash log. However, the Github issue was created by an attacker…

   2025 · mcpdefender.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   Browser MCP – Automate your browser using Cursor, Claude, VS Code▲616

   Browser MCP connects AI applications to your browser so you can automate tasks using AI. Supported by Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, and more.

   2025 · browsermcp.io · its alternatives →

3. 3
   MCP Security Suite▲36

   Hi HN! We kept seeing devs get pwned through MCP tools in ways that security scanners completely miss. So we built an open-source analyzer to catch these attacks. Our first OSS by Mighty team. The problem: At Defcon, we saw MCP exploits with 100% success rate against Claude and Llama. Three attack patterns: Hidden Unicode in "error messages" - Paste a colleague's error into Claude, your SSH keys get exfiltrated Trusted tool updates - That database tool you've used for months? Last week's update added credential theft Tool redefinition - Malicious tool redefines "deploy to prod" to run…

   2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   MCPGod: Fine-grained control over MCP clients, servers, and tools▲37

   Hey everyone, I've wanted an easy way to control which mcp server tools are available to clients. So for example, I might want a gmail server to only expose the read tool (but not send, delete etc). I figured if I create a cli for spawning mcp servers, I could intercept the stdin, stdout, stderr etc and modify what the clients see when they are making calls to list tools, resources, and prompts. Well it worked! In the initial version you can easily add a server to claude with a safe list of tools: npx -y mcpgod add @modelcontextprotocol/server-everything --client claude --tools=echo,add…

   2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   MCP Playground▲160

   MCP Playground is a Postman-style tool for MCP — inspect servers, execute tools live, test your client, all from the browser. Four things in one place: 1. Free hosted MCP servers — four public test servers anyone can point their client at: Echo (connectivity), Auth (Bearer token flow), Error (error handling), Complex (multi-tool schemas).No sign-up, just use the URL. 2. Server inspector — paste any remote MCP server URL, see all its tools/resources/prompts, execute them live, inspect the full JSON-RPC log. HTTP, SSE, and WebSocket all supported. 3. Registry — 10,000+ servers…

   Nov 2025 · mcpplayground.io · its alternatives →

6. 6
   Stash MCP Server▲441

   Make AI IDEs even smarter with your team’s knowledge

   2025 · its alternatives →

7. 7
   mTarsier▲188

   Open-source platform for managing MCP servers and clients

   Mar 2026 · mtarsier.com · its alternatives →

8. 8
   ShieldMCP▲5

   MCP Security Scanner

   Jun 2026 · shieldmcp.net · its alternatives →

9. 9
   MCPJam Inspector▲141

   Hi HN, I'm Matt, founder of MCPJam. We're building open source dev tools for MCP server builders. There’s been a lot of debate around skills vs MCP. From what I see, there’s a growing trend of people using skills paired with MCP servers. Skills teach the agent how to use the MCP server tools and guide the agent to completing complex workflows. We’re also seeing Anthropic encourage the use of Skills + MCP in their products. Anthropic recently launched the connectors marketplace. A good example of this is the Figma connector + skills. The Figma skill teaches the agent how to use the Figma MCP…

   Jan 2026 · mcpjam.com · its alternatives →

10. 10
    Risk Analysis Database of Every MCP Server▲22

    Hi HN, We’re building security tooling around agentic AI systems. Today, we're releasing our public MCP catalog with detailed risk analysis for every MCP server we've found on the internet: https://mcp.armor1.ai/mcp-directory We all love agents and the power that MCPs unlock: suddenly your AI assistant can query databases, manage files, call APIs, and interact with the real world. But when we started adopting MCPs ourselves, we kept running into the same nagging questions: Is this MCP safe? Where is my data actually going? Could it execute destructive actions? Is it…

    Feb 2026 · mcp.armor1.ai · its alternatives →

11. 11
    MCPScan▲2

    Discover & audit shadow Model Context Protocol servers

    Aug 2026 · kuldeepster574.gumroad.com · its alternatives →

12. 12MT
    MCPShark – Traffic Inspector for Model Context Protocol▲37

    https://github.com/mcp-shark/mcp-shark Site: https://mcpshark.sh/ I built MCPShark, a traffic inspector for the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It sits between your editor/LLM client and MCP servers so you can: • See all MCP traffic (requests, responses, tools, resources) in one place • Debug sessions when tools don’t behave as expected • Optionally run “Smart Scan” checks to flag risky tools / configs

    Dec 2025 · its alternatives →

13. 13
    Mcpsnoop – Wireshark for MCP (transparent proxy and live TUI)▲64

    Wireshark for MCP. A transparent proxy that shows every real tool call between your AI client and your MCP servers, live in your terminal. - kerlenton/mcpsnoop

    Jul 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

14. 14MF
    MCP Flow Detection▲11

    Complete MCP traffic analysis tool with desktop app for Mac, Windows. GitHub: https://github.com/mcp-shark/mcp-shark Visit the website for desktop apps: Web: https://www.mcpshark.sh/

    Nov 2025 · its alternatives →

15. 15
    ContextGuard▲12

    I built ContextGuard after discovering that 43% of MCP servers have critical security vulnerabilities. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the new standard that lets Claude Clients(Desktop, Windsurf, Cursor, etc.) access external tools and data sources - think of it as a plugin system for AI assistants. The problem: When you give those clients access to your filesystem, databases, or APIs through MCP servers, you're opening up serious attack vectors. Prompt injection, data leakage, and path traversal attacks are all possible. Most developers building MCP servers don't have security expertise,…

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Scan MCP▲7

    MCP scanning & threat observability for AI-native tools

    2025 · scanmcp.com · its alternatives →

17. 17MV
    MCPShark Viewer (VS Code/Cursor extension)- view MCP traffic in-editor▲28

    A few days ago I posted MCPShark (a traffic inspector for the Model Context Protocol). I just shipped a VS Code / Cursor extension that lets you view MCP traffic directly in the editor, so you’re not jumping between terminals, logs, and "I think this is what got sent". VS Code Marketplace: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=MCPShark... Main repo: https://github.com/mcp-shark/mcp-shark Feature requests / issues: https://github.com/mcp-shark/mcp-shark/issues Site: https://mcpshark.sh/ If…

    Dec 2025 · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Open Computer Use▲92

    Open-source Computer Use MCP for AI agents

    May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

19. 19
    MCPSafe▲6

    We've been scanning MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers to understand the security posture of the ecosystem. After 306 servers and 1,211 vulnerabilities, here's what we found: - 69 critical vulnerabilities - 32 servers using eval() on untrusted input - 31 SQL injection vulnerabilities - 32 servers with hardcoded API credentials 10.5% of servers have at least one critical vulnerability. MCP servers run with your permissions. AI agents trust them implicitly. A prompt injection can exploit them remotely. MCPSafe (https://mcpsafe.org) lets you scan before you connect. Free tier…

    Feb 2026 · mcpsafe.org · its alternatives →

20. 20
    Scan My MCP▲5

    Audit MCPs for security vulnerabilities.

    May 2026 · mcpscanner.yxsh.in · its alternatives →

21. 21
    Project Shield▲3

    One command to security-grade your MCP server

    Feb 2026 · shield.codemeant.dev · its alternatives →

22. 22
    MCP Traffic Analysis Tool▲38

    Wireshark-like forensic analysis for Model Context Protocol communications Capture, inspect, and investigate all HTTP requests and responses between your IDE and MCP servers - mcp-shark/mcp-shark

    Nov 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

23. 23
    MCP Peek▲3

    See what your AI agent really sends to MCP servers

    Jun 2026 · mcppeek.com · its alternatives →

24. 24OS
    Open-Source MCP Server for Context and AI Tools▲43

    Large Language Models (LLMs) are powerful, but they’re limited by fixed context windows and outdated knowledge. What if your AI could access live search, structured data extraction, OCR, and more—all through a standardized interface? We built the JigsawStack MCP Server, an open-source implementation of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) that lets any AI model call external tools effortlessly. Here’s what it unlocks: - Web Search & Scraping: Fetch live information and extract structured data from web pages. - OCR & Structured Data Extraction: Process images, receipts, invoices, and handwritten…

    2025 · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →