MCP server · Developer tools

mcpcost MCP server

Check whether an MCP server is alive and how many tokens its tools cost before you add it.

Developer tools For it and development Developer Tools

mcpcost is a helper that checks MCP servers for you. It looks at whether a server is alive, what it needs to log in, and how many tokens its tools would eat up in your AI chat. It is handy if you keep adding MCP servers to Claude, Cursor, or VS Code and want to know what each one really costs you.

What is an MCP server? The 30-second version

On its own, your AI can only chat with you. An MCP server is a small helper program that gives your AI a new skill or a connection to an app or service. This one connects your AI to mcpcost, a service that measures other MCP servers. So when you ask your AI about a server, it can look up whether that server is alive and how many tokens its tools cost, without you leaving the chat.

What this MCP server does

You ask your AI something like whether a certain MCP server is worth adding. Your AI sends that question to the mcpcost helper. The helper looks up the server in a big public list that gets checked every day, or it can test a web address live right then. It comes back with whether the server answered, how many tools it has, and roughly how many tokens those tools would use. Your AI then tells you the answer in plain words in the chat.

What you can do with it

Look up a single MCP server by name and see if it is alive
Search the public list of MCP servers by keyword
Compare two to five servers side by side
Probe any server web address live to see if it responds
Get a summary of how many servers in the registry are working
Check how many tokens a server's tools would cost you

Try asking your AI

“Is the Linear MCP server alive right now?”
“Search the MCP registry for GitHub Copilot servers”
“Compare the Notion and Linear MCP servers for me”
“Check this MCP address live and tell me how many tokens its tools cost”

What it gives back to you

You get short answers in the chat: whether a server is alive or needs login, how many tools it has, and a token cost number. For a comparison, you get the servers side by side with their status and cost. For a live check, you get the result of the test that just ran. Nothing is changed anywhere; it only reads and reports.

Before you start

What you need

An AI app that can connect to MCP servers, like Claude or Cursor
Nothing else for the hosted version, it is free and needs no login

Good to know

It only reads and reports, so it cannot change or delete anything, but a live check does contact the server address you give it.

Install it with your AI

Add mcpcost MCP server to your AI, no technical skills needed

You don't install anything by hand. You copy one prompt, paste it into an AI that can work on your computer, and it checks, installs and connects the server for you, asking you when it needs something.

Sign in to get the install prompt

Members get a ready-made prompt that lets the Claude desktop app check mcpcost MCP server, install it and connect it for them, step by step. You don't need any technical skills: you copy, paste and answer a few questions. Your connected AI can also find and install any of the 4,611 MCP servers here for you.