Apple Music MCP vs 21st.dev Magic MCP

A side-by-side comparison of two Design & Media servers — tools, transport, auth, maintenance, and copy-paste config for each.

	Apple Music MCP Give Claude full access to your Apple Music: search the catalog, browse your library, manage playlists, and explore listening history. Unverified stdio (local) OAuth Python	21st.dev Magic MCP Generate beautiful, modern UI components from natural-language descriptions inside your IDE. Unverified stdio (local) API key TypeScript
Category	Design & Media	Design & Media
Language	Python	TypeScript
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	OAuth	API key
GitHub stars	32	5.2k
Last commit	1 month ago	4 months ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`git clone https://github.com/marioinghilleri/mcp-apple-music && cd mcp-apple-music && uv sync`	`npx @21st-dev/cli@latest install <client> --api-key <key>`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick Apple Music MCP if you need the broadest set of tools.

Pick 21st.dev Magic MCP if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option.

Add Apple Music MCP

Install / run

git clone https://github.com/marioinghilleri/mcp-apple-music && cd mcp-apple-music && uv sync

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-music-mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--directory",
        "/absolute/path/to/mcp-apple-music",
        "mcp-apple-music"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add 21st.dev Magic MCP

Install / run

npx @21st-dev/cli@latest install <client> --api-key <key>

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "21st-dev-magic-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@21st-dev/magic@latest",
        "API_KEY=\"your-api-key\""
      ]
    }
  }
}

FAQ

Apple Music MCP or 21st.dev Magic MCP — which is better?

Pick Apple Music MCP if you need the broadest set of tools. Pick 21st.dev Magic MCP if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option.

Can I use both Apple Music MCP and 21st.dev Magic MCP?

Yes — MCP clients let you enable multiple servers at once. Add both configs to your client's mcpServers and use whichever tool fits the task.

Do Apple Music MCP and 21st.dev Magic MCP work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

Both do. Copy the per-client config below into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf.

View Apple Music MCP →View 21st.dev Magic MCP →More comparisons →