Cua Driver vs Apple Events MCP Server

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

	Cua Driver Background computer-use MCP server that drives native macOS, Windows, and Linux desktop apps without stealing focus. Unverified stdio (local) No auth Rust	Apple Events MCP Server Native macOS integration with Apple Reminders and Calendar via EventKit Unverified stdio (local) No auth TypeScript
Category	Productivity	Productivity
Language	Rust	TypeScript
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	None	None
GitHub stars	19k	142
Last commit	1 month ago	2 months ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/trycua/cua/main/libs/cua-driver/scripts/install.sh)"`	`npx -y mcp-server-apple-events`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick Cua Driver if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools.

Pick Apple Events MCP Server if you prefer its approach (native macos integration with apple reminders and calendar via eventkit).

Add Cua Driver

Install / run

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/trycua/cua/main/libs/cua-driver/scripts/install.sh)"

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cua-driver": {
      "command": "cua-driver",
      "args": [
        "mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add Apple Events MCP Server

Install / run

npx -y mcp-server-apple-events

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-events-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-server-apple-events"
      ]
    }
  }
}

FAQ

Cua Driver or Apple Events MCP Server — which is better?

Pick Cua Driver if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools. Pick Apple Events MCP Server if you prefer its approach (native macos integration with apple reminders and calendar via eventkit).

Can I use both Cua Driver and Apple Events MCP Server?

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 Cua Driver and Apple Events MCP Server work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

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

View Cua Driver →View Apple Events MCP Server →More comparisons →