Cua Driver vs MCP Shrimp Task Manager

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	MCP Shrimp Task Manager Intelligent task management for AI agents: plan, decompose, and execute dev tasks with persistent memory. Unverified stdio (local) No auth Stale JavaScript
Category	Productivity	Productivity
Language	Rust	JavaScript
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	None	None
GitHub stars	19k	2.1k
Last commit	1 month ago	11 months ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/trycua/cua/main/libs/cua-driver/scripts/install.sh)"`	`git clone https://github.com/cjo4m06/mcp-shrimp-task-manager.git && cd mcp-shrimp-task-manager && npm install && npm run build`
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 MCP Shrimp Task Manager if you prefer its approach (intelligent task management for ai agents: plan, decompose, and execute dev tasks with persistent memory).

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 MCP Shrimp Task Manager

Install / run

git clone https://github.com/cjo4m06/mcp-shrimp-task-manager.git && cd mcp-shrimp-task-manager && npm install && npm run build

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-shrimp-task-manager": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/mcp-shrimp-task-manager/dist/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DATA_DIR": "/path/to/your/shrimp_data",
        "TEMPLATES_USE": "en",
        "ENABLE_GUI": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

FAQ

Cua Driver or MCP Shrimp Task Manager — which is better?

Pick Cua Driver if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools. Pick MCP Shrimp Task Manager if you prefer its approach (intelligent task management for ai agents: plan, decompose, and execute dev tasks with persistent memory).

Can I use both Cua Driver and MCP Shrimp Task Manager?

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 MCP Shrimp Task Manager work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

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

View Cua Driver →View MCP Shrimp Task Manager →More comparisons →