MarkView vs Excel MCP Server

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

	MarkView Native macOS markdown preview MCP server — Claude writes markdown, MarkView renders it live in a real native window. Unverified stdio (local) No auth Swift	Excel MCP Server Create, read, and modify Excel workbooks with your AI agent — no Microsoft Excel required. Unverified stdio (local) No auth Python
Category	Productivity	Productivity
Language	Swift	Python
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	None	None
GitHub stars	34	3.9k
Last commit	26 days ago	2 months ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user markview -- npx mcp-server-markview`	`uvx excel-mcp-server stdio`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick MarkView if you prefer its approach (native macos markdown preview mcp server — claude writes markdown, markview renders it live in a real native window).

Pick Excel MCP Server if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools.

Add MarkView

Install / run

claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user markview -- npx mcp-server-markview

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "markview": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-server-markview"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add Excel MCP Server

Install / run

uvx excel-mcp-server stdio

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "excel-mcp-server": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "excel-mcp-server",
        "stdio"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Requires `uv` (the Python package runner). Install it from https://docs.astral.sh/uv/ if `uvx` is not found.

FAQ

MarkView or Excel MCP Server — which is better?

Pick MarkView if you prefer its approach (native macos markdown preview mcp server — claude writes markdown, markview renders it live in a real native window). Pick Excel MCP Server if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools.

Can I use both MarkView and Excel 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 MarkView and Excel MCP Server work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

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

View MarkView →View Excel MCP Server →More comparisons →