MCP Dashboards 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.

	MCP Dashboards Render interactive charts, dashboards and KPI widgets directly inside your AI conversation. Unverified stdio (local) No auth TypeScript	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	TypeScript	TypeScript
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	None	API key
GitHub stars	33	5.2k
Last commit	1 day ago	4 months ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`claude mcp add dashboard -- npx -y mcp-dashboards --stdio`	`npx @21st-dev/cli@latest install <client> --api-key <key>`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick MCP Dashboards if you want zero-setup with no API key, and 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 MCP Dashboards

Install / run

claude mcp add dashboard -- npx -y mcp-dashboards --stdio

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-dashboards": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-dashboards",
        "--stdio"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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

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

Pick MCP Dashboards if you want zero-setup with no API key, and 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 MCP Dashboards 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 MCP Dashboards 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 MCP Dashboards →View 21st.dev Magic MCP →More comparisons →