Filesystem (Reference) vs Desktop Commander
A side-by-side comparison of two MCP servers — capabilities, transport, auth, and how actively each is maintained.
| Filesystem (Reference) Official MCP reference server for secure local filesystem read/write within allowed directories. Verified stdio (local) No auth TypeScript | Desktop Commander Powerful local filesystem + terminal MCP server: search, diff-edit files, and run shell commands. Verified stdio (local) No auth TypeScript | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Files & Storage | Files & Storage |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Transport | stdio (local) | stdio (local) |
| Auth | None | None |
| GitHub stars | 74k | 6.2k |
| Last commit | 5 months ago | 4 months ago |
| Verified | ||
| Actively maintained | ||
| Install | npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /absolute/path/to/dir | npx -y @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander |
| Repo | Open | Open |