obsidian-mcp-server (cyanheads) vs Notion MCP Server (official)

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

	obsidian-mcp-server (cyanheads) Surgical Obsidian vault editing — read, write, search, and patch notes, tags, and frontmatter. Verified stdio (local) API key TypeScript	Notion MCP Server (official) Official Notion server to read, search, create, and update pages and databases in your workspace. Verified stdio (local) API key TypeScript
Category	Productivity	Productivity
Language	TypeScript	TypeScript
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	API key	API key
GitHub stars	590	3.9k
Last commit	6 days ago	4 months ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`npx -y obsidian-mcp-server@latest`	`npx -y @notionhq/notion-mcp-server`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick obsidian-mcp-server (cyanheads) if you need the broadest set of tools.

Pick Notion MCP Server (official) if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option.

Add obsidian-mcp-server (cyanheads)

Install / run

npx -y obsidian-mcp-server@latest

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-mcp-server-cyanheads": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "obsidian-mcp-server@latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_API_KEY": "<your-obsidian-rest-api-key>",
        "OBSIDIAN_BASE_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:27123",
        "OBSIDIAN_VERIFY_SSL": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add Notion MCP Server (official)

Install / run

npx -y @notionhq/notion-mcp-server

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notion-mcp-server-official": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@notionhq/notion-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "NOTION_TOKEN": "<your-notion-integration-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

FAQ

obsidian-mcp-server (cyanheads) or Notion MCP Server (official) — which is better?

Pick obsidian-mcp-server (cyanheads) if you need the broadest set of tools. Pick Notion MCP Server (official) if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option.

Can I use both obsidian-mcp-server (cyanheads) and Notion MCP Server (official)?

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 obsidian-mcp-server (cyanheads) and Notion MCP Server (official) work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

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

View obsidian-mcp-server (cyanheads) →View Notion MCP Server (official) →More comparisons →