Octagon MCP Server vs Alpaca MCP Server

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

	Octagon MCP Server AI-powered financial research over SEC filings, earnings calls, stock & crypto data, and prediction markets. Unverified stdio (local) API key TypeScript	Alpaca MCP Server Alpaca's official trading server for stocks, ETFs, options, and crypto in plain English. Verified stdio (local) API key Python
Category	Finance & Payments	Finance & Payments
Language	TypeScript	Python
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	API key	API key
GitHub stars	132	820
Last commit	2 days ago	1 month ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`npm install -g octagon-mcp`	`uvx alpaca-mcp-server`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick Octagon MCP Server if you prefer its approach (ai-powered financial research over sec filings, earnings calls, stock & crypto data, and prediction markets).

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

Add Octagon MCP Server

Install / run

npm install -g octagon-mcp

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "octagon-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "octagon-mcp@latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OCTAGON_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add Alpaca MCP Server

Install / run

uvx alpaca-mcp-server

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alpaca-mcp-server": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "alpaca-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ALPACA_API_KEY": "<your-alpaca-api-key>",
        "ALPACA_SECRET_KEY": "<your-alpaca-secret-key>",
        "ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

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

FAQ

Octagon MCP Server or Alpaca MCP Server — which is better?

Pick Octagon MCP Server if you prefer its approach (ai-powered financial research over sec filings, earnings calls, stock & crypto data, and prediction markets). Pick Alpaca MCP Server if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools.

Can I use both Octagon MCP Server and Alpaca 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 Octagon MCP Server and Alpaca MCP Server work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

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

View Octagon MCP Server →View Alpaca MCP Server →More comparisons →