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ard-kit vs Smithery
Smithery is a registry for MCP servers, whereas ard-kit catalogs local scripts for AI agents.
ard-kitSelf-hosted Agentic Resource Discovery: catalogues local…
SmitheryRegistry for finding and hosting MCP serversWhich to pick
Pick ard-kit if you want…
- Local script catalog and search for AI agents
- A free, open-source tool
Pick Smithery if you want…
- Managed MCP server registry
Side by side
- What it is
- ard-kit:Self-hosted tool that catalogs local scripts into an ai-catalog.json and serves a well-known manifest with a POST /search endpoint.
- Smithery:Smithery is a registry and hosting platform for MCP servers that lets AI agents connect to tools with built-in auth, credentials and session management.
- Best for
- ard-kit:Local script catalog and search for AI agents
- Smithery:Managed MCP server registry
- Who it’s for
- ard-kit:Developers building AI agents that need offline script discovery and resource lookup.
- Smithery:Developers building AI agents that need easy access to MCP tools and services
- Pricing
- ard-kit:Open source
- Smithery:Freemium
- Plans
- ard-kit:—
- Smithery:Hobby Free · Pay as you Go $10/mo per month
- Open source
- ard-kit:Yes
- Smithery:—
- Works with
- ard-kit:Python
- Smithery:—
ard-kit features
- Script catalog generation. Scans specified directories and creates an ai-catalog.json of local scripts.
- Well-known manifest serving. Provides the specification’s well-known manifest over HTTP.
- POST /search endpoint. Accepts search queries to retrieve matching script entries.
- Standard-library only. Implemented using only Python’s standard library, no external dependencies.
- Self-hosted deployment. Runs locally without sending data to external services.
Smithery features
- MCP Server Registry. Find and list MCP servers for agents to discover and use.
- Hosted MCP Servers. Host your own MCP server with built-in management.
- Managed OAuth. Provides OAuth handling without requiring developers to manage keys.
- Persistent Connections. Keeps agent sessions alive for continuous interactions.
- RPC Quotas. Offers tiered RPC limits (50K free, 100K paid) for API calls.
- Namespace Support. Supports multiple namespaces for organizing tools.
ard-kit vs Smithery FAQ
Is ard-kit or Smithery free?+
ard-kit is free and open source. Smithery has a free plan (Hobby); paid plans start at $10/month (Pay as you Go).
Which is cheaper, ard-kit or Smithery?+
ard-kit is free, so it costs less. Smithery starts at $10/month (Pay as you Go).
Is ard-kit or Smithery open source?+
ard-kit is open source. DevHunt has no public source repository on record for Smithery.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.