# Cronitor MCP server vs New Relic MCP Server

> New Relic scores 61 (C) to Cronitor's 59.1 (C) for incidents. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cronitor-mcp-vs-new-relic
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cronitor-mcp-vs-new-relic.md (~4,350 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

New Relic MCP Server scores 61 (C) on agent readiness against Cronitor MCP server's 59.1 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cronitor MCP server leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics and payments & pricing. Both do incidents.

- Cronitor MCP server: grade C, 59.1/100, rank #718 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cronitor-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cronitor-mcp.json
- New Relic MCP Server: grade C, 61/100, rank #630 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/new-relic.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/new-relic.json
- Best observability and incident tools for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/observability/index.md
- All 59 observability comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/observability/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Cronitor MCP server (C)

Good for: Teams who monitor cron jobs, heartbeats and sites with Cronitor and want an agent to set up and triage monitoring.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 80 against 51
- Agent ergonomics, 73 against 59
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 30

Watch for: 71 tools, a heavy context load

### New Relic MCP Server (C)

Good for: Agents investigating incidents, errors, deployments and performance in an existing New Relic account, where reads are enough.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 60 against 55
- Security & auth, 76 against 58
- Maintenance & community, 80 against 55
- Transparency & trust, 81 against 37

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Tool input schemas are visible only through an authenticated session; the docs give one-line descriptions and no parameters


## Why the edge

### Transparency & trust: New Relic MCP Server +44

- Cronitor MCP server (37): robots.txt disallows the terms and privacy pages, so neither was read (5 of 30, terms exist but weren't readable). Data handling only from the security page (encryption, backups) (10 of 30). No deprecation policy found; the docs version the error codes by protocol revision (5 of 20). Subprocessors not found (5 of 20). 5 + 10 + 5 + 5 = 25.
- New Relic MCP Server (81): Closed service with clear dated terms (paid 8 November 2022, unpaid 21 October 2021) naming New Relic, Inc. (15). A privacy notice of 14 September 2026, a data retention page with per-namespace periods, a security policy, and the MCP docs' statement that gap-analysis responses aren't stored; the master cloud agreement and the trust centre couldn't be read (22). End-of-life notices with dates (REST API keys, 2025) and a pre-release policy that says preview services can change or end (16). US, EU and JP regions are documented for the server and the platform, but no sub-processor list was found on a readable page (10). 15 + 22 + 16 + 10 = 63.

### Schema & documentation: Cronitor MCP server +29

- Cronitor MCP server (80): Every tool's input schema declares additionalProperties false, and the docs call tools/list the field-level reference (25). llms.txt and .md pages for agents (10). Detailed tool guidance, including which to start with and what not to request (18 of 20). Typed inputs with enums, required combinations and no untyped data objects (15). A table of JSON-RPC error codes with their data fields, and worked calls (12 of 15). No public changelog found (404) (0). 25 + 10 + 18 + 15 + 12 + 0 = 80.
- New Relic MCP Server (51): Tool input schemas are only visible through an authenticated session; the tool reference names 40 tools with one-line descriptions, so partial credit for a contract that exists but isn't public (10). docs.newrelic.com publishes llms.txt, updated 3 November 2026, and a Markdown twin of every page (10). Each tool's line says what it does, tags say which group it belongs to, and the reference says which tools need OAuth and which are preview; nothing says when not to use a tool (12). No parameters, types or enums are published; the setup examples show only the `include-tags` header (4). Example natural-language queries per group, a troubleshooting page for OAuth, API key, permission and connection errors, and no error code list (7). A dated what's-new feed and a 0.1.0 registry version, but no MCP changelog or server version in the docs (8). 10 + 10 + 12 + 4 + 7 + 8 = 51.

### Maintenance & community: New Relic MCP Server +25

- Cronitor MCP server (55): Registry entry io.cronitor/cronitor updated 3 November 2026 (30). No dated changelog found to count (0). Support page and docs; no public changelog (10 of 15). Official registry entry under its own namespace, and official SDKs (15). No package to read (0). 30 + 0 + 10 + 15 + 0 = 55. Registry presence read from Anchor Terminal's own daily import of the official MCP registry (/api/v1/registry.json, 6 November 2026), not the registry's API.
- New Relic MCP Server (80): Read as a closed service. The what's-new feed and press releases record changes through October 2026, the latest on 28 October (Change Tracking in GitHub Copilot), and docs llms.txt was regenerated on 3 November (30). More than three dated entries in 90 days, among them the Ground Truth CLI on 6 October, the CEO appointment on 1 October, OpenTelemetry AI monitoring in August and the ISO 42001 announcement (20). A support portal, in-app support and a community forum; the skills hub repository on GitHub, whose issue replies couldn't be read (10 of 15). com.newrelic/mcp-server in the official registry since 28 October 2025 under a DNS-verified namespace, still at 0.1.0 (15). No package to assess for a hosted server; NerdGraph has official clients (5). 30 + 20 + 10 + 15 + 5 = 80.

### Security & auth: New Relic MCP Server +18

- Cronitor MCP server (58): OAuth bounded by role with no scope choice, or scoped API keys (22 of 30). Read-only users get only read tools; write tools follow the role (14 of 20). The docs warn that event messages, command output and request bodies can hold customer data or secrets, and tell the agent to ask before expanding them; secrets are redacted (12 of 15). No audit log of MCP calls found (0). The security page covers encryption and relies on AWS's certifications; no security.txt (404) and no disclosure policy found (10 of 20). 22 + 14 + 12 + 0 + 10 = 58.
- New Relic MCP Server (76): OAuth 2.0 with the scopes `observability:read`, `offline` and `offline_access`, access tokens that expire after 5 minutes, refresh for 24 hours, revocation by deleting the user or turning off the organisation toggle, and the token acting as the user with no more than their roles; the alternative is a user API key in a header (28). A read scope, organisation toggles that default the API key, preview, Atlassian and AWS routes to off, an organisation-scoped role requirement, and no write tools in the list (16). Logs, error messages and trace attributes are untrusted text and no injection guidance was found (2). NrAuditEvent records sign-ins with IP addresses and NrdbQuery labels queries sent through the server, both queryable by the operator (13). security.txt pointing to a HackerOne programme, a published security policy citing SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 audits of its facilities and its own penetration testing, and an ISO 42001 certification announced on 29 September 2026; the trust centre itself renders through a script and was unread (17). 28 + 16 + 2 + 13 + 17 = 76.

### Agent ergonomics: Cronitor MCP server +14

- Cronitor MCP server (73): 71 tools (5), with four task-oriented tools and summary modes that cap list output (5 back). Summary mode defaults to 25 rows, allows 100 and returns next_page (20). Documented, recoverable errors (18 of 20). Safety metadata in each tool schema and documented repeat behaviour (15 of 20). setup_monitor takes few fields; SDKs and a CLI (10 of 15). 10 + 20 + 18 + 15 + 10 = 73.
- New Relic MCP Server (59): 40 tools in the default list, above the 30-tool line (5), with the `include-tags` header to load only named groups (add 10, so 15). Time windows on most tools, `convert_time_period_to_epoch_ms`, filters on incidents, errors and logs, and NRQL's own LIMIT and FACET; no documented page size (14). The troubleshooting page covers setup errors with fixes, and the docs say nothing about tool-level error bodies (8). Every tool is a read (query, list, fetch, analyse) and the gap tool reads files the client sends, so a retry is safe; no readOnlyHint or destructiveHint was confirmed because tools/list wasn't read (12). Natural-language prompts need no parameters from the user, and the API behind the server has official NerdGraph clients; nothing agent-specific beyond skills (10). 15 + 14 + 8 + 12 + 10 = 59.

### Payments & pricing: Cronitor MCP server +10

- Cronitor MCP server (40): No machine payment protocol (0). Per-monitor and per-user prices public (20). Free plan for 5 monitors, no card mentioned (20). A person signs up or signs in through a browser (0). 0 + 20 + 20 + 0 = 40.
- New Relic MCP Server (30): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). The pricing page is public for the free tier and data ingest ($0.40 per GB beyond 100 GB), but MCP tools are metered as compute units with no per-call rate, and user and edition prices are quoted on request (10). The free tier includes MCP, 100 GB a month and one full platform user with no card (20). A person signs up in a browser and completes the OAuth flow (0). 0 + 10 + 20 + 0 = 30.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Cronitor MCP server | New Relic MCP Server | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 60 | New Relic MCP Server +5 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 51 | Cronitor MCP server +29 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 59 | Cronitor MCP server +14 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 58 | 76 | New Relic MCP Server +18 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 30 | Cronitor MCP server +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 55 | 80 | New Relic MCP Server +25 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 37 | 81 | New Relic MCP Server +44 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **59.1 · C** | **61 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Cronitor MCP server | New Relic MCP Server |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | MCP server |
| Vendor | Cronitor | New Relic, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://cronitor.io/mcp` | `https://mcp.newrelic.com/mcp/` |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP | Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth | OAuth |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Tools exposed | 71 | 40 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.cronitor/cronitor` | `com.newrelic/mcp-server` |
| Last release | none | 2026-10-28 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2022-11-08 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-09-14 |
| Customer content may train models | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not read yet | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not read yet | not found in the text |

## Verdicts

**Cronitor MCP server.** Cronitor's MCP server is one of the most carefully documented we've read, with strict input schemas, summary modes, typed error codes and clear advice on secrets in monitor output. It has 71 tools, publishes no changelog, and its terms and privacy pages are closed to crawlers, so data handling couldn't be checked.

**New Relic MCP Server.** OAuth with a read scope, 5-minute access tokens, role-bound calls and a queryable audit trail make this a safe read surface over an account's data, and the free tier includes it. 40 tools need tag filtering, the schemas aren't public, there is no per-call price, and no dated GA notice was found.

## Before you call either

### Cronitor MCP server

1. Start with list_monitors and list_issues in summary mode
2. Ask the user before expanding event messages, command output or request bodies
3. On a rate-limit error, wait retry_after_seconds
4. Over the plan's monitor limit, new monitors are saved but disabled

### New Relic MCP Server

1. Connect with OAuth; an `api-key` header reaches only the core tools and the docs say the API key route works only where stated
2. Send `include-tags` with the groups the task needs (for example `discovery,data-access`) to keep the tool list under 30
3. Call `list_available_new_relic_accounts` first and pass the account id to every query; `convert_time_period_to_epoch_ms` turns phrases such as last 30 minutes into the epoch bounds the other tools take
4. Stay under 2,000 tool calls an hour per user and 25 concurrent NerdGraph requests; a 429 clears as in-flight requests finish
5. Ask the organisation administrator to turn on the Preview Tools, API Keys, Atlassian or AWS toggles in feature control manager before relying on those tools; they are off by default

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Cronitor MCP server or New Relic MCP Server?

New Relic MCP Server scores 61 (C) on agent readiness against Cronitor MCP server's 59.1 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cronitor MCP server leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics and payments & pricing.

### Do Cronitor MCP server and New Relic MCP Server need an API key?

Both use an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Cronitor MCP server and New Relic MCP Server without installing anything?

Yes. Cronitor MCP server has a hosted endpoint at https://cronitor.io/mcp and New Relic MCP Server at https://mcp.newrelic.com/mcp/.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cronitor-mcp-vs-new-relic.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cronitor-mcp-vs-new-relic.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "cronitor-mcp", "b": "new-relic"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cronitor-mcp new-relic`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cronitor-mcp.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/new-relic.json

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp