# MCP Toolbox for Databases vs Postgres MCP Pro

> MCP Toolbox for Databases scores 77.7 (BB) to Postgres MCP Pro's 37 (F) for sql databases. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-postgres-mcp-pro
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-postgres-mcp-pro.md (~4,400 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

MCP Toolbox for Databases scores 77.7 (BB) on agent readiness against Postgres MCP Pro's 37 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do sql databases.

- MCP Toolbox for Databases: grade BB, 77.7/100, rank #27 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mcp-toolbox-databases.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mcp-toolbox-databases.json
- Postgres MCP Pro: grade F, 37/100, rank #1379 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/postgres-mcp-pro.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/postgres-mcp-pro.json
- Best database, file and memory tools for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/data/index.md
- All 111 databases comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/data/index.md

## Which one, for what

### MCP Toolbox for Databases (BB)

Good for: Agents and coding assistants that need one server across Google Cloud data services and common databases, or production agents with curated SQL tools.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 80 against 41
- Schema & documentation, 85 against 56
- Agent ergonomics, 82 against 57
- Security & auth, 75 against 26
- Maintenance & community, 95 against 8

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- No incidents deducted, where Postgres MCP Pro loses 8 points for them

Watch for: --allowed-origins and --allowed-hosts default to *, which the docs call unsafe

### Postgres MCP Pro (F)

Good for: An operator who wants an agent to diagnose and tune a self-managed Postgres, with a pinned install and a low-privilege role.

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it

Watch for: No release since 0.3.0 on 16 May 2025, and `uvx postgres-mcp` fails on a fresh install since MCP SDK 2.0


## Why the edge

### Maintenance & community: MCP Toolbox for Databases +87

- MCP Toolbox for Databases (95): v1.16.0 on 5 November 2026, one day before this check (30). Eight releases from v1.10.0 (27 August) to v1.16.0 in the 90 days (20). Pull requests merge daily and new tools land in each fortnightly release, though 432 issues and pull requests are open (20). io.github.googleapis/mcp-toolbox is in the official registry at 1.16.0 (15). Release automation, lint, tests and conformance workflows (10). 30 + 20 + 20 + 15 + 10 = 95.
- Postgres MCP Pro (8): Last release 0.3.0 on 16 May 2025 (0). No release in the last 90 days. Main has a batch of 11 merges from 19 to 22 January 2026 and one commit on 15 August 2026 (0). 37 open issues and 35 open pull requests, a request for a release (#162) open since March 2026 and no maintainer reply on the security report. A commenter on #187 says the project is unmaintained since Crystal DBA's acquisition by Temporal, which we couldn't confirm (5). Not in the official MCP registry. A lookup for io.github.crystaldba/postgres-mcp returns 404 (0). Dependencies were refreshed on main in January, but the published package has the unbounded `mcp` dependency that now breaks it (3).

### Security & auth: MCP Toolbox for Databases +49

- MCP Toolbox for Databases (75): Source credentials stay in Toolbox, Google sources use IAM, and optional MCP authorisation validates OAuth 2.1 JWTs with required scopes. --allowed-origins and --allowed-hosts default to *, which the CLI docs themselves call unsafe even on localhost, though the default bind is 127.0.0.1 (20). Read-only mode is enforced at the engine, write tools are suppressed, and custom tools can fix SQL and bind parameters to the signed-in user (18). The security docs cover prompt injection and screening through Model Armor (12). OpenTelemetry traces and metrics per call when exported (10). Google's vulnerability intake with a stated response time and GitHub advisories (15). 20 + 18 + 12 + 10 + 15 = 75.
- Postgres MCP Pro (26): One database URI from `DATABASE_URI` or the command line, with whatever privileges its role has. The SSE and HTTP transports have no authentication and bind to localhost by default (10). Restricted mode parses every statement with pglast against an allowlist of statement types and functions, runs it in a read-only transaction and stops it after 30 seconds. But unrestricted is the default, every config example in the README uses it, and #178 (opened 6 June 2026) shows restricted mode reading server files through a function in the FROM clause. The fix (#200) is unmerged (10). The README discusses LLM-generated damage at length but says nothing about instructions hidden in table data, and rows reach the model unmarked (3). Restricted-mode queries are tagged `/* crystaldba */`, so they can be picked out in Postgres logs and pg_stat_statements (3). No SECURITY.md, and the #178 reporter says private advisories aren't enabled (0).

### Reliability: MCP Toolbox for Databases +39

- MCP Toolbox for Databases (80): Scored as local software the owner runs. A Go binary, a container in Artifact Registry and @toolbox-sdk/server on npm, with install paths per platform (20). Tests, lint, conformance and nightly tier-report workflows in the repository; the pass state wasn't read (15). 432 open issues and pull requests on a repository with 16,818 stars and releases every two weeks, triaged with labels, though the backlog is large (15). Semantic versioning with a published policy, release-please CHANGELOG and an UPGRADING.md (15). 1.x since well before this check, v1.16.0 now (15). 20 + 15 + 15 + 15 + 15 = 80.
- Postgres MCP Pro (41): Scored as a local stdio package. postgres-mcp on PyPI and the crystaldba/postgres-mcp Docker image, Python 3.12 or later stated. But PyPI's only current release, 0.3.0 from May 2025, asks for `mcp[cli]>=1.5.0` with no ceiling, and since MCP Python SDK 2.0.0 shipped on 28 July 2026 a fresh `uvx postgres-mcp` pulls it and fails with "No module named 'mcp.server.fastmcp'" (#187). The `<2.0` pin landed on main on 15 August and hasn't been released (10). CI runs ruff, pyright and pytest with a Postgres container on every push and pull request, with 25 unit test files. We couldn't see whether main passes (20). 37 open issues, among them the broken install, failures on custom schemas (#181) and two unmerged pull requests for connection-pool leaks (#177, #195) (6). Semver tags with no changelog (5). Pre-1.0 (0).

### Schema & documentation: MCP Toolbox for Databases +29

- MCP Toolbox for Databases (85): Every tool's parameters are typed in tools.yaml and published as JSON Schema over MCP (25). mcp-toolbox.dev serves llms.txt (10). Prebuilt descriptions vary from one line ("Use this tool to execute a single SQL statement.") to detailed, and few say when not to use a tool (12). Typed parameters with required flags; execute_sql takes free SQL (12). Many examples, samples and codelabs; error responses are thinly documented (11). Semver, a dated CHANGELOG and versioned docs (15). 25 + 10 + 12 + 12 + 11 + 15 = 85.
- Postgres MCP Pro (56): FastMCP builds typed JSON Schema for all nine tools from Python type hints (25 less 5, since `hypothetical_indexes` is a list of free-form dicts) (20). No llms.txt. The README is Markdown on GitHub with a tool table (5). `explain_query` warns that `analyze` runs the query and `analyze_db_health` lists its checks, but most descriptions are one line ("List objects in a schema") and none says when not to use a tool (10). `method` is an enum. `object_type`, `health_type` and `sort_by` are free strings with valid values only in the prose, `limit` has no bounds and `execute_sql` gives `sql` a default of "all" (7). `explain_query` carries two worked examples. Errors come back as "Error: <Postgres message>" text (9). Semver tags, no changelog (5).

### Agent ergonomics: MCP Toolbox for Databases +25

- MCP Toolbox for Databases (82): The PostgreSQL prebuilt set lists 29 tools (15), split into five toolsets a client can load one at a time, and write tools disappear in read-only mode (plus 8). Results are bounded per tool, some prebuilt tools take limits, and BigQuery tools compact empty schema fields (14). Errors come back as tool errors; paths are sanitised from file errors since 1.15.0 (12). readOnlyHint and destructiveHint are set per tool and switch with the source's read-only state (18). Prebuilt sets need only environment variables, and SDKs exist in Python, JavaScript, Go and Java (15). 23 + 14 + 12 + 18 + 15 = 82.
- Postgres MCP Pro (57): Nine tools with about 2,500 characters of descriptions, roughly 1,300 tokens of definitions by our estimate (23). `get_top_queries` takes a `limit`, but `execute_sql` returns every row and the index tools append a `_langfuse_trace` block by default unless `POSTGRES_MCP_INCLUDE_LANGFUSE_TRACE=false` (6). Restricted mode explains its refusals (`Only SELECT, ANALYZE, VACUUM, EXPLAIN, SHOW and other read-only statements are allowed`) and its 30-second timeout suggests simplifying the query. Errors arrive as ordinary text rather than flagged tool errors (13). Annotations exist on main since January 2026 but not in the released 0.3.0, and on main `explain_query` claims `readOnlyHint` though `analyze: true` executes the statement in unrestricted mode (5). Sensible defaults, at most one required parameter per tool. Python only, plus Docker (10).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | MCP Toolbox for Databases | Postgres MCP Pro | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 41 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +39 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 56 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +29 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 57 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +25 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 75 | 26 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +49 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 95 | 8 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +87 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 65 | Postgres MCP Pro +1 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -8 | |
| **Total** | | **77.7 · BB** | **37 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | MCP Toolbox for Databases | Postgres MCP Pro |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | MCP server |
| Vendor | Google | Crystal DBA |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP | stdio, SSE (legacy) |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Tools exposed | 29 | 9 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| MCP registry | `io.github.googleapis/mcp-toolbox` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-11-05 | 2025-05-16 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Popularity | 17k stars | 3.2k stars, 229k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.5/5 (2) |

## How the scores have moved

### MCP Toolbox for Databases

No score change since it was listed.

### Postgres MCP Pro

- +0.3 on 27 October 2026: checklist

## Verdicts

**MCP Toolbox for Databases.** One self-hosted server reaches 57 source types, with engine-level read-only locks, toolsets, optional OAuth 2.1 and fortnightly semver releases under Apache-2.0. Prebuilt sets list 9 to 41 tools, origin and host checks default to any, and 432 issues and pull requests are open.

**Postgres MCP Pro.** Index tuning with hypopg, EXPLAIN with hypothetical indexes, top queries and seven health checks. No release since 0.3.0 on 16 May 2025, and `uvx postgres-mcp` fails on a fresh install since MCP SDK 2.0.

## Before you call either

### MCP Toolbox for Databases

1. Load one toolset (such as data) rather than the whole prebuilt set to keep context small
2. Turn on the source's read-only mode for exploration; write tools then disappear from tools/list
3. Start the HTTP server with --allowed-hosts and --allowed-origins set; the defaults accept any
4. Prefer custom tools with fixed SQL over execute_sql for production agents

### Postgres MCP Pro

1. Launch with `uvx --with 'mcp<2' postgres-mcp`. Plain `uvx postgres-mcp` now fails with "No module named 'mcp.server.fastmcp'"
2. Pass `--access-mode=restricted` explicitly. The default is unrestricted
3. Connect with a role that lacks superuser and pg_read_server_files. Restricted mode alone doesn't stop server file reads
4. Put `LIMIT` in every `execute_sql` query. The server returns every row
5. Don't set `analyze: true` on `explain_query` for writes in unrestricted mode. It runs the statement

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, MCP Toolbox for Databases or Postgres MCP Pro?

MCP Toolbox for Databases scores 77.7 (BB) on agent readiness against Postgres MCP Pro's 37 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.

### Do MCP Toolbox for Databases and Postgres MCP Pro need an API key?

MCP Toolbox for Databases takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Postgres MCP Pro needs no key.

### Can an agent call MCP Toolbox for Databases and Postgres MCP Pro without installing anything?

MCP Toolbox for Databases runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. Postgres MCP Pro runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed.

### Are MCP Toolbox for Databases and Postgres MCP Pro open source?

Yes. MCP Toolbox for Databases is open source (Apache-2.0). Postgres MCP Pro is open source (MIT).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with MCP Toolbox for Databases or Postgres MCP Pro

- [ClickHouse MCP Server vs MCP Toolbox for Databases](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clickhouse-mcp-server-vs-mcp-toolbox-databases.md)
- [ClickHouse MCP Server vs Postgres MCP Pro](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clickhouse-mcp-server-vs-postgres-mcp-pro.md)
- [DBHub vs MCP Toolbox for Databases](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dbhub-vs-mcp-toolbox-databases.md)
- [DBHub vs Postgres MCP Pro](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dbhub-vs-postgres-mcp-pro.md)
- [MCP Toolbox for Databases vs Neon MCP Server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-neon-mcp.md)
- [MCP Toolbox for Databases vs ObsessionDB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-obsessiondb.md)
- [MCP Toolbox for Databases vs PlanetScale MCP Server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-planetscale-mcp.md)
- [MCP Toolbox for Databases vs PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-postgres-reference-server-archived.md)
- [MCP Toolbox for Databases vs Snowflake-managed MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-snowflake-managed.md)
- [MCP Toolbox for Databases vs Supabase API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-supabase-mcp.md)
- [Neon MCP Server vs Postgres MCP Pro](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/neon-mcp-vs-postgres-mcp-pro.md)
- [ObsessionDB vs Postgres MCP Pro](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/obsessiondb-vs-postgres-mcp-pro.md)
- [PlanetScale MCP Server vs Postgres MCP Pro](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/planetscale-mcp-vs-postgres-mcp-pro.md)
- [Postgres MCP Pro vs PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/postgres-mcp-pro-vs-postgres-reference-server-archived.md)
- [Postgres MCP Pro vs Snowflake-managed MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/postgres-mcp-pro-vs-snowflake-managed.md)
- [Postgres MCP Pro vs Supabase API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/postgres-mcp-pro-vs-supabase-mcp.md)
- [MongoDB MCP Server vs Postgres MCP Pro](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mongodb-mcp-vs-postgres-mcp-pro.md)
- [Postgres MCP Pro vs Redis MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/postgres-mcp-pro-vs-redis-mcp.md)
- [Postgres MCP Pro vs ReqRes MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/postgres-mcp-pro-vs-reqres-mcp.md)
- [MCP Toolbox for Databases vs MongoDB MCP Server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-mongodb-mcp.md)
- [MCP Toolbox for Databases vs Redis MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-redis-mcp.md)
- [MCP Toolbox for Databases vs ReqRes MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-reqres-mcp.md)

---

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