# MCP Toolbox for Databases vs Redis MCP

> MCP Toolbox for Databases scores 77.7 (BB) to Redis MCP's 54.9 (C) for document databases. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-redis-mcp
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-redis-mcp.md (~5,150 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 Redis MCP's 54.9 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Redis MCP leads on transparency & trust. Both do document databases.

- MCP Toolbox for Databases: grade BB, 77.7/100, rank #27 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mcp-toolbox-databases.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mcp-toolbox-databases.json
- Redis MCP: grade C, 54.9/100, rank #888 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/redis-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/redis-mcp.json
- Best database, file and memory tools for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/data/index.md
- All 97 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 52
- Schema & documentation, 85 against 64
- Agent ergonomics, 82 against 39
- Security & auth, 75 against 54
- Maintenance & community, 95 against 47

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

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

### Redis MCP (C)

Good for: Teams with a Redis database that want an agent to read and write keys, streams, JSON documents and vector indexes on a developer's machine.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 77 against 64

Watch for: 53 tools load at once, with no toolsets and no read-only subset. Pull request #161 for a tool allowlist has been open since 28 July 2026


## Why the edge

### Maintenance & community: MCP Toolbox for Databases +48

- 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.
- Redis MCP (47): 0.5.1 was tagged on 4 August 2026 and published on GitHub and PyPI on 5 August, 91 days before this check, and no release has followed (10). No release in the 90 days from 6 August. The 32 commits since 0.5.1, up to 3 November, are dependency updates and the removal of an unused dev dependency, with the version still 0.5.1 (0). 19 open items per the 9 October check, when Redis staff had answered #156, #163 and #169 within weeks and merged the `mcp` pin the day it was reported, while #174, #137 and #31 had no reply and #45 on streamable HTTP had been open since August 2025 (14 of 25). Listed in the official MCP registry as `io.github.redis/mcp-redis`, a GitHub-verified namespace, with 0.5.1 marked latest per the 9 October check, and the repository's server.json still names it (15). Dependabot updates merged up to 3 November 2026, a lock file and the `mcp` dependency pinned below 2 (8 of 10).

### Agent ergonomics: MCP Toolbox for Databases +43

- 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.
- Redis MCP (39): 53 tools load at once, about 15,700 characters of descriptions, with no toolsets, dynamic loading or read-only subset. Pull request #161 for an allowlist has been open since 28 July 2026 (5 of 25). `scan_keys` pages with a cursor, `lrange` and `zrange` take ranges, `xrange` and `xreadgroup` take a count, `read_messages` caps at 100 and the vector tools take `k`. `scan_all_keys`, `hgetall`, `smembers` and `json_get` return everything with no limit (12 of 20). Failures come back as ordinary results, a string starting `Error` or a dictionary with an `error` key, carrying the Redis error text. Input checks return clear messages, such as the refusal of `block_ms=0`. Nothing marks a result as an MCP error and no error list is documented (9 of 20). No tool declares `readOnlyHint`, `destructiveHint` or `idempotentHint`, and pull request #181 adding them was opened on 8 October 2026. No retry guidance was found, and `lpush`, `xadd` and `publish` are not safe to repeat (3 of 20). Most tools need one or two arguments and defaults are stated in the descriptions. The server is a Python package only (10 of 15).

### Reliability: MCP Toolbox for Databases +28

- 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.
- Redis MCP (52): Scored as local software, since the owner runs it over stdio. Official PyPI package `redis-mcp-server` with Python 3.10 to 3.14 stated in the metadata, though the README badge says 3.14 and later (20). The CI workflow runs on pushes, pull requests and nightly, on a five-version Python matrix against a live Redis with pytest and an 80 per cent coverage floor, but its run results couldn't be read on 4 November 2026 (GitHub's pages and API answered 403), so 15 under this run's reading for test CI with an unreadable result. Fresh PyPI installs failed to start from 28 July to 5 August 2026 after `mcp` 2.0.0 removed the module the server imports, fixed in 0.5.1 (issues #163 and #169). Issue #156, where the console command ignores `REDIS_HOST` and `REDIS_PORT`, was open with two unmerged fixes per the 9 October check (13 of 25). Tagged releases with numbers in semantic form, but no changelog file, release notes that are lists of pull request titles, and a patch release (0.5.1) that changed the `unsubscribe` input and added six tools. Issue #137 asking for semver tags had no reply (4 of 15). Version 0.5.1 with the classifier `Development Status :: 4 - Beta` (0).

### Schema & documentation: MCP Toolbox for Databases +21

- 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.
- Redis MCP (64): Each tool is built from a typed Python signature through FastMCP, so inputs carry JSON Schema, read from the source since we do not run vendor software. `get_vector_from_hash` has no return type, several tools return either a value or an error string, and there are no output schemas (21 of 25). redis.io serves llms.txt and a Markdown form of each docs page, and the README is Markdown (10). Most descriptions are one line plus an argument list. `scan_keys`, `scan_all_keys`, `hybrid_search` and `xreadgroup` say when to use them and what to avoid, and the rest do not (11 of 20). Required fields and defaults are typed, but there are no enums (`distance_metric` and the `info` section are free strings) and the bounds on `block_ms`, `timeout_ms` and `max_messages` are checked in code, not declared in the schema (8 of 15). The README and docs pages give client configuration examples. Tool examples exist only inside a few descriptions, and no list of error responses was found (6 of 15). Tagged versions and GitHub release notes, with no changelog file. The 0.4.0 notes name the docs tool `search_documents` where the source has `search_redis_documents`, and Redis's docs page still links a Smithery install that the README dropped in 0.3.5 (8 of 15).

### Security & auth: MCP Toolbox for Databases +21

- 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.
- Redis MCP (54): The server holds one Redis username and password, which Redis ACL rules can scope to keys and command categories and an admin can revoke, or Entra ID credentials for Azure Managed Redis with token renewal. TLS certificate checks are required by default. The README's main example passes the password inside `--url` on the command line, and every caller shares the one user (22 of 30). The server has no read-only mode, no allowlist and no confirmation before `delete`, `json_del`, `xdel` or `xgroup_destroy`. The README gives an ACL example for a read-only user, and no tool runs an arbitrary command, so `FLUSHALL`, `CONFIG` and `EVAL` are out of reach (9 of 20). Stored values, pub/sub messages and docs search results reach the model as they are. No injection guidance was found in the README or the docs pages read (2 of 15). Logging goes to stderr at WARNING by default, so calls are not recorded unless the level is lowered. The connection names itself `redis-py(mcp-server_v0.5.1)`, which Redis shows in `CLIENT LIST` (6 of 15). Redis has a valid security.txt, a HackerOne disclosure programme, and SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 on its trust centre. CI runs Bandit and hardened runners, and Dependabot updates are merged within days. The repository has no SECURITY.md and no published advisories (15 of 20).

### Transparency & trust: Redis MCP +13

- MCP Toolbox for Databases (64): Apache-2.0 (30). A self-hosted server; data goes only to the configured sources and to a telemetry exporter if one is set. There is no data-handling statement of its own (15). A versioning policy defining breaking changes, UPGRADING.md and a notice for the repository rename; prebuilt tool removals are listed in the changelog (16). Telemetry is off unless --telemetry-otlp or --telemetry-gcp is set, and the docs say so (16). 30 + 15 + 16 + 16 = 77.
- Redis MCP (77): MIT (30). Local software that connects to the configured Redis. `search_redis_documents` sends each question to redis.io, which the README mentions through `MCP_DOCS_SEARCH_URL` without saying what is sent or kept. The Redis Privacy Policy, last updated 29 November 2024, does not address this software, and no telemetry code was found in the 0.5.1 source (18 of 30). No deprecation policy. The README warns that the main branch may contain breaking changes, and the `unsubscribe` change in 0.5.1 came with no notice (4 of 20). No usage statistics on the evidence of the source. The docs search call can be redirected or switched off with an empty `MCP_DOCS_SEARCH_URL`, which the README does not present as an opt-out (13 of 20).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | MCP Toolbox for Databases | Redis MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 52 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +28 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 64 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +21 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 39 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +43 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 75 | 54 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +21 |
| 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 | 47 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +48 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 77 | Redis MCP +13 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **77.7 · BB** | **54.9 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | MCP Toolbox for Databases | Redis MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | MCP server |
| Vendor | Google | Redis |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP | stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Tools exposed | 29 | 53 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.googleapis/mcp-toolbox` | `io.github.redis/mcp-redis` |
| Last release | 2026-11-05 | 2026-08-04 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Popularity | 17k stars | 633 stars |

## How the scores have moved

### MCP Toolbox for Databases

No score change since it was listed.

### Redis MCP

- -0.9 on 4 November 2026: new evidence, checklist, time
- +0.1 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.

**Redis MCP.** Redis's server, under the MIT licence, maps 53 tools onto Redis commands, with typed inputs and a CI workflow that tests five Python versions against a live Redis. It has no read-only mode, tool annotations or changelog file, no release has followed 0.5.1 of 4 August 2026, and PyPI installs failed to start from 28 July to 5 August.

## 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

### Redis MCP

1. Pass the connection with `--url` or explicit flags. The `redis-mcp-server` command overrides `REDIS_HOST`, `REDIS_PORT`, `REDIS_DB`, `REDIS_SSL` and `REDIS_CLUSTER_MODE` with its own defaults when flags are absent
2. Use `scan_keys` with the returned cursor until it is 0. `scan_all_keys`, `hgetall`, `smembers` and `json_get` return everything they match with no limit
3. Read failures from the text. Tools return strings such as `Error ...` or an `error` key in place of an MCP error result
4. Keep the `subscription_id` from `subscribe` or `psubscribe` and pass it to `read_messages` and `unsubscribe`. Idle subscriptions close after 300 seconds
5. Connect as a Redis ACL user limited to the keys and command categories needed, since the server has no read-only switch and `delete` runs without confirmation

## Questions

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

MCP Toolbox for Databases scores 77.7 (BB) on agent readiness against Redis MCP's 54.9 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Redis MCP leads on transparency & trust.

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

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

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

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

### Are MCP Toolbox for Databases and Redis MCP open source?

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


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with MCP Toolbox for Databases or Redis MCP

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

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