# MCP Toolbox for Databases vs ReqRes MCP server

> MCP Toolbox for Databases scores 77.7 (BB) to ReqRes's 48.8 (D) for document databases. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-reqres-mcp
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mcp-toolbox-databases-vs-reqres-mcp.md (~3,750 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 ReqRes MCP server's 48.8 (D), and leads in every scored category. Both do document 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
- ReqRes MCP server: grade D, 48.8/100, rank #1114 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/reqres-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/reqres-mcp.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 30
- Schema & documentation, 85 against 61
- Agent ergonomics, 82 against 76
- Security & auth, 75 against 33
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 50
- Maintenance & community, 95 against 50
- Transparency & trust, 64 against 47

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Runs on your own machine
- Open source

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

### ReqRes MCP server (D)

Good for: Coding agents that need a throwaway or starter backend for a prototype, with no account to set up.

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for: A sponsored line in every successful result unless ?sponsor=0


## Why the edge

### Reliability: MCP Toolbox for Databases +50

- 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.
- ReqRes MCP server (30): status.reqres.in wasn't reachable (0). No history (5). Free-plan limits published with numbers (250 requests a day, 3 collections, 100 records) (15). No retry guidance (0). No SLA found (0). Not labelled beta (10). 0 + 5 + 15 + 0 + 0 + 10 = 30.

### Maintenance & community: MCP Toolbox for Databases +45

- 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.
- ReqRes MCP server (50): Registry entry in.reqres/reqres updated 16 October 2026 (30). No dated releases found (0). Blog and docs; no changelog (5 of 15). Official registry entry under its own namespace (15). No package to read (0). 30 + 0 + 5 + 15 + 0 = 50. 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.

### Security & auth: MCP Toolbox for Databases +42

- 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.
- ReqRes MCP server (33): No credential to start, and project keys returned by the tool (15 of 30). Writes on the agent's own project only (12 of 20). Every successful result ends with a sponsored message, labelled and 'never written as an instruction', which still puts third-party text in the model's context (3 of 15). No audit log (0). No security programme found (3 of 20). 15 + 12 + 3 + 0 + 3 = 33.

### Schema & documentation: MCP Toolbox for Databases +24

- 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.
- ReqRes MCP server (61): Seven tools read from tools/list with JSON Schema inputs (25). llms.txt (10). A tool table says what each does (12 of 20). Records and fields are free-form objects (5 of 15). Worked flow on the MCP page, no error docs (6 of 15). Registry 1.0.0, no changelog (3 of 15). 25 + 10 + 12 + 5 + 6 + 3 = 61.

### Transparency & trust: MCP Toolbox for Databases +17

- 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.
- ReqRes MCP server (47): Closed service under readable terms; operating company not named in the parts read (10 of 30). You own your data, unclaimed agent projects are deleted after 72 hours, and the terms say the free service can end with reasonable notice (22 of 30). That notice clause and the 72-hour rule are dated commitments (10 of 20). Subprocessors not found (5 of 20). 10 + 22 + 10 + 5 = 47.

### Payments & pricing: MCP Toolbox for Databases +10

- MCP Toolbox for Databases (60): Free, self-hosted, nothing to buy, so 20 + 20 + 20. No payment protocol (0).
- ReqRes MCP server (50): No machine payment protocol (0). Plan prices public (10). Free plan (20). An agent creates a project with no person (20). 0 + 10 + 20 + 20 = 50.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | MCP Toolbox for Databases | ReqRes MCP server | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 30 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +50 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 61 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +24 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 76 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +6 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 75 | 33 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +42 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 50 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 95 | 50 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +45 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 47 | MCP Toolbox for Databases +17 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **77.7 · BB** | **48.8 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | MCP Toolbox for Databases | ReqRes MCP server |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | MCP server |
| Vendor | Google | ReqRes |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://reqres.in/mcp` |
| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP | Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | none |
| Tools exposed | 29 | 7 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.googleapis/mcp-toolbox` | `in.reqres/reqres` |
| Last release | 2026-11-05 | none |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | not read yet |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | not read yet |
| Popularity | 17k stars | none |

## 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.

**ReqRes MCP server.** ReqRes' MCP server is the quickest way for a coding agent to stand up a real hosted backend, with no account, seven annotated tools and paginated records. Every result carries a sponsored line by default, the free tier is small, and unclaimed projects vanish after 72 hours.

## 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

### ReqRes MCP server

1. Add ?sponsor=0 to the server URL to keep ads out of context
2. Give the user the claim link so the project survives 72 hours
3. Use the public key in frontend code and keep the manage key server-side

## Questions

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

MCP Toolbox for Databases scores 77.7 (BB) on agent readiness against ReqRes MCP server's 48.8 (D), and leads in every scored category.

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

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

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

MCP Toolbox for Databases runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. ReqRes MCP server has a hosted endpoint at https://reqres.in/mcp.

### Are MCP Toolbox for Databases and ReqRes MCP server open source?

MCP Toolbox for Databases is open source (Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for ReqRes MCP server.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with MCP Toolbox for Databases or ReqRes MCP server

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

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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