Smithery Alternatives Before the October 31 Shutdown

Smithery shuts down its MCP proxy, API, Connect and accounts on October 31, 2026. For most people the answer is the vendor's own MCP URL. Teams that need managed sign-in for their users should look at Arcade or Pipedream, and developers who prefer to host themselves can use Docker's MCP Catalog locally or Cloudflare Workers for a remote server.

Before you move

Smithery's notice lists what stops on October 31, 2026: server URLs on run.tools and server.smithery.ai, the Smithery API, Connect and Toolbox, accounts and API keys, and the CLI and SDKs, whose current versions are marked deprecated. The smithery.ai site continues as a public directory powered by Arcade.dev, and verified servers list their direct MCP URLs.

The notice gives two paths:

1. Individuals switch to the vendor's official MCP URL, found on the server's page on smithery.ai.
2. Teams managing connections for their users need a replacement before October 31. The notice points to Arcade.dev for ready-made MCPs such as Gmail or Slack.

Every charge since August 5 is refunded and subscriptions are cancelled. The notice describes no export option for data or configuration, and it does not say how publishers who host servers on Smithery are affected, so publishers should write to the contact address on that page.

What matters when you replace Smithery

Smithery did three jobs: it hosted server URLs, it handled sign-in through Connect, and it listed servers. Match each to a replacement.

Trust matters too. A Hacker News post from April 2026 described a scan of the 100 most popular servers on Smithery, with 22 flagged and tool-description injection in six. The author estimated about half of the YARA findings were true positives, so treat it as a caution rather than a verdict. It does favour connecting to the vendor's own server where one exists.

The criteria below are what each pick is judged on: which of those jobs it replaces, who operates the server, cost, effort on your side, and whether you can self-host.

The vendor's official MCP URL

If your client connects to a service that runs its own MCP server, you can skip any middleman. Smithery's notice says verified servers will list direct URLs such as mcp.linear.app/mcp, and that individuals should use them. The official MCP Registry offers search and an API for discovering servers, and GitHub's MCP Registry lists 648 servers, each with a publisher and an Install button.

Neither page says whether it hosts servers, so these replace Smithery's directory, not its proxy. Prices are set by each vendor.

Who should not pick it: teams that must manage sign-in for many users.

Arcade

Arcade is the company Smithery now belongs to, and the notice that recommends it is signed by a Smithery cofounder who describes himself as now part of Arcade, so weigh that recommendation accordingly. Its documentation describes an actions runtime for agents that handles OAuth and user tokens, offers 7,500+ agent-optimized tools across 81 MCP servers and MCP Gateways, and lets you register your own MCP server. Deployment options include Arcade Cloud and self-hosting with Helm.

Arcade's pricing page lists a Free plan at $0 per month with 2,000 auth events and 2,000 tool calls, a Team plan at $25 per month plus $0.10 per auth event and $0.01 per tool call, and custom Enterprise pricing with VPC or air-gapped deployment. The pages do not state whether Arcade is open source.

Who should not pick it: someone who needs more than 2,000 tool calls a month and wants a fixed price.

Pipedream

Pipedream runs a hosted MCP server for apps. According to its MCP documentation, it covers more than 3,000 APIs with over 10,000 tools, serves a remote endpoint over SSE and streamable HTTP, and provides built-in user authentication, with a button in your UI or a Connect Link returned when an account is missing.

Pipedream's pricing shows a Free plan at $0 that allows development only, with no production environment and external users limited to development. Startup costs $99 per month billed annually or $150 billed monthly, and Business is custom. Our Zapier alternatives and n8n alternatives pages cover the wider automation field.

Who should not pick it: a team that needs production use without paying.

Docker MCP Catalog and Toolkit

Docker's catalog is the local option. According to Docker's documentation, catalogs include more than 300 verified servers packaged as container images, profiles group servers into named sets, and clients such as Claude Code, Cursor and Zed connect through the MCP Gateway. You configure a profile once instead of setting up each server for every app.

The page states no price or licence and notes that the MCP Gateway as part of Docker AI Governance is invite-only. If you are new to containers, see our Docker Desktop alternatives.

Who should not pick it: users who want a hosted URL with no local software.

Cloudflare Workers

Cloudflare suits developers who wrote their own MCP server and used Smithery to host it. Cloudflare's guide deploys a remote server through a Deploy to Workers button or npx wrangler@latest deploy, serves it at /mcp on a workers.dev subdomain over streamable HTTP, and describes optional OAuth through the Workers OAuth Provider.

The guide does not mention a free plan or prices, so check Cloudflare's pricing before you rely on it.

Who should not pick it: anyone who does not write or maintain server code.

When a paid tool is the better answer

Paid plans make sense when you serve other people's accounts. Arcade's Free plan stops at 2,000 tool calls, and Pipedream's Free plan is limited to development, so a product with real users will pay on either. Individuals connecting their own client can usually stay free by using vendor URLs, the registries or Docker.

Comparison

How to choose

• You connect Claude, Cursor or another client to a few services. Use each vendor's official MCP URL and a registry for discovery.
• You build a product where users link their own accounts. Arcade or Pipedream, depending on which integrations you need.
• You want everything on your machine. Docker's catalog with a profile shared across clients.
• You wrote your own server. Cloudflare Workers, plus OAuth if users sign in.

If your clients are coding agents, see our Claude Code alternatives guide.