Pubmed MCP Server vs Paper Banana
Two MCP servers from our science & health ranking, compared on live data - updated nightly, never sponsored.
Bottom line · 2026-08-25
monthly package install counts are comparable (13,163 vs 15,480); both are actively maintained, with commits inside the last month.
How they differ in kind
Pubmed MCP Server focuses on: @cyanheads/pubmed-mcp-server Search PubMed/Europe PMC, fetch articles and full text (PMC/EPMC/Unpaywall), citations, MeSH terms via MCP. Paper Banana focuses on: Automated Academic Illustration for AI Scientists An agentic framework for generating publication-quality academic diagrams and statistical plots from text descriptions. Pubmed MCP Server offers a remote endpoint; Paper Banana is local stdio. Environment-variable extraction: Pubmed MCP Server yielded 3 variables; Paper Banana yielded 12 variables. Implementation languages differ (TypeScript vs Python).
What each one does
Pubmed MCP Server
@cyanheads/pubmed-mcp-server Search PubMed/Europe PMC, fetch articles and full text (PMC/EPMC/Unpaywall), citations, MeSH terms via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP. Its 11 documented tools cover pubmed, articles, europepmc.
From the project's README.
Paper Banana
Automated Academic Illustration for AI Scientists An agentic framework for generating publication-quality academic diagrams and statistical plots from text descriptions. Supports OpenAI (GPT-5.2 + GPT-Image-1.5), Azure OpenAI / Foundry, Google Gemini, and Atlas Cloud providers. It runs locally over stdio via the published package.
From the project's README.
14 signals, side by side
| Signal | Pubmed MCP Server | Paper Banana |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly installs | 13,163 | 15,480 |
| GitHub stars | 137 | 2,279 |
| Last commit | 2026-08-21 | 2026-08-17 |
| Releases · last 90 days | 10+ | 3 |
| In the registry since | Sep 2025 | Feb 2026 |
| Registry versions | 76 | 1 |
| Documented tools | 11 | not extracted - see README |
| Env vars extracted | 3 | 12 |
| Runs | local or remote | local (stdio) |
| Endpoint auth | none (verified open) | local only |
| Maintenance | actively maintained | actively maintained |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Category rank | #3 of 60 | #2 of 60 |
What their tools cover
Extracted from each project's README - the tools each server hands your agent. A missing list means the README doesn't document one, not that no tools exist.
Pubmed MCP Server 11 tools documented
pubmed_search_articles- Search PubMed with full query syntax, field-specific filters, date…pubmed_europepmc_search- Search Europe PMC for preprints, patents, Agricola, and EPMC-only OA…pubmed_europepmc_fetch- Fetch complete Europe PMC records - including the untruncated…pubmed_fetch_articles- Fetch full article metadata by PMIDs - abstract, authors, journal…pubmed_fetch_fulltext- Fetch full-text articles via a chain: NCBI PMC EFetch → Europe PMC…pubmed_format_citations- Generate formatted citations in APA 7th, MLA 9th, BibTeX, RIS, or…pubmed_find_related- Find similar articles, citing articles, or references for a given PMIDpubmed_spell_check- Spell-check biomedical queries using NCBI's ESpell service
+3 more on the full page
Paper Banana no tool list in README
Environment variables found in the READMEs
These are extracted names, not a requiredness check. Project docs may mark them optional or require other setup.
Pubmed MCP Server
- MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE
- MCP_LOG_LEVEL
- NCBI_API_KEY
Paper Banana
- GOOGLE_API_KEY
- OPENAI_API_KEY
- OPENAI_BASE_URL
- OPENAI_VLM_MODEL
- OPENAI_IMAGE_MODEL
- ATLASCLOUD_API_KEY
- ATLASCLOUD_BASE_URL
- ATLASCLOUD_VLM_MODEL
- ATLASCLOUD_IMAGE_BASE_URL
- ATLASCLOUD_IMAGE_MODEL
- GOOGLE_VLM_MODEL
- GOOGLE_IMAGE_MODEL
Which one, for what
Derived from the signals above, not hands-on testing.
Pick Pubmed MCP Server if…
- → release velocity matters - 10+ releases in 90 days vs 3
- → you want a hosted endpoint instead of running a local process
Pick Paper Banana if…
- → you prefer a Python codebase to extend or audit
- → measured package adoption matters - 15,480 monthly installs
Who's behind them
Pubmed MCP Server - cyanheads: 125 MCP servers tracked, 124 maintained, 1,730 combined stars. Full record.
Paper Banana - llmsresearch: 1 MCP server tracked, 1 maintained, 2,279 combined stars.
Not sold on either?
The next-ranked science & health servers we track:
Quick answers
Is Pubmed MCP Server better than Paper Banana?
The numbers don't separate them: 13,163 vs 15,480 monthly installs, and both committed within the last month. Choose on fit - execution model, extracted environment variables, endpoint authentication, and license are in the table above. Data as of 2026-08-25.
Can I use Pubmed MCP Server and Paper Banana together?
Yes - MCP clients accept multiple servers in one config, so you can enable both science & health servers side by side. If their tools overlap, keep the one whose toolset fits to keep your agent's tool list lean.
What environment variables do their READMEs document?
Pubmed MCP Server: 3 environment variables extracted from the README setup; Paper Banana: 12 environment variables extracted from the README setup. Extraction does not rule out other authentication or configuration steps; check each project's current documentation.
Keep exploring: best science & health servers · TypeScript servers · Python servers · all comparisons · every server
Methodology: package-usage signal = npm/PyPI installs (last month, platform APIs) · maintenance = commit recency + release cadence (GitHub) · tool lists and environment-variable names extracted from each project's README · endpoint auth from our own nightly probes. We haven't hand-tested these servers; everything here is data as of 2026-08-25.