The Best mcp-remote Alternatives in 2026

What mcp-remote does in 2026

mcp-remote is an npm package that sits between a client that can only launch local stdio servers and a remote MCP server that speaks HTTP. Your client runs it as a command; it opens the remote connection, runs the OAuth sign-in in your browser and stores tokens under ~/.mcp-auth. Its README documents --header and --header-file for API keys, --transport to pick HTTP or SSE, --resource to keep two tenants of one server apart, --ignore-tool to hide tools, and the OAuth device-code and client-credentials grants for machines without a browser. npm releases from version 0.2.5 (August 26, 2026) list github.com/punkpeye/mcp-remote as the repository, earlier releases pointed to geelen/mcp-remote (the first few named no repository), and the README credits Glen Maddern as the original author. The latest release is 0.15.2, published October 20, 2026, under the MIT license. The README says you can remove it once your client supports remote, authorized servers. In 2026 most popular clients do.

What we looked for

We kept an option only if it does mcp-remote's job: getting an AI client talking to an MCP server at a URL. For native client support we checked each vendor's docs for four things: adding a server by URL, transports (Streamable HTTP, the older SSE, or both), whether the client runs the MCP OAuth flow or only sends static headers, and whether the connection starts on your machine or in the vendor's cloud. For bridges we checked the same auth and transport questions plus license and current release. Hosted servers such as Atlassian's or Notion's are what sits on the other end, not alternatives; our remote MCP server guide covers those.

Claude and Claude Desktop: custom connectors

Claude adds any remote MCP server by URL as a custom connector on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans; Free allows one. On Team and Enterprise an Owner adds it and members sign in with their own accounts. For OAuth, Claude can identify itself with its published Client ID Metadata Document (Anthropic's recommendation), register through Dynamic Client Registration, or use your own client ID. Fixed request headers for API keys are in beta for a limited set of organizations, up to four per connector. The catch: Claude connects from Anthropic's cloud, not your device, so the server must be reachable on the public internet from Anthropic's IP ranges. A server on localhost or a private network needs an allowlist, MCP tunnels (an Enterprise research preview, by request) or a local process. Local servers in claude_desktop_config.json do use your own network, which is why an mcp-remote entry there can still reach an internal server that a custom connector cannot. For server ideas, see our best MCP servers for Claude.

Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code and Codex

Claude Code adds a remote server with claude mcp add --transport http <name> <url>, takes --header for tokens and runs OAuth through /mcp. Its docs call SSE deprecated. Cursor speaks stdio, SSE and Streamable HTTP; a remote entry in mcp.json is a url plus optional headers, and sign-in uses the authorization code flow with PKCE, Dynamic Client Registration or a static CLIENT_ID and CLIENT_SECRET. VS Code accepts type http or sse, tries HTTP first and falls back to SSE, and opens a browser sign-in when you set an oauth clientId. OpenAI's Codex reads a url from config.toml, can send a bearer token named in bearer_token_env_var, and starts OAuth with codex mcp login. In all four the connection starts on your machine, so internal servers work without a bridge. See our Claude Code MCP servers and best MCP servers for Cursor lists.

ChatGPT developer mode

OpenAI lists developer mode, which adds custom MCP servers, as available on the web to Pro, Plus, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts. It supports SSE and streaming HTTP with OAuth, no authentication, or mixed authentication. For OAuth it uses static credentials if given, otherwise a Client ID Metadata Document or Dynamic Client Registration. Like Claude, ChatGPT needs a server it can reach over the internet: a public HTTPS endpoint, or OpenAI's Secure MCP Tunnel for a private server.

Bridges for stdio-only clients

If your client cannot take a URL, you still need a local process. supergateway (MIT, 4.2.1 on npm as of October 24, 2026, Node 20 or newer) connects to a remote SSE or Streamable HTTP server and presents it over stdio, or publishes a local stdio server over SSE, WebSockets or Streamable HTTP. It authenticates upstream with --header or --oauth2Bearer, a fixed token; its README describes no OAuth sign-in flow. sparfenyuk's mcp-proxy (MIT, 0.13.0 on PyPI, Python 3.10 or newer) does both jobs too, with headers, an OAuth2 client ID, secret and token URL, or basic and digest credentials, and installs with uv tool, pipx or a container. It is unrelated to the mcp-proxy container in Anthropic's MCP tunnels stack. Docker's MCP Toolkit and FastMCP, in the cards below, are a managed gateway and a code route. To expose a local server instead, see our local MCP server guide.

Which option fits your client

On claude.ai or Cowork, local servers from claude_desktop_config.json are not available, so use a custom connector, and the server must be public or tunnelled. In Claude Desktop, use a connector for public servers and keep mcp-remote or a desktop extension for servers only your machine can reach. In Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code or Codex, replace the mcp-remote wrapper with the URL; keep it only if you rely on an mcp-remote option your client does not document, such as --resource for separate tenants or the device-code grant. In ChatGPT, use developer mode on an eligible plan. For a stdio-only app, use mcp-remote when the server uses OAuth, supergateway or mcp-proxy when a token is enough, and Docker's gateway for many servers behind one entry. Python teams can build MCP servers with FastMCP and use its create_proxy helper.

Security and OAuth

A bridge runs with your user permissions and holds your tokens. JFrog disclosed CVE-2025-6514 in mcp-remote on July 9, 2025: a CVSS 9.6 command injection in versions 0.0.5 to 0.1.15, fixed in 0.1.16, where a malicious server's crafted authorization endpoint could run arbitrary commands on Windows and launch executables on macOS and Linux. Current releases are well past the fix, but an old pinned npx line is not. Pieces' docs recommend a global install with a pinned version rather than letting npx fetch the package on every launch, and mcp-remote's --header-file keeps tokens out of the process list. Native clients remove the extra layer. Either way, connect only to servers you trust, check the scopes you grant and block tools you do not need; Claude's tool permissions and mcp-remote's --ignore-tool flag both allow that.

Costs

As of October 2026, mcp-remote, supergateway and mcp-proxy are free under MIT, and FastMCP is free under Apache-2.0. Docker's gateway is MIT licensed, but the Toolkit lives in Docker Desktop, which is free for personal use, education, non-commercial open source and companies with fewer than 250 employees and under $10 million in revenue, and paid above that. Claude's Free plan allows one custom connector; ChatGPT developer mode needs Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Education. Remote MCP is not sold separately in Cursor, VS Code or Codex, so we did not compare those subscriptions.

Lock-in and switching

Leaving mcp-remote is a config change. The server URL stays the same: move it from the npx args into the client's url field or connector dialog, sign in once, and clear ~/.mcp-auth if you no longer need the cached tokens. The lock-in sits in the client. Claude does not let you edit a connector's authentication settings after adding it, so new OAuth credentials or headers mean removing and re-adding it, and Team and Enterprise connectors belong to the organization. A bridge keeps one setup portable across stdio clients. Rethinking where you find servers too? Our Glama alternatives page compares registries and gateways.

What we could not verify

FastMCP's proxy docs cover header forwarding only, so we could not confirm that a proxy can use the FastMCP client's OAuth flow upstream. OpenAI's help article on developer mode would not load, so ChatGPT plan details come from OpenAI's developer-mode guide. OpenAI's newer plugin docs describe adding a custom MCP server from ChatGPT Plugins without naming developer mode, so the menu path may differ. VS Code's reference documents an oauth clientId but says nothing about dynamic registration. We did not check Windsurf, Zed or Raycast against their own docs.

How we chose

We compared official docs from Anthropic, OpenAI, Cursor, Microsoft, Docker and FastMCP, the READMEs and npm or PyPI records of mcp-remote, supergateway and mcp-proxy, and JFrog's advisory, all read on October 27, 2026. We did not install, run or test any of them. Native options come first because they remove a moving part; among bridges we favoured full OAuth, a current release and a clear license. Cards appear only for tools with a listing here, the Docker MCP server and FastMCP. New to the protocol? Read how MCP servers work.

The Verdict

Most people looking for an mcp-remote alternative can stop using a bridge. Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and ChatGPT take a server URL and run OAuth themselves: move the URL into the client's settings and sign in once.

Keep a bridge for stdio-only clients and for private servers that Claude or ChatGPT cannot reach over the internet. For OAuth servers, a current mcp-remote release is still the best tool; for fixed tokens, supergateway or mcp-proxy are lighter; for many servers behind one entry, use Docker's MCP Toolkit gateway. Keep whichever you run updated. To pick what to connect next, browse our remote MCP server list.

Sources

• mcp-remote README (GitHub)
• mcp-remote original repository
• mcp-remote on npm
• JFrog: CVE-2025-6514 in mcp-remote
• Pieces: mcp-remote configuration
• Claude: add a connector that isn't in the directory
• Claude Help: custom connectors using remote MCP
• Claude: MCP tunnels
• MCP docs: connect to remote MCP servers
• Claude Code: connect to tools via MCP
• Cursor: Model Context Protocol
• VS Code: MCP configuration reference
• VS Code: add MCP servers
• OpenAI Codex: MCP
• OpenAI: ChatGPT developer mode
• OpenAI: connect a custom MCP server to ChatGPT
• Docker MCP Toolkit documentation
• Docker MCP Catalog documentation
• Docker MCP gateway repository
• Docker Desktop license terms
• supergateway repository
• supergateway on npm
• mcp-proxy (sparfenyuk) repository
• mcp-proxy on PyPI
• FastMCP proxy servers
• FastMCP client OAuth
• FastMCP on PyPI
• FastMCP repository