Compare macOS MCP servers
Every listicle ranks specialists. Here is what each server actually covers, what it verifies, and what happens when an agent tries something it should not. macos-mcp is the broad one — 44 tools, 24 on by default — and the specialists below are better at their speciality, which this page says out loud. Corrections welcome — open an issue and this page changes.
| Capability | macos-mcp | Peekaboo | XcodeBuildMCP | CursorTouch / MacOS-MCP | apple-mcp | mcp-remote-macos-use | Apple Safari MCP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UI automation from the accessibility tree (stable element ids, click/type/scroll/drag by id) | yes | partial (capture + input focus) | no | yes | no | no (VNC pixels) | no (web only) |
| Reads every effect back; a no-op write is an error, not a success | yes | no | n/a | no | no | no | n/a |
| Screenshots, OCR, find text on screen with clickable coordinates | yes | yes | simulator screenshots | screenshots | no | screenshots | page screenshots |
| Windows, apps, wait-for-condition, keyboard shortcuts on any layout | yes | apps, windows | no | yes | no | keys via VNC | no |
| Shell, vetted AppleScript recipes, clipboard, Spotlight | yes | shell/scripts | no | shell | no | no | no |
| Calendar, Reminders, Contacts (system permission prompts, typed denials) | yes | no | no | no | yes (archived 2026-01) | no | no |
| Shortcuts / App Intents | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Safari: DOM, console, network, JS eval | via Apple's server, mounted verbatim; AppleScript fallback elsewhere | no | no | no | no | no | yes (Safari 27 / STP) |
| Drive a real iPhone through iPhone Mirroring, in the phone's own device points, with every action verified | yes — 8 iphone_* tools, off by default | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown |
| Xcode builds, tests, simulators, previews | gateway to Apple's Xcode MCP built; mount blocked on Xcode's consent dialog | no | yes, deep (simctl, devicectl, LLDB) | no | no | no | no |
| Disposable macOS VMs on the host you run it on: clone a golden image, start it, verify it, destroy it | yes — macos-mcp vm, a CLI, single host today | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown — cited here as one remote Mac over VNC | unknown |
Multi-host fleet: a hub, leases, one config entry and a machine parameter that routes any tool to any Mac | designed & prototyped, in development | no | no | no | no | one remote Mac over VNC | no |
| Permission profiles (readonly / standard / full) | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Confirmation tokens for destructive tools | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Audit log (arguments digested) | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Secure fields never read or typed into | yes, typed refusal | no | n/a | no | n/a | no | n/a |
| Typed, stable error codes with recovery hints | yes | no | some | no | no | no | WebDriver errors |
| Frozen tool API with a deprecation policy enforced in CI | yes | no | no | no | no | no | n/a |
| Published, reproducible eval score | yes, dated (2026-09-06) | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Signed + notarized single binary, no runtime dependency | yes (Swift) | yes (Swift) | Node | Python | Bun/Node | Python | ships with Safari |
| Telemetry | none | — | opt-out Sentry | — | — | — | none |
| License | MIT | MIT | MIT | MIT | MIT | MIT | Apple |
Rows reflect each project's public README and tool list as of September 2026; “partial” means the capability exists in a narrower form. XcodeBuildMCP's telemetry note refers to its opt-out Sentry error reporting as documented in its README. “unknown” means unknown, not no: the iPhone Mirroring and disposable-VM rows are new, nothing in the sources cited here says whether the other projects do those things, and a capability missing from a README is not evidence that it is missing from the software. If you maintain one of these projects and something is out of date, say so and it will be fixed.
Where the specialists are better
- XcodeBuildMCP goes deeper on Xcode than Apple's own server: simulator and device control, LLDB, log capture. macos-mcp does not reimplement any of that, and its own Xcode mount is not shipped as working — run both.
- Peekaboo has a polished CLI and a long history of capture-and-input work in Swift. If capture is all you need, it is lighter.
- Apple's Safari MCP is the only thing that gives you Safari's DOM, console and network. macos-mcp's job there is to mount it and make it obey your permission profile, not to compete with it.
The one difference that matters
Every other server in the table trusts the platform's return code. macOS accessibility writes and synthetic events both report success while doing nothing — which is why agents on macOS so often say “done” about a field that is still empty. macos-mcp reads every effect back and calls a no-op what it is. The newest tools are the same rule on harder ground: a tap on a mirrored iPhone that moved no pixels comes back as action_unverified, and a freshly cloned VM is not handed over until vm verify has proved an accessibility read, a keystroke, a screen capture and a non-black frame inside it. That property, plus a permission model and an audit log, is what turns “an agent can drive my Mac” into “I let an agent drive my Mac”. The safety model →
FAQ
Which macOS MCP server should I use with Claude Code or Cursor?
If you want one server that covers the whole Mac — UI automation, screen, apps, files, Safari, and a mirrored iPhone — with a permission model, macos-mcp: 44 tools, 24 on by default. If you only need Xcode builds and simulators, XcodeBuildMCP is deep there and the two run side by side. If you only need screenshots and input, Peekaboo is a good specialist.
Does macos-mcp replace Apple's Safari MCP server?
No — it mounts it. Where Apple's Safari MCP server is available its 17 tools are re-exported verbatim as web_*, gated behind the same permission profiles; where it is not, an AppleScript fallback serves the same slot and labels every result method: fallback.
Is apple-mcp still maintained?
apple-mcp was archived on 2026-01-01. macos-mcp covers its Calendar, Reminders and Contacts surface with compatible tool names and publishes a migration map for the rest.
Which of these can control an iPhone, or a disposable macOS VM?
macos-mcp can do both: the ios toolset drives a real iPhone through the iPhone Mirroring window, and macos-mcp vm clones, runs, verifies and destroys a macOS guest on the host you run it on. For the other projects on this page the honest answer is that we do not know — nothing in the sources this page cites says whether they do either thing, so those cells read unknown rather than no. If you maintain one of them and the answer is yes, open an issue and the row changes.