Where to list an MCP server or an AI agent: the official registry, the marketplaces and the directories, with their rules

Start with the official MCP Registry. It's the MCP project's own list of servers: you publish your server's details there yourself, from the command line, and MCP marketplaces are meant to read from it. Then list the server where people browse and install. Glama, Smithery and LobeHub index and rank servers. MCP.so and MCP Market take free submissions and sell a faster route. Docker's MCP Catalog and Cline's MCP Marketplace review a server before they list it in their own tools.

An AI agent goes elsewhere: to agent directories such as AgentHunter and AI Agents List, whose prices are in AI tool directories. This guide sets out what each MCP place on our list asks of you, from its own pages as we read them on 30 September and 2 October 2026, plus the MCP Registry's own documentation. We don't publish servers or measure the installs a listing brings, and we take no money from the places we list.

01The MCP places side by side

The table shows what each poster on the list shows: the kind, the cost, the approval time where the site gives one, and the date of our last check. Hover a value to see the full text we read. A blank cost means we found no listing price on the site's own pages.

Expect to sign in. 12 AI directories on the list ask for an account, often a GitHub one, before you can submit, and most of the MCP places are among them. Your server's code probably lives on GitHub already, so this is rarely a hurdle.

02Start with the official MCP Registry

The Official MCP Registry is run by the MCP project itself. Its about page (opens in a new tab), as we read it on 2 October 2026, calls it "the official centralized metadata repository for publicly accessible MCP servers", backed by contributors "such as Anthropic, GitHub, PulseMCP, and Microsoft." It also says: "The MCP Registry is currently in preview. Breaking changes or data resets may occur before general availability."

Three things on that page decide how you use it:

• It holds a description, not your code. "Package registries — such as npm, PyPI, and Docker Hub — host packages with code and binaries. The MCP Registry hosts metadata that points to those packages." So publish the server somewhere public first: a package on a public registry, or a remote server anyone can reach. "The MCP Registry does not support private servers."
• Your name proves who you are. Server names "follow a reverse DNS format (like io.github.username/server or com.example/server) that ties them to verified GitHub accounts or domains." Only the owner of that account or domain can publish under it.
• It's built for other directories to read. "The MCP Registry is intended to be consumed primarily by downstream aggregators, such as MCP server marketplaces." The page expects them to pull new entries "on a regular but infrequent basis (for example, once per hour)".

You publish with the registry's mcp-publisher command-line tool, and the registry checks your entry against the package: "The MCP Registry verifies that a server's underlying package matches its metadata." It doesn't review your code. The about page leaves security scanning to the package registries and to the marketplaces downstream, and keeps manual takedowns for spam and malicious servers.

Which marketplaces import from the registry, and how often, is up to each one, and the pages we read don't say. So treat a registry entry as the base, not the whole job. One directory shows why it comes first anyway. PulseMCP, one of the registry's backers, is not on our list because it isn't taking submissions. Its submit page (opens in a new tab), read on 2 October 2026, says: "We are not accepting new MCP server or client submissions right now, and we are not making changes to existing listings." Meanwhile it sends makers to the official registry.

03Registries that index and rank servers

Glama describes itself like this:

D143Glama MCP Registry·In their words

“Everything MCP – servers updated daily. The most comprehensive registry of Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, clients, tools, and integrations.”

You add your server, or claim one it already found, and Glama decides how high it shows: "Glama indexes, scans, and ranks servers based on security, compatibility, and ease of use." We found no price for a listing on its pages.

Smithery is where agent builders find tools to connect ("Connect agents to services in minutes"). Publishing is self-serve: "If you’ve already deployed an MCP server elsewhere, you can publish it directly on Smithery via the URL method. Any server exposing Streamable HTTP is compatible." It also takes servers packaged as an MCPB bundle. We found no listing price; its pricing page (opens in a new tab), read on 2 October 2026, carries a banner: "Smithery is now a part of Arcade.dev!" The way to publish was unchanged when we read it.

LobeHub MCP Marketplace ranks servers "by activity, stability, and community feedback". You publish to it from the terminal: "Log in and publish new versions with the official CLI".

04Marketplaces with a paid fast lane

MCP.so takes "an MCP server, client, CLI, Agent Skill, or Loop" and offers two routes: a free submission that waits for review, or a $39 one-time Premium fee to "Publish immediately without review". Its submit page adds that "premium submissions get a dofollow link, faster review, and featured placement."

MCP Market, a directory of MCP servers and agent skills, puts a number on its wait: "Free Queue Avg. 4–6 week listing time", or $29 one-time to be "Listed within 24 hours".

Both sell time, the same trade most AI tool directories make. Look at what MCP.so's fee skips: the review. Skipping it doesn't make your server look safer to the people deciding whether to install it, so if no date is pressing, the free route costs you only weeks. If the followed link is the draw, read what Google's spam policies say about paid links first; AI tool directories quotes them.

05Catalogs inside the tools developers use

Some catalogs belong to a product, so a listing puts your server in front of that product's users. They're also the strictest.

Docker MCP Catalog is Docker Hub's catalog of containerized servers: "Access the largest library of containerized MCP servers". You submit by pull request to Docker's registry repository on GitHub. Its contributing guide says "Every pull request requires a review from the Docker team before merging", and an approved entry goes live within 24 hours. It also has a license rule: "Make sure that the license of your MCP Server allows people to consume it. (MIT or Apache 2 are great, GPL is not)."

Cline MCP Marketplace is Cline's own:

D194Cline MCP Marketplace·In their words

“Welcome to Cline's MCP Marketplace repository! Submit your MCP servers for others to easily discover and one-click install with Cline.”

You submit by opening an issue in its GitHub repository. The team vets each server on adoption, maintainer credibility, maturity and security, and says: "Our team aims to review submissions within a couple of days."

Cursor Directory lists community plugins for Cursor, MCP servers among them: "Extend Cursor with community plugins."

Docker's license rule and Cline's vetting mean a weekend project may not get in. List in the open registries first, and come back to these once the server has users and a license that fits.

06Directories for AI agents

An agent is a product people use, not a tool another agent connects to, so it goes to different places. AgentHunter and AI Agents List are directories of AI agents. AI Agent Store is a marketplace of agents: "Your starting point for a world of AI agents". OpenTools lists AI tools and MCP servers side by side, on a paid subscription. What each one charges, how long it takes and which want a link back is in AI tool directories, so we don't repeat it here.

On Reddit, the list has subreddits that take agent and MCP projects, each in one pinned thread: r/AI_Agents in its weekly Project Display thread, and r/ClaudeAI in its Built with Claude megathread. We read their rules in each subreddit's public RSS feed, because Reddit blocks our link checker, and the feed doesn't carry the rules in the sidebar. Read the sidebar before you post. Both rules are in subreddits for founders, and how to post without a ban is in how to promote a startup on Reddit.

07An order that follows the rules

Each place's rules suggest an order. It's built from what each one asks, not from our own launches.

1. Publish the server. Put the package on a public registry such as npm, PyPI or Docker Hub, or deploy the remote server, under a license that says what people may do with it.
2. The official registry. Publish its details under your GitHub or domain namespace with mcp-publisher.
3. The open registries. Add or claim it on Glama, Smithery and LobeHub.
4. The free queues. Submit to MCP.so and MCP Market. MCP Market quotes four to six weeks, so count back from any date you care about, and pay only if that date can't move.
5. The curated catalogs. Docker's and Cline's, once the server has users and a license that fits their rules.
6. The people. A Show HN and the developer communities in launching a developer tool, once anyone can try the server in a few minutes, and the pinned threads above.

If your server or agent runs on Claude or OpenAI models, both companies run startup programs that can include API credits; who qualifies is in startup credits programs. Accelerators that back AI companies with money are in AI startup accelerators.

Add each place to My launch with the + on its poster to keep track:

08How we checked

The facts about each place come from its own pages, read on 30 September and 2 October 2026, and its page on the list shows the source and the day. The MCP Registry's about page (opens in a new tab), PulseMCP's submit page (opens in a new tab) and Smithery's pricing page (opens in a new tab) were read on 2 October 2026. Subreddit rules come from each subreddit's public RSS feed, because Reddit blocks our link checker. We check that each place still works and read its own pages; we don't publish servers or measure installs. Nobody pays to be listed or to appear in a guide. Read how we check for the details.

09Questions

01

Where do I submit an MCP server?

Publish its details to the official MCP Registry first, with the registry's command-line publisher, then add it where people browse: Glama, Smithery, LobeHub, MCP.so and MCP Market. Docker's MCP Catalog and Cline's MCP Marketplace review a server before they list it. The table in this guide shows each one's cost and wait.

02

Is there an official MCP server registry?

Yes. The MCP project runs the MCP Registry, which its documentation calls the official centralized metadata repository for publicly accessible MCP servers. It was in preview when we read it on 2 October 2026. It stores details that point to your package or remote server, not the code, and it is meant to be read by marketplaces rather than directly by the apps that use MCP servers.

03

Is it free to list an MCP server?

On most MCP places on our list we found no listing price. MCP.so and MCP Market have a free route that waits for review or a queue, and a one-time fee to publish faster. Their prices are in the table in this guide and on their pages on the list.

04

How do I get my MCP server into Docker's MCP Catalog?

By pull request to Docker's MCP registry repository on GitHub. The Docker team reviews every pull request before merging, and the server's license must let people use it: Docker's guide names MIT and Apache 2 as fine and GPL as not.

05

Where can I list an AI agent?

In agent directories such as AgentHunter, AI Agents List and AI Agent Store, and in the weekly Project Display thread of r/AI_Agents. What each directory charges and how long it takes is in our guide to AI tool directories.