Counting tokens: the 50 most-downloaded MCP servers cost up to 123k tokens each
poizin · reddit · 2026-10-24
A developer used Anthropic's token counter on 1,276 versions of the 50 most-downloaded npm MCP servers, minus Anthropic's 286-token tool-use overhead.
- Median is small (3,900 tokens), but 14 exceed 10k and three exceed 50k
- Hostinger's default command loads 423 tools at 123,813 tokens — past Haiku 5.5's 100k pricing line on its own; its narrower VPS command is just 67 tools
- Tool count doesn't predict cost: one server with 16 tools costs more than one with 276, since a single tool definition is 21,800 tokens
- MongoDB's definitions grew from 8,497 to 22,353 tokens across versions with identical tools/descriptions, because the newer version documents every parameter in-schema — better for the model, 14k extra tokens per request
- The author nearly published two false findings (inconsistent parsing; missing Xcode on Linux), so the write-up only compares versions read the same way
Write-up: smallprint.dev/blog/what-mcp-servers-cost; scripts and counts open-sourced.
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