{"slug": "mcp-server-resource-benchmark-ram-startup-time-and-tool-counts-for-11-servers", "title": "MCP server resource benchmark: RAM, startup time and tool counts for 11 servers", "summary": "A benchmark published 2026-08-20 by TechFuelHQ measured eleven popular MCP servers on Windows 11 and found each holds 178-422MB of RAM (median 188MB), starts in 0.5-1.9 seconds warm, and exposes between 1 and 26 tools, with a concurrent five-server stack totaling 961.6MB. The heaviest server was Qdrant (Python, 3.12 pin) at 422MB and 1,881ms ready, while GitHub (legacy npm) 0.6.2 was lightest at 178MB with 26 tools; bare Node and Python runtime floors measured 52.1MB and 15.2MB. Author LK Wood IV published the results as an open CC BY 4.0 CSV (dataset techfuelhq-mcp-server-bench v1.0.0) and reported the 961.6MB stack figure was cross-checked to the decimal via psutil and PowerShell WorkingSet64, concluding tool count barely predicts memory weight because the runtime and framework dominate.", "body_md": "Measured 2026-08-19 on Windows 11: eleven popular MCP servers hold 178-422MB of RAM each (median 188MB), start in 0.5-1.9 seconds warm, and a concurrent five-server stack totals 961.6MB — confirmed by two independent measurement paths. Runtime floors: 52MB bare Node, 15MB bare Python. Published as open CC BY 4.0 CSV.\n\n- Dataset ID\n- `techfuelhq-mcp-server-bench`\n- Version\n- 1.0.0\n- Rows\n- 11\n- Format\n- CSV\n- Published\n- Page updated\n\nBy [LK Wood IV](https://techfuelhq.com/author/lk-wood-iv/) · Published 2026-08-20 · ~3 min read · St. Louis County, MO\n\n## The short version\n\nI benchmarked eleven of the most-recommended MCP servers for what they cost to keep\nresident. The answer: **178-422MB of RAM each** (median 188MB), ready in 0.5-1.9 seconds\nwarm, with tool counts from 1 to 26. A realistic concurrent five-server stack totals\n**961.6MB**, and two independent measurement paths confirmed that figure to the decimal.\nTool count barely predicts weight. The runtime and framework dominate.\n\nDownload: [mcp-server-bench-2026-08.csv](https://techfuelhq.com/data/mcp-server-bench-2026-08.csv). CC BY 4.0,\nper-iteration arrays included.\n\n## The measured table\n\n| Server | Version | Ready | RSS | Tools | \n|---|---|---|---|---|\n| GitHub (legacy npm) | 0.6.2 | 547ms | 178MB | 26 | \n| Playwright | 1.63.0-alpha-2026-08-05 | 618ms | 227MB | 24 | \n| Time (Python) | 1.29.0¹ | 619ms | 181MB | 2 | \n| Sequential-thinking | 0.2.0 | 666ms | 186MB | 1 | \n| Memory | 0.6.3 | 667ms | 187MB | 9 | \n| Filesystem | 0.2.0 | 692ms | 188MB | 14 | \n| Git (Python) | 1.29.0¹ | 699ms | 185MB | 12 | \n| Fetch (Python) | 1.29.0¹ | 717ms | 220MB | 1 | \n| Context7 | 4.0.2 | 815ms | 214MB | 2 | \n| Desktop Commander | 0.2.47 | 1,705ms | 275MB | 26 | \n| Qdrant (Python, 3.12 pin) | 1.29.0¹ | 1,881ms | 422MB | 2 | \n\n¹ The four Python servers self-report 1.29.0 via serverInfo. That is a framework version string rather than each package’s own release number.\n\nControls on the same box: bare Node resident loop 52.1MB, bare Python loop 15.2MB. Five-server concurrent stack components: memory 189.8, filesystem 187.1, fetch 221.7, git 184.5, GitHub 178.5. Total: 961.6MB.\n\n## Method\n\nEach iteration spawns the server fresh (npx or uvx, warm package cache after one\ndiscarded warmup), completes the MCP initialize handshake over stdio, requests\ntools/list, then samples RSS across the full descendant process tree. I report medians\nof five iterations, three for the two servers benched later the same evening, marked in\nthe CSV. The bench script lives in our repo at ops/bench/mcp/mcp_bench.py. For the\ndecision layer, meaning which servers earn their memory and which to skip, read\n[the companion article](https://techfuelhq.com/self-hosted/best-mcp-servers-homelab-2026/).\n\nKnown limitations, named: one Windows 11 machine, warm caches, stdio transport only, readiness and listing timed rather than per-tool-call latency under load. The GitHub entry is the legacy npm package; GitHub’s current first-party server ships as a Go binary and hosted remote. Version 1.0.0 of this dataset; changes will be logged in the update history above.\n\n## Frequently asked questions\n\n## How much RAM does an MCP server use?\n\n## How was the five-server stack measured?\n\n## Why does the dataset sum the whole process tree?\n\n## What are the measurement conditions?\n\n## Sources and corrections\n\n- Last updated\n- Methodology\n- See our [methodology](https://techfuelhq.com/methodology/) for research and review standards.\n- Update log\n  - **2026-08-20** — v1.0.0 first publication. 11 servers, 5 iterations each (3 for the two late additions, marked in the CSV), warm package cache, stdio JSON-RPC initialize + tools/list, RSS summed over the full descendant process tree. Five-stack total cross-checked psutil vs PowerShell WorkingSet64: 961.6MB exact agreement.\n- Corrections\n- Spotted an error or a stale number? Email [contact@techfuelhq.com](mailto:contact@techfuelhq.com) . Confirmed corrections are recorded here with the date and change.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/mcp-server-resource-benchmark-ram-startup-time-and-tool-counts-for-11-servers", "canonical_source": "https://techfuelhq.com/data/mcp-server-bench/", "published_at": "2026-10-31 13:01:01+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-10-31 13:18:25.365682+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-agents", "agent-protocols", "ai-tools", "ai-infrastructure", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["TechFuelHQ", "LK Wood IV", "GitHub", "Playwright", "Qdrant", "Desktop Commander", "Context7", "Model Context Protocol"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/mcp-server-resource-benchmark-ram-startup-time-and-tool-counts-for-11-servers", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/mcp-server-resource-benchmark-ram-startup-time-and-tool-counts-for-11-servers.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/mcp-server-resource-benchmark-ram-startup-time-and-tool-counts-for-11-servers.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/mcp-server-resource-benchmark-ram-startup-time-and-tool-counts-for-11-servers.jsonld"}}