Four kinds in plain words
Claude's directory mixes things that install in different places and do different jobs. Before you compare two listings, check which kind each one is.
- Connector. A remote MCP server listed in Claude's directory. You connect it once, often by signing in to the service, and Claude calls its tools over the internet. See the glossary entry for connector.
- Desktop extension. A local MCP server packaged for one-click install in Claude Desktop. It runs on your own computer, so it can work with local files and apps. See the glossary entry for desktop extension.
- Plugin. An installable bundle for Claude Code. It can hold skills, slash commands, agents, hooks or MCP servers, and you add it from a plugin marketplace. See the glossary entry for plugin.
- Skill. A folder of instructions, scripts and resources that Claude loads only when a task needs it. See the glossary entry for skill.
Plugins can carry skills. A plugin that carries only skills is a skills-only plugin: it adds know-how, not new tools, and it has no server behind it. In the directory data, skills are not a listing kind of their own. They arrive inside plugins.
Side by side
The kinds differ in where the code runs and how you add it. The counts are for the whole Claude directory on October 13, 2026.
| Kind | What it is | Where it runs | How you add it | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connector | A remote MCP server | On the provider's servers; Claude reaches it over the internet | Connect once, often with sign-in | 808 |
| Desktop extension | A local MCP server, packaged | On your computer, inside Claude Desktop | One-click install in Claude Desktop | 132 |
| Plugin | A bundle of skills, commands, agents, hooks or MCP servers | In Claude Code, on your machine | Install from a plugin marketplace | 3,252 |
| Skill | A folder of instructions, scripts and resources | Inside Claude, loaded when a task needs it | Inside a plugin, or added on its own | Not a listing kind |
Plugins outnumber connectors about 4 to 1. Keep that ratio in mind when you read Claude's ranks: where a list holds both kinds, every connector comes before every plugin in the rows we store.
How each kind is ranked
Claude's Most popular list ranks 1,157 of the 4,192 listings. The other 72% have no place in it. Most popular is three lists stuck together, so a plugin's number in it says nothing about how it compares with a connector. The first 200 rows, the part we store, are all connectors.
Connectors also have a list of their own. Connectors by popularity ranks 911 listings, and it is the cleaner place to compare one connector with another.
Tag lists show the stacking most clearly. Claude files listings under tags (what a listing acts on, department, industry, life area, subject), and each tag has its own popularity list. We store up to the first 25 rows of each, and in those rows 29 lists hold both kinds; all 29 follow the same pattern. Here are the four largest:
| Tag list | Ranked | First 25 rows | First plugin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Code | 132 | 16 connectors, then 9 plugins | #17 |
| APIs | 65 | 6 connectors, then 19 plugins | #7 |
| AI models & agents | 55 | 14 connectors, then 11 plugins | #15 |
| Data | 44 | 18 connectors, then 7 plugins | #19 |
So compare plugins with plugins. In Code, the plugin at #17 is the top plugin in the list, not the 17th-best listing. When you read a plugin's position anywhere on Claude, count only the plugins above it. That is rank within kind, and it is the only reading of these lists that holds up.
The MCP servers behind connectors
A connector is an MCP server on the open internet, with a public address. ChatGPT publishes no server addresses, which means every one of the 727 servers behind live listings is linked from a Claude listing. OpenApps records whether each one lists its tools without a sign-in.
575 servers are sign-in first, 506 of them through OAuth. Only 105 answer a tools/list request without one, and 39 keep their tool list restricted.
For you as a user, that changes what you can check before you commit. With an open server, the connector's page on OpenApps shows the tools it exposes, so you know what Claude will be able to do. With a sign-in server, you see the tools only after you connect your account, and the listing text is all you have beforehand. A plugin works the other way round: its files are installed on your machine, so you can read its skills and commands before you run them. A skills-only plugin has no tool list to show, because there is no server.
Which kind fits
- Claude should act in a web service you already use (mail, files, a CRM): look for a connector, and expect a sign-in step.
- Claude should work with files or apps on your own computer: look for a desktop extension.
- You work in Claude Code and want a repeatable way of working: install a plugin. If it carries only skills, it changes how Claude works, not what it can reach.
If you build for Claude, decide which kind you are and judge yourself against that kind. In every tag list that shows both kinds in the rows we store, the last connector sits above the first plugin, so a plugin's position will look weak next to any connector's. Track your rank among plugins and the movement of that rank over time.
Check the kind first. Compare connectors in Connectors by popularity, and compare a plugin only with the plugins in the same list. Then check the server: an open one lets you see the tools before you connect.