Go Go chose zero dependencies.
Go chose zero dependencies.
Your MCP SDK didn't.
zeromcp vs go-sdk — side by side.
Dependencies
0 ZeroMCP
vs. 7 Official SDK
Throughput
4.88K req/s ZeroMCP
vs. 730 req/s Official SDK
Memory
23 MB ZeroMCP
vs. 44 MB Official SDK
This is a hello world
Imports, a server constructor, a builder pattern, a schema definition, and a type assertion. Go developers expect less ceremony.
go-sdk 8 lines
import "github.com/modelcontextprotocol/go-sdk/mcp"
s := mcp.NewServer("test", "1.0.0")
s.AddTool(mcp.NewTool("hello",
mcp.WithString("name", mcp.Required()),
), func(ctx context.Context, req mcp.CallToolRequest) (*mcp.CallToolResult, error) {
name := req.Params.Arguments["name"].(string)
return mcp.NewToolResultText(fmt.Sprintf("Hello, %s!", name)), nil
})This is the whole server
No builder pattern. No type assertions. No CallToolResult wrapping.
Register a function and serve.
ZeroMCP 8 lines
s := zeromcp.NewServer()
s.Tool("hello", zeromcp.Tool{
Description: "Say hello",
Input: zeromcp.Input{"name": "string"},
Execute: func(args map[string]any, ctx *zeromcp.Ctx) (any, error) {
return fmt.Sprintf("Hello, %s!", args["name"]), nil
},
})
s.ServeStdio()HTTP Performance — Head to Head
Mixed workload across all 7 MCP method types. 5-minute sustained load in Docker. Chi for ZeroMCP, stdio proxy for the official SDK.
req/s CPU Memory Ratio
ZeroMCP (Chi) 4.88K 0.00% 23 MB 6.7x
Official SDK 730 0.03% 44 MB
The official Go SDK bottlenecks at 730 req/s through the stdio proxy. ZeroMCP on Chi runs natively at 4.88K.
The tradeoff
Choose the official SDK
If your team already uses its module ecosystem and you want typed struct-based tool registration with auto-generated schemas.
- Struct validation — compile-time schema validation with Go structs
- Spec parity — tracks every spec change immediately
- Enterprise support — maintained by the MCP specification team at Anthropic
Choose ZeroMCP
If you want zero dependencies, stdlib only, and a handler that mounts on any Go router. Simpler to audit, simpler to vendor.
- 0 dependencies — stdlib only
- Chi + net/http + Gin
- Built-in sandbox with enforced permissions
- 4.88K req/s on Chi