Java 988 lines.
988 lines.
No Spring. No Netty.
zeromcp vs mcp-java-sdk — side by side.
Dependencies
1 ZeroMCP
vs. 15 Official SDK
Throughput
4.38K req/s ZeroMCP
vs. 2.40K req/s Official SDK
Memory
207 MB ZeroMCP
vs. 217 MB Official SDK
This is a hello world
A server builder, JsonSchema objects, CallToolResult wrapping, and transport setup. 13 lines of ceremony before your tool does anything.
mcp-java-sdk 13 lines
var server = McpServer.sync("test")
.tool(new SyncToolSpecification(
new Tool("hello", "Say hello",
new JsonSchemaObject(Map.of("name",
new JsonSchemaString()))),
(exchange, args) -> new CallToolResult(
List.of(new TextContent(
"Hello, " + args.get("name") + "!"))
)
))
.build();
var transport = new StdioServerTransport();
server.connect(transport);This is the whole server
No builder chain. No JsonSchema objects. No CallToolResult wrapping.
Register a lambda and serve.
ZeroMCP 7 lines
var server = new ZeroMcp();
server.tool("hello", Tool.builder()
.description("Say hello")
.input(new Input().required("name", "string"))
.execute((args, ctx) ->
"Hello, " + args.get("name") + "!")
.build());
server.serveStdio();HTTP Performance — Head to Head
Mixed workload across all 7 MCP method types. 5-minute sustained load in Docker. Javalin for ZeroMCP, stdio proxy for the official SDK.
req/s CPU Memory Ratio
ZeroMCP (Javalin) 4.38K 0.16% 207 MB 1.8x
Official SDK 2.40K 0.15% 217 MB
The tradeoff
Choose the official SDK
If you're already in a Spring stack and want familiar abstractions — McpServer builders, annotation-driven configuration.
- Builder pattern — full builder pattern with typed schemas
- Spec parity — tracks every spec change immediately
- Enterprise support — maintained by the MCP specification team at Anthropic
Choose ZeroMCP
If you want one dependency (gson), plain java.net.http, and a minimal classpath you can reason about.
- 1 dependency (gson)
- Plain java.net.http — no framework lock-in
- Javalin HTTP embedding
- Built-in sandbox with enforced permissions
- 4.38K req/s on Javalin