PHP Faster than bare echo.
Faster than bare echo.
593 lines.
zeromcp vs mcp/sdk — side by side.
Dependencies
0 ZeroMCP
vs. 22 Official SDK
Throughput
1.30K req/s ZeroMCP
vs. 16 req/s Official SDK
Memory
33 MB ZeroMCP
vs. 64 MB Official SDK
This is a hello world
Use statement, server instantiation, class-based registration, schema array, and transport setup. 9 lines of ceremony before your tool does anything.
mcp/sdk 9 lines
use Mcp\Server\McpServer;
$server = new McpServer('test', '1.0.0');
$server->registerTool('hello',
'Say hello',
['name' => ['type' => 'string']],
function($args) {
return "Hello, {$args['name']}!";
});
$server->runStdio();This is the whole server
No use statement. No server class. No registration closures.
Drop it in a folder and run zeromcp serve.
ZeroMCP 9 lines
<?php
// tools/hello.php
$TOOL = [
'description' => 'Say hello',
'input' => ['name' => 'string']
];
function execute($args, $ctx) {
return "Hello, {$args['name']}!";
}HTTP Performance — Head to Head
Mixed workload across all 7 MCP method types. 5-minute sustained load in Docker. Slim for ZeroMCP, stdio proxy for the official SDK.
req/s CPU Memory Ratio
ZeroMCP (Slim) 1.30K 0.00% 33 MB 81x
Official SDK 16 0.36% 64 MB
The official PHP SDK processes 16 requests per second (54ms each). ZeroMCP on Slim handles 1.30K — 81x faster.
The tradeoff
Choose mcp/sdk
If you want the official Composer package and are building on the standard PHP MCP transport layer.
- Class registration — OOP class-based tool registration
- Spec parity — tracks every spec change immediately
- Enterprise support — maintained by the MCP specification team at Anthropic
Choose ZeroMCP
If you want 81x the throughput, zero Composer dependencies, and a .php file that just works.
- 0 Composer dependencies
- File-based tools — drop a .php file, it's live
- Slim HTTP embedding
- Built-in sandbox with enforced permissions
- 1.30K req/s on Slim