Show HN: MCP Playground – free MCP test servers, inspector, and 10K+ server list

Posted by rupatiwari25 on Sunday March 01, 2026 @09:21AM
from the show-hn dept.

MCP Playground is a Postman-style tool for MCP — inspect servers, execute tools live, test your client, all from the browser.

Four things in one place:

1. Free hosted MCP servers — four public test servers anyone can point their client at: Echo (connectivity), Auth (Bearer token flow), Error (error handling), Complex (multi-tool schemas).No sign-up, just use the URL.

2. Server inspector — paste any remote MCP server URL, see all its tools/resources/prompts, execute them live, inspect the full JSON-RPC log. HTTP, SSE, and WebSocket all supported.

3. Registry — 10,000+ servers indexed by category. Each links to the repo and can be tested in the inspector directly.

4. Recipes + guides — 45 articles and step-by-step workflows for real use cases: GitHub PR reviewer, standup bot, database query assistant, Meta ads automation, and more.

Everything free, no install, no sign-up.

Happy to answer questions on the implementation.

( 11 comments | 7 points | on HN )

Re:Show HN: MCP Playground – free MCP test servers, inspecto... by guerython on Sunday March 01, 2026 @09:53AM (#47207246)

Love the hosted SSE/HTTP mirrors and registry. We built something similar to catch handshake drift in our remote MCP clients, and being able to replay the JSON-RPC log in-browser saved us from chasing environment-specific timeouts because we could rerun the exact frame sequence from the failure. One idea: add a little health badge per server showing last-seen transport (HTTP/SSE/WS) plus a running error count so integrators know which endpoint matches their stack before they flip the switch.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: MCP Playground – free MCP test servers, inspecto... by rupatiwari25 on Sunday March 01, 2026 @10:00AM (#47207307)

Really appreciate this — handshake drift is a real issue in MCP setups. Also love the health badge idea (showing last transport + error count would be super helpful).

Thanks for sharing

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: MCP Playground – free MCP test servers, inspecto... by guerython on Monday March 02, 2026 @10:30AM (#47219248)

appreciate it. we got burned by silent transport mismatch a few times, so that badge idea came from pain if you add it, exposing "last good handshake" timestamp is super useful too.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: MCP Playground – free MCP test servers, inspecto... by mt18 on Sunday March 01, 2026 @09:29AM (#47207017)

Any plan to support ws transport ? A few newer mcp servers are moving away from SSE

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: MCP Playground – free MCP test servers, inspecto... by rupatiwari25 on Sunday March 01, 2026 @09:30AM (#47207032)

yes, it’s in the pipeline.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: MCP Playground – free MCP test servers, inspecto... by mt18 on Sunday March 01, 2026 @09:37AM (#47207100)

I liked the recipe part though especially the Meta Ads one, you can keep it open for others to contribute as well—it could help increase engagement.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: MCP Playground – free MCP test servers, inspecto... by rupatiwari25 on Sunday March 01, 2026 @09:48AM (#47207206)

Noted. Thanks

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: MCP Playground – free MCP test servers, inspecto... by nikhiltiwari25 on Sunday March 01, 2026 @09:36AM (#47207097)

How is this different from MCP Inspector?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: MCP Playground – free MCP test servers, inspecto... by rupatiwari25 on Sunday March 01, 2026 @09:43AM (#47207161)

Inspector is the right tool for local STDIO servers — use it. We're complementary, not competing.

MCP Playground fills a different gap: no install (browser tab, nothing to run), built for remote HTTP/SSE endpoints rather than local processes, and includes hosted test servers so you can verify your client implementation without needing a server at all. Plus a registry if you're trying to discover what's out there.

Inspector ideal for: STDIO, local debugging, open source, deeper protocol introspection. MCP Playground for: zero setup, remote servers, client testing, browsing mcp registry/server list.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: MCP Playground – free MCP test servers, inspecto... by jacksm1243 on Sunday March 01, 2026 @02:48PM (#47210004)

Add a dark mode

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: MCP Playground – free MCP test servers, inspecto... by rupatiwari25 on Sunday March 01, 2026 @02:51PM (#47210032)

Noted. Thanks for the feedback.

[ Parent | on HN ]