Time (reference) vs Desktop Commander
Both are utilities MCP servers, and we ran both through the same test (time zones, write read back) in each app. Time (reference) passed 4 of 4 apps we tested it in; Desktop Commander passed 2 of 4.
Test results side by side
| Time (reference) | Desktop Commander | |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | Passed 2026-10-21 | Partial 2026-10-15 |
| Cursor | Passed 2026-10-21 | Partial 2026-10-15 |
| Claude Desktop | Passed 2026-10-19 | Passed 2026-10-19 |
| ChatGPT (Codex) | Passed 2026-10-19 | Passed 2026-10-20 |
| Tools exposed (protocol check) | 2 tools | 25 tools |
| GitHub stars | 91,266 (shared repo) | 10,054 |
| License | NOASSERTION | MIT |
| Last push | 2026-10-13 | 2026-10-14 |
Results from our own harness runs, dated per cell. Stars and last push from GitHub at our last data refresh. We don’t pick a winner here: which one fits depends on your app and setup.
What each does
Time (reference): Current time and time-zone conversion.
Desktop Commander: Terminal and file-system access for an agent: run commands, search files and make diff-based edits.
