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Context7 vs LeanCTX

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors.

The short answer

Entry price
Context7 from $10/seat/mo, LeanCTX from $9/mo — different billing units, so no direct winner
Free plan
Both have one
Public API
Both have one
Best fit
Context7: Developers using AI editors with frameworks that change often, such as Next.js or Supabase · LeanCTX: Developers using coding agents who want to cap and audit the context they send
Platforms
Context7: Web · LeanCTX: macOS, Windows, Linux

From our own records as of each tool's last check. Anything we have not confirmed is left out rather than guessed. How we verify

Context7Documentation service and MCP server that feeds version-specific library docs and code examples into AI coding assistants.LeanCTXLocal context gateway that picks, filters and logs what files and tool output reach your AI coding agent or app.

Side by side

FactContext7LeanCTX
CategoryMCP Servers & Tool ProtocolsMCP Servers & Tool Protocols
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at$10/seat/mo$9/mo
Public APIYesYes
Trust score86 / 10085 / 100
PlatformsWeb, APImacOS, Windows, Linux, API
CompanyUpstash, Inc.Thinkery AG
Launched20252026
Last verifiedOct 2, 2026Oct 2, 2026

What our research says

Context7

Context7 fixes a narrow but common annoyance: AI coding assistants quoting last year's API for a fast-moving library. It is quick to wire into Cursor, Claude Code and similar tools, and the free tier is enough for an individual developer. It only helps for libraries that are indexed and documented well, and it adds prompt tokens on every lookup.

Pros

  • Version-specific docs pulled from source rather than model training data
  • Works over MCP or via a CLI and skill, with one-command setup
  • Free tier plus a $10 per-seat Pro plan
  • Open-source code under MIT, built by Upstash

Cons

  • Free plan stops at 1,000 calls a month, with a small daily bonus allowance after that
  • Quality depends on how well each library's docs are indexed and ranked
  • Retrieved snippets consume context window space on every call

LeanCTX

Worth a look if you run coding agents against sensitive repos and want rules on what they can read, plus a record of what they were actually sent. It is a young project with fast-moving docs, so expect to read the setup pages and test it on a small repo first.

Pros

  • Free Apache-licensed engine that works fully local
  • Access, masking and budget rules applied before content reaches the model
  • Several entry points: CLI, MCP, hooks, proxy and an SDK
  • Delivery records and usage accounting show what was sent

Cons

  • Very new, with the repository created in 2026 and wording still changing
  • SDK and OEM use need a separate licence and a signed agreement
  • The marketing site is abstract and light on concrete setup steps

Which one fits

Choose Context7 if you need

  • Developers using AI editors with frameworks that change often, such as Next.js or Supabase
  • Teams that want agents to read their own private library docs
  • Anyone tired of hallucinated or deprecated API calls in generated code

Choose LeanCTX if you need

  • Developers using coding agents who want to cap and audit the context they send
  • Security-minded teams that need masking and source-access rules before text reaches a model
  • Builders who want to embed a context layer through the SDK

Context7 vs LeanCTX: the questions people ask

Is Context7 cheaper than LeanCTX?

They charge in different units, so there is no like-for-like answer: Context7 starts at $10/seat/mo, LeanCTX at $9/mo. Entry price is the lowest paid plan as we last verified it.

Does Context7 or LeanCTX have a free tier?

Both: Context7 has a free tier, and LeanCTX has a free tier.

Which has a public API, Context7 or LeanCTX?

Both ship a public API, so either can be built on; the fact table above shows the platforms each one runs on.

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