WordPress MCP: 6 Servers Compared (2026)

A WordPress MCP server lets an AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT work with a WordPress site through the Model Context Protocol: read posts, create drafts, publish, or pull site information, instead of only talking about it. There is now an official option, the WordPress MCP Adapter, plus a built-in server on WordPress.com and several others that do narrower jobs. This page compares six WordPress MCP servers: what each one can do, where it runs, and what it needs.

WordPress MCP servers compared

Server	Who makes it	Works with	What it does
Arvow MCP	Arvow	Any WordPress site connected in Arvow	Writes SEO articles and publishes them. Does not manage the site
WordPress MCP Adapter	WordPress project, official	Self-hosted WordPress 6.9 and later	Exposes abilities that core and plugins register
WordPress.com MCP server	WordPress.com	WordPress.com sites and Jetpack-connected sites	Reads and edits posts, pages, media and more
InstaMCP	InstaWP	Sites hosted on InstaWP	43 permission-scoped tools, one toggle
mcp-wordpress	Community, open source	Self-hosted WordPress	73 tools for content, users, comments and settings
Smart Search AI MCP	WP Engine	Sites using WP Engine's AI Toolkit	Lets AI tools read your published content

Facts come from each project's own page or repository on November 6, 2026.

Which WordPress MCP server fits your job

• You want an assistant to manage a self-hosted site: the official MCP Adapter, or mcp-wordpress if you want a large tool set today.
• Your site is on WordPress.com, or runs Jetpack: the WordPress.com MCP server. Nothing to install.
• Your site is on InstaWP, or uses WP Engine's AI Toolkit: use the one your host ships.
• You want keyword research, articles written and published to WordPress: Arvow.

The six servers

1. Arvow MCP: SEO content published to WordPress

Arvow's MCP server is not a WordPress management server, and it is first on this list only because this is our page. It has 49 tools for SEO work. For WordPress, the relevant ones list the CMS integrations connected to your Arvow project and publish an article to one of them. The article can be one Arvow already wrote, or a title and HTML that the assistant passes in. The call waits up to 60 seconds for WordPress and returns the status and the published URL.

Next to publishing, the same connection researches keywords, reads Google Search Console data and schedules articles on a calendar, so "find ten keywords we can rank for, write the articles and publish them to WordPress" is one conversation.

The limits: it cannot edit an existing post, install a plugin, change a setting or moderate comments. You connect WordPress inside Arvow first. And it is a paid product: MCP access is listed from the Solo plan, from $39 a month billed yearly or $69 billed monthly, on arvow.com/pricing. ChatGPT connects with OAuth sign-in. Claude, Claude Code and Codex connect with an API key.

2. WordPress MCP Adapter: the official one

The MCP Adapter is the official WordPress package for MCP, part of the AI Building Blocks for WordPress initiative. It builds on the Abilities API that arrived in WordPress 6.9: core and plugins register what they can do as abilities, and the adapter turns those abilities into MCP tools. The announcement on the WordPress Developer Blog covers setup.

Three things to know before you install it. You get it as a plugin from the repository's releases page. WordPress 6.9 ships with three default abilities, for site information, the current user and the environment, so what an assistant can do depends on the abilities your plugins register. And an ability is only available through the default server when it is marked public for MCP. Local sites connect over STDIO through WP-CLI. Public sites connect over HTTP through a remote proxy, with an application password or OAuth.

If you have seen Automattic/wordpress-mcp recommended, that repository is archived. Its description points to the MCP Adapter as the replacement.

3. WordPress.com MCP server: built in, nothing to install

WordPress.com includes a built-in MCP server. You enable MCP in your account settings and connect a client such as Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, VS Code or Cursor. Authentication is OAuth 2.1 in the browser. One connection reaches every site on your account.

Its documentation says it works on every WordPress.com site, free or paid, and that self-hosted sites connected through the Jetpack plugin use the same server without a Jetpack plan. The tools reference shows real write access: creating and updating posts and pages, media and taxonomy changes. Two safeguards are built in. New posts and pages are created as drafts by default, and write operations have to carry a confirmation flag.

4. InstaMCP: a toggle on InstaWP

InstaMCP is the MCP server built into InstaWP hosting. One toggle in Site Details exposes 43 typed, permission-scoped tools, with no plugin or application password to set up. It is switched off by default and only covers sites hosted on InstaWP.

5. mcp-wordpress: the biggest community tool set

mcp-wordpress is an open source server under the MIT license that you run yourself. Its README lists 73 tools: posts, pages, media, users, comments, categories and tags, site settings, cache and performance. That breadth is the reason to pick it and the reason to be careful with it. A server that can manage users and change settings should be pointed at a staging site first.

6. WP Engine Smart Search AI MCP: read-only content access

WP Engine's MCP server does a different job. It connects AI tools to your published content through WP Engine's search product, so answers about your site come from what is live. You enable it in the AI Toolkit settings and get a unique server URL for Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor. It is limited to approved, published content. It is not for editing the site.

What a WordPress MCP server can change, and how to stay safe

An MCP server acts with the permissions you give it. Three habits apply to all six.

• Start with drafts. WordPress.com creates drafts by default. With any other server, ask for a draft in the prompt and publish after you have read it.
• Use a scoped account. Connect with a user or application password that has the role the job needs, not an administrator, when the server allows it.
• Keep approval on. Set your AI client to ask before each action until you trust the workflow.

How to publish to WordPress from ChatGPT or Claude with Arvow

1. In Arvow, connect your WordPress site to the project as a publishing integration.
2. In ChatGPT, create a custom connector with the URL https://api.arvow.com/mcp, choose OAuth and sign in. In Claude, add a connector with the MCP URL from your Arvow organization settings and your API key in an x-api-key header.
3. Ask: "List the integrations for this project, then publish my latest article to WordPress."

The full steps for each client are on the Arvow MCP page.

FAQ

Is there an official WordPress MCP server?

Yes. The MCP Adapter is the official WordPress package for MCP and works with the Abilities API in WordPress 6.9. WordPress.com also has a built-in MCP server for its own sites and for Jetpack-connected sites.

Do I need a plugin to use WordPress MCP?

On a self-hosted site, yes: the MCP Adapter is installed as a plugin. On WordPress.com and InstaWP the server is built into the platform, and Arvow connects through the publishing integration you set up in Arvow.

Can Claude publish posts to WordPress?

Yes. The WordPress.com MCP server and mcp-wordpress can create and update posts directly, and Arvow's MCP server can publish an article to a connected WordPress site and return its URL.

Is WordPress MCP free?

The MCP Adapter and mcp-wordpress are open source. The WordPress.com server works on free and paid sites. InstaMCP comes with InstaWP hosting, and WP Engine's server is part of its AI Toolkit. Arvow's MCP is part of a paid plan, from $39 a month billed yearly.