Compare · checked November 2026
Mobile MCP (by Mobile Next) is a free, open-source (Apache-2.0) MCP server for mobile automation. It drives iOS simulators, Android emulators and real devices, mostly through each platform's accessibility tree, and Mobile Next Cloud rents remote devices.
The short answer
Mobile MCP is the go-to open-source option for developers: free, iOS and Android, simulators and real devices, built on developer tooling. ScreenTap is for driving your own real iPhone with nothing to build or install on the phone: plug it in and your agent sees and taps the actual screen, in any app.
| ScreenTap | Mobile MCP | |
|---|---|---|
| Which phone | Your own iPhone | Simulators, emulators, your own devices, or rented cloud devices |
| iPhone | Real iPhone | Simulator and real iPhone |
| Android | No | Yes, emulator and real |
| Setup for a real iPhone | Plug in, pair Bluetooth, about 2 minutes | Xcode tools, plus an automation agent (WebDriverAgent) installed on the iPhone |
| Installed on the iPhone | Nothing | WebDriverAgent test runner |
| How it sees the screen | The real screen, streamed over USB | Accessibility tree first, screenshots as fallback |
| How it taps | Bluetooth pointer and keyboard, like a person | Platform automation APIs |
| Apps without accessibility labels (games, canvases, some web views) | Works from what's on screen | Falls back to screenshots and coordinates |
| Connects to agents over MCP | Yes | Yes, with a wide list of clients |
| Open source | No | Yes, Apache-2.0 |
| Price | $19/mo, or $99 once at launch (you bring the iPhone) | Free; cloud devices billed separately |
Mobile MCP details from github.com/mobile-next/mobile-mcp, checked November 2026. Prices and features change, so check their site before you decide.
Mobile MCP builds on the same tooling as app testing frameworks, so driving a real iPhone means Xcode tools and installing WebDriverAgent on the phone. ScreenTap is a Mac app: plug the iPhone in, pair it over Bluetooth once, and nothing gets installed on the phone.
Mobile MCP reads each app's accessibility tree, which is fast and cheap on tokens when apps label their buttons well. ScreenTap works from the real screen, the way a person does, so it behaves the same in apps that don't expose good labels.
Mobile MCP covers iOS and Android, simulators, emulators and cloud devices, and it's free. ScreenTap does one thing: your own iPhone, from your Mac, with screen recording, voice and calibration built in.
Choose ScreenTap if
Choose Mobile MCP if
For real iPhones, yes. Both let Claude Code, Codex or Cursor control an iPhone over MCP. Mobile MCP is free and open source and also covers Android and simulators; ScreenTap needs no Xcode or WebDriverAgent and works from the real screen.
No. ScreenTap streams the screen over the USB cable and taps over Bluetooth, so there's nothing to build, sign or install on the iPhone.
Yes. Some people use Mobile MCP for simulators and Android, and ScreenTap for their own iPhone. Both are MCP servers, so the same agent can have both connected.
Try it free for 15 minutes on your own iPhone. No account needed.