Remote vs local is the real MCP split now

ChatGPT and Claude connectors cannot hit localhost. The market split is no longer “MCP vs REST” — it is public HTTPS servers versus local stdio for secrets and air-gapped work.

Source: Influzer.ai

For a year, MCP demos lived on stdio — spin up a process next to the IDE, paste env vars, ship. That still works. It is no longer the whole market.

Claude custom connectors and ChatGPT Developer Mode connectors reach your server from their cloud. Localhost will not work. If the product surface is chat, the MCP must be public HTTPS.

Two lanes, not one:

Local / stdio — secrets stay on the machine, air-gapped repos, Cursor project configs, developer velocity
Remote / HTTP — team chat, org connectors, managed auth, anything an end user enables without installing Node

Why it matters: “Works in Cursor” is no longer proof it works for the company. Server authors need a remote story (or a clear “desktop-only” label). Buyers need to ask which lane a listing actually supports.

Filter by transport in the Top 100 and full directory. For a remote example you can attach today, use Influzer MCP Discovery.