# DaySurface vs GongRzhe Gmail-MCP-Server

> The open-source Gmail MCP, upgraded. GongRzhe's server is a faithful, well-loved wrapper around the Gmail API - around a dozen tools for send, draft, read, search, labels and attachments, run locally over stdio with a credentials file on disk. You get clean primitives and JSON back. DaySurface shares the open-source spirit but goes further: it renders an interactive composer and a ranked-inbox dashboard inside the chat, and the same tools are reachable over a CLI and an HTTP API, not just stdio.

GongRzhe Gmail-MCP-Server (Open-source wrapper): The most-starred open-source Gmail MCP: a local stdio server wrapping the Gmail API.
- GongRzhe Gmail-MCP-Server: https://github.com/GongRzhe/Gmail-MCP-Server
- DaySurface: https://daysurface.com

Accurate as of June 2026. Comparison reflects publicly documented capabilities as of June 2026. The MCP ecosystem moves fast - if something here is out of date, open an issue and we'll fix it.

## Which to choose

- Choose DaySurface if: you want an in-chat composer and inbox triage UI, remote zero-install access, and the same tools available over CLI and HTTP as well as MCP.
- Choose GongRzhe Gmail-MCP-Server if: you want a minimal, local, stdio-only Gmail wrapper to embed in a desktop client and you're happy driving everything through JSON tool calls.

## Side by side

| Capability | DaySurface | GongRzhe Gmail-MCP-Server |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Interactive in-chat UI (MCP Apps) - Composer + ranked-inbox dashboard rendered inside the chat client. | yes | no (JSON only) |
| Built-in inbox triage & ranking - An importance-ranked inbox out of the box, not just raw search. | yes | no (raw search) |
| One codebase → CLI + MCP + HTTP - Identical tools across every interface, no duplicated logic. | yes | partial (stdio / HTTP) |
| Zero-install (remote streamable HTTP) - Connect by pasting a URL - nothing to install locally. | yes | no (local install) |
| Open source & self-hostable - Run the full server on your own infrastructure. | yes | yes |
| Minimal scope + encrypted tokens - A single Gmail scope with tokens encrypted at rest. | yes | partial (local token file) |

## What makes DaySurface different

### Interactive UI, not just JSON
DaySurface renders MCP Apps - sandboxed UI that lives inside the chat. Review and edit a draft in a real composer, then triage a ranked inbox in an embedded dashboard, all without leaving your agent. The inbox ranking and triage flow exist because the interactive surface makes them useful; other Gmail MCPs return raw search results and stop there.

### MCP, CLI, API interfaces
Every tool is a pure function in a shared registry, exposed identically over a CLI, an MCP server, and a plain HTTP API. Build once and call it from your shell, any MCP client, or a script - behavior never drifts between interfaces. Most Gmail MCPs are single-transport: stdio-only, or a hosted endpoint you can't run locally.

### Open source and self-hostable
The whole server is open source and ships with a Dockerfile and deploy config, so you can run it on your own infrastructure with your own OAuth credentials and encrypted token storage. Aggregator gateways route your mail through a proprietary service you don't control.

## More

- All comparisons: https://daysurface.com/compare.md
- Get connected: https://daysurface.com/connect.md
- Full description for LLMs: https://daysurface.com/llms-full.txt