Will people actually pay for MCP servers?

Predicting the MCP monetization journey

Monetization is a big topic in the MCP world right now. Twitter is full of threads talking about how MCP is a gold rush: make MCP servers, make money. And Stripe recently launched tools to do the actual monetization part (billing and subscription management) more easily.

But most hype threads point to exactly one example: 21st Dev’s Magic MCP. It powers dev-focused tools like Cursor and Windsurf to generate UI components, and reportedly makes around £400+ MRR. Not nothing—but hardly a gold rush.

Madrona’s recent research shows that MCP server supply is growing much faster than demand (downloads). That’s not shocking, especially since usage today is concentrated among developers, and that may change as more user-friendly solutions (e.g. Claude’s Integrations) arrive in the market.

So, while the (present day) gold rush may just be Twitter hype, as MCP usage becomes more widespread, what do we think the monetization journey for MCP servers will look like?

Here are my theories for how it’ll play out!

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Phase 1: Existing brands use MCP to drive usage

Today, many SaaS tools are quickly adding MCP support simply to stay competitive. For project management tools (Linear, Asana, Jira) that are priced per seat, this doesn’t make them any money, but it might increase customer stickiness.

For companies with usage-based pricing — whether based on credits (e.g. ElevenLabs), tasks performed (e.g. Zapier), or time elapsed (e.g. Browserbase) — an MCP server is a potential lever to increase usage, which directly translates to more revenue.

I’ll be interested to see if more tools start to offer usage-based pricing of some sort as a growing subset of consumers start to also engage with their tools via MCP servers, rather than exclusively via the company’s own UI.

Phase 2: Point tools for common tasks

Early MCP-native startups will focus on specific, high-frequency workflows, especially ones that are common for developers given Claude/Anthropic’s user base today. These might include:

• UI component generation (21st Dev’s approach)

• Brand-aware copy creation

• Data extraction from screenshots

• Log summarization & troubleshooting

While free alternatives exist for most of these, great UX (and less copy/paste!) can often justify a subscription or usage fee.

Eventually, I think we’ll also start to see more consumer-focused point tools too, like games or even something like a ‘Color Analysis MCP Server,’ that offers both structured analysis and shopping recommendations in your color palette.

Phase 3: Chaining tasks and workflows

Next, we’ll see multi-step MCP servers that bundle related point tools into one coherent service, with different monetization strategies:

1. Subscription-Based Tool Collections: Combining multiple tools into an MCP server, sold as a subscription

   1. Travel Helper: A travel planning MCP that calls weather, maps, and hotel APIs in sequence, sold as a subscription.

   2. Meeting Summarizer: A $5/mo “Meeting Minutes MCP” that connect to Zoom, ingest transcripts, creates action items, and posts them to Slack.

2. Convenience‑Fee Transactions: Facilitate and monetize user transactions within LLMs

   1. Virtual Receptionist: An MCP that drafts and sends SMS or email appointment confirmations (via Twilio or SendGrid) and logs them in your calendar—charging a small per-message fee.

In all of these examples, execution is everything. Only tools that save users significant time or money will survive if users can also mix- and match- themselves (or, as the component tools, like Instacart, become more motivated to disintermediate).

Phase 4: Custom MCP servers for the Enterprise

Finally, as enterprise adoption matures, two big monetization levers emerge:

1. White‑glove support & SLAs: Companies pay extra for guaranteed uptime, SSO/integration, audit logs, and dedicated security reviews.

2. Bespoke enterprise MCPs: Companies pay for custom servers tuned to a company’s brand, data, and workflows.

To provide an example of what a bespoke enterprise MCP might look like, let’s consider an example from when I worked as a management consultant, making powerpoint slides.

I can imagine that something very valuable to Bain would be a ‘Bain Slide MCP Server’. It might have a few tools:

• pick_slide_layout

  • You describe the data or info you want to chart.

  • The tool reviews an indexed library of popular slide layouts to suggest a few designs that might fit the content well

1. analyze_data

   1. You provide data; the MCP server returns structured chart data and information on Bain branding (e.g. relevant hex codes and chart styles) for the LLM to use in image generation.

2. summarize_takeaways

   1. The MCP can provide takeaway bullets, aligned with Bain’s voice and that fit in the chosen layout.

Not only does this chain together tools that are commonly used by Bain consultants, it does so in a way that’s specific to Bain’s working style, brand elements, and preferred operating principles. While this may not require huge changes vs. a generic MCP, this type of custom tuning to a company’s needs could be really valuable in the future.