Dev Tools · 1h ago
Unused MCP tools inflate AI agent costs by 28%
A developer benchmarked two identical AI agents, one with 1 MCP server and one with 4, on the same question. Both answered correctly, but the agent with extra unused servers cost 28% more per question due to higher input token consumption. The extra cost came solely from tool schemas being serialized into every request, regardless of use.
Meridian48 take
The experiment is small but highlights a real cost inefficiency in agent design that developers should consider when attaching multiple MCP servers.
mcpai-agent-costs