AI agent directory vs. library vs. marketplace: what's the difference
Three terms people use almost interchangeably for very different things, and where AgentFleet fits.
These three terms get used loosely, but they describe different kinds of product.
A directory is a discovery index: a structured, browsable list of agents (or workflows, tools, MCP servers) with enough detail to compare them and a link to go use the real thing. It doesn't host the agents itself, it helps you find them. AgentFleet's agent directory works this way, plus it tracks how entries relate to each other, which MCP servers an agent supports, which workflows use it, what its alternatives are.
A library implies a curated, reusable collection you pull from, closer to a package registry than a search engine. "Claude skills library" or "MCP server library" both point at this sense: a set of ready-to-install pieces rather than a set of products to evaluate and choose between.
A marketplace adds a transactional layer, buying, selling, or installing directly through the platform, with the platform typically taking a cut or gating access. That's a meaningfully different product than either a directory or a library.
AgentFleet is a directory and, for skills and MCP servers specifically, functions a lot like a library, since those are genuinely reusable, installable pieces. It is not a marketplace: there's no transaction, and every listing links out to the real product or repository. If that changes, this page will say so.