Bigiron vs Carbon
A side-by-side look at the Bigiron and Carbon MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
C
CarbonIndustrial & IoTOpen-source manufacturing ERP, MES and QMS. Quoting, MRP, inventory, shop floor, quality and lot/serial traceability on one Postgres schema, with a REST API and MCP server. Self-host or use Carbon Cloud.51GoodAuth: not declaredVerdict: choose Bigiron for industrial & iot work as a local process; choose Carbon for industrial & iot. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Bigiron when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Industrial & IoT domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
bigiron_search, bigiron_sold_search, bigiron_lot_detail.
CChoose Carbon when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Industrial & IoT domain.
- You have the keys it needs:
CARBON_API_KEY.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | C Carbon | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Industrial & IoT | Industrial & IoT |
| Quality signal | 52/100 · Good | 51/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Not confirmed yet |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | — |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Free |
| Required env vars | None listed | CARBON_API_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 2,737 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 3 | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Bigiron | View Carbon |
Tools & capabilities
Bigiron tools 3
bigiron_searchActive listings for a keyword query: current bid, Buy-It-Now asking price (if offered), make/model/year, seller, location, category, auction close time.bigiron_sold_searchConfirmed-SOLD lots for a keyword query, newest closes first: title, make/model/year, quantity, seller, location, close date, bid count. `final_price` is always `null` — see the price gap below.bigiron_lot_detailFull detail for one lot by URL slug: description, sale status, bid count, make/model/year, seller, location, category and (for active lots) current bid / Buy-It-Now price.
Carbon tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Bigiron
{
"mcpServers": {
"bigiron": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-bigiron"
]
}
}
}
Carbon
No confirmed install command for Carbon yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
Frequently asked questions
Bigiron is categorized under Industrial & IoT and uses a local stdio subprocess. Carbon belongs to Industrial & IoT and uses an install path we have not confirmed yet. Pick Bigiron for industrial & iot work and Carbon for industrial & iot.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client. Carbon has no confirmed install command yet — follow its own setup instructions.
Bigiron has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Carbon is listed as free. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add bigiron and carbon-2 as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Bigiron has a quality signal of 52/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Carbon has 51/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 2,737 GitHub stars.