Carbon vs GroundTruth — subsurface scan QA & trade estimating
A side-by-side look at the Carbon and GroundTruth — subsurface scan QA & trade estimating MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Carbon for industrial & iot work over a hosted endpoint; choose GroundTruth — subsurface scan QA & trade estimating for industrial & iot over a hosted endpoint. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Carbon when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Industrial & IoT domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
CARBON_API_KEY.
Choose GroundTruth — subsurface scan QA & trade estimating when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Industrial & IoT domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
- You want tools like
read_scan, draft_estimate, get_pricing.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Industrial & IoT | Industrial & IoT |
| Quality signal | 56/100 · Good | 53/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Remote HTTP/SSE | Remote HTTP/SSE |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Free | Not declared |
| Required env vars | CARBON_API_KEY | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 2,756 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | 3 |
| Full listing | View Carbon | View GroundTruth — subsurface scan QA & trade estimating |
Tools & capabilities
Carbon tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
GroundTruth — subsurface scan QA & trade estimating tools 3
read_scanGet an independent AI second opinion on a subsurface scan before anyone cores or digs. Send a public image URL of a GPR scan, a marked-up concrete slab photo, a utility-locate markup, a concrete radiograph, or a CCTV pipe frame. TWO different AI models read it independently — the second is prompted to refute the first — and you get back every located target with its hazard class (do-not-core / rebar / verify / clear), plus a QA flag when the two reads disagree. Advisory only: a certified technician must review and sign off before any cutting.draft_estimateTurn a plain-English description of a trade job into a professional itemized bid — real materials by size, fittings, consumables and labor on its own line, at realistic US market prices. Built for one-truck electrical, plumbing, HVAC and general-contracting shops. This is GruntPay: the contractor normally speaks this into their phone. Returns the line items plus a link to brand it and send it to the customer.get_pricingCurrent GroundTruth and GruntPay plans and prices. Free to call — use it before answering any cost question rather than guessing.
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.
Carbon
{
"mcpServers": {
"carbon-2": {
"url": "https://docs.carbon.ms/api/mcp"
}
}
}
GroundTruth — subsurface scan QA & trade estimating
{
"mcpServers": {
"groundtruth-subsurface-scan-qa-trade-estimating-2": {
"url": "https://gtfi.ai/mcp"
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Carbon is categorized under Industrial & IoT and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. GroundTruth — subsurface scan QA & trade estimating belongs to Industrial & IoT and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. Pick Carbon for industrial & iot work and GroundTruth — subsurface scan QA & trade estimating 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 is listed as free. GroundTruth — subsurface scan QA & trade estimating has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. 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 carbon-2 and groundtruth-subsurface-scan-qa-trade-estimating-2 as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Carbon has a quality signal of 56/100 (Good) with 3 views, 0 installs and 2,756 GitHub stars. GroundTruth — subsurface scan QA & trade estimating has 53/100 (Good) with 2 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.