FRED (economic data) vs Fred MCP Server

In-depth architectural comparison of the FRED (economic data) and Fred MCP Server MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose FRED (economic data) when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore FRED (economic data) Details

F

Choose Fred MCP Server when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).
• Primary tools included: fred_browse, fred_search, fred_get_series.

Explore Fred MCP Server Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	FRED (economic data) Developer Tools	F Fred MCP Server Developer Tools
Summary	FRED economic time series + ALFRED vintages: data as originally published, before revisions.	Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) MCP Server - Access all 800,000+ economic time series
Category & Scope	Developer Tools	Developer Tools

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations

Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fred-economic-data-2": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcpwright-fred"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fred-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "fred-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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