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 data: GDP, inflation, unemployment, rates, and 800k+ Federal Reserve time series.	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": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "wrapper"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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

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