Shipping Rates & Postage Calculator vs Alpaca Mcp

In-depth architectural comparison of the Shipping Rates & Postage Calculator and Alpaca Mcp 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?

S

Choose Shipping Rates & Postage Calculator when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Finance & Fintech domain.
• You prefer remote streaming HTTP/SSE transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Shipping Rates & Postage Calculator Details

Choose Alpaca Mcp when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Finance & Fintech domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: API Key required (BYOK (Pay Provider Direct)).
• You have access to required keys: ALPACA_PAPER_API_KEY, ALPACA_PAPER_API_SECRET.
• Primary tools included: get_account_info_tool, place_market_order, place_limit_order.

Explore Alpaca Mcp Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	S Shipping Rates & Postage Calculator Finance & Fintech	Alpaca Mcp laukikk Finance & Fintech
Summary	Live USPS, UPS & FedEx shipping rates plus USPS postage and stamp prices. Free, no API key.	An MCP Server for the Alpaca trading API to manage stock and crypto portfolios, place trades, and access market data.
Category & Scope	Finance & Fintech	Finance & Fintech

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": {
    "shipping-rates-postage-calculator": {
      "url": "https://onlineshippingcalculator.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "laukikk-alpaca-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@smithery/cli"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ALPACA_PAPER_API_KEY": "YOUR_ALPACA_PAPER_API_KEY_HERE",
        "ALPACA_PAPER_API_SECRET": "YOUR_ALPACA_PAPER_API_SECRET_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

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