SolidWorks vs PartCAD
SolidWorks is an MCP server published by hjbaard. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Official MCP Registry, PyPI (MCP servers)). PartCAD is an MCP server published by partcad. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-27. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.
Where each is published
| Marketplace |  SolidWorks |  PartCAD |
|---|---|---|
| Official MCP Registry | Listed Version: 0.16.3 Downloads/month (PyPI): 2 916 Downloads/week (PyPI): 763 Forks (GitHub): 3 Stars (GitHub): 19 Not marked · First seen |
Listed Version: 0.8.235 Forks (GitHub): 46 Stars (GitHub): 509 Not marked · First seen |
| PyPI (MCP servers) | Listed Version: 0.16.3 Downloads/month (PyPI): 2 916 Downloads/week (PyPI): 763 Forks (GitHub): 3 Stars (GitHub): 19 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.
The facts side by side
| Fact | SolidWorks | PartCAD |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 2 (better) | 1 (worse) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 19 (worse) | 509 (better) |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 3 (worse) | 46 (better) |
| Last release (differs) | 2026-10-27 (better) | 2026-10-24 (worse) |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (solidworks-mcp) | On your machine (partcad) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares | Not published | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | Not published | 1, secrets among them: 0 |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/hjbaard/solidworks-mcp | github.com/partcad/partcad |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 3 | 1 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-20 |
Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.
What each says it does
SolidWorks
Model, measure and verify parametric parts and assemblies in a running SolidWorks (Windows).
PartCAD
Inspect, render, test and export the parts and assemblies of PartCAD hardware packages
How to run each
SolidWorks As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --transport stdio solidworks-mcp -- uvx solidworks-mcpPartCAD As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --transport stdio partcad -- uvx partcad mcpCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
Neither one's marketplaces publish a list of tools, so there is nothing to compare.
Settings each asks for
The marketplaces of SolidWorks publish no settings it asks for, so we do not compare settings.
What it can do: SolidWorks · What it can do: PartCAD · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. Package data comes from the Python Package Index (pypi.org). Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.