{
  "markdown": "# CostBench MCP Server\n\nVerified software-pricing intelligence for any MCP client — true costs, hidden fees, negotiation data, price history, side-by-side comparisons, a dated price-change feed, and total cost of ownership for **3,390+ products**. Read-only, free, no API key, no signup.\n\nPowered by [CostBench.com](https://costbench.com). Every figure the server returns carries its **source and date** — the data is only as trustworthy as its provenance, so CostBench publishes the provenance with each number. Responses include an `attribution` field and per-entity `links` back to the sourced page.\n\n## Tools\n\n| Tool | Description |\n|------|-------------|\n| `get_pricing` | Full sourced pricing record for a product: tiers, hidden costs, contract terms, market data, sentiment, negotiation tips, TCO scenarios, and price history — each claim with its sources. Args: `slug`, optional `depth` (`summary`\\|`full`). |\n| `get_hidden_costs` | The documented hidden / implementation / add-on costs (uplifts, onboarding fees, overages), each with a sourced quote + date. Args: `slug`. |\n| `get_negotiation_tips` | Sourced negotiation tactics with success-likelihood. Args: `slug`. |\n| `get_price_history` | Per-quarter price snapshots + trend — has the price changed? Args: `slug`. |\n| `compare_software` | Side-by-side pricing for 2–4 products (starting price, median annual cost, free tier, ratings). Args: `slugs` (array). |\n| `discover_software` | Find products by `category`, `maxPrice`, `hasFreeTier`. Returns matching slugs to look up. |\n| `calculate_tco` | Total cost of ownership for a product and team size: sourced line items, year-one + multi-year totals, effective per-seat cost. Args: `slug`, `seats`, optional `tier`, `termYears`. |\n| `estimate_llm_cost` | Cost of an LLM/API workload (input + output tokens) for a usage-priced provider, from its real rate card. Args: `slug`, `inputTokens`, `outputTokens`, optional `model`. |\n| `get_price_changes` | Recent pricing changes CostBench detected against vendor pricing pages — dated, before/after bands, source link. Args: optional `slug`, `category`, `days` (default 30), `limit` (default 25). Same data as the public feed at `https://costbench.com/data/pricing-changes.json`. |\n\nAll tools are **read-only** (`readOnlyHint: true`). Products are addressed by `slug` (e.g. `salesforce`, `microsoft-teams`, `openai-api`); use `discover_software` if you don't know one.\n\n## Option 1 — Remote endpoint (recommended, no install)\n\nThe server is hosted at `https://costbench.com/mcp` using **streamable HTTP transport** (MCP spec 2025-03-26). If your client supports remote MCP servers, point it straight at the endpoint:\n\n```json\n{\n  \"mcpServers\": {\n    \"costbench\": {\n      \"type\": \"streamable-http\",\n      \"url\": \"https://costbench.com/mcp\"\n    }\n  }\n}\n```\n\nClaude Code:\n\n```bash\nclaude mcp add --transport http costbench https://costbench.com/mcp\n```\n\n## Option 2 — Local stdio server (this package)\n\nFor clients that only speak stdio, this package bridges stdio ↔ the hosted endpoint:\n\n```json\n{\n  \"mcpServers\": {\n    \"costbench\": {\n      \"command\": \"npx\",\n      \"args\": [\"-y\", \"github:aadilr/costbench-mcp\"]\n    }\n  }\n}\n```\n\nOr clone and run directly:\n\n```bash\ngit clone https://github.com/aadilr/costbench-mcp.git\ncd costbench-mcp\nnpm install\nnode index.js\n```\n\n## Option 3 — Agent Skill / Claude Code plugin\n\nThis repo doubles as an Agent Skill and Claude Code plugin.\n\n**Any skills-capable agent** (Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Copilot, and more):\n\n```bash\nnpx skills add aadilr/costbench-mcp\n```\n\n**Claude Code plugin** (bundles the MCP server + the skill):\n\n```\n/plugin marketplace add aadilr/costbench-mcp\n/plugin install costbench@costbench\n```\n\nThe `software-pricing` skill prefers the MCP tools when connected and otherwise falls back to a bundled script (`skills/software-pricing/scripts/pricing.sh`) that talks to the hosted endpoint over plain HTTPS — no MCP client required.\n\n## Option 4 — Docker\n\n```bash\ndocker build -t costbench-mcp .\ndocker run -i --rm costbench-mcp\n```\n\n## Quick test\n\n```bash\n# List the tools\ncurl -X POST https://costbench.com/mcp \\\n  -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n  -d '{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":1,\"method\":\"tools/list\",\"params\":{}}'\n\n# Get pricing for a product\ncurl -X POST https://costbench.com/mcp \\\n  -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n  -d '{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":1,\"method\":\"tools/call\",\"params\":{\"name\":\"get_pricing\",\"arguments\":{\"slug\":\"salesforce\",\"depth\":\"summary\"}}}'\n```\n\nThe `get_pricing` call above returns a record like:\n\n```json\n{\n  \"slug\": \"salesforce\",\n  \"name\": \"Salesforce\",\n  \"category\": { \"slug\": \"crm\", \"name\": \"CRM\" },\n  \"priceRange\": { \"low\": 0, \"median\": 100, \"high\": 550, \"currency\": \"USD\" },\n  \"priceUnit\": \"user/month\",\n  \"tiers\": [\n    { \"name\": \"Starter Suite\", \"priceMonthly\": 25, \"priceAnnual\": 300, \"priceUnit\": \"user/month\" },\n    { \"name\": \"Pro Suite\", \"priceMonthly\": 100, \"priceAnnual\": 1200, \"priceUnit\": \"user/month\" }\n  ],\n  \"attribution\": \"Source: CostBench (https://costbench.com) — verified, sourced software pricing intelligence.\"\n}\n```\n\n## What's in the data\n\n| | |\n|---|---|\n| Products | 3,390+ |\n| Categories | 255 |\n| Comparisons | 5,850+ |\n| Coverage | Tiers, hidden costs, contract terms, negotiation data, price history, TCO, LLM rate cards |\n\nEach field carries a `license` marker (`owned` \\| `restricted`): CostBench's own sourced research is `owned`; a small number of third-party market-data medians are `restricted` — surfaceable to a user but not licensed for commercial redistribution.\n\n## Environment variables\n\n| Variable | Default | Purpose |\n|----------|---------|---------|\n| `COSTBENCH_MCP_URL` | `https://costbench.com/mcp` | Override the upstream endpoint |\n\n## Privacy & limits\n\n- No authentication or account required. All tools are read-only — the server never writes anything.\n- Per-IP rate limiting: 60 requests/minute.\n- Data is sourced and dated; cite the `links.page` URL a response returns, not the bare number.\n\n## License\n\nMIT\n",
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