QuotedPartComparisons · Updated 2026-10-30
CloudNC Quote Agent vs Machine Research
Price one of your own parts: Drop a STEP model or PDF drawing — about 90 seconds, no account.
Your part priced in about 90 seconds, no account.
Both are AI quoting tools for CNC machine shops, but they suit different shops. CloudNC Quote Agent publishes its prices, charges per AI-quoted part ($2.40–$2.50) with a free manual mode, and adds DFM, ballooning and FAI reports. It recommends against uploading export-controlled data. Machine Research quotes its price on request with no multi-year contract. It is ITAR registered, hosted in AWS GovCloud, estimates time with machine learning trained on the shop's own jobs, and names QuickBooks, JobBOSS², ProShop and Fulcrum integrations. For defense work, Machine Research is the one built for it. For low or uneven volume on commercial parts, CloudNC is cheaper to start.
See how QuotedPart connects to your workflow with its API, MCP server, autonomous quoting and shop-specific learning.
Side by side
Every cell below comes from the vendors' own pages, read on October 30, 2026. Neither page we read gives G2 or Capterra review counts, and we couldn't load those sites, so this table has no review row.
| CloudNC Quote Agent | Machine Research | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free manual mode; AI from $20/month (8 parts) to $1,000/month (416 parts); Enterprise on request | Price not published; the pricing page is a form to request pricing |
| Contract and trial | Free plan, no card; annual billing saves 20% | No multi-year contracts; Free trial with full access and no credit card; length not stated |
| Inputs | RFQs forwarded by email, or uploaded CAD files, PDFs and drawings; no specific CAD formats named | STEP, CATIA, Parasolid, SLDPRT and 10 more CAD types; CAD, PDF or drawing files uploaded individually or in batches; STEP, SLDASM, CATPRODUCT and NX assemblies |
| How time is estimated | The agent proposes a manufacturing plan, routing times, material and post-processing costs and inspection requirements from the shop's equipment and costs entered in Myshop; the estimator reviews, sets the price and sends a PDF | Machine learning trained on the shop's job data estimates programming, setup and run time from 3D geometry |
| Learning | The agent uses the shop's equipment, costs and materials from Myshop and learns from the user's interactions | ShapeSearch finds geometrically similar past jobs with their costing and pricing |
| Extra outputs | Generates DFM reports, ballooned drawings and first article inspection reports (PDF, FAI also Excel) | Branded quotes; website and email RFQ import |
| ERP | No ERP integration named; CloudNC says it works regardless of CAD, CAM or ERP and needs no CAM or CAD seat | Integrates with QuickBooks, JobBOSS², ProShop ERP and Fulcrum |
| Export-controlled data | Files on AWS, encrypted in transit and at rest; CloudNC does not recommend uploading export-controlled data | ITAR registered and hosted in AWS GovCloud (US); says it is FedRAMP Moderate authorization ready with an audit scheduled in October 2026 |
Pick CloudNC Quote Agent if
You quote commercial parts, your volume is low or uneven, and you'd rather pay per part than sign up for a quoted price. The manual mode is free with unlimited users, so you can try the workflow for nothing. It is also the one to pick if you want DFM reports, ballooned drawings and FAI reports from the quoting tool. Credits add up, though: a part with DFM uses 3, and one with ballooning and FAI uses 5.
Pick Machine Research if
Defense customers send you ITAR or CUI parts, or your ERP is JobBOSS², ProShop or Fulcrum and you want the quote to flow there. Its time estimates come from a model trained on your own jobs. That gets better the more history you have, but there is less to see in an empty account. ShapeSearch finds geometrically similar parts you made before. On the security page, Machine Research also says the shop remains responsible for its own CMMC compliance. That is a fair caveat and applies to every tool.
A third option
If neither fits, QuotedPart takes a different approach. It costs $199/month per shop, billed monthly, with unlimited users, quotes and parts and a published 14-day trial, every feature, no card. Time comes from setup and run formulas you can read and edit, not a trained model. It reads PDF prints, so a part can be quoted from the drawing alone. ITAR parts go in the ITAR vault: files encrypted in the browser before upload, and the AI never reads them. It makes no DFM or FAI reports, and of the ERPs it only sends quotes straight into JobBOSS² and JobBOSS.
Sources and limits
Claims are dated where they can change. Product calculations are examples from the stated inputs, not a promise about a customer's quote. Competitor wording is attributed to the source shown.
- CloudNC Quote Agent: AI quoting product from CloudNC (maker of the CAM Assist plug-in), launched as a standalone product on October 13, 2026 (their words: “CloudNC, the manufacturing technology company, today launches Quote Agent”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- CloudNC Quote Agent: Free plan at $0/month with 3 AI parts a month plus 10 parts at signup, no card; manual quoting without AI uses no parts (their words: “No card required. Upgrade any time”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- CloudNC Quote Agent: Starter: $20/month for 8 parts, $50 for 20 or $100 for 40; single user; $2.50 per part, overage $3.75 per part (their words: “Single user”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- CloudNC Quote Agent: Professional: $200/month for 83 parts, $500 for 208 or $1,000 for 416; multi-user; $2.40 per part, overage $3.60 per part (their words: “Multi-user account management”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- CloudNC Quote Agent: A quote uses 1 part per component, DFM 2 parts, ballooning and FAI 4 parts; manual mode uses none (their words: “Quality ballooning and FAI: 4 parts per component”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- CloudNC Quote Agent: RFQs forwarded by email, or uploaded CAD files, PDFs and drawings; no specific CAD formats named (their words: “Upload CAD files, PDFs, or drawings.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- CloudNC Quote Agent: The agent proposes a manufacturing plan, routing times, material and post-processing costs and inspection requirements from the shop's equipment and costs entered in Myshop; the estimator reviews, sets the price and sends a PDF (their words: “The estimator decides whether to quote, reviews and adjusts the plan and costs, sets the price and sends a PDF to the customer.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- CloudNC Quote Agent: The agent uses the shop's equipment, costs and materials from Myshop and learns from the user's interactions (their words: “The agent uses this information, and learns from their interactions, to tailor its estimates to the shop.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- CloudNC Quote Agent: Generates DFM reports, ballooned drawings and first article inspection reports (PDF, FAI also Excel) (their words: “The product also generates design for manufacture (DFM) reports, ballooned drawings with numbered inspection callouts, and first article inspection reports.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- CloudNC Quote Agent: No ERP integration named; CloudNC says it works regardless of CAD, CAM or ERP and needs no CAM or CAD seat (their words: “You can use Quote Agent regardless of which CAD, CAM, or ERP systems you currently use.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- CloudNC Quote Agent: Files on AWS, encrypted in transit and at rest; CloudNC does not recommend uploading export-controlled data (their words: “we do not recommend uploading export-controlled data.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Machine Research: Estimating and quoting software for small to mid-sized CNC and precision machine shops, from Tualatin, Oregon (their words: “designed for small to mid-sized CNC and precision shops”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Machine Research: Price not published; the pricing page is a form to request pricing (their words: “Fill out your information below and we will be in contact to provide pricing for your organization.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Machine Research: No multi-year contracts (their words: “No multi-year contracts, be up and running in days, not weeks or months.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Machine Research: Free trial with full access and no credit card; length not stated (their words: “GET FULL ACCESS TO MACHINE RESEARCH — NO CREDIT CARD, NO COMMITMENT.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Machine Research: STEP, CATIA, Parasolid, SLDPRT and 10 more CAD types; CAD, PDF or drawing files uploaded individually or in batches; STEP, SLDASM, CATPRODUCT and NX assemblies (their words: “Supports STEP, CATIA, Parasolid, SLDPRT, and 10 more file types.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Machine Research: Machine learning trained on the shop's job data estimates programming, setup and run time from 3D geometry (their words: “Real machine learning — trained on your actual job data — analyzes 3D part geometry”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Machine Research: ShapeSearch finds geometrically similar past jobs with their costing and pricing (their words: “Visually search your part library for geometrically similar jobs.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Machine Research: Integrates with QuickBooks, JobBOSS², ProShop ERP and Fulcrum (their words: “Machine Research integrates with QuickBooks, JobBOSS², ProShop ERP, and Fulcrum, with more integrations in development.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Machine Research: ITAR registered and hosted in AWS GovCloud (US); says it is FedRAMP Moderate authorization ready with an audit scheduled in October 2026 (their words: “Machine Research is ITAR registered, hosted in AWS GovCloud (US), and FedRAMP Moderate authorization ready”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Machine Research: Says the shop itself is responsible for its own CMMC compliance; Machine Research supplies FedRAMP-aligned infrastructure (their words: “Your shop remains responsible for your own CMMC compliance”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- QuotedPart: $199/month per shop, billed monthly; ITAR parts go in the ITAR vault: files encrypted in the browser before upload, and the AI never reads them; Send to JobBOSS² (estimates, routing and quote via ECI's API); Export for JobBOSS (on-premise); CSV and Excel export for any other system. — source (checked 2026-10-30)
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