QuotedPartComparisons · Updated 2026-10-30
Is QuotedPart a good alternative to 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.
QuotedPart is a sensible Machine Research alternative when you want to see and edit every setup, cycle and material assumption. Machine Research is stronger for a CNC shop that wants machine learning trained on its own jobs, geometric ShapeSearch and a CAD-heavy intake with named QuickBooks, JobBOSS², ProShop and Fulcrum integrations. Machine Research does not publish a dollar price; it says there is no multi-year contract and offers a no-card full-access trial. QuotedPart publishes $199 per shop per month, unlimited users and a 14-day trial.
See how QuotedPart connects to your workflow with its API, MCP server, autonomous quoting and shop-specific learning.
Two different ways to get to a number
Machine Research says its model analyzes 3D geometry and learns programming, setup and run time from your actual job data. Its ShapeSearch then finds similar past parts with their costing and pricing. That is powerful after a shop has a usable history, but the first estimates deserve a review because a new account has little local data. The product supports STEP, CATIA, Parasolid, SLDPRT and other CAD types, plus PDF or drawing uploads.
QuotedPart uses explicit shop inputs instead. An estimator chooses the machine rate, setup time, run time, material price, finish and margin, then can explain the arithmetic to a customer or a colleague. That is slower than an accurate learned estimate on a repeat family, but it exposes the reason a one-off part moved from $420 to $510.
| Decision point | Machine Research | QuotedPart |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Price not published; the pricing page is a form to request pricing | $199/month per shop; published trial. |
| Trial | Free trial with full access and no credit card; length not stated | 14 days, no credit card. |
| Inputs | 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 | STEP and PDF drawing workflow. |
| Estimate method | Machine learning trained on the shop's job data estimates programming, setup and run time from 3D geometry | Shop-owned setup, cycle, material and margin assumptions. |
| ERP | Integrates with QuickBooks, JobBOSS², ProShop ERP and Fulcrum | JobBOSS² and JobBOSS handoff; CSV/Excel export for other systems. |
| Security | ITAR registered and hosted in AWS GovCloud (US); says it is FedRAMP Moderate authorization ready with an audit scheduled in October 2026 | ITAR parts go in the ITAR vault; no certification claim. |
When Machine Research is the better fit
Choose Machine Research if the shop has years of consistent job records and wants the estimator to start from a similar part rather than a blank routing. Its security page is also the stronger public choice for export-controlled work: it says the service is ITAR registered and hosted in AWS GovCloud, while also stating that each shop remains responsible for its own CMMC compliance. The named integrations reduce re-entry when your system is QuickBooks, JobBOSS², ProShop or Fulcrum.
Ask the demo team to show a part with a new material and a part with a known family. Compare the predicted setup and run time with two completed jobs, then record how you correct the model. That learning loop is part of the product's value and part of your implementation work.
When QuotedPart is the better fit
Choose QuotedPart if your shop needs a transparent answer today, has too little historical data for a local model, or quotes many PDF-only RFQs. A 6061 workholding plate with four drilled holes, 35 minutes of setup and 18 minutes of cycle can be priced and revised without waiting for a model to learn. The shop can also keep an ITAR part inside the ITAR vault boundary and export only the order details required by the handoff.
Machine Research is stronger on learned CAD estimating and its security/integration story. QuotedPart is stronger on a short, predictable evaluation and editable arithmetic. Run the same five parts in both, keep the first answer and the corrected answer, and choose the workflow whose errors your estimator can detect before a quote leaves the shop.
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.
- 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 costs $199 per shop per month and supports an ITAR vault boundary without making a certification claim. — source (checked 2026-10-30)
Price one of your own parts
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