---
title: "Side-by-side technical comparison of 2–4 equipment models."
method: POST
path: "/tools/compare_equipment"
---

# Side-by-side technical comparison of 2–4 equipment models.

`POST /tools/compare_equipment`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://api.mechanofab.com/v1`
- URL: `https://api.mechanofab.com/v1/tools/compare_equipment`
- Auth: HTTP bearer

Use when the user wants to compare specific machines (e.g. 'compare Formlabs Form 3 vs Stratasys J55', 'which machine has better build volume?'). Accepts 2–4 model IDs and optional metric list.

## Request body

- object
  - `model_ids` string[], required
  - `compare_on` string[]

## Response `200`

Tool result

- object
  - `comparison` object[], required
    - `model_id` string
    - `model_name` string
    - `process` string
    - `specs` object
  - `recommendation` string
  - `source_tag` string, required

## Other responses

- `400`: Invalid request/input.
- `401`: Missing/invalid credentials.
- `402`: Insufficient credits.
- `403`: Scope/tool forbidden.
- `404`: Unknown resource.
- `409`: Idempotency conflict.
- `429`: Rate limited.
- `503`: Control plane / runtime unavailable.

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/mechanofab/apis/mechanofab-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/mechanofab/apis/mechanofab-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/mechanofab/apis/mechanofab-api/revisions/5945a6fad621?raw)