The Real Cost
PYPI · THEREALCOST-MCP
Free US money calculators with the math shown, from The Real Cost. Education only.
Available components
Last scanned (20 hours ago)
Scores higher than 86% of PyPI servers
Category Finance and Payments
How this component scores in each security and reliability category. Every signal is checked automatically from public evidence about the published package, including repeated runs of it in an isolated sandbox, and we only credit what we can confirm. How we score → Why this is hard to score →
Supply Chain Security100
- No malware found by supply-chain analysis.Pass
- No known CVEs affecting this package version or its production dependencies.Pass
- Runs hatchling.build at install time, a recognised build step with no custom scripting around it. View diagnostics → Pass
- 0 of 28 dependencies flagged as unhealthy. View diagnostics → Pass
Provenance & Transparency45
- Source repository is publicly reachable at the declared URL. View diagnostics → Pass
- Provenance check failed: no build-provenance attestation is published. See how to fix → View diagnostics → Fail
- Clear OSI-approved license (MIT).Pass
- Actively maintained (last published 32 days ago).Pass
- Disclosure check failed: no security disclosure policy was found in the source repository. See how to fix → Fail
Schema Quality & AI Usability64
- AI-judged instruction clarity (excellent).Pass
- Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 1349 tokens (~224/item across 6 items; 6 tools + 0 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params. See how to fix → Fail
- Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples. See how to fix → Fail
Stability & Change Management100
- No destabilizing schema changes in the last 30 days.Pass
Tool Coverage100
- 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).Pass
- 100% of tool parameters carry a description.Pass
Tool Safety100
- No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.Pass
- We read all 6 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.Pass
- An AI judge read all 7 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.Pass
Capabilities100
- Implements a supported MCP spec version (2025-11-25); the latest is 2026-07-28.Pass
Every change we have recorded for this component, newest first. Security-relevant changes are always shown. ▲ marks a change for the better, ▼ a change for the worse; unmarked changes are neutral.
- 3 Nov 26 +15
- Malware scan: unverified → pass ▲ security
- 2 Nov 26 −15
- Malware scan: pass → unverified ▼ security
- 1 Nov 26 +16
- Malware scan: unverified → pass ▲ security
- Stability: 0.97 → pass security
- 31 Oct 26 −15
- Malware scan: pass → unverified ▼ security
- 30 Oct 26 +1
No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 90 to 93. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 27 days of observed history at the previous scan, 28 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.
- 29 Oct 26 +15
- Malware scan: unverified → pass ▲ security
- 28 Oct 26 +1
No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 83 to 87. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 25 days of observed history at the previous scan, 26 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.
- 27 Oct 26 0
- Provenance: unverified → fail ▼ security
Diagnostic detail from the automated scan of this channel: what the scanner observed at each step, so you can see exactly where a check passed or failed. It is informational only and never changes the trust score.
Captured 4 Nov 2026 · Analysed pypi/therealcost-mcp@0.1.0
Provenance No attestation
The registry publishes no build provenance for this version, so there is nothing to verify.
| Result | No attestation |
|---|---|
| Ecosystem | pypi |
| Reason | No attestation published |
Background: How many MCP packages publish verified provenance →
Install scripts 1 script
| Hook | Tier | Command |
|---|---|---|
| build_backend | allowlisted | hatchling.build |
Background: Why install scripts are a supply-chain risk →
Dependencies 28 packages
| Packages resolved | 28 |
|---|---|
| Tree resolution | Complete |
Background: SBOMs and build attestations, explained →
The tools this component advertises to a client, with an estimated token cost for each. Expand a tool to see its parameters and schema. The per-tool counts are indicative and are not scored directly; the schema's total context footprint is one signal in Schema Quality & AI Usability. A tool's description is untrusted text the model reads on every call, which is what makes this list a security surface and not just an inventory: how tool poisoning works →
credit_card_payoff ~196
Credit card payoff: months and total interest to clear a balance paying only the card minimum, versus a fixed monthly payment (optional), and the difference. Returns the formula in words and a pre-filled link to The Real Cost's free calculator. Education only.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| apr | number | yes | Card APR in percent, e.g. 24 for 24%. |
| balance | number | yes | Current card balance in US dollars, e.g. 5000. |
| min_floor | number | – | Dollar floor on the minimum payment, from the statement. |
| min_pct | number | – | Minimum payment percent of the balance (many cards use 1). |
| min_plus_interest | boolean | – | True if the minimum is min_pct of the balance PLUS that month's interest (common); False if it is min_pct of the balance only. |
| payment | – | – | Fixed monthly payment to compare against paying only the minimum, e.g. 200. |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
crypto_trade_cost ~239
Crypto trading cost: the trading fee, spread and network fees on a buy and a later sale at the same price, the price rise needed to break even, and (with weekly_buy) the yearly cost of recurring buys. Returns the formula and a pre-filled calculator link. Education only, not investment advice.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| amount | number | yes | Dollar amount of the buy, e.g. 1000. |
| buys_per_year | integer | – | Recurring buys per year: 52 weekly, 26 biweekly, 12 monthly. |
| fee_pct | number | yes | Trading fee per trade in percent, e.g. 0.6. |
| flat_fee_per_buy | number | – | Flat fee some platforms add on each small recurring buy. |
| network_fee_buy | number | – | Flat network or withdrawal fee after the buy, dollars. |
| network_fee_sell | number | – | Flat network fee to move coins back to sell, dollars. |
| spread_pct | number | yes | Spread per trade in percent, e.g. 0.5. |
| weekly_buy | – | – | Recurring buy amount in dollars; adds the yearly cost of recurring buys. |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
debt_consolidation ~148
Debt consolidation: compare current debts (each with balance, APR, monthly payment) against one consolidation loan, including the origination fee taken out of the loan. Returns monthly payment, months, total interest and total cost for both, the formula, and a pre-filled calculator link. Education only.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| debts | array | yes | Debts kept as they are today. |
| loan_apr | number | yes | Consolidation loan APR in percent. |
| loan_term_months | integer | yes | Consolidation loan term in months, e.g. 48. |
| origination_fee_pct | number | – | Origination fee in percent, taken out of the loan (so the loan is sized up). |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
emergency_fund ~191
Emergency fund: goal = monthly expenses x months to cover, months to reach it from current savings and a monthly deposit (optional APY), and the monthly amount needed to reach it by a target date or number of months. Returns the formula and a pre-filled calculator link. Education only.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| apy | number | – | Savings account APY in percent (0 counts only deposits). |
| monthly_add | number | – | Amount added each month in dollars. |
| monthly_expenses | number | yes | Monthly must-pay expenses in dollars. |
| months_covered | integer | yes | Months of expenses the fund should cover, e.g. 3. |
| saved | number | – | Amount already saved in dollars. |
| target_date | – | – | Reach the goal by this month, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD. Overrides target_months. |
| target_months | – | – | Reach the goal in this many months (default 12). |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
list_guides ~90
List The Real Cost's ten plain-English money guides (titles, page counts, what each covers, $4.99 each; all ten as a $24.95 complete set, 10 for the price of 5; guides 1-3 also as a $9.98 starter pack) with the link to the guides page. Use when a user wants to go deeper than one calculation.
Input schema present but exposes no named parameters.
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
loan_cost_by_term ~105
Loan cost by term: monthly payment, total interest and total paid for the same loan over several terms (default 36, 48, 60, 72, 84 months). Returns the formula and a pre-filled calculator link. Education only.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| apr | number | yes | Loan APR in percent. |
| principal | number | yes | Amount borrowed in dollars. |
| terms | array | – | Loan terms in months to compare. The first two pre-fill the site calculator. |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
How do I install the The Real Cost MCP server?
The Real Cost runs locally as a PyPI package, launched with uvx therealcost-mcp. Ready-made configuration for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and 5 more is on this page, copied from each client's own documentation.
pypi · therealcost-mcp
claude mcp add nobanks-therealcost-mcp -- uvx therealcost-mcp
What is the The Real Cost MCP server?
The Real Cost is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.NoBanks/therealcost-mcp. Free US money calculators with the math shown, from The Real Cost. Education only. This page covers its PyPI package (therealcost-mcp).
Is the The Real Cost MCP server safe to use?
The Real Cost scores 83 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. We found no known CVEs affecting it as of 4 November 2026. That is a record of what we were able to check automatically, not an endorsement. The category breakdown on this page shows every signal behind the number, including the ones we could not confirm.
What tools does the The Real Cost MCP server expose?
The Real Cost exposes 6 tools: credit_card_payoff, debt_consolidation, loan_cost_by_term, crypto_trade_cost, emergency_fund, list_guides. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 969 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.
Is the The Real Cost MCP server still maintained?
The Real Cost is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 4 November 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.
What licence is the The Real Cost MCP server under?
The Real Cost declares the MIT licence, which is OSI-approved. That covers the source only, and says nothing about the cost of any service it calls.