Many engineering software vendors now build an AI assistant into their own products. An MCP server does something different: it lets a general AI assistant that you choose, such as Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor, use the software. They are different routes, but two vendors, Autodesk and Bentley, now build their assistants on MCP, so the line between them is blurring.
Tresca tracks 11 vendor AI assistants from 7 vendors, covering 19 of the tools on this site. The comparison below starts from what each vendor states on its own pages.
The assistants, by vendor
| Assistant | Vendor | Products and status | Relation to MCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ansys Engineering Copilot | Ansys (Synopsys) | Ansys Mechanical: Not stated; Ansys Fluent: Not stated; Ansys HFSS: Not stated; Ansys Discovery: Not stated; Ansys medini analyze, ModelCenter and Rocky: now available; Other Ansys products (optiSLang, Lumerical FDTD, System Architecture Modeler, Zemax OpticStudio): Not stated | The vendor also offers a separate MCP server |
| Autodesk Assistant | Autodesk | AutoCAD: Technical preview; Civil 3D: Not stated; Revit: Not stated; Autodesk Fusion: Tech Preview; Inventor: Tech Preview; 3ds Max: Tech Preview; Vault: Not stated; Maya: Not stated; Autodesk Forma: Not stated; Flow Production Tracking: Not stated | Uses the vendor's own MCP server |
| Bentley Copilot | Bentley Systems | OpenRoads Designer: technology preview; OpenRail Designer: Not stated; OpenSite+: limited availability; STAAD.Pro: Not stated | Uses the vendor's own MCP server |
| AURA, LEO and MARIE (Virtual Companions) | Dassault Systèmes | 3DEXPERIENCE platform: now available; SOLIDWORKS (LEO and AURA): SOLIDWORKS Labs (Beta) | Not stated by the vendor |
| MATLAB Copilot | MathWorks | MATLAB: Not stated; Simulink (Simulink Copilot): Not stated; Polyspace (Polyspace Copilot): Not stated | The vendor also offers a separate MCP server |
| Creo AI Assistant | PTC | Creo (Advise): generally available; Creo (Assist): Not stated; Creo (Automate): beta quality | Not stated by the vendor |
| Windchill AI Assistant | PTC | Windchill: Not stated | The vendor also offers a separate MCP server |
| Onshape AI Advisor | PTC (Onshape) | Onshape: now available | Not stated by the vendor |
| Design Copilot for Solid Edge | Siemens | Designcenter X Solid Edge: Available across all Designcenter X Solid Edge tiers | Not stated by the vendor |
| Designcenter Copilot | Siemens | Designcenter (formerly NX): Not stated | Not stated by the vendor |
| Teamcenter Copilot | Siemens | Teamcenter: Not stated | Not stated by the vendor |
Each status is the vendor's own wording, product by product. "Not stated" means we found no label on the vendor's pages, not that the product is unfinished. Each assistant's page has the sources.
How they differ
Where it runs. A vendor assistant runs inside one vendor's software, and it can reach what the vendor has built it to reach. An MCP server runs next to the software, or in the vendor's cloud, and serves whichever AI application you connect to it.
Who picks the model and the application. With a vendor assistant, the vendor does. With an MCP server, you do. That matters if your firm has already approved one AI application, or wants to keep the same assistant across several programs.
What it can do. Most vendor assistants started as help: they answer questions about the product from its documentation. Several now go further. Autodesk says its assistant can query the open Revit model and automate tasks from prompts. PTC's Creo assistant can analyse the active model, and change it once a configuration option that is off by default is turned on. An MCP server can do whatever its tools expose, which varies from read-only queries to full model editing.
Working across tools. A vendor assistant works inside its own product family. With MCP servers, one assistant can work across a CAD program, an analysis program and a spreadsheet in the same session, as long as each has a server.
Cost and licence. Vendor assistants are priced in different ways, from included in the licence to metered by credits or tokens. Each assistant's page quotes what its vendor states. An MCP server is often free software, but you still need the engineering program's own licence, plus whatever the AI application costs.
Where they meet
Several vendors now connect the two routes, in different ways:
- Autodesk builds its assistant on MCP. AutoCAD 2027 installs a local MCP server that Autodesk Assistant uses to carry out tasks, according to Autodesk's developer blog. Autodesk's AutoCAD and Civil 3D MCP server names Autodesk Assistant as its supported client, so you can't point Claude at it. In Revit, Autodesk's help says you use MCP tools within Autodesk Assistant, while its separate Revit Public MCP Server is open to outside applications. Details are in Autodesk's MCP servers.
- Bentley shares one server between both routes. Bentley says Bentley Copilot uses its MCP server as its main way into application APIs, and that you can use Copilot or connect your own AI agent. For STAAD.Pro, Bentley names both options.
- PTC exposes its Windchill assistant over MCP. The Windchill AI Assistant plug-in includes an MCP server that lets clients such as Claude Desktop and Visual Studio Code use it, within the signed-in user's Windchill permissions. See Windchill.
- PTC plans MCP for Creo. PTC describes three phases for Creo, starting with the assistant as an MCP client and later Creo as an MCP server. None has shipped, and PTC says the timing may change.
- MathWorks keeps them separate. MATLAB Copilot works in the MATLAB desktop. For outside agents, MathWorks offers a MATLAB MCP server that it says works with Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Codex and Amp. Its pages don't link the two. See MATLAB.
Dassault Systèmes' companions for the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and SOLIDWORKS, Ansys Engineering Copilot and Siemens' copilots have no MCP link on the vendor pages we checked.
When the vendor's assistant is enough
- You work mainly in one vendor's software, and your questions are about that software: commands, settings, error messages.
- Your licence already includes the assistant, and your firm is comfortable with the vendor handling the data.
- You want something that works without installing or configuring anything else.
When an MCP server gives you more control
- Your firm has standardised on one AI application and wants it to reach several engineering programs.
- You need the assistant to read and change models in ways the vendor's assistant doesn't offer yet, or in older versions it doesn't support. Autodesk, for example, says its assistant is available only in the latest version of each product.
- You want a repeatable workflow, written down as an agent skill and run the same way each time.
- Your tool has no vendor assistant. Of the tools with a listed MCP server or skill on Tresca, 103 have no vendor assistant that we track.
Many teams will use both: the vendor assistant for quick help inside the program, and an MCP server for work that spans programs. Whichever route you take, work through the security questions before you let either change a model, and check the status labels, because several of these assistants are previews.
Anything an AI assistant produces in engineering software must be checked by a qualified engineer before use.