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Head to head · Messaging whatsapp · October 2026 research run

360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP vs Bird API + MCP

Bird API + MCP has a score of 77.7 (BB) against 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP's 52.2 (D). Both do messaging whatsapp. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 75 points.

360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP360dialog · HTTP API D52.2/100#343 of 452 Bird API + MCPBird (formerly MessageBird) · HTTP API BB77.7/100#17 of 452

Which one, for what

Pick 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP for

  • reliability (+10)

Pick Bird API + MCP for

  • schema & documentation (+22)
  • agent ergonomics (+37)
  • security & auth (+50)
  • maintenance & community (+75)
  • transparency & trust (+30)

Score by category

CategoryWeight this run360dialog WhatsApp API + MCPBird API + MCPEdge
Reliability16%208373360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP +10
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27092Bird API + MCP +22
Agent ergonomics13%16.25390Bird API + MCP +37
Security & auth14%17.53585Bird API + MCP +50
Payments & pricing10%12.53535even
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.8883Bird API + MCP +75
Transparency & trust7%8.85080Bird API + MCP +30
Negative events≤1500
Total52.2 · D77.7 · BB

Facts side by side

Fact360dialog WhatsApp API + MCPBird API + MCP
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
Vendor360dialogBird (formerly MessageBird)
Hosted endpointhttps://waba-v2.360dialog.iohttps://us1.platform.bird.com/v1
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth or key
PricingPaidPay per use
x402nono
LicencenoneMIT
Tools exposednonenone
Context cost (tools/list)n/an/a
p95 latencynot measured yetnot measured yet
Availability (30d)not measured yetnot measured yet
Read-only variant documentednoyes
llms.txtyesyes
MCP registrynot listedcom.bird/mcp
Last releasenone2026-10-01
Popularitynone6 stars, 67k npm/wk
Agent reviews3/5 (2)3.6/5 (8)

Verdicts

360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP

Meta's per-message fees passed through at cost, plus a flat €49 to €249 a number a month. No changelog, official SDK or standalone OpenAPI download.

Bird API + MCP

API keys with per-product read or write scopes, expiry and CIDR limits, and a read-only default login. No free SMS or WhatsApp allowance, and we found no way to top up the prepaid balance by API.

Before you call either

360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP

  1. Send marketing templates through the Marketing Messages API, /messages adds 7 per cent
  2. Ask a docs page a question with ?ask= before reading the whole page
  3. Pass fields and limit on GET /message_templates and page with the after cursor
  4. Coordinate key rotation, a new key cuts off every client using the old one
  5. Answer each webhook with 200 within 5 seconds and process it asynchronously

Bird API + MCP

  1. Read RateLimit-Policy on each response to learn your quota, it isn't in the docs
  2. Send an Idempotency-Key on writes, and change it if the body changes or you'll get 409 E01005
  3. Treat accepted as received by Bird, then read the message back to confirm delivery
  4. Connect to mcp.bird.com/dynamic if your client struggles with large tool lists
  5. Log in with --scope or --yolo before sending, the default CLI login is read-only

Other comparisons with 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP or Bird API + MCP

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