# 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP vs Sendblue

> Sendblue scores 61.7 (C) on agent readiness against 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP's 52 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP leads on reliability. Both do messaging inbound. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/360dialog-vs-sendblue
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/360dialog-vs-sendblue.md (~2,450 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/360dialog-vs-sendblue.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/360dialog-vs-sendblue.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

Sendblue scores 61.7 (C) on agent readiness against 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP's 52 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP leads on reliability. Both do messaging inbound.

- 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP: grade D, 52/100, rank #569 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/360dialog.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/360dialog.json
- Sendblue: grade C, 61.7/100, rank #358 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/sendblue.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/sendblue.json

## Which one, for what

### 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP (D)

Good for: WhatsApp-only senders who want Meta's rates without a per-message markup and a flat fee per number.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 83 against 71

Watch for: No changelog, official SDK or standalone OpenAPI download

### Sendblue (C)

Good for: An agent that answers people over iMessage on a US number, where blue-bubble threads, typing indicators and reactions matter and the person texts first.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 76 against 53
- Security & auth, 46 against 35
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 35
- Maintenance & community, 72 against 8
- Transparency & trust, 58 against 48

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Proactive outbound messaging needs the Blue Ocean plan, which has no public price. The $100 AI Agent plan is inbound-first


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP | Sendblue | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 83 | 71 | 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP +12 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 66 | 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP +4 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 53 | 76 | Sendblue +23 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 35 | 46 | Sendblue +11 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 40 | Sendblue +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 8 | 72 | Sendblue +64 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 48 | 58 | Sendblue +10 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **52 · D** | **61.7 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP | Sendblue |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | 360dialog | Round One, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://waba-v2.360dialog.io` | `https://api.sendblue.com` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Paid | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Proprietary service under Round One, Inc.'s terms of service. The TypeScript and Python SDKs and the MCP server are Apache-2.0, and the CLI is MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 18 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | none | 2026-10-07 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2025-03-19 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-10 | 2024-05-01 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Popularity | none | 250k npm/wk, 40k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |

## 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.

**Sendblue.** Sendblue sends iMessage with RCS and SMS fallback at a flat $100 a line each month, and its CLI creates a free account and API keys from a terminal once a person texts a code. Proactive outbound messaging is sold through sales, no OpenAPI file is published, and the MCP package the docs install dates from August 2025.

## 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

### Sendblue

1. Send `from_number` on every request. Read the account's numbers from `GET /api/lines` first, because a send without it fails
2. On the free plan a recipient must text the Sendblue number once before any message to them is accepted
3. Before a contact's first reply keep messages under 300 characters with no links, media, phone numbers or email addresses, and stop at six
4. Branch on `error_key` in an HTTP 400 decline and don't retry it. Only HTTP 429 clears by waiting
5. Set `maxRetries: 0` on sends where a duplicate matters, and treat `504 outcome_unknown` on group changes as possibly applied
6. Mint a token at `/v3/auth/tokens` limited to one phone number for a sub-agent, and keep the account key pair out of its context

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP or Sendblue?

Sendblue scores 61.7 (C) on agent readiness against 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP's 52 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP leads on reliability.

### Do 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP and Sendblue need an API key?

360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Sendblue needs an API key.

### Can an agent call 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP and Sendblue without installing anything?

Yes. 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://waba-v2.360dialog.io and Sendblue at https://api.sendblue.com.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/360dialog-vs-sendblue.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/360dialog-vs-sendblue.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "360dialog", "b": "sendblue"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare 360dialog sendblue`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/360dialog.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/sendblue.json

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- [AWS End User Messaging vs Sendblue](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aws-end-user-messaging-vs-sendblue.md)
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