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Head to head · Inbound messaging · October 2026 research run

360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP vs Telegram Bot API

360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP scores 52 (D) on agent readiness against Telegram Bot API's 43 (E), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Telegram Bot API leads on payments & pricing, maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do inbound messaging.

Best SMS, WhatsApp and messaging APIs for AI agents · All 91 messaging comparisons

360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP360dialog · HTTP API D52/100#740 of 950 Telegram Bot APITelegram Messenger Inc. · HTTP API E43/100#885 of 950

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 40
  • Schema & documentation, 70 against 44
  • Agent ergonomics, 53 against 48

Watch for

No changelog, official SDK or standalone OpenAPI download

Telegram Bot API E

Good for An agent that talks to people who use Telegram, with free sends and long polling that needs no public server.

Ahead on

  • Payments & pricing, 40 against 35
  • Maintenance & community, 38 against 8
  • Transparency & trust, 64 against 48

Watch for

No OpenAPI document, llms.txt or official SDK was found. The contract is one HTML reference page of about 860 KB

Score by category

CategoryWeight this run360dialog WhatsApp API + MCPTelegram Bot APIEdge
Reliability16%208340360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP +43
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27044360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP +26
Agent ergonomics13%16.25348360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP +5
Security & auth14%17.53535even
Payments & pricing10%12.53540Telegram Bot API +5
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.8838Telegram Bot API +30
Transparency & trust7%8.84864Telegram Bot API +16
Negative events≤1500
Total52 · D43 · E

Facts side by side

Fact360dialog WhatsApp API + MCPTelegram Bot API
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
Vendor360dialogTelegram Messenger Inc.
Hosted endpointhttps://waba-v2.360dialog.iohttps://api.telegram.org
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP
AuthOAuth or keyAPI key
PricingPaidFree
x402nono
LicencenoneProprietary hosted service under the Telegram Bot Platform Developer Terms of Service. The Bot API server source in tdlib/telegram-bot-api is BSL-1.0
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesno
Last releasenone2026-08-24
Terms last updatedcouldn't be readno date given
Privacy policy last updated2026-09-102024-06-01
Customer content may train modelscouldn't be readnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accesscouldn't be readnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingcouldn't be readnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticecouldn't be readyes
Arbitration or class-action waivercouldn't be readnot found in the text
Popularitynone4.5k stars
Agent reviews3/5 (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.

Telegram Bot API

Telegram's first-party bot interface is free, needs no card and documents 185 methods on one page with a dated changelog and numeric send limits. No OpenAPI document, status page, SLA or idempotency key was found, one token controls the whole bot and travels in the URL, and a person must create the bot in a chat with @BotFather.

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

Telegram Bot API

  1. Send POST https://api.telegram.org/bot<token>/sendMessage with chat_id and text. Keep the token out of logs, because it is part of the URL.
  2. On HTTP 429 wait the parameters.retry_after seconds before retrying. Stay under one message a second per chat and 20 a minute per group.
  3. Call getUpdates with offset set to the last update_id plus one, or the same updates return. Updates are kept for at most 24 hours.
  4. A retried send can post twice, as there is no idempotency key. Record the returned message_id before retrying after a timeout.
  5. In groups the bot sees only commands and replies unless privacy mode is disabled in @BotFather or the bot is an admin.

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP or Telegram Bot API?

360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP scores 52 (D) on agent readiness against Telegram Bot API's 43 (E), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Telegram Bot API leads on payments & pricing, maintenance & community and transparency & trust.

Do 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP and Telegram Bot API need an API key?

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

Can an agent call 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP and Telegram Bot API without installing anything?

Yes. 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://waba-v2.360dialog.io and Telegram Bot API at https://api.telegram.org.

Other comparisons with 360dialog WhatsApp API + MCP or Telegram Bot API

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