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Head to head · FHIR servers · October 2026 research run

Aidbox vs Terra API

Terra API scores 65.9 (B) on agent readiness against Aidbox's 64.2 (B), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Aidbox leads on security & auth, payments & pricing and maintenance & community. Both do fhir servers.

Best health record and wellness data APIs for AI agents · All 63 health comparisons

AidboxHealth Samurai, Inc. · HTTP API B64.2/100#385 of 1076 Terra APITerra Enabling Developers Inc. · HTTP API B65.9/100#327 of 1076

Which one, for what

Aidbox B

Best for An organisation building its own clinical data repository, EHR or payer platform on FHIR, where an agent works against that store.

Ahead on

  • Security & auth, 74 against 65
  • Payments & pricing, 25 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 80 against 75

Watch for

No built-in rate limiting or brute-force protection, by the vendor's hardening page

Terra API B

Best for A fitness, wellness, insurance or research product whose users connect consumer wearables and apps, and an agent that needs to read one user's sleep, activity or body data through MCP.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 67 against 59
  • Schema & documentation, 89 against 77
  • Transparency & trust, 56 against 45

Also in its favour

  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for

No free tier. Sign-up asks for a plan and billing details, and Quick Start starts at $499 a month with a 30-day money-back guarantee

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runAidboxTerra APIEdge
Reliability16%205967Terra API +8
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27789Terra API +12
Agent ergonomics13%16.27978Aidbox +1
Security & auth14%17.57465Aidbox +9
Payments & pricing10%12.52520Aidbox +5
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88075Aidbox +5
Transparency & trust7%8.84556Terra API +11
Negative events≤1500
TotalB 64.2/100B 65.9/100

Facts side by side

FactAidboxTerra API
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorHealth Samurai, Inc.Terra Enabling Developers Inc.
Hosted endpointno (local only)https://access.tryterra.co/api/v2/mcp/<user_id>
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTP, SSE (legacy)HTTP, Streamable HTTP
AuthOAuthOAuth or key
PricingFreemiumPay per use
x402nono
LicenceProprietary. Aidbox runs from Health Samurai's Docker images under a free development licence (no PHI) or a paid production licence. Examples and the Python SDK on GitHub are MITProprietary service under Terra's terms of service. The OpenAPI specs repository is Apache 2.0
Tools exposed96
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-10-082026-10-13
Terms last updatedno document linked2026-05-01
Privacy policy last updated2021-06-102023-04-20
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingyes
Terms or service can change without noticeyes
Arbitration or class-action waiveryes
Popularitynone13k npm/wk, 11k PyPI/wk

Verdicts

Aidbox

Graded on the FHIR REST API of an Aidbox instance the owner runs. Monthly releases, two-year LTS lines, SMART on FHIR, AccessPolicy rules and AuditEvent logging are documented, and a free development licence needs no sales call. Aidbox has no rate limiting of its own, its MCP module is alpha, and no terms of service were found on the website.

Terra API

Graded on the Unified API and the Terra AI MCP server. A public OpenAPI 3.1 spec, llms.txt, per-user rate limits with Retry-After, and scoped admin tokens with approvals. Access starts at $499 a month with billing details at sign-up, the data API key has no scopes, and API key requests failed for 2 hours 38 minutes on 7 August 2026.

Before you call either

Aidbox

  1. Ask the operator for a Client with an AccessPolicy limited to the task. Don't rely on the public MCP policy, which the docs mark unsafe
  2. Use If-None-Exist on creates and conditional update on identifiers so retries don't duplicate records
  3. Use _elements and _count to keep responses small, and follow the Bundle's paging links
  4. Throttle yourself. Aidbox applies no rate limit, so a burst lands on the customer's database
  5. Don't load real patient data into an instance on a development licence

Terra API

  1. Send dev-id and x-api-key headers on every Unified API and Terra AI call. A missing header returns 401 problem+json
  2. Keep each request window to 1,825 days or less and under 6,000 requested days per user an hour. On 429 with rule r2, wait Retry-After seconds
  3. Pass either fields or select to Terra AI tools, never both and never neither, or the call fails with a validation error
  4. Expect data by webhook after a user connects through the widget session. REST reads are for backfills and on-demand queries
  5. Use the Read only access level for the admin MCP server unless a change is needed. The MCP level can read API keys

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Aidbox or Terra API?

Terra API scores 65.9 (B) on agent readiness against Aidbox's 64.2 (B), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Aidbox leads on security & auth, payments & pricing and maintenance & community.

Do Aidbox and Terra API need an API key?

Aidbox uses an OAuth sign-in. Terra API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

Can an agent call Aidbox and Terra API without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Aidbox. Terra API has a hosted endpoint at https://access.tryterra.co/api/v2/mcp/<user_id>.

Other comparisons with Aidbox or Terra API

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