{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "amazon-creators-api", "name": "Amazon Creators API", "vendor": "Amazon.com Services LLC", "vendorUrl": "https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/creatorsapi/docs/en-us/introduction", "kind": "http-api", "category": "shopping", "summary": "Amazon's product catalogue API for Amazon Associates affiliates, replacing Product Advertising API 5.0. It searches and looks up products, prices and variations across 22 Amazon stores and returns tagged affiliate links. It cannot place orders.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-creators-api", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-creators-api.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-creators-api.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amazon-creators-api.json", "license": "Proprietary service under the Amazon Associates Program Operating Agreement and its IP Licence for each locale", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://creatorsapi.amazon/catalog/v1", "packages": [], "auth": "oauth", "authNotes": "OAuth 2.0 client credentials. The primary owner of an accepted Associates account creates up to two applications per store, each with up to two credentials (Credential ID, Credential Secret, Version). The secret is shown once. Tokens come from the Login with Amazon endpoint for the credential's region (api.amazon.com, api.amazon.co.uk or api.amazon.co.jp) with scope creatorsapi::default and last 3,600 seconds. Every call also carries a partnerTag and an x-marketplace header.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "No fee for the API was found in the reviewed documentation. Access requires an Amazon Associates account with final acceptance and at least 10 qualifying sales in the trailing 30 days, and lapses after 30 days without qualifying sales. The usage limit starts at 1 request a second and 8,640 a day and then grows with shipped revenue referred through the API (checked 14 October 2026).", "priceSummary": "Free", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the Creators API documentation, the cURL guide or the API rates page (checked 14 October 2026).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-14" }, "docsUrl": "https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/creatorsapi/docs/en-us/introduction", "capabilities": [ "shopping.search", "shopping.prices", "shopping.affiliate" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "official", "affiliate", "oauth", "read-only", "no-checkout", "javascript", "python", "php", "java" ], "lastRelease": "2026-08-21", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 48.7, "grade": "D", "agentReady": false, "rank": 862, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1076, "categoryRank": 2, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 85, "maintenance": 41, "payments": 10, "reliability": 45, "schema": 50, "security": 48, "transparency": 52 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-14" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Read-only product search and lookup across 22 Amazon stores, with field selection, typed error reasons and documented rate limits. It cannot place or follow orders, so a person buys through the affiliate link. Access needs an accepted Associates account with 10 qualifying sales in 30 days, and the Agent Terms require agents to identify themselves.", "bestFor": "Product search, price checks and affiliate links for an agent that recommends Amazon products and hands the purchase to the person.", "strengths": [ "The resources parameter returns only the requested fields, and GetItems takes up to 10 ASINs per call", "Errors carry a type, a machine-readable reason code and, where relevant, retryAfterSeconds", "Rate limits are published with numbers, starting at 1 request a second and 8,640 a day", "One set of OAuth credentials works across 22 Amazon stores with the right partner tag", "The Program Policies set written Agent Terms, so the rules for automated use are stated" ], "weaknesses": [ "No order, cart, checkout, order status or return operation", "Access needs 10 qualifying sales in the trailing 30 days and lapses without them", "No public OpenAPI description, llms.txt or status page was found", "SDKs are archive downloads, and the matching npm package names belong to individuals", "The PA-API 5 deprecation notice gives no dates, and old calls now return 403" ], "agentNotes": [ "Send x-marketplace as a header and marketplace and partnerTag in the body on every call", "Cache the access token for its 3,600 seconds and share it across processes", "Request only the resources the task needs, and use offersV2 for prices, because the older price resource is gone", "Set the user agent to Agent/\u003cname\u003e as the Associates Agent Terms require", "Hand purchases to the person through the returned detailPageURL without editing its parameters" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "D", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 48.7 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 85, "maintenance": 41, "payments": 10, "reliability": 45, "schema": 50, "security": 48, "transparency": 28 }, "provenanceScore": 76 }, "connect": { "http": "curl -X POST https://creatorsapi.amazon/catalog/v1/searchItems -H \"Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" -H \"x-marketplace: www.amazon.com\" -d '{\"keywords\": \"headphones\", \"partnerTag\": \"yourtag-20\", \"marketplace\": \"www.amazon.com\", \"resources\": [\"images.primary.small\", \"itemInfo.title\"]}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/shopping.search", "tool": "https://letme.dev/amazon-creators-api" }, "sameCompany": [ "amazon-nova-embeddings", "amazon-bedrock-guardrails", "amazon-transcribe", "amazon-polly", "agentcore-memory", "agentcore-identity", "aws-secrets-manager", "aws-mcp-servers", "amazon-ses", "amazon-location", "amazon-translate", "amazon-ads-api" ], "area": "everyday", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Amazon.com Services LLC", "domain": "amazon.com", "domainRegistered": "1994-11-01", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/operating/agreement", "privacy": "https://amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8\u0026nodeId=468496", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/creatorsapi/docs/en-us/get-started/using-sdk", "securityTxt": "unknown", "checked": "2026-10-14", "notes": [ "Schedule 1 of the Operating Agreement (updated 15 October 2025) names Amazon.com Services LLC for the United States and amazon.com as the site.", "The API answers at creatorsapi.amazon, on Amazon's own .amazon top-level domain, and tokens come from api.amazon.com, api.amazon.co.uk or api.amazon.co.jp.", "The privacy URL is the Amazon.com Privacy Notice link in the Operating Agreement. It sits on amazon.com, whose robots.txt disallows our crawler, so it was not read.", "security.txt on www.amazon.com was not read for the same reason. affiliate-program.amazon.com/.well-known/security.txt returns 404.", "RDAP for amazon.com gives a registration date of 1994-11-01." ], "score": 76 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-creators-api.json", "live": { "slug": "amazon-creators-api", "probe": { "target": "https://creatorsapi.amazon/catalog/v1", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-14T09:41:40.583203046Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 400, "lastMs": 25, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 30, "p95ms24h": 138, "samples24h": 17, "samples30d": 17, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-14", "probes": 17, "ok": 17 } ] }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-14T09:41:40.583203046Z" } }, "answer": "Amazon Creators API and Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 48.7 (D) and 48.3 (D). Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP leads on schema \u0026 documentation, security \u0026 auth and payments \u0026 pricing.", "b": { "slug": "instacart", "name": "Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP", "vendor": "Maplebear Inc. (Instacart)", "vendorUrl": "https://docs.instacart.com/developer_platform_api.md", "kind": "http-api", "category": "shopping", "summary": "The Instacart Developer Platform API and its hosted MCP server turn a recipe or shopping list into an Instacart Marketplace page, where the person picks a store and checks out. It also finds nearby retailers by postal code.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instacart", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instacart.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instacart.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/instacart.json", "license": "Proprietary service under the Instacart Developer Platform Terms and Conditions", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp", "packages": [], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "A Bearer API key from the Instacart Developer Dashboard, separate for development and production, with read-only, read-write or admin permission levels. Access starts with an application on www.instacart.com. A production key stays pending until Instacart reviews a screen-recorded demo of the integration (https://docs.instacart.com/developer_platform_api/guide/concepts/launch_activities/approval_process.md). The MCP server takes the same key as a Bearer header.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "No fee for the API was found. Approved partners can join an affiliate programme on Impact.com that pays commission on attributed orders, with terms shared by email. The developer terms let Instacart add fees for previously free functions (https://docs.instacart.com/developer_platform_api/guide/terms_and_policies/developer_terms.md, checked 14 October 2026).", "priceSummary": "Free", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the Developer Platform docs, the MCP tool list or the developer terms (checked 14 October 2026).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 2, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-14" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.instacart.com/developer_platform_api.md", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.instacart.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "shopping.affiliate", "commerce.cart" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "mcp", "api-key", "llms-txt", "grocery", "affiliate", "approval-required" ], "lastRelease": "2026-06-18", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 48.3, "grade": "D", "agentReady": false, "rank": 877, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1076, "categoryRank": 3, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 71, "maintenance": 20, "payments": 20, "reliability": 22, "schema": 80, "security": 61, "transparency": 51 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-14" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Two compact MCP tools and a small REST API with structured errors let an agent turn a list into an Instacart cart link. The agent cannot search products, see prices, place an order or follow one, and production keys need a demo review that Instacart puts at 30 to 40 days. No status page or published rate figure was found.", "bestFor": "Grocery list and recipe hand-off for meal planning and recipe agents in the US and Canada.", "strengths": [ "Hosted MCP server at https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp with two tools, create-recipe and create-shopping-list, each with typed JSON Schema inputs", "Errors return an HTTP code, an internal error code and a meta key naming the field, with per-endpoint error tables", "Separate development and production hosts and keys, with key rotation and revocation documented", "Line items accept UPCs, brand filters and health filters such as ORGANIC and GLUTEN_FREE for product matching", "Dated changelog on docs.instacart.com, with entries from 18 September 2025 to 18 June 2026" ], "weaknesses": [ "No product search, price, order, order status or return endpoint. The person picks the store and checks out on Instacart", "Production keys need a screen-recorded demo and review, and Instacart puts access request to production at about 30 to 40 days", "No status page and no rate limit figure, only a 429 with advice to retry later", "The MCP tool schema still uses quantity and unit, which the REST API deprecated on 18 March 2026", "www.instacart.com disallows our crawler in robots.txt, so the privacy policy and application page were not read" ], "agentNotes": [ "Connect to https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp over Streamable HTTP with Authorization: Bearer and an Instacart Developer Platform key. Test against https://mcp.dev.instacart.tools/mcp with a development key", "Give the person the returned products_link_url to choose a store and check out. No call places or tracks an order", "Cache each generated link and create a new one only when the list changes, as the docs advise", "Send line_item_measurements rather than quantity and unit on the REST shopping list endpoint, since those fields are deprecated", "Do not show priced items from more than one retailer on one screen or move items between retailer baskets. The developer terms forbid both" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "D", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 48.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 71, "maintenance": 20, "payments": 20, "reliability": 22, "schema": 80, "security": 61, "transparency": 28 }, "provenanceScore": 74 }, "connect": { "http": "curl --request POST --url 'https://connect.dev.instacart.tools/idp/v1/products/products_link' --header 'Authorization: Bearer \u003cAPI-key\u003e' --header 'Content-Type: application/json' --data '{\"title\":\"Groceries\",\"line_items\":[{\"name\":\"eggs\"}]}'", "config": { "mcpServers": { "instacart": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer \u003cAPI-key\u003e" }, "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/shopping.affiliate", "tool": "https://letme.dev/instacart" }, "area": "everyday", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Maplebear Inc. dba Instacart", "domain": "instacart.com", "domainRegistered": "1996-10-31", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://docs.instacart.com/developer_platform_api/guide/terms_and_policies/developer_terms.md", "privacy": "https://www.instacart.com/company/privacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://docs.instacart.com/developer_platform_api/api/changelog.md", "securityTxt": "unknown", "checked": "2026-10-14", "notes": [ "The developer terms, last updated 3 July 2024, are entered into by Maplebear Inc. dba Instacart and name the privacy policy at https://www.instacart.com/company/privacy.", "www.instacart.com robots.txt disallows every path for agents it does not name, including ours, so the privacy policy and security.txt on that host were not read.", "docs.instacart.com/.well-known/security.txt returned 404. status.instacart.com did not answer and no other status page was found.", "RDAP gives instacart.com a registration date of 31 October 1996." ], "score": 74 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instacart.json", "live": { "slug": "instacart", "probe": { "target": "https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-14T09:41:54.373790409Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 345, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 342, "p95ms24h": 489, "samples24h": 17, "samples30d": 17, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-14", "probes": 17, "ok": 17 } ] }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-14T09:41:54.373790409Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Amazon.com Services LLC", "b": "Maplebear Inc. (Instacart)", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://creatorsapi.amazon/catalog/v1", "b": "https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under the Amazon Associates Program Operating Agreement and its IP Licence for each locale", "b": "Proprietary service under the Instacart Developer Platform Terms and Conditions", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "none", "b": "2", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-08-21", "b": "2026-06-18", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2025-10-15", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-06-30", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Amazon Creators API and Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 48.7 (D) and 48.3 (D). Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP leads on schema \u0026 documentation, security \u0026 auth and payments \u0026 pricing.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Amazon Creators API or Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP?" }, { "answer": "Amazon Creators API uses an OAuth sign-in. Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP needs an API key.", "question": "Do Amazon Creators API and Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Amazon Creators API has a hosted endpoint at https://creatorsapi.amazon/catalog/v1 and Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP at https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp.", "question": "Can an agent call Amazon Creators API and Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 45 against 22", "Agent ergonomics, 85 against 71", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 41 against 20" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Product search, price checks and affiliate links for an agent that recommends Amazon products and hands the purchase to the person.", "slug": "amazon-creators-api", "watchFor": "No order, cart, checkout, order status or return operation" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 80 against 50", "Security \u0026 auth, 61 against 48", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 20 against 10" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Grocery list and recipe hand-off for meal planning and recipe agents in the US and Canada.", "slug": "instacart", "watchFor": "No product search, price, order, order status or return endpoint. The person picks the store and checks out on Instacart" } ], "job": { "capability": "shopping.affiliate", "name": "Affiliate product APIs" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-best-buy.json", "title": "Amazon Creators API vs Best Buy Developer API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-best-buy" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-etsy.json", "title": "Amazon Creators API vs Etsy Open API v3", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-etsy" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-walmart-affiliate-api.json", "title": "Amazon Creators API vs Walmart Affiliate Marketing API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-walmart-affiliate-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instacart-vs-walmart-affiliate-api.json", "title": "Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP vs Walmart Affiliate Marketing API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instacart-vs-walmart-affiliate-api" } ], "scores": [ { "amazon-creators-api": 45, "by": 23, "edge": "amazon-creators-api", "instacart": 22, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "amazon-creators-api": 50, "by": 30, "edge": "instacart", "instacart": 80, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "amazon-creators-api": 85, "by": 14, "edge": "amazon-creators-api", "instacart": 71, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "amazon-creators-api": 48, "by": 13, "edge": "instacart", "instacart": 61, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "amazon-creators-api": 10, "by": 10, "edge": "instacart", "instacart": 20, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "amazon-creators-api": 41, "by": 21, "edge": "amazon-creators-api", "instacart": 20, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "amazon-creators-api": 52, "by": 1, "edge": "amazon-creators-api", "instacart": 51, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Amazon Creators API and Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 48.7 (D) and 48.3 (D). Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP leads on schema \u0026 documentation, security \u0026 auth and payments \u0026 pricing. Both do affiliate product apis.", "verdicts": { "amazon-creators-api": "Read-only product search and lookup across 22 Amazon stores, with field selection, typed error reasons and documented rate limits. It cannot place or follow orders, so a person buys through the affiliate link. Access needs an accepted Associates account with 10 qualifying sales in 30 days, and the Agent Terms require agents to identify themselves.", "instacart": "Two compact MCP tools and a small REST API with structured errors let an agent turn a list into an Instacart cart link. The agent cannot search products, see prices, place an order or follow one, and production keys need a demo review that Instacart puts at 30 to 40 days. No status page or published rate figure was found." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-instacart", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-instacart.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-instacart.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-instacart.min.md" }, "markdown": "Amazon Creators API and Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 48.7 (D) and 48.3 (D). Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP leads on schema \u0026 documentation, security \u0026 auth and payments \u0026 pricing. Both do affiliate product apis.\n\n- Amazon Creators API: grade D, 48.7/100, rank #862 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-creators-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amazon-creators-api.json\n- Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP: grade D, 48.3/100, rank #877 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instacart.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/instacart.json\n- Best shopping and order APIs for AI agents buying for a person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/shopping/index.md\n- All 8 shopping comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shopping/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Amazon Creators API (D)\n\nGood for: Product search, price checks and affiliate links for an agent that recommends Amazon products and hands the purchase to the person.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 45 against 22\n- Agent ergonomics, 85 against 71\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 41 against 20\n\nWatch for: No order, cart, checkout, order status or return operation\n\n### Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP (D)\n\nGood for: Grocery list and recipe hand-off for meal planning and recipe agents in the US and Canada.\n\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 80 against 50\n- Security \u0026 auth, 61 against 48\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 20 against 10\n\nWatch for: No product search, price, order, order status or return endpoint. The person picks the store and checks out on Instacart\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Amazon Creators API | Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 45 | 22 | Amazon Creators API +23 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 50 | 80 | Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP +30 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 71 | Amazon Creators API +14 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 48 | 61 | Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP +13 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 10 | 20 | Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP +10 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 41 | 20 | Amazon Creators API +21 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 52 | 51 | Amazon Creators API +1 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **48.7 · D** | **48.3 · D** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Amazon Creators API | Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Amazon.com Services LLC | Maplebear Inc. (Instacart) |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://creatorsapi.amazon/catalog/v1` | `https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth | API key |\n| Pricing | Free | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under the Amazon Associates Program Operating Agreement and its IP Licence for each locale | Proprietary service under the Instacart Developer Platform Terms and Conditions |\n| Tools exposed | none | 2 |\n| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |\n| llms.txt | no | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-08-21 | 2026-06-18 |\n| Terms last updated | 2025-10-15 | couldn't be read |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-06-30 | couldn't be read |\n| Customer content may train models | yes | couldn't be read |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | couldn't be read |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | couldn't be read |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Amazon Creators API.** Read-only product search and lookup across 22 Amazon stores, with field selection, typed error reasons and documented rate limits. It cannot place or follow orders, so a person buys through the affiliate link. Access needs an accepted Associates account with 10 qualifying sales in 30 days, and the Agent Terms require agents to identify themselves.\n\n**Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP.** Two compact MCP tools and a small REST API with structured errors let an agent turn a list into an Instacart cart link. The agent cannot search products, see prices, place an order or follow one, and production keys need a demo review that Instacart puts at 30 to 40 days. No status page or published rate figure was found.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Amazon Creators API\n\n1. Send x-marketplace as a header and marketplace and partnerTag in the body on every call\n2. Cache the access token for its 3,600 seconds and share it across processes\n3. Request only the resources the task needs, and use offersV2 for prices, because the older price resource is gone\n4. Set the user agent to Agent/\u003cname\u003e as the Associates Agent Terms require\n5. Hand purchases to the person through the returned detailPageURL without editing its parameters\n\n### Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP\n\n1. Connect to https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp over Streamable HTTP with Authorization: Bearer and an Instacart Developer Platform key. Test against https://mcp.dev.instacart.tools/mcp with a development key\n2. Give the person the returned products_link_url to choose a store and check out. No call places or tracks an order\n3. Cache each generated link and create a new one only when the list changes, as the docs advise\n4. Send line_item_measurements rather than quantity and unit on the REST shopping list endpoint, since those fields are deprecated\n5. Do not show priced items from more than one retailer on one screen or move items between retailer baskets. The developer terms forbid both\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Amazon Creators API or Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP?\n\nAmazon Creators API and Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 48.7 (D) and 48.3 (D). Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP leads on schema \u0026 documentation, security \u0026 auth and payments \u0026 pricing.\n\n### Do Amazon Creators API and Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP need an API key?\n\nAmazon Creators API uses an OAuth sign-in. Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP needs an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call Amazon Creators API and Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP without installing anything?\n\nYes. Amazon Creators API has a hosted endpoint at https://creatorsapi.amazon/catalog/v1 and Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP at https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-instacart.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-instacart.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"amazon-creators-api\", \"b\": \"instacart\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare amazon-creators-api instacart`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amazon-creators-api.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/instacart.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Amazon Creators API or Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP\n\n- [Amazon Creators API vs Best Buy Developer API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-best-buy.md)\n- [Amazon Creators API vs Etsy Open API v3](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-etsy.md)\n- [Amazon Creators API vs Walmart Affiliate Marketing API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-walmart-affiliate-api.md)\n- [Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP vs Walmart Affiliate Marketing API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instacart-vs-walmart-affiliate-api.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-14", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Amazon Creators API vs Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP", "url": "" } ], "description": "Amazon Creators and Instacart Developer Platform score within a point of each other for affiliate product apis, 48.7 and 48.3 out of 100. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Amazon Creators API D 48.7", "Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP D 48.3", "scores" ], "h1": "Amazon Creators API vs Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-amazon-creators-api-vs-instacart.png", "path": "/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-instacart", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Amazon Creators vs Instacart Developer Platform for AI agents (2026)", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-14", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-creators-api-vs-instacart" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2150, "slim": 780 }, "version": 1 }