{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "argyle", "name": "Argyle", "vendor": "Argyle Systems Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://www.argyle.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "payroll", "summary": "Argyle is a consumer-permissioned verification API run by Argyle Systems Inc. A worker connects a payroll account through Argyle Link, and applications read identity, employment, paystub and document records or order income and employment reports.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/argyle", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/argyle.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/argyle.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/argyle.json", "repo": "https://github.com/argyle-systems/argyle-link-react-native", "license": "Proprietary service under Argyle's Open Payroll Customer Terms. The React Native Link SDK on npm is Apache 2.0", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.argyle.com/v2", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@argyleio/argyle-plugin-react-native" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "A person signs up for Console with a work email, Google or Microsoft account and creates an API key ID and secret for Sandbox or Production. Every request uses HTTP Basic auth with that pair. Access to a worker's payroll data then needs that worker to sign in to the payroll account through Argyle Link. Keys have no per-key scopes in the reviewed documentation, and a 403 means the key lacks a permission enabled for the account. The Customer Terms grant a licence for the platform to legal entities only, and Production fees are set in a Service Order.", "pricing": "paid", "pricingNotes": "No public prices. argyle.com/pricing lands on the home page, whose buttons are Sign in and Contact sales, and the Customer Terms put fees in a Service Order. A Sandbox with sample users comes with a Console sign-up, so an agent's owner can test without a contract. The sign-up page says Start your trial today. The docs list a `trial_connections_exhausted` error for a limit on free account connections in trial mode, with no number given (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "Paid", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the documentation index, the OpenAPI specification or the vendor's site (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": 481, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.argyle.com", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.argyle.com/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://docs.argyle.com/openAPI/argyle-all.yaml", "capabilities": [ "payroll.employees", "payroll.contractors" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "payroll-data", "income-verification", "employment-verification", "api-key", "openapi", "llms-txt", "sandbox", "webhooks", "status-page", "sla", "security-txt", "sales-led" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-01", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 63.7, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 297, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 3, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 58, "maintenance": 75, "payments": 15, "reliability": 81, "schema": 86, "security": 48, "transparency": 83 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Graded on the REST API. One OpenAPI file covers 91 operations, llms.txt indexes Markdown docs, and a Sandbox with sample users comes with a Console sign-up. Every payroll connection needs the worker to sign in through Link. No prices are published, no idempotency keys were found, and API keys carry no per-key scopes.", "bestFor": "A lender, tenant screener, benefits agency or background checker whose applicant can sign in to a payroll or gig account, and who needs paystubs, employment records or an income report.", "strengths": [ "One OpenAPI 3.0 file covers 91 operations and 119 schemas, and llms.txt indexes the documentation with every page served as Markdown", "Each payroll connection is made by the worker through Argyle Link, and the worker can remove it through Link or Argyle Passport", "A Sandbox at `https://api-sandbox.argyle.com/v2` has three sample users, simulated refreshes and its own API keys", "The rate limit is published as 50 requests a second, and Service Levels commit to 99 per cent monthly availability with credits", "The sub-processor list names 20 vendors with processing locations, and the DPA promises 30 days' notice before a new one is used", "Twelve dated changelog entries between 14 July and 1 October 2026, with a written definition of breaking changes" ], "weaknesses": [ "No price is published. The site has no pricing page, and fees are set in a Service Order agreed with sales", "No idempotency keys were found for `POST /users` or `POST /verifications`, and no `Retry-After` header is documented on 429 responses", "API keys are an ID and secret pair with no per-key scopes or read-only mode found in the reviewed documentation", "The OpenAPI file documents an error response on 2 of 91 operations, and general errors carry a `detail` string with no machine code", "No server-side SDK was found. The official SDKs are Link front ends for web, iOS, Android, React Native and Flutter", "The trust centre is drawn by script and could not be read, so no certification could be confirmed on the day" ], "agentNotes": [ "Send HTTP Basic auth with `api_key_id` as the username and `api_key_secret` as the password. Sandbox keys fail with 401 on Production and the reverse", "Create the user with `POST /v2/users` and an `external_id`, then look it up by `external_id` before retrying. No idempotency key was found", "Do not read data straight after an account connects. Wait for the account and data webhooks, or for the verification status, before fetching records", "Follow the full URL in `next` when paging. Do not build cursor values or fetch pages in parallel. `limit` defaults to 10 and stops at 200", "Stay under 50 requests a second. On 429, queue the request and retry later, not at once", "Treat `DELETE /v2/users/{id}` as permanent. It removes every resource tied to that user, with no confirmation step" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 63.7 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 58, "maintenance": 75, "payments": 15, "reliability": 81, "schema": 86, "security": 48, "transparency": 68 }, "provenanceScore": 97 }, "connect": { "http": "curl https://api-sandbox.argyle.com/v2/accounts \\\n -u api_key_id:api_key_secret" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/payroll.employees", "tool": "https://letme.dev/argyle" }, "area": "domain-data", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Argyle Systems Inc.", "domain": "argyle.com", "domainRegistered": "1997-06-08", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.argyle.com/legal/open-payroll/customer-terms", "privacy": "https://www.argyle.com/legal/consumers/privacy-notice", "statusPage": "https://status.argyle.com", "changelog": "https://changelog.argyle.com", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The Open Payroll Customer Terms (last updated 1 October 2026) name Argyle Systems Inc. and, with a Service Order, form the agreement for the API. Disputes go to the courts of New York, New York.", "The Privacy Notice (last updated 1 October 2026) covers the records a worker shares through the platform. Argyle describes itself there as a financial institution under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. No separate privacy policy for business customers was found. Customer data is covered by the Data Protection Addendum at /legal/open-payroll/data-protection-addendum.", "The site also publishes Service Levels, a Support Policy, a sub-processor list and a Messaging Policy for Open Payroll, separate Open Banking Customer Terms, and Security Measures dated 6 June 2025.", "argyle.com/.well-known/security.txt gives security@argyle.com, a PGP key and an expiry of 7 May 2027.", "The API answers at api.argyle.com and api-sandbox.argyle.com. changelog.argyle.com redirects to docs.argyle.com/changelog.", "RDAP for argyle.com gives a registration date of 1997-06-08. The company's own llms.txt says it was founded in 2018." ], "score": 97 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/argyle.json", "live": { "slug": "argyle", "probe": { "target": "https://api.argyle.com/v2", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:04.288999451Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 195, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 220, "p95ms24h": 315, "samples24h": 21, "samples30d": 21, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 21, "ok": 21 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.argyle.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T21:05:51.399996556Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:04.288999451Z" } }, "answer": "Finch scores 71.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Argyle's 63.7 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Argyle leads on transparency \u0026 trust.", "b": { "slug": "finch", "name": "Finch", "vendor": "Profound Platform Inc. (dba Finch)", "vendorUrl": "https://www.tryfinch.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "payroll", "summary": "Finch is a unified API for reading an employer's existing HR and payroll system, run by Profound Platform Inc. in San Francisco. Applications read directory, employment and pay data from 250+ systems and write payroll deductions.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/finch", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/finch.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/finch.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/finch.json", "repo": "https://github.com/Finch-API/finch-api-node", "license": "Proprietary service under Finch's Master Service Agreement. The SDKs and the MCP server on GitHub are Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http", "stdio" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.tryfinch.com", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@tryfinch/finch-api" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@tryfinch/finch-api-mcp" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "finch-api" } ], "auth": "oauth", "authNotes": "A person signs up for the Developer Dashboard and receives a `client_id` and `client_secret` for a free sandbox application. Access to an employer's data then needs that employer's administrator to sign in through Finch Connect and approve the requested products. The authorisation code is exchanged at POST /auth/token for a bearer access token tied to that one connection and those products. The token does not expire and is revoked with POST /disconnect. Connect sessions are created with HTTP Basic auth using the client ID and secret. The SSN permission needs Finch's approval, and Gusto and TriNet need a one-time security review before going live. The MCP server reads the access token from `FINCH_ACCESS_TOKEN`.", "pricing": "paid", "pricingNotes": "Starter is $65 a month per connection, month to month, for 24 providers, up to 15 connections and read-only organisation and payroll data. Pro and Premier are sold through sales, with volume discounts from 25 connections a month, all 250+ providers, deduction writes and assisted integrations. A sandbox with mock data is free with a Dashboard signup, so an agent's owner can start without a contract, and Provider Sandboxes allow five connections to provider demo accounts. All production connections are billable (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "Paid", "where": "both", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the documentation index, the OpenAPI specification or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 2, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": 16128, "pypiWeekly": 25524, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://developer.tryfinch.com", "llmsTxt": "https://developer.tryfinch.com/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://developer.tryfinch.com/openapi.json", "capabilities": [ "payroll.employees", "payroll.contractors", "hr.employees", "hr.org", "hr.documents" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "unified-api", "payroll-data", "hris", "oauth", "openapi", "llms-txt", "mcp", "sandbox", "webhooks", "python", "typescript", "java", "go", "ruby", "status-page", "sla", "soc2" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-05", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 71.6, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 104, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 1, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 71, "maintenance": 84, "payments": 30, "reliability": 84, "schema": 87, "security": 66, "transparency": 74 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Graded on the REST API. An employer grants each connection named product permissions, and limits, error codes and a 99.9 per cent uptime SLA are published. Finch reads payroll and writes deductions but cannot run a payroll. Access tokens never expire, no idempotency keys were found, and writes and most providers need a sales-led plan.", "bestFor": "An application that needs to read employees, pay runs and pay statements from whatever payroll or HR system an employer already uses, or to write benefit deductions back.", "strengths": [ "One OpenAPI 3.1 file covers 55 operations, and llms.txt indexes the documentation with every page served as Markdown", "Each access token is tied to one employer connection and limited to the products that employer approved, with SSN as a separate permission needing Finch's approval", "Rate limits are published per endpoint (20 or 12 requests a minute per application), with 429 errors that name which limit was hit", "A 99.90 per cent monthly uptime SLA with service credits is published for plans whose order form includes it", "Official SDKs for Node, Python, Java, Kotlin, Go and Ruby, with Node 10.8.2 and Python 2.8.3 released in the last 50 days", "A public DPA dated 7 August 2026, and a trust centre naming six sub-processors with hosting in AWS us-west-2" ], "weaknesses": [ "Finch cannot create, preview or approve a payroll. Writes are limited to deductions and contributions, on Pro and Premier plans", "An access token does not expire until the connection is disconnected, and no rotation method was found in the reviewed documentation", "No idempotency keys were found, and no `Retry-After` header is documented on 429 responses", "Data is synced, not live. Automated integrations refresh every 24 hours and assisted integrations every 7 days", "Starter is $65 a month per connection for 24 providers and 15 connections. The other 250+ providers and deduction writes have no public price", "The MCP server is labelled beta, runs locally over stdio and is not in the official MCP registry" ], "agentNotes": [ "Send `Finch-API-Version: 2020-09-17` and `Authorization: Bearer \u003caccess_token\u003e` on every request. A request without the version header fails with 400", "Call GET /introspect first to see the connection's products, status and whether it is automated or assisted before choosing endpoints", "Treat a 202 response as data not ready, not as data. Retry with backoff, and expect up to 14 days for an assisted connection's first sync", "Stay under 20 requests a minute on organisation endpoints and 12 on pay endpoints across all tokens. Batch IDs, and on 429 wait 60 seconds", "After a deduction write, poll the job by `job_id` until it completes before enrolling individuals. Enrolment overwrites an existing enrolment", "Start the MCP server with `--code-allow-http-gets` or a token without the benefits product when only reads are intended" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 71.6 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 71, "maintenance": 84, "payments": 30, "reliability": 84, "schema": 87, "security": 66, "transparency": 65 }, "provenanceScore": 82 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install finch-api", "http": "curl https://api.tryfinch.com/employer/directory \\\n -H 'Authorization: Bearer \u003caccess_token\u003e' \\\n -H 'Finch-API-Version: 2020-09-17'", "config": { "mcpServers": { "finch_api": { "args": [ "-y", "@tryfinch/finch-api-mcp" ], "command": "npx", "env": { "FINCH_ACCESS_TOKEN": "\u003ca specific connection's access token\u003e" } } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/payroll.employees", "tool": "https://letme.dev/finch" }, "area": "domain-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Starter, one employer connection", "unit": "account-month", "usd": 65, "note": "read-only, 24 providers, up to 15 connections. Pro and Premier priced by sales" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Profound Platform Inc. (dba Finch)", "domain": "tryfinch.com", "domainRegistered": "2020-03-30", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.tryfinch.com/legal/msa", "privacy": "https://www.tryfinch.com/legal/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.tryfinch.com", "changelog": "https://developer.tryfinch.com/changelog", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The Master Service Agreement (last updated 7 August 2026) names Profound Platform Inc. (dba Finch), a Delaware corporation. The site footer reads Finch Inc.", "The site also publishes Terms of Service dated 24 March 2022 at tryfinch.com/legal/terms, which cover the website and self-serve use, a DPA dated 7 August 2026 at /legal/dpa and a Service Level Description at /legal/sla.", "The privacy policy (effective 31 July 2025) gives the address 2261 Market Street #4127, San Francisco, CA 94114, and says Finch processes developer customers' end-user data only on their behalf.", "www.tryfinch.com/.well-known/security.txt and tryfinch.com/.well-known/security.txt return 404.", "The API answers at api.tryfinch.com and Finch Connect at connect.tryfinch.com.", "RDAP for tryfinch.com gives a registration date of 2020-03-30 and Squarespace Domains II LLC as registrar." ], "score": 82 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/finch.json", "live": { "slug": "finch", "probe": { "target": "https://api.tryfinch.com", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:10.581578658Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 400, "lastMs": 1031, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 452, "p95ms24h": 542, "samples24h": 41, "samples30d": 41, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 41, "ok": 41 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.tryfinch.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T21:06:05.29956342Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://developer.tryfinch.com/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:17:19.963606681Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "eb779dc32931" }, { "url": "https://www.tryfinch.com/legal/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:31:07.005025023Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "758462585b04" }, { "url": "https://www.tryfinch.com/legal/msa", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:31:04.959158947Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "b7122ac1b3ac" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:10.581578658Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Argyle Systems Inc.", "b": "Profound Platform Inc. (dba Finch)", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.argyle.com/v2", "b": "https://api.tryfinch.com", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP, stdio", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "OAuth", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Paid", "b": "Paid", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under Argyle's Open Payroll Customer Terms. The React Native Link SDK on npm is Apache 2.0", "b": "Proprietary service under Finch's Master Service Agreement. The SDKs and the MCP server on GitHub are Apache-2.0", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "none", "b": "2", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-01", "b": "2026-10-05", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2026-10-01", "b": "2026-08-07", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-10-01", "b": "no date given", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "481 npm/wk", "b": "16k npm/wk, 26k PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Finch scores 71.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Argyle's 63.7 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Argyle leads on transparency \u0026 trust.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Argyle or Finch?" }, { "answer": "Argyle needs an API key. Finch uses an OAuth sign-in.", "question": "Do Argyle and Finch need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Argyle has a hosted endpoint at https://api.argyle.com/v2 and Finch at https://api.tryfinch.com.", "question": "Can an agent call Argyle and Finch without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Transparency \u0026 trust, 83 against 74" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "A lender, tenant screener, benefits agency or background checker whose applicant can sign in to a payroll or gig account, and who needs paystubs, employment records or an income report.", "slug": "argyle", "watchFor": "No price is published. The site has no pricing page, and fees are set in a Service Order agreed with sales" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Agent ergonomics, 71 against 58", "Security \u0026 auth, 66 against 48", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 30 against 15", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 84 against 75" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "Runs on your own machine" ], "goodFor": "An application that needs to read employees, pay runs and pay statements from whatever payroll or HR system an employer already uses, or to write benefit deductions back.", "slug": "finch", "watchFor": "Finch cannot create, preview or approve a payroll. Writes are limited to deductions and contributions, on Pro and Premier plans" } ], "job": { "capability": "payroll.employees", "name": "Payroll employees" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-check-payroll.json", "title": "Argyle vs Check", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-check-payroll" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-employment-hero.json", "title": "Argyle vs Employment Hero Payroll", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-employment-hero" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-everee.json", "title": "Argyle vs Everee", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-everee" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-gusto.json", "title": "Argyle vs Gusto", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-gusto" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-paychex.json", "title": "Argyle vs Paychex", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-paychex" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-salsa.json", "title": "Argyle vs Salsa", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-salsa" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-zeal.json", "title": "Argyle vs Zeal", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-zeal" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/check-payroll-vs-finch.json", "title": "Check vs Finch", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/check-payroll-vs-finch" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/employment-hero-vs-finch.json", "title": "Employment Hero Payroll vs Finch", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/employment-hero-vs-finch" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/everee-vs-finch.json", "title": "Everee vs Finch", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/everee-vs-finch" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-gusto.json", "title": "Finch vs Gusto", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-gusto" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-paychex.json", "title": "Finch vs Paychex", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-paychex" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-salsa.json", "title": "Finch vs Salsa", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-salsa" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-zeal.json", "title": "Finch vs Zeal", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-zeal" } ], "scores": [ { "argyle": 81, "by": 3, "edge": "finch", "finch": 84, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "argyle": 86, "by": 1, "edge": "finch", "finch": 87, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "argyle": 58, "by": 13, "edge": "finch", "finch": 71, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "argyle": 48, "by": 18, "edge": "finch", "finch": 66, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "argyle": 15, "by": 15, "edge": "finch", "finch": 30, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "argyle": 75, "by": 9, "edge": "finch", "finch": 84, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "argyle": 83, "by": 9, "edge": "argyle", "finch": 74, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Finch scores 71.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Argyle's 63.7 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Argyle leads on transparency \u0026 trust. Both do payroll employees.", "verdicts": { "argyle": "Graded on the REST API. One OpenAPI file covers 91 operations, llms.txt indexes Markdown docs, and a Sandbox with sample users comes with a Console sign-up. Every payroll connection needs the worker to sign in through Link. No prices are published, no idempotency keys were found, and API keys carry no per-key scopes.", "finch": "Graded on the REST API. An employer grants each connection named product permissions, and limits, error codes and a 99.9 per cent uptime SLA are published. Finch reads payroll and writes deductions but cannot run a payroll. Access tokens never expire, no idempotency keys were found, and writes and most providers need a sales-led plan." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-finch", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-finch.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-finch.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-finch.min.md" }, "markdown": "Finch scores 71.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Argyle's 63.7 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Argyle leads on transparency \u0026 trust. Both do payroll employees.\n\n- Argyle: grade B, 63.7/100, rank #297 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/argyle.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/argyle.json\n- Finch: grade BB, 71.6/100, rank #104 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/finch.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/finch.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Argyle (B)\n\nGood for: A lender, tenant screener, benefits agency or background checker whose applicant can sign in to a payroll or gig account, and who needs paystubs, employment records or an income report.\n\nAhead on:\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 83 against 74\n\nWatch for: No price is published. The site has no pricing page, and fees are set in a Service Order agreed with sales\n\n### Finch (BB)\n\nGood for: An application that needs to read employees, pay runs and pay statements from whatever payroll or HR system an employer already uses, or to write benefit deductions back.\n\nAhead on:\n- Agent ergonomics, 71 against 58\n- Security \u0026 auth, 66 against 48\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 30 against 15\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 84 against 75\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- Runs on your own machine\n\nWatch for: Finch cannot create, preview or approve a payroll. Writes are limited to deductions and contributions, on Pro and Premier plans\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Argyle | Finch | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 81 | 84 | Finch +3 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 86 | 87 | Finch +1 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 58 | 71 | Finch +13 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 48 | 66 | Finch +18 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 15 | 30 | Finch +15 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 84 | Finch +9 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 74 | Argyle +9 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **63.7 · B** | **71.6 · BB** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Argyle | Finch |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Argyle Systems Inc. | Profound Platform Inc. (dba Finch) |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.argyle.com/v2` | `https://api.tryfinch.com` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, stdio |\n| Auth | API key | OAuth |\n| Pricing | Paid | Paid |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under Argyle's Open Payroll Customer Terms. The React Native Link SDK on npm is Apache 2.0 | Proprietary service under Finch's Master Service Agreement. The SDKs and the MCP server on GitHub are Apache-2.0 |\n| Tools exposed | none | 2 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-05 |\n| Terms last updated | 2026-10-01 | 2026-08-07 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-01 | no date given |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | yes |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |\n| Popularity | 481 npm/wk | 16k npm/wk, 26k PyPI/wk |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Argyle.** Graded on the REST API. One OpenAPI file covers 91 operations, llms.txt indexes Markdown docs, and a Sandbox with sample users comes with a Console sign-up. Every payroll connection needs the worker to sign in through Link. No prices are published, no idempotency keys were found, and API keys carry no per-key scopes.\n\n**Finch.** Graded on the REST API. An employer grants each connection named product permissions, and limits, error codes and a 99.9 per cent uptime SLA are published. Finch reads payroll and writes deductions but cannot run a payroll. Access tokens never expire, no idempotency keys were found, and writes and most providers need a sales-led plan.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Argyle\n\n1. Send HTTP Basic auth with `api_key_id` as the username and `api_key_secret` as the password. Sandbox keys fail with 401 on Production and the reverse\n2. Create the user with `POST /v2/users` and an `external_id`, then look it up by `external_id` before retrying. No idempotency key was found\n3. Do not read data straight after an account connects. Wait for the account and data webhooks, or for the verification status, before fetching records\n4. Follow the full URL in `next` when paging. Do not build cursor values or fetch pages in parallel. `limit` defaults to 10 and stops at 200\n5. Stay under 50 requests a second. On 429, queue the request and retry later, not at once\n6. Treat `DELETE /v2/users/{id}` as permanent. It removes every resource tied to that user, with no confirmation step\n\n### Finch\n\n1. Send `Finch-API-Version: 2020-09-17` and `Authorization: Bearer \u003caccess_token\u003e` on every request. A request without the version header fails with 400\n2. Call GET /introspect first to see the connection's products, status and whether it is automated or assisted before choosing endpoints\n3. Treat a 202 response as data not ready, not as data. Retry with backoff, and expect up to 14 days for an assisted connection's first sync\n4. Stay under 20 requests a minute on organisation endpoints and 12 on pay endpoints across all tokens. Batch IDs, and on 429 wait 60 seconds\n5. After a deduction write, poll the job by `job_id` until it completes before enrolling individuals. Enrolment overwrites an existing enrolment\n6. Start the MCP server with `--code-allow-http-gets` or a token without the benefits product when only reads are intended\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Argyle or Finch?\n\nFinch scores 71.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Argyle's 63.7 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Argyle leads on transparency \u0026 trust.\n\n### Do Argyle and Finch need an API key?\n\nArgyle needs an API key. Finch uses an OAuth sign-in.\n\n### Can an agent call Argyle and Finch without installing anything?\n\nYes. Argyle has a hosted endpoint at https://api.argyle.com/v2 and Finch at https://api.tryfinch.com.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-finch.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-finch.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"argyle\", \"b\": \"finch\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare argyle finch`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/argyle.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/finch.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Argyle or Finch\n\n- [Argyle vs Check](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-check-payroll.md)\n- [Argyle vs Employment Hero Payroll](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-employment-hero.md)\n- [Argyle vs Everee](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-everee.md)\n- [Argyle vs Gusto](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-gusto.md)\n- [Argyle vs Paychex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-paychex.md)\n- [Argyle vs Salsa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-salsa.md)\n- [Argyle vs Zeal](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-zeal.md)\n- [Check vs Finch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/check-payroll-vs-finch.md)\n- [Employment Hero Payroll vs Finch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/employment-hero-vs-finch.md)\n- [Everee vs Finch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/everee-vs-finch.md)\n- [Finch vs Gusto](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-gusto.md)\n- [Finch vs Paychex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-paychex.md)\n- [Finch vs Salsa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-salsa.md)\n- [Finch vs Zeal](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-zeal.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-08", "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": "Argyle vs Finch", "url": "" } ], "description": "Finch scores 71.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Argyle's 63.7 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Argyle leads on transparency \u0026 trust. Both do payroll employees. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Argyle B 63.7", "Finch BB 71.6", "scores" ], "h1": "Argyle vs Finch", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-argyle-vs-finch.png", "path": "/compare/argyle-vs-finch", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Argyle vs Finch for AI agents, B 63.7 vs BB 71.6 | Anchor Terminal", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-08", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-finch" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2200, "slim": 680 }, "version": 1 }