# atoship vs ShipStation API (slim)

> ShipStation scores 51 (D) to atoship's 43 (E) for shipping rates. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atoship-vs-shipstation.md (~4,550 tokens) · this version ~2,880 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atoship-vs-shipstation.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atoship-vs-shipstation
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-07
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

ShipStation API scores 51 (D) on agent readiness against atoship's 43 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. atoship leads on security & auth. Both do shipping rates.

- atoship: E 43, rank #1247 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/atoship.min.md
- ShipStation API: D 51, rank #1038 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/shipstation.min.md
- atoship, good for US sellers who want cheap USPS, UPS and FedEx labels bought by an agent from a capped wallet. Ahead on Security & auth, 55 against 32. Also Runs on your own machine; Free to start without a card; No incidents deducted, where ShipStation API loses 6 points for them.
- ShipStation API, good for An agent working inside a merchant's existing ShipStation account (orders, batches, inventory, labels), or a developer who wants a free sandbox through the ShipStation API plans. Ahead on Reliability, 70 against 30; Schema & documentation, 83 against 55; Agent ergonomics, 64 against 53; Maintenance & community, 33 against 10; Transparency & trust, 64 against 45.

| Category | atoship | ShipStation API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 30 | 70 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 55 | 83 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 53 | 64 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 55 | 32 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 40 | 40 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 10 | 33 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 45 | 64 |

| Fact (where they differ) | atoship | ShipStation API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | atoship LLC | Auctane LLC d/b/a ShipStation |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://atoship.com/api/mcp` | `https://api.shipstation.com/v2` |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP, stdio | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| Licence | none | Proprietary service under ShipStation's terms of service. The v2 OpenAPI file is marked MIT and the SDKs on GitHub are Apache 2.0 |
| Tools exposed | 12 | none |
| Last release | 2026-02-18 | 2026-10-01 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-20 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-07 | 2026-03-18 |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | none | 6.8k npm/wk |

Why the edge:
- Reliability, ShipStation API +40: atoship 30 (Graded as a hosted service on the MCP server at atoship.com/api/mcp and REST API v1. status.atoship.com serves the marketing home page and the docs' API Status page rendered no status content, so no status page is counted (0). No readable incident history (5). 429 and a `RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED` code are documented, without numbers (5 of 15). A 429 carries `error.retryAfter` and Retry-After; no idempotency key for label purchases was found (10 of 15). No SLA (0). Not labelled beta (10). 0 + 5 + 5 + 10 + 0 + 10 = 30.); ShipStation API 70 (Graded on ShipStation API v2 at api.shipstation.com/v2, with the hosted lines. Statuspage at status.shipstation.com with components for Companion API V1 and V2, carriers and marketplaces (20). The history pages and feed, read on 4 November, list 13 incidents and one scheduled maintenance between 6 August and 4 November. The four labelled major each touch one or two carriers (DPD Local and DX on 11 September, Evri on 24 and 25 September, DPD on 20 October, Evri shipments to the EU on 29 and 30 October), and the rest are minor or notices, so all are partial and read as minor (20). 200 requests a minute by default, per the 7 October check, not re-read on 4 November (15). 429 responses carry `Retry-After` and the docs ask for retries handled globally, with no idempotency key or safe-retry guidance for label purchases, per the 7 October check, not re-read on 4 November (10). No SLA found (0). The getting-started page says v2 "is currently in an early release stage" while calling it tested and stable, per the 7 October check, not re-read on 4 November (5).)
- Schema & documentation, ShipStation API +28: atoship 55 (No OpenAPI found (/openapi.json is 404); a Postman collection v2.1 of 15 endpoints is the only machine-readable contract, and the hosted MCP tools' schemas were not read because /api/ is disallowed (15 of 25). llms.txt (10). The MCP page gives each tool a one-line description and an example prompt (8 of 20). Input typing could not be checked beyond the docs' object pages (5 of 15). The errors page documents status codes, `error.code` values and `retryAfter`, with examples (12 of 15). v1 API, no changelog found (5 of 15). 15 + 10 + 8 + 5 + 12 + 5 = 55.); ShipStation API 83 (OpenAPI 3.1 for v2 at docs.shipstation.com/_bundle/apis/@shipstation-v2/openapi.yaml, 173 operations on 123 paths and 372 schemas (25). llms.txt with 480 lines of links and a Markdown copy of each docs page (10). Guides explain when to use rates against estimates and webhooks against polling. Operation descriptions in the spec are one line each (13). 152 enums, required fields and read-only markers, though carrier and service codes are free strings that depend on the account (12). 1,648 example entries and enumerated `error_code` and `error_type` values. The spec documents 400, 404 and 500 but no 401 or 429 response (11). Release notes are dated by month and the spec version has stayed 2.0.0 through every addition (12). Docs, pricing and legal pages per the 7 October check, not re-read on 4 November.)
- Security & auth, atoship +23: atoship 55 (Live and test API keys sent as Bearer tokens, with the docs advising separate keys with limited scopes and rotation, and OAuth with PKCE for the hosted MCP server (25 of 30). Test keys create no real labels, the consent screen names label buying and voiding, and the docs say the agent can spend only funds already in the wallet, with no per-call confirmation (12 of 20). Responses carry addresses and carrier tracking data rather than free text from strangers (10). No audit log found (0). security.txt valid to December 2027 with a security contact; no certification, bounty or disclosure policy beyond the terms (8 of 20). 25 + 12 + 10 + 0 + 8 = 55.); ShipStation API 32 (One secret in an `API-Key` header. The docs say the key gives full access. Platform accounts hold one active v2 key that can be regenerated, and ShipStation API accounts have separate `TEST_` sandbox keys (17). No scopes, read-only keys or confirmation before a label purchase. The sandbox key is the only lower-risk mode (5). Responses carry order text, addresses and carrier messages written by others, with no injection guidance (3). A `request_id` on every response. No per-key audit log found in the docs (3). TLS 1.2 or higher required, HSTS on the API host and RSA-SHA256 signed webhooks with a JWKS. security.txt returns 404 on three hosts, and no certification, bug bounty or disclosure policy was found on the pages we read (4). Docs, pricing and legal pages per the 7 October check, not re-read on 4 November.)
- Maintenance & community, ShipStation API +23: atoship 10 (No changelog or release notes found. The newest dated release is @atoship/mcp 1.0.2 on 18 February 2026, more than 180 days ago (0). No dated releases in the 90 days from 8 August (0). Support by email, with no public tracker; the repository named on npm is not public (5 of 15). The MCP package is official, and only the Go SDK of eight listed is installable (5 of 15). No public CI (0). 0 + 0 + 5 + 5 + 0 = 10.); ShipStation API 33 (Release notes on docs.shipstation.com are dated by month only, with entries for August, September and October 2026 on the 7 October reading, so they don't set recency. The newest dated change from ShipStation's own sources is the shipengine-openapi repository commit of 11 June 2026, after .NET SDK v3.2.1 on 27 May and Python 2.1.1 on 6 May (146 days, 10). No dated release in the 90 days from 6 August. Month-dated entries counted at half come to fewer than three, and commits on 27 October in the JavaScript and .NET SDK repositories are in no release (0). Closed service with monthly release notes, an API support address (apisupport@shipstation.com) and a community forum. We couldn't measure reply times (10). Official SDKs exist in six languages, and all call the v1 ShipEngine host. JavaScript's newest tag is v1.0.7 of 31 January 2024 (8). SDK repositories have CI workflows, and the JavaScript SDK's CI was rebuilt on 27 October. The OpenAPI repository was last changed on 11 June 2026 (5).)
- Transparency & trust, ShipStation API +19: atoship 45 (Closed service under terms naming atoship LLC of California (15 of 30). The privacy policy (7 May 2026) keeps data as long as necessary with no periods and names no processors (10 of 30). No deprecation policy or dated notices found (0). No subprocessor list or data locations found (0). 15 + 10 + 0 + 0 = 25.); ShipStation API 64 (Closed service under terms of service effective 16 July 2026 that name Auctane LLC d/b/a ShipStation. The v2 OpenAPI file is marked MIT and the SDKs are Apache 2.0 (16). The privacy policy, effective 18 March 2026, is Auctane, Inc.'s for all its brands. It keeps data "as long as necessary" with no periods, and says third parties may not train AI models on personal information. No public DPA was found (12). The legacy V1 API is described as deprecated with removal "in the future" and no date, and the terms let ShipStation withdraw API access at its discretion (6). US persons' data stays in the United States and EEA and UK data may move there under the Data Privacy Framework. Service providers are named by type, with no subprocessor list (8). Docs, pricing and legal pages per the 7 October check, not re-read on 4 November.)
- Agent ergonomics, ShipStation API +11: atoship 53 (12 MCP tools (15, for 11 to 30). List tools for orders and labels, with paging not documented in the pages read (8 of 20). Machine-readable error codes with a retry delay (18 of 20). The npm package's tools carry no readOnlyHint or destructiveHint, and no idempotency key was found; `void_label` undoes a mistaken purchase (5 of 20). Only the Go SDK installs, the hosted server is one URL, and test keys give a safe default (7 of 15). 15 + 8 + 18 + 5 + 7 = 53.); ShipStation API 64 (No MCP server that performs shipping operations. The MCP server at docs.shipstation.com/mcp reads documentation only. List endpoints take `page_size`. No field selection was found (12). `page`, `page_size`, `sort_by`, `sort_dir` and filters by status, tag, dates, store and external id on list calls (20). Errors carry `error_source`, `error_type`, `error_code`, `message`, field names and a `request_id` (18). No idempotency keys. `external_shipment_id` is unique per shipment, labels can be voided and `test_label` exists, which we counted as partial safe-retry support (6). Official SDKs in six languages call api.shipengine.com/v1, not v2, and a label needs a `carrier_id` and `service_code` looked up first (8). Docs, pricing and legal pages per the 7 October check, not re-read on 4 November.)