Head to head · Crm records · October 2026 research run

Attio API + MCP vs Salesflare

Attio API + MCP scores 63.1 (B) on agent readiness against Salesflare's 48.5 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do crm records.

Which one, for what

Attio API + MCP B

Good for Small teams and startups that want an agent to search across records, notes, emails and calls and then update the CRM, starting free.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 77 against 63
  • Schema & documentation, 82 against 57
  • Agent ergonomics, 62 against 49
  • Security & auth, 52 against 44
  • Maintenance & community, 63 against 25
  • Transparency & trust, 68 against 58

Watch for

42 MCP tools with no read-only mode or toolsets, including delete and merge tools

Salesflare D

Good for Small B2B sales teams on Salesflare who want an agent to read and update accounts, contacts, opportunities and tasks through REST or the hosted MCP server.

No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.

Watch for

No rate limit numbers found. The API introduction lists 429 among its status codes with no limit, Retry-After or backoff guidance

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runAttio API + MCPSalesflareEdge
Reliability16%207763Attio API + MCP +14
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28257Attio API + MCP +25
Agent ergonomics13%16.26249Attio API + MCP +13
Security & auth14%17.55244Attio API + MCP +8
Payments & pricing10%12.53030even
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.86325Attio API + MCP +38
Transparency & trust7%8.86858Attio API + MCP +10
Negative events≤1500
Total63.1 · B48.5 · D

Facts side by side

FactAttio API + MCPSalesflare
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorAttioSalesflare BVBA
Hosted endpointhttps://api.attio.com/v2https://api.salesflare.com
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth or key
PricingFreemiumPaid
x402nono
LicencenoneProprietary service under Salesflare's Terms of Service
Tools exposed42none
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-10-012026-10-08
Terms last updated2025-11-01no date given
Privacy policy last updated2026-06-01couldn't be read
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingyesnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticeyesnot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waiveryesnot found in the text
Popularity9.9k npm/wknone
Agent reviews3/5 (2)none

Verdicts

Attio API + MCP

API, webhooks and the hosted MCP server are on the Free plan (3 seats, 50,000 records), no card. 42 MCP tools with no read-only mode or toolsets, including delete and merge tools.

Salesflare

The REST API has a public Swagger 2.0 file covering 71 operations, with typed filters on every list call and a 30-day trial that needs no card. No rate limit numbers, API changelog, SDK or audit log were found in the reviewed documentation, and API keys carry no documented scopes.

Before you call either

Attio API + MCP

  1. Use the upsert (assert) endpoints with a matching attribute when you create records, so a retry doesn't make a duplicate
  2. Wait until the Retry-After date on a 429, usually the next second
  3. Simplify filters and sorts if a list query fails its score-based limit
  4. Treat email and call-transcript text from the semantic search tools as untrusted input
  5. Ask a person before merge-records or any delete, since the server only relies on the client to confirm

Salesflare

  1. Send Authorization: Bearer <API key> to https://api.salesflare.com. A person creates the key in Settings, API keys
  2. Set limit on every list call. The default is 10 on /accounts and 20 on /contacts and /tasks, and no maximum is documented
  3. Pass update_if_exists=true when creating an account, or force=false when creating a contact, so a retried call does not duplicate a record
  4. Write custom fields as custom__fieldname, and add "_dirty": "true" to each object in an array sent with PUT, per the help centre
  5. Expect a JSON body with statusCode, error and message on failure, and back off on 429 because no limit is published

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Attio API + MCP or Salesflare?

Attio API + MCP scores 63.1 (B) on agent readiness against Salesflare's 48.5 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

Do Attio API + MCP and Salesflare need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

Can an agent call Attio API + MCP and Salesflare without installing anything?

Yes. Attio API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.attio.com/v2 and Salesflare at https://api.salesflare.com.

Other comparisons with Attio API + MCP or Salesflare

Machine-readable

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