# Aurinko Email API vs email-agent-mcp

> email-agent-mcp scores 65.9 (B) to Aurinko Email's 44.3 (E) for mailbox access. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aurinko-email-vs-email-agent-mcp
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aurinko-email-vs-email-agent-mcp.md (~4,250 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

email-agent-mcp scores 65.9 (B) on agent readiness against Aurinko Email API's 44.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do mailbox access.

- Aurinko Email API: grade E, 44.3/100, rank #1222 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/aurinko-email.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/aurinko-email.json
- email-agent-mcp: grade B, 65.9/100, rank #397 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/email-agent-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/email-agent-mcp.json
- Best mailbox access APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/mailbox-access/index.md
- All 55 mailboxes comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mailbox-access/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Aurinko Email API (E)

Good for: A product that connects many users' Gmail and Microsoft mailboxes and wants one schema, delta sync, tracking and webhooks at a low price per account.

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for: No status page, incident history or SLA found, and the terms supply the service as is

### email-agent-mcp (B)

Good for: A person who wants an agent working in their own Outlook mailbox, or reading and drafting in Gmail, with guardrails.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 50 against 40
- Schema & documentation, 79 against 67
- Agent ergonomics, 79 against 49
- Security & auth, 67 against 42
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 84 against 13

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine
- Open source

Watch for: Pre-1.0, and every commit is by one maintainer


## Why the edge

### Maintenance & community: email-agent-mcp +71

- Aurinko Email API (13): No changelog or release notes found, so no API change can be dated. The docs sitemap dates the IMAP connection guide 22 September 2026 and the Email API guide 18 August 2026, counted as partial evidence of activity and not as a release (10). No dated changelog entries (0). Support is by email, with no public forum or issue tracker linked (3). No official SDK named in the docs (0). No public package or repository is linked from the pages read (0).
- email-agent-mcp (84): v0.5.0 was tagged and published on 5 November 2026 (30). Nine npm releases in the 90 days from 8 August, v0.3.0 to v0.5.0 (20). Pull requests up to #234 merged in the history, all by the one maintainer; issue responses couldn't be read through GitHub's API that day (10 of 25). io.github.UseJunior/email-agent-mcp is in the official MCP registry with 0.5.0 marked latest (15). CI, commitlint, semgrep and Codecov workflows (9 of 10). Total 84.

### Agent ergonomics: email-agent-mcp +30

- Aurinko Email API (49): Graded on the REST API. `bodyType`, `stripQuoted` and `returnIds` shape responses, but message lists take no field selection and no page-size parameter (10). `pageToken` on lists, `q` search with 17 operators, a per-folder list, and delta tokens for updated and deleted mail (15). Errors carry `code`, `message`, `requestId` and the provider's `originalError`, with retry advice per status (14). No idempotency key on send, reply or draft send. Reads and delta sync are safe to repeat, and delete moves a message to Trash (4). Few required parameters, but no official SDK was found (6).
- email-agent-mcp (79): 27 tools in the full profile, the 11 to 30 band, plus the `observe` profile as a read-only subset (20 of 25). List and search tools filter and page; we read the tool table, not every parameter (16 of 20). Errors are sanitised and use stable reasons such as NOT_SUPPORTED, failing closed before a Gmail mutation (15 of 20). readOnlyHint and destructiveHint on the tools in source; sends take no idempotency key (16 of 20). One npx command and a setup wizard for OAuth and mailbox choice; TypeScript only (12 of 15). Total 79.

### Security & auth: email-agent-mcp +25

- Aurinko Email API (42): Per-user OAuth with four mail scopes and `DELETE /v1/account/token` to revoke a token and the provider grant. The application's client ID and secret, sent as Basic auth with `X-Aurinko-Account-Id`, reach every connected account. The implicit grant is still supported though not recommended, returning the token in a URL fragment, and IMAP accounts give Aurinko a mailbox or app password (22). `Mail.Read` allows no writes and `Mail.Send` no reads, with no confirmation step for sends or deletes (13). Mail from third parties is returned with no injection guidance (0). No operator audit or request log found in the docs. Portal roles are documented (0). A security statement with a reporting address, security@yoxel.com, and penetration tests claimed. SOC 2 is not yet held, with no bug bounty and no security.txt (7).
- email-agent-mcp (67): OAuth to the person's own provider with the scopes each profile needs, tokens in the OS keychain, and an `observe` profile with Microsoft read scopes only. Gmail uses `gmail.readonly` and `gmail.compose`, and its code exchange and refreshes relay through a UseJunior-hosted broker that holds the client secret and says it stores no refresh tokens (25 of 30). Send allowlists, delete off by default behind an operator variable and a caller flag, inbox rules that block forwarding and deletion, and protected system folders (20). Receive allowlists limit whose mail the agent acts on; no guidance on treating message bodies as untrusted was found (9 of 15). No log of tool calls beyond the mailbox's own history (3 of 15). SECURITY.md with private reporting and acknowledgement within 3 business days, semgrep in CI; no bug bounty or advisories (10 of 20). Total 67.

### Payments & pricing: email-agent-mcp +20

- Aurinko Email API (40): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Prices per active account a month published without login, $1.50 for email and $2 for all APIs, though the pricing page and the billing FAQ define the tiers differently (20). A 14-day trial, with a card asked for only when it ends (20). Signup is in a browser at app.aurinko.io, and each mailbox needs its owner's consent or password (0).
- email-agent-mcp (60): Free, Apache-2.0 software with nothing to buy, scored 20 + 20 + 20 by the self-hosted rule. No payment protocol (0 of 40). Total 60.

### Schema & documentation: email-agent-mcp +12

- Aurinko Email API (67): Public OpenAPI 3.0.0 description with 154 operations, 43 of them for email, read once from the file the reference page loads (25). `llms.txt` and a Markdown copy of every docs page (10). Every email operation has a summary but only 2 of 43 have a description. 61 of 85 parameters are described, and the guide has a table of 17 search operators with provider caveats (9). The scope list and `responseType` are enums, with few required fields marked (8). 34 of 43 email operations carry a cURL sample and the Errors section shows the JSON body, while operations declare little beyond 401 and a default response (10). `/v1` in the path and version 1.0.0, with no changelog found (5).
- email-agent-mcp (79): Tools are defined with typed input schemas that the MCP SDK publishes as JSON Schema (25). README in five languages, AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md and GEMINI.md; no llms.txt, which a local server doesn't need (5 of 10). The README's tool table marks each tool read, write or destructive and states provider limits, such as Gmail deletes removing drafts only (15 of 20). Typed inputs with options such as `list_style` (12 of 15). Setup examples per client and documented error behaviour, such as NOT_SUPPORTED on Gmail and sanitised errors (10 of 15). Semver tags and GitHub Releases (12 of 15). Total 79.

### Reliability: email-agent-mcp +10

- Aurinko Email API (40): Graded as a hosted API. No status page is linked from the home page, the docs index or the description file (0). With no readable incident history the record scores 5. The description file gives a limit of 250 requests a second (15). It advises exponential backoff on 429 and 5xx and a retry on 408, and declares a `Retry-After` header only on the 408 of the get-message call. Sending takes no idempotency key (10). No SLA found, and the terms supply the service as is (0). The API is at `/v1` with no beta label (10).
- email-agent-mcp (50): Graded with the lines for local packages and stdio MCP servers. Installs from the official npm package `email-agent-mcp` with npx, CI runs on Node 20 (20). A CI workflow with Vitest tests, Codecov and a spec-coverage gate; the run results weren't readable through GitHub's API that day, so partial (20 of 25). Open crash and regression issues couldn't be read because GitHub's API refused our requests for its rate limit (0, unchecked). Semver tags from v0.1.7 to v0.5.0 and auto-categorised GitHub Releases as the changelog, with no breaking changes marked in what we read (10 of 15). Pre-1.0 (0). Total 50.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Aurinko Email API | email-agent-mcp | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 40 | 50 | email-agent-mcp +10 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 79 | email-agent-mcp +12 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 49 | 79 | email-agent-mcp +30 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 42 | 67 | email-agent-mcp +25 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 60 | email-agent-mcp +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 13 | 84 | email-agent-mcp +71 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 45 | 42 | Aurinko Email API +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **44.3 · E** | **65.9 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Aurinko Email API | email-agent-mcp |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | MCP server |
| Vendor | Yoxel, Inc. | UseJunior |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.aurinko.io` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | stdio |
| Auth | OAuth | OAuth |
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Yoxel's Terms of Services Agreement | Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | none | 27 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| MCP registry | not listed | `io.github.UseJunior/email-agent-mcp` |
| Last release | none | 2026-11-05 |
| Terms last updated | 2022-08-11 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2022-08-11 | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not read yet |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not read yet |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not read yet |
| Popularity | none | 394 npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (4) | none |

## How the scores have moved

### Aurinko Email API

- -0.2 on 28 October 2026: correction
- +0.3 on 27 October 2026: checklist

### email-agent-mcp

No score change since it was listed.

## Verdicts

**Aurinko Email API.** One REST interface covers message search with 17 query operators, drafts, sending, folders and delta sync across seven mailbox types, at $1.50 an active account a month and with send-only and read-only scopes. No status page, SLA, changelog, idempotency key on send or official SDK was found, and SOC 2 is not yet held.

**email-agent-mcp.** A local MCP server for a person's own Outlook or Gmail mailbox with careful defaults, a read-only scope profile, send allowlists, gated deletes and annotated tools, released weekly under Apache-2.0. It is pre-1.0 from one maintainer, Gmail lacks label and move support, and Gmail sign-in relies on UseJunior's hosted broker.

## Before you call either

### Aurinko Email API

1. Use `https://api.aurinko.io/v1`. Several cURL examples in the docs print `https:/api.aurinko.io` with one slash, and one search example names the host `asti.aurinko.io`
2. Do not retry `POST /v1/email/messages` blindly after a timeout. There is no idempotency key, so check Sent mail with `q=rfc822msgid:` or by subject first
3. Call `POST /v1/email/sync` until `ready` is true, then page `/v1/email/sync/updated` with `pageToken` until a `nextDeltaToken` appears and store it
4. Check the `omitted` array on message lists. Full bodies come only from Google and Office 365, and other providers return a snippet
5. Request `Mail.Read` plus `Mail.Send` for read and send without modify rights. The docs example names `Mail.ReadOnly`, which is not in the scope list

### email-agent-mcp

1. Start with `get_mailbox_status`, then `list_emails` or `search_emails` before reading whole threads
2. Ask the person to set the send allowlist before planning any `send_email` or `reply_to_email`
3. Prefer `create_draft` and let the person send, unless they asked for sending
4. Expect NOT_SUPPORTED for label, flag, mark-read and move on Gmail, and don't request `gmail.modify` to work around it
5. Don't plan deletes; they need an operator environment variable and a caller flag

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Aurinko Email API or email-agent-mcp?

email-agent-mcp scores 65.9 (B) on agent readiness against Aurinko Email API's 44.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Do Aurinko Email API and email-agent-mcp need an API key?

Both use an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Aurinko Email API and email-agent-mcp without installing anything?

Aurinko Email API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.aurinko.io. email-agent-mcp runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed.

### Are Aurinko Email API and email-agent-mcp open source?

No open-source release is listed for Aurinko Email API. email-agent-mcp is open source (Apache-2.0).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aurinko-email-vs-email-agent-mcp.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aurinko-email-vs-email-agent-mcp.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "aurinko-email", "b": "email-agent-mcp"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare aurinko-email email-agent-mcp`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/aurinko-email.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/email-agent-mcp.json

## Other comparisons with Aurinko Email API or email-agent-mcp

- [Aurinko Email API vs CloudPost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aurinko-email-vs-cloudpost.md)
- [Aurinko Email API vs EmailEngine](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aurinko-email-vs-emailengine.md)
- [Aurinko Email API vs Fastmail API (JMAP)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aurinko-email-vs-fastmail.md)
- [Aurinko Email API vs Gmail API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aurinko-email-vs-gmail-api.md)
- [Aurinko Email API vs Himalaya](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aurinko-email-vs-himalaya.md)
- [Aurinko Email API vs Nylas Email API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aurinko-email-vs-nylas-email.md)
- [Aurinko Email API vs Outlook Mail (Microsoft Graph)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aurinko-email-vs-outlook-mail-graph.md)
- [Aurinko Email API vs Unipile](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aurinko-email-vs-unipile.md)
- [Aurinko Email API vs Zoho Mail API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aurinko-email-vs-zoho-mail.md)
- [CloudPost vs email-agent-mcp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudpost-vs-email-agent-mcp.md)
- [email-agent-mcp vs EmailEngine](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/email-agent-mcp-vs-emailengine.md)
- [email-agent-mcp vs Fastmail API (JMAP)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/email-agent-mcp-vs-fastmail.md)
- [email-agent-mcp vs Gmail API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/email-agent-mcp-vs-gmail-api.md)
- [email-agent-mcp vs Himalaya](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/email-agent-mcp-vs-himalaya.md)
- [email-agent-mcp vs Nylas Email API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/email-agent-mcp-vs-nylas-email.md)
- [email-agent-mcp vs Outlook Mail (Microsoft Graph)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/email-agent-mcp-vs-outlook-mail-graph.md)
- [email-agent-mcp vs Unipile](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/email-agent-mcp-vs-unipile.md)
- [email-agent-mcp vs Zoho Mail API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/email-agent-mcp-vs-zoho-mail.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp