# Bitfinex API vs OKX API

> OKX scores 64.3 (B) to Bitfinex's 58.4 (C) for exchange market data. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-okx
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-okx.md (~4,850 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: 2026-11-03

OKX API scores 64.3 (B) on agent readiness against Bitfinex API's 58.4 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Bitfinex API leads on reliability and payments & pricing. Both do exchange market data.

- Bitfinex API: grade C, 58.4/100, rank #687 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/bitfinex.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/bitfinex.json
- OKX API: grade B, 64.3/100, rank #413 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/okx.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/okx.json
- Best crypto exchange APIs and MCP servers for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/crypto-exchanges/index.md
- All 210 exchanges comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-exchanges/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Bitfinex API (C)

Good for: An agent trading spot, margin or derivatives, or lending on the funding market, with scoped keys, official clients and paper trading.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 85 against 65
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 20

Watch for: No official MCP server, OpenAPI file or AsyncAPI file; the registry's Bitfinex servers are third parties proxying public market data

### OKX API (B)

Good for: An agent trading spot, perpetuals, futures or options on a person's OKX account from a local machine, with demo trading to test first and grid or DCA bots through the kit.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 73 against 48
- Agent ergonomics, 77 against 61
- Security & auth, 68 against 62
- Maintenance & community, 81 against 41
- Transparency & trust, 62 against 49

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: The fee table loads by script and the fee FAQ defers to the logged-in view, so maker and taker rates were not read


## Why the edge

### Maintenance & community: OKX API +40

- Bitfinex API (41): Read as a closed service with open clients. The last dated change we could read is bitfinex-api-node 9.1.0 on 18 July 2026, 108 days before the check; the docs changelog stops in October 2024 (10). Not three dated releases in the last 90 days (0). The bitfinexcom organisation pushes often (bfx-report on 3 November 2026) and the clients have issue trackers, but support articles answered 403 and no reply times were read (10 of 25). Official clients current in four languages, Node 9.1.0 of July 2026 and Python 4.0.0 of October 2025; not in the MCP registry (15). The Node client has a dependency history of security fixes (its last GitHub release notes name two) and no CI was read (6 of 10). 10 + 0 + 10 + 15 + 6 = 41.
- OKX API (81): Read as a closed service with an open-source kit. Changelog entry of 27 October 2026 and kit v1.5.0 on 28 October (30). Changelog entries on 3, 6, 11, 18, 20 and 26 August, 15, 29 and 30 September and 27 October, and kit releases on 20 and 21 August, 1, 7, 14 and 23 September, 19 and 28 October (20). A public changelog, a Telegram community for the kit and GitHub issues whose replies were not read (10 of 15). python-okx is named as the official SDK and the kit is current; the MCP server is not in the official registry (12 of 15). The kit runs CI on push and pull request across Node 18, 20 and 26 with unit tests and coverage (9 of 10). 30 + 20 + 10 + 12 + 9 = 81.

### Schema & documentation: OKX API +25

- Bitfinex API (48): No OpenAPI or AsyncAPI file was found on docs.bitfinex.com, in llms.txt or in the client repositories (0). llms.txt and a .md twin of every docs page (10). Each reference page states the endpoint's purpose and fields, and the introduction says when to use api-pub against api, but nothing says when not to use an endpoint (14 of 20). Responses are positional arrays described in field tables, inputs are typed in prose with some enumerations (wallet names, order types) and required fields marked; the withdrawal CODE field is work in progress (7 of 15). Signed-request recipes in five languages, but authenticated errors are documented as 400 with an empty object and there is no error reference (9 of 15). Version v2 in the path and a dated changelog, whose last entry is October 2024 and whose v1 deprecation has no date (8 of 15). 0 + 10 + 14 + 7 + 9 + 8 = 48.
- OKX API (73): No OpenAPI file was found in the V5 docs; the kit's tool definitions are typed TypeScript with annotations, and the organisation has an undescribed ai-builder-openapi-md repository we did not read (12 of 25). okx.com/llms.txt exists and links the API and Agent Trade Kit pages, though the V5 docs have no Markdown twins (5 of 10). Each endpoint states its rate limit, rule, parameters and notes (15 of 20). Enums for ordType, tdMode and instType with required flags (12 of 15). Request and response examples per endpoint and an error code list with messages (14 of 15). A dated changelog with an upcoming-changes section that labels breaking changes and dates sunsets (15). 12 + 5 + 15 + 12 + 14 + 15 = 73.

### Reliability: Bitfinex API +20

- Bitfinex API (85): Read with the hosted lines on the v2 API at api.bitfinex.com. bitfinex.statuspage.io is a Statuspage site with history back to May 2021 (20). Its feed has no entry between 25 March 2026 and 3 November 2026, so the last 90 days are clean on the record; the feed logs platform-wide outages only (a 14-hour maintenance in March 2026, a 3-hour outage in August 2025), so smaller incidents may go unrecorded. Judgement call (30). Rate limits with numbers, 10 to 90 a minute per IP and the WebSocket connection limits (15). `ERR_RATE_LIMIT` and the 60-second block are documented, with no Retry-After; orders take a `cid` but no idempotency key or retry guidance was found (10 of 15). No SLA found (0). Generally available (10). 20 + 30 + 15 + 10 + 0 + 10 = 85.
- OKX API (65): Read with the hosted lines on the V5 REST API. okx.com/status is OKX's own page with issue descriptions, maintenance notices and deposit and withdrawal status, but no component history or feed (10 of 20). It lists no incident between 5 August and 3 November 2026; its newest entry is from March 2024, and whether every incident reaches the page cannot be told, so read as clean with a doubt (20 of 30). Rate limits per endpoint, per User ID and per sub-account with numbers, and WebSocket limits (15). Error 50011 on a limit, a clOrdId on orders and a cap of 3 amendments in flight, but no Retry-After or backoff guidance found (10 of 15). No SLA (0). Generally available (10). 10 + 20 + 15 + 10 + 0 + 10 = 65.

### Payments & pricing: Bitfinex API +20

- Bitfinex API (40): No machine payment protocol (0). The fees page is public without login (20), though it shows zero maker and taker with no tiers or date. The API is free, public endpoints need no account, and paper trading needs no money (20). A person must sign up in a browser with identity checks and mint the key (0). 0 + 20 + 20 + 0 = 40.
- OKX API (20): No machine payment protocol (0). The fee table loads by script and the fee FAQ defers to the logged-in view, so no rate was read (0 of 20, unchecked). Public market data and demo trading need no funded account or card (20). A person signs up, verifies and mints a key (0). 0 + 0 + 20 + 0 = 20.

### Agent ergonomics: OKX API +16

- Bitfinex API (61): Graded on the REST API. Limits on trades, candles and book depth, and `pub:list` config endpoints keep responses small, but positional arrays make every field a lookup (14 of 25). `start`, `end`, `limit` and `sort` on history endpoints and per-symbol variants (16 of 20). `ERR_RATE_LIMIT` is actionable; authenticated 400s return `{}` and withdrawal status strings may change, so an agent cannot branch on causes (8 of 20). A client id on orders, order multi-op and cancel-multiple, but no idempotency key and no retry contract (8 of 20). Few required parameters and official clients in Node, Python, Go and Ruby (15). 14 + 16 + 8 + 8 + 15 = 61.
- OKX API (77): limit parameters on books, candles and history, and in the kit --modules and --read-only narrow 170 tools to the three default modules; no field selection (17 of 25). after, before and limit cursors on history endpoints (18 of 20). Numeric codes with messages, such as 51020 for an invalid quantity, and the kit returns a structured error block with code, message and endpoint (17 of 20). clOrdId on orders, batch endpoints and a cap of 3 amendments in flight; the kit sets readOnlyHint on query tools but destructiveHint false on order tools and has no idempotency key (13 of 20). python-okx, the CLI and a demo profile, with passphrase and HMAC signing on every private call (12 of 15). 17 + 18 + 17 + 13 + 12 = 77.

### Transparency & trust: OKX API +13

- Bitfinex API (49): The editorial half. A closed service whose Exchange Terms and API Terms of Service loaded only navigation, so the licence terms are unknown; the clients are MIT and Apache-2.0 (8 of 30). The privacy statement loaded only navigation, so retention and data handling are unchecked (0 of 30). The docs say v1 will be deprecated "at some point in the future" with no date, and the Python client's 4.0.0 removed endpoints with a release note (5 of 20). Subprocessors and data locations are in the unread privacy statement (0). 8 + 0 + 5 + 0 = 13.
- OKX API (62): The editorial half. A closed service with terms that name the contracting entities by region and an API Agreement for agents; the kit is MIT (17 of 30). The privacy policy was not read (5 of 30). The changelog dates sunsets and labels breaking changes, such as port 8443 on 31 October and 16 November 2026 (16 of 20). No subprocessor or data-location statement read; the MCP server is local and its npm package runs a postinstall script whose purpose we did not trace (0 of 20). 17 + 5 + 16 + 0 = 38.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Bitfinex API | OKX API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 85 | 65 | Bitfinex API +20 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 48 | 73 | OKX API +25 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 61 | 77 | OKX API +16 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 62 | 68 | OKX API +6 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 20 | Bitfinex API +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 41 | 81 | OKX API +40 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 49 | 62 | OKX API +13 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **58.4 · C** | **64.3 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Bitfinex API | OKX API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | iFinex Inc. | OKX |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  | stdio |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted API under Bitfinex's API Terms of Service, which our reader couldn't load. The official client libraries (Node, Python, Go, Ruby) are MIT or Apache-2.0 | Proprietary hosted service under OKX's Terms of Service (29 October 2026) and API Agreement (28 July 2026). The Agent Trade Kit (MCP server, CLI and skills) is MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 170 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-07-18 | 2026-10-28 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-10-29 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Popularity | 480 stars | 499 stars, 1.8k npm/wk |

## Verdicts

**Bitfinex API.** Bitfinex gives an agent scoped keys with a separate withdraw permission, paper-trading sub-accounts on the production API, llms.txt and official clients in four languages. There is no official MCP server, responses are positional arrays with empty error bodies, rate limits run 10 to 90 a minute per IP, and the terms, API terms and privacy statement could not be read.

**OKX API.** OKX publishes per-endpoint rate limits, Read, Trade and Withdraw key permissions with IP binding, demo trading on the production host, and an MIT MCP server with 170 tools, a read-only flag and a permission check at startup. The fee table and privacy policy were not read, no OpenAPI file was found, and the news tools return third-party text.

## Before you call either

### Bitfinex API

1. Mint a key with read on the scopes the task needs and write only on `orders`; never grant `withdraw` to a trading key, and bind the key to known IPs
2. Use one key per client process, since each key keeps its own strictly increasing nonce and a reused nonce is rejected
3. Rehearse on a paper-trading sub-account with the TEST symbols before touching real balances; the sub-account cannot be converted later
4. Plan requests against the per-endpoint limit of 10 to 90 a minute per IP; `ERR_RATE_LIMIT` blocks the IP for 60 seconds with no Retry-After
5. Map each response by position from the docs' field tables and set a `cid` on orders, because responses are arrays and a 400 carries no reason

### OKX API

1. Start okx-trade-mcp with --profile demo first, then --read-only on a live key; load only the modules the task needs
2. Use a sub-account key with Read and Trade only, bound to the agent's IP; an unbound Trade key expires after 14 idle days
3. Stay under 60 place-order requests per 2 seconds per instrument and at most 3 amendments in flight per order; 50011 means the limit was hit
4. Send a clOrdId on every order and use the structured error block (code, message, endpoint) to diagnose with read-only tools before retrying
5. Call us.okx.com or eea.okx.com for US, Australian and EEA accounts; openapi.okx.com does not serve those regions

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Bitfinex API or OKX API?

OKX API scores 64.3 (B) on agent readiness against Bitfinex API's 58.4 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Bitfinex API leads on reliability and payments & pricing.

### Do Bitfinex API and OKX API need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Bitfinex API and OKX API without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Bitfinex API. OKX API runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Bitfinex API or OKX API

- [Bitfinex API vs Bitget](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-bitget.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Bithumb Open API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-bithumb.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Bitstamp API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-bitstamp.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Bybit](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-bybit.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Coinbase Advanced Trade API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-coinbase-advanced-trade.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-coinbase-mcp.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Crypto.com Exchange API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-crypto-com-exchange.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Deribit](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-deribit.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs dYdX](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-dydx.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-gate-io.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Gemini Exchange API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-gemini-exchange.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs HTX trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-htx.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Hyperliquid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-hyperliquid.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-kraken.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs KuCoin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-kucoin.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-mexc.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Uniswap Trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-uniswap.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Upbit Open API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-upbit.md)
- [Bitget vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitget-vs-okx.md)
- [Bithumb Open API vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-okx.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-okx.md)
- [Bybit vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bybit-vs-okx.md)
- [Crypto.com Exchange API vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-com-exchange-vs-okx.md)
- [Gate vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-okx.md)
- [Gemini Exchange API vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-exchange-vs-okx.md)
- [HTX trading API vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/htx-vs-okx.md)
- [KuCoin vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kucoin-vs-okx.md)
- [MEXC API vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mexc-vs-okx.md)
- [Binance API vs Bitfinex API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-bitfinex.md)
- [Binance API vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-okx.md)
- [Coinbase Advanced Trade API vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-advanced-trade-vs-okx.md)
- [Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents) vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-mcp-vs-okx.md)
- [Kraken API vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-okx.md)
- [OKX API vs Uniswap Trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/okx-vs-uniswap.md)
- [OKX API vs Upbit Open API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/okx-vs-upbit.md)
- [Deribit vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-okx.md)
- [dYdX vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-okx.md)
- [Hyperliquid vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperliquid-vs-okx.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