# Breakcold vs Zoho CRM

> Zoho CRM scores 70.8 (BB) to Breakcold's 58 (C) for crm records. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/breakcold-vs-zoho-crm
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/breakcold-vs-zoho-crm.md (~4,750 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

Zoho CRM scores 70.8 (BB) on agent readiness against Breakcold's 58 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Breakcold leads on schema & documentation. Both do crm records.

- Breakcold: grade C, 58/100, rank #766 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/breakcold.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/breakcold.json
- Zoho CRM: grade BB, 70.8/100, rank #186 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zoho-crm.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zoho-crm.json
- Best CRM and customer-platform tools for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/crm/index.md
- All 190 crm comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crm/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Breakcold (C)

Good for: Small sales teams who run outreach on email and social channels and want an agent to keep records, tasks and replies in order.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 90 against 81

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

Watch for: No status page or SLA was found; status.breakcold.com did not answer

### Zoho CRM (BB)

Good for: Teams already on Zoho who want an agent to read and write leads, contacts, deals and activities with narrow scopes, and small teams that want a free edition with API access.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 72 against 45
- Agent ergonomics, 81 against 67
- Security & auth, 67 against 60
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 15
- Maintenance & community, 77 against 60
- Transparency & trust, 75 against 67

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: The documented refresh and revoke calls put the refresh token and client secret in the URL query string


## Why the edge

### Reliability: Zoho CRM +27

- Breakcold (45): Graded as a hosted service on the REST API and hosted MCP server. No status page is linked from the site or docs, and status.breakcold.com failed the TLS handshake (0). With no readable history the incident line scores 5. Rate limits published per organisation (600 a minute), workspace (300), identity or key (180) and route (120), for REST and MCP (15). 429 carries Retry-After and `retryAfterMs`, the docs give backoff guidance, and creates take an Idempotency-Key so retries return the original result (15). No SLA found in the services agreement summary, the pricing page or the docs (0). Neither surface is marked beta (10). 0 + 5 + 15 + 15 + 0 + 10 = 45.
- Zoho CRM (72): Graded on the REST API v8, read as a hosted service. status.zoho.com redirects to us.zohostatus.com, which has a Zoho CRM component and incident history back to December 2025 (20). From 3 August to 1 November the history lists 21 incidents across Zoho services, most of them a few minutes long. One touches CRM: on 24 October a multi-service outage ("Qntrl and a few other components") ran 16 minutes 16 seconds, and the status feed shows the Zoho CRM component returning to Operational at 18:12 IST within it. On 3 September a Zoho Deluge outage ran 2 hours 34 minutes, and the CRM component's state changed when it ended. Both read as partial, so minor incidents only (20 of 30). Only the US page was read. Daily credits and concurrency are published with numbers per edition (15). 429 is documented and `X-API-CREDITS-REMAINING` appears once half the allowance is used, but no Retry-After or backoff guidance was found. Upsert and `If-Unmodified-Since` make writes safer to retry (7 of 15). No SLA found (0). v8 is the current documented version (10).

### Payments & pricing: Zoho CRM +25

- Breakcold (15): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Plan prices are public, and each call's cost in usage tokens is published, but the money value of a token is not (10). The 14-day trial needs a card (0). auth.md documents an agent identity endpoint that takes an identity assertion or an anonymous request followed by a claim by a person, which we read and did not call; access still needs a paid or card-backed trial account (5 of 20). 0 + 10 + 0 + 5 = 15.
- Zoho CRM (40): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Edition prices are public, $14 to $52 a user a month billed yearly, and extra API credits have a published unit price from $0.14 per 1,000 a day (20). The Free edition covers three users with 5,000 API credits a day and needs no card at signup (20). A person signs up in a browser, registers an OAuth client in the API console and approves scopes (0).

### Maintenance & community: Zoho CRM +17

- Breakcold (60): API changelog entry on 6 November 2026 (30). More than 60 dated entries since 8 August 2026 (20). Closed service with a public API changelog, an RSS feed, a help centre and support by email; no public issue tracker (10 of 15). The CRM MCP server is not in the official MCP registry (the registry's io.github.breakcold/inboxmcp is a separate product at inbox-mcp.com), and no official SDK exists (0). No package to check (0). 30 + 20 + 10 + 0 + 0 = 60.
- Zoho CRM (77): The Node.js SDK for v8 reached 5.0.0 on 15 October 2026 (30). Three dated changes from 3 August to 1 November, the OpenAPI files on 2 September, Node.js SDK 4.0.0 on 21 September and 5.0.0 on 15 October. Python SDK 7.0.0 of 24 July has left the window (20). No dated API changelog. The docs link to community posts on help.zoho.com, which we did not test for replies (8 of 25). Current official SDKs for Java, Python, PHP, Node.js, C# and Ruby (15). The SDK repositories show no public CI, and the Java SDK was last released on 7 January 2026 and the Ruby SDK on 16 April 2025 (4 of 10).

### Agent ergonomics: Zoho CRM +14

- Breakcold (67): 72 MCP tools (5), with `tools_search` and `capabilities_list` to find tools by capability or granted scope, and scopes that limit which tools apply (8 back). Cursor pagination, record search and a `fields` selection on record lists since 3 November (18 of 20). Errors carry a code, message, `requestId` and `retryAfterMs`, and the 4 November changelog removed stack frames from messages (17 of 20). Idempotency keys on creates, and compose and send tools return a non-sending draft by default; MCP annotations are not published (14 of 20). No official SDK; setup is one URL with OAuth (5 of 15). 13 + 18 + 17 + 14 + 5 = 67.
- Zoho CRM (81): Graded on the REST API. `fields` is mandatory on list calls with at most 50 names, and COQL selects columns, so responses can be kept small (22 of 25). `per_page` up to 200, `page` to 2,000 records and `page_token` to 100,000, plus search by criteria, email, phone or word, custom views and COQL (20). Errors carry a code, a message and details naming the field or the existing record, each documented with a resolution (18 of 20). Upsert on duplicate check fields and `If-Unmodified-Since`, with no idempotency key (10 of 20). Official SDKs in six languages, but the one-hour token, the refresh step and per-data-centre hosts add setup (11 of 15).

### Schema & documentation: Breakcold +9

- Breakcold (90): OpenAPI 3.1 contract at docs.breakcold.com/api/openapi.json with 70 operations, each with a description (25). llms.txt and a Markdown copy of each page, plus auth.md and an MCP server card (10). Tool descriptions say how to use them, such as `records_create` asking for every required field and a stable idempotency key and the send tools saying to send only after the user confirms (17 of 20). 84 enums and 488 required lists, with typed attribute pages for each field type (13 of 15). Every operation documents 400 to 429 responses and the error body is shown, but the spec carries only two examples (10 of 15). /api/v1, and an API changelog with dated entries and migration steps (15). 25 + 10 + 17 + 13 + 10 + 15 = 90.
- Zoho CRM (81): zoho/crm-oas on GitHub holds OpenAPI 3.1 files for 103 resources and 644 operations (25). No llms.txt at zoho.com, but the same repository carries a compressed Markdown page and examples per operation, written for Zoho's CRM agent skills (7 of 10). Operation descriptions state the purpose and name the call that supplies each ID, with little on when not to use one (15 of 20). Parameters carry enums, patterns and length limits. Record bodies accept any property because modules have custom fields, and search criteria are a string grammar (11 of 15). Each reference page has curl samples and a Possible Errors list with a resolution per code (15). The version is in the path, and What's New in V8 lists changes without dates. No dated changelog found (8 of 15).

### Transparency & trust: Zoho CRM +8

- Breakcold (67): Closed service with a legal centre whose terms name Logike SAS, its registration and French law (15 of 30). The privacy policy of 27 October 2026 and the DPA agree, give retention periods for specific copies (deleted record snapshots 30 days, exports 7 days, import rows 90 days, call recordings 30 to 365 days) and promise breach notice without undue delay (27 of 30). The developer terms tie notice of material breaking changes to the services agreement, and the changelog gives migration steps, with no fixed notice period found (12 of 20). DPA Annex C lists providers and their functions with 30 days' notice of changes; locations are said to depend on configuration, with US and EU app regions (15 of 20). 15 + 27 + 12 + 15 = 69.
- Zoho CRM (75): Closed service under the Zoho Terms of Service, last updated 2 March 2022, with Apache-2.0 SDKs (15 of 30). The privacy policy of 22 December 2025 says Zoho does not sell personal information, and that data is deleted from the active database within six months of account termination and from backups three months later. The DPA is sent on request by email (24 of 30). No API deprecation policy or dated notices found (0). A sub-processor page exists, but its directory loads by script and we could not read the list. The data centre page names locations and their certifications (15 of 20).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Breakcold | Zoho CRM | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 45 | 72 | Zoho CRM +27 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 90 | 81 | Breakcold +9 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 81 | Zoho CRM +14 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 60 | 67 | Zoho CRM +7 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 15 | 40 | Zoho CRM +25 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 60 | 77 | Zoho CRM +17 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 67 | 75 | Zoho CRM +8 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **58 · C** | **70.8 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Breakcold | Zoho CRM |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Logike SAS | Zoho |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.breakcold.com/mcp/v1` | no (local only) |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth |
| Pricing | Paid | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Proprietary service under Zoho's Terms of Service. The server-side SDKs on GitHub are Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | 72 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-11-06 | 2026-10-15 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2022-03-02 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2025-12-22 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Popularity | none | 830 npm/wk, 6.1k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.3/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**Breakcold.** Breakcold's API and hosted MCP server are built for agents, with an OpenAPI contract, scoped and expiring keys, published rate limits, idempotency keys and message sends that stay drafts until confirmed. No status page, SLA or security certification was found, and the only trial needs a card on a plan from $99 a month.

**Zoho CRM.** A public OpenAPI 3.1 description of 644 operations and OAuth scopes down to one module and one operation suit agent use, and the Free edition includes 5,000 API credits a day. The documented token refresh puts the client secret in the URL, and no SLA, deprecation policy or dated API changelog was found.

## Before you call either

### Breakcold

1. Call `capabilities_list` or `tools_search` first to see which tools the granted scopes allow
2. Send an Idempotency-Key on REST creates and a stable idempotency key on `records_create`, so retries return the original result
3. Leave `sendMode` unset on compose and send tools until the user has confirmed the message
4. Pass `fields` on record lists to cut the response to the fields you need
5. On 429 wait for Retry-After or `retryAfterMs`; over MCP the error code is -32029

### Zoho CRM

1. Use the `api_domain` returned with the token, since each data centre has its own host (zohoapis.com, zohoapis.eu, zohoapis.in and others)
2. Send `Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken <token>` and refresh hourly. Put refresh parameters in the POST body, not the URL
3. Pass `fields` on every list call. Page with `page` up to 2,000 records, then `page_token` up to 100,000
4. Create through `/{module}/upsert` so a retry updates instead of duplicating
5. Budget credits. Convert Lead costs 5, Send Mail 20, a bulk read 50, and calls through the MCP servers draw on the same allowance

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Breakcold or Zoho CRM?

Zoho CRM scores 70.8 (BB) on agent readiness against Breakcold's 58 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Breakcold leads on schema & documentation.

### Do Breakcold and Zoho CRM need an API key?

Breakcold takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Zoho CRM uses an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Breakcold and Zoho CRM without installing anything?

Breakcold has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.breakcold.com/mcp/v1. No hosted endpoint is listed for Zoho CRM.


## For agents

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

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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