# Bybit vs KuCoin (slim)

> Bybit scores 57.3 (C) to KuCoin's 53.9 (D) for exchange market data. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bybit-vs-kucoin.md (~3,900 tokens) · this version ~1,830 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bybit-vs-kucoin.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bybit-vs-kucoin
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-04
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

Bybit scores 57.3 (C) on agent readiness against KuCoin's 53.9 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. KuCoin leads on maintenance & community. Both do exchange market data.

- Bybit: C 57.3, rank #712 of 1349 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/bybit.min.md
- KuCoin: D 53.9, rank #824 of 1349 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kucoin.min.md
- Bybit, good for An agent trading spot, perpetuals, futures and options in a person's Bybit account outside the excluded jurisdictions, with a demo environment to rehearse on. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 73 against 60; Security & auth, 60 against 55; Payments & pricing, 40 against 35. Also Runs on your own machine.
- KuCoin, good for An agent trading spot, margin and futures in a person's KuCoin account outside the restricted list, with no sandbox and no MCP server, so through the SDK or raw REST. Ahead on Maintenance & community, 73 against 66.

| Category | Bybit | KuCoin |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 45 | 45 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 73 | 60 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 66 | 62 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 60 | 55 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 40 | 35 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 66 | 73 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 51 | 54 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Bybit | KuCoin |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Bybit | KuCoin |
| Transports | stdio |  |
| Tools exposed | 398 | none |
| Last release | 2026-10-30 | 2026-11-02 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | yes |
| 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 | 43 stars | 55 stars |

Why the edge:
- Schema & documentation, Bybit +13: Bybit 73 (No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract for the REST API; the MCP server's 398 tools have zod schemas turned into JSON Schema, so the contract exists for the MCP surface only (12 of 25). No llms.txt; the docs are a public Docusaurus repository (bybit-exchange/docs) whose MDX source an agent can read (5 of 10). The MCP tool descriptions state purpose, rules and an agent hint per tool, and the API reference gives one page per endpoint (15 of 20). Parameters are typed with enums such as category and orderType and required flags (12 of 15). Request and response examples on each endpoint page and an error code page of about 750 codes with text (14 of 15). A dated changelog with 24 entries in the last 90 days, versioned V3 to V5 (15). 73.); KuCoin 60 (No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract was found; the docs link a Postman workspace and the universal SDK is generated from an internal spec (8 of 25). No llms.txt; the skills hub ships Markdown SKILL.md files with endpoint tables for seven product areas, read-only (6 of 10). One docs page per endpoint with a description, permission and weight, but no when-to-use guidance (12 of 20). Typed parameter tables with enums for type and side and required flags (11 of 15). Request and response examples per endpoint and a unified six-digit error code scheme introduced with V2 (10 of 15). Dated changelog with V1 to V2 versioning (13 of 15). 60.)
- Maintenance & community, KuCoin +7: Bybit 66 (Read as a hosted service with an open-source MCP server. The MCP package shipped 2.1.26 on 30 October 2026 and the V5 changelog's latest entry is 29 October (30). 31 npm versions since 16 April 2026, 11 of them in the last 90 days, and 24 changelog entries in the same window (20). The trading-mcp repository has 4 open issues and 18 forks; whether issues get answers was not checked, and the API has no public forum we could read (10 of 25). Not in the official MCP registry (0). The package has four dependencies, no install scripts, a publish workflow and no test workflow (6 of 10). 66.); KuCoin 73 (Read as a closed hosted service. The changelog's newest past entry is 2 November 2026 and the universal SDK was pushed 15 September (30). Nine dated changelog entries since 5 August 2026 (20). A Telegram API group (t.me/KuCoin_API) and api@kucoin.com for limit requests, no public issue tracker for the API; the SDK repository's issues were not checked (10 of 25). Official SDKs current in five languages, no MCP registry presence (13 of 15). No package health signal checked (0 of 10). 73.)
- Security & auth, Bybit +5: Bybit 60 (API keys scoped by product group with a readOnly flag, a separate Withdraw value, IP binding, a 90-day expiry for unbound keys, HMAC or RSA signing, and revocation on the management page; no OAuth (24 of 30). A read-only key and a withdrawal-free key are first-class, but the MCP server has no read-only mode and relies on the client's approval prompt for writes (14 of 20). Tools return the exchange's own data, not third-party text (10). The API key info endpoint shows permissions, IPs and expiry, and an IP change log exists for institutional accounts, but no per-call audit log was found (7 of 15). No security.txt on bybit.com or the docs host, no disclosure policy or bug bounty found on a page we could read, proof-of-reserves articles in the help centre (5 of 20). 60.); KuCoin 55 (API key with a user-set passphrase, HMAC-SHA256 signing, nine permission groups, IP allow-lists required for Withdrawal and FlexTransfers, trading keys without an IP disabled after 30 days of inactivity, revocation on the management page; no OAuth and no expiry on General keys (24 of 30). A General-only key is a true read-only mode and withdrawals are a separate permission; no confirmation step for writes beyond the key scope (12 of 20). Tools return the exchange's own data (10). The API key info endpoint shows permissions and IP lists; no per-call audit log was found (5 of 15). No security.txt, no disclosure policy or bounty on a page we could read, a whistleblower notice on the legal page (4 of 20). 55.)
- Payments & pricing, Bybit +5: Bybit 40 (No machine payment protocol (0). The fee schedule is public without login, with VIP 0 maker and taker rates per product and the tier criteria (20). Reading market data needs no key and the demo environment costs nothing, no card is asked for at sign-up (20). A person must register, pass identity verification and mint the key in a browser (0). 40.); KuCoin 35 (No machine payment protocol (0). The spot base fee is stated in support articles without login, the futures base rate and the full tier table sit in images or behind script (15 of 20). Market data needs no key, no card is asked for at sign-up (20). A person registers, verifies identity and mints the key in a browser (0). 35.)