Head to head · Exchange market data · October 2026 research run
Bybit vs OKX API
OKX API scores 64.3 (B) on agent readiness against Bybit's 57.3 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Bybit leads on payments & pricing. Both do exchange market data.
Best crypto exchange APIs and MCP servers for AI agents · All 210 exchanges comparisons
Which one, for what
Bybit C
Best 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
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 20
Watch for
No status page, incident history or SLA was found; the terms say the API is not guaranteed to be available
OKX API B
Best 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
- Reliability, 65 against 45
- Agent ergonomics, 77 against 66
- Security & auth, 68 against 60
- Maintenance & community, 81 against 66
- Transparency & trust, 62 against 51
Also in its favour
- 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
Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.
Reliability OKX API +20
Bybit 45
Graded with the hosted lines on the V5 API at api.bybit.com. No status page found (status.bybit.com does not resolve, the docs link none), so 0 for the page and 5 for no readable history. Rate limits are published per endpoint and per UID with numbers, plus a 600 per 5 second IP limit (15). Every response carries X-Bapi-Limit, X-Bapi-Limit-Status and X-Bapi-Limit-Reset-Timestamp, retCode 10006 and HTTP 403 are documented with a wait rule, and orders take a unique orderLinkId that amend and cancel accept (15). No SLA (0). V5 is the current production API, not a beta (10). 45.
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 Bybit +20
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.
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.
Maintenance & community OKX API +15
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.
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.
Agent ergonomics OKX API +11
Bybit 66
Read for the API with the MCP server beside it. The MCP server has 398 tools in one list with no toolset, module or read-only switch (5 of 25, nothing added back). V5 reads take limit and cursor and category filters (15 of 20). retCode and retMsg on every response with a code list an agent can branch on, though create-order answers before the order is final and the docs say to confirm over WebSocket (14 of 20). orderLinkId makes order retries safe and every MCP tool carries readOnlyHint and destructiveHint (17 of 20). Five required fields on an order, official SDKs in Python, Go, Java and .NET (15). 66.
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 +11
Bybit 51
The editorial half. A closed hosted service. The terms read are the UAE entity's PDF served from bybit.com, clear on API use and availability, but the global terms page renders by script and was not read; the MCP server is MIT (12 of 30). The privacy policy was not read, so data handling is unscored (5 of 30). The changelog dates removals and response changes but gives no notice period or deprecation policy (10 of 20). No subprocessor list or data location statement was read (0 of 20). 27.
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.
Security & auth OKX API +8
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.
OKX API 68
Key, secret and passphrase with Read, Trade and Withdraw permissions, up to 20 bound IPs, revocation in the account, and unbound Trade or Withdraw keys that expire after 14 idle days; no OAuth (28 of 30). Read-only keys, sub-account keys, demo trading, the kit's --read-only flag and its startup check that hides order tools when the key cannot trade, and an API Agreement requiring minimum scope; no confirmation step in the kit (18 of 20). The news and smartmoney modules return third-party text and the docs read give no guidance on treating it as untrusted (5 of 15). An account audit log tool in the kit and usage records for unbound keys in the Security Center, no per-call log (9 of 15). No security.txt; SECURITY.md with security@okx.com and GitHub private advisories; certifications and a bounty not read (8 of 20). 28 + 18 + 5 + 9 + 8 = 68.
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Bybit | OKX API | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 45 | 65 | OKX API +20 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 73 | 73 | even |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 66 | 77 | OKX API +11 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 60 | 68 | OKX API +8 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 40 | 20 | Bybit +20 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 66 | 81 | OKX API +15 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 51 | 62 | OKX API +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | C 57.3/100 | B 64.3/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Bybit | OKX API |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Bybit | OKX |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | stdio | stdio |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | 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 | 398 | 170 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-30 | 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 | 43 stars | 499 stars, 1.8k npm/wk |
Verdicts
Bybit
Bybit publishes per-endpoint rate limits, a demo environment, scoped keys with a read-only flag and IP binding, and an official stdio MCP server whose 398 tools carry read-only and destructive annotations. There is no status page, no OpenAPI file, no SLA, the MCP server has no toolsets, and the global terms and privacy pages are drawn by script.
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
Bybit
- Create a key with only the permission groups the task needs, set readOnly for research keys, leave Withdraw off and bind an IP, or the key expires after 90 days
- Send a unique orderLinkId on every order and reuse it when amending or cancelling, since create-order is asynchronous and confirmed over WebSocket
- Read X-Bapi-Limit-Status before bursts and wait until X-Bapi-Limit-Reset-Timestamp on retCode 10006; on HTTP 403 stop all sessions for at least 10 minutes
- Test on api-demo.bybit.com with a demo key from the production account, not on testnet demo mode, which the docs call meaningless
- Run the MCP server with BYBIT_TESTNET=true first, and only in a client that shows a per-call approval, because the server has no read-only mode of its own
OKX API
- Start okx-trade-mcp with --profile demo first, then --read-only on a live key; load only the modules the task needs
- 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
- 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
- Send a clOrdId on every order and use the structured error block (code, message, endpoint) to diagnose with read-only tools before retrying
- 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, Bybit or OKX API?
OKX API scores 64.3 (B) on agent readiness against Bybit's 57.3 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Bybit leads on payments & pricing.
Do Bybit and OKX API need an API key?
Both need an API key.
Can an agent call Bybit and OKX API without installing anything?
Bybit runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. OKX API runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed.
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Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/bybit-vs-okx.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/bybit.json·/api/v1/tools/okx.json - From a terminal
anchor compare bybit okx(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "bybit", "b": "okx"}at/mcp, no key