Check vs Everee

Check

Graded as embedded payroll through a partner API key, not access to an existing employer's payroll account. The API has idempotency keys on writes, a required preview before approval and queryable request logs. No price is public, a sandbox key comes through Check's sales team, and one API key carries the whole partner account.

Everee

Everee's API tokens are created in the admin portal of each company instance, and payments wait for a payroll admin's approval unless auto-approval is arranged. The API has no preview or approval endpoint, no single OpenAPI file, no SDK and no changelog, and a company instance starts with a sales call.

Check

1. Use https://sandbox.checkhq.com with the sandbox key and https://api.checkhq.com with the production key. A key is not valid across environments
2. Preview a payroll before approving it, then pass preview_started_at to POST /payrolls/{id}/approve so a stale preview fails with 409
3. Send X-Idempotency-Key on every write. Keys expire after 24 hours, so list the resource before retrying later than that
4. On 429 wait for Retry-After. The limit is 10 requests a second in sandbox and for partners paying fewer than 1,000 payees a month, with 100 concurrent requests
5. Connect the MCP server with ?read_only=true or X-MCP-Readonly: true unless writes are intended. In production, approving a payroll moves money

Everee

1. Send two headers on every call, authorization: basic <token> and x-everee-tenant-id. Base64-encode a token that starts with sk_ first.
2. Derive each payable's externalId from stable data, never a timestamp or UUID, so a retried create is rejected instead of paying twice.
3. For contractors, call POST /integration/v1/payables/payment-request after all payable items are sent and before admins approve. Without it contractors aren't paid.
4. Send hourly wages through the Timesheets API, not Payables, and assign workLocationId so tax is worked out for the right jurisdiction.
5. Don't expect the API to move money alone. Tell the user a payroll admin must approve in the portal unless auto-approval is enabled, and read Everee's terms on automated access first.