# Close API + MCP vs Nutshell

> Close API + MCP scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Nutshell's 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Nutshell leads on payments & pricing. Both do crm records. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/close-vs-nutshell
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/close-vs-nutshell.md (~2,350 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/close-vs-nutshell.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/close-vs-nutshell.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Close API + MCP scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Nutshell's 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Nutshell leads on payments & pricing. Both do crm records.

- Close API + MCP: grade B, 66.7/100, rank #229 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/close.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/close.json
- Nutshell: grade D, 49.6/100, rank #607 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nutshell.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nutshell.json

## Which one, for what

### Close API + MCP (B)

Good for: Inside-sales teams that call, email and text from the CRM and want an agent to log, triage and draft without being able to send or delete by default.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 81 against 42
- Schema & documentation, 82 against 57
- Agent ergonomics, 56 against 44
- Security & auth, 66 against 58
- Maintenance & community, 79 against 46

Watch for: 121 MCP tools, and even the read scope loads 71

### Nutshell (D)

Good for: Small sales teams already on Nutshell who want an agent to read pipeline data over MCP or write records over REST at a low seat price.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 35 against 30

Watch for: No rate limit numbers, 429 handling or Retry-After found for the REST API


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Close API + MCP | Nutshell | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 81 | 42 | Close API + MCP +39 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 57 | Close API + MCP +25 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 56 | 44 | Close API + MCP +12 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 66 | 58 | Close API + MCP +8 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 35 | Nutshell +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 79 | 46 | Close API + MCP +33 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 67 | 71 | Nutshell +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **66.7 · B** | **49.6 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Close API + MCP | Nutshell |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Close | Nutshell, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.close.com/api/v1` | `https://app.nutshell.com/rest` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Proprietary service under Nutshell's Terms of Service |
| Tools exposed | 121 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `com.close/close-mcp` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-10 | 2026-08-21 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-10-31 | 2026-06-02 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-30 | 2026-06-02 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 70 stars, 14k PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Close API + MCP.** Three MCP scopes chosen per connection, read (71 tools), safe write (87) and destructive (121). 121 MCP tools, and even the read scope loads 71.

**Nutshell.** The REST reference is served as Markdown with an OpenAPI fragment per operation, and the hosted MCP server uses OAuth with PKCE and can only read. No rate limit numbers, error format or API changelog were found in the reviewed documentation, and API keys carry no scopes.

## Before you call either

### Close API + MCP

1. Connect with `Close-Scope: mcp.read` unless the job needs writes, and `mcp.write_safe` if it only creates
2. Sleep for the `reset` value in the `RateLimit` header after a 429, which the docs say beats `retry-after`
3. Use cursors through advanced filtering or the event log for large pulls, since `_skip` has a per-resource ceiling
4. Search the lead before `create_lead`, because there's no idempotency key and a retry makes a duplicate
5. Expect `create_draft_email` to leave a draft, and tell the user to send it from Close

### Nutshell

1. Authenticate REST calls with HTTP Basic, a Nutshell user's email as username and the API key as password, against `https://app.nutshell.com/rest`
2. Use IDs in the `<number>-<type>` form, such as `3-accounts`, and send updates as JSON Patch with `content-type: application/json-patch+json`
3. Page lists with `page[limit]` and `page[page]`, which is 0-based, and call `/accounts/list/fields` or the lead and contact equivalents for valid filter keys
4. Use the REST API for writes. The MCP server only reads, and OAuth tokens need the `read` scope
5. Filter webhook events yourself, because every webhook receives all events and subscriptions are created in Setup, not through the API

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Close API + MCP or Nutshell?

Close API + MCP scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Nutshell's 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Nutshell leads on payments & pricing.

### Do Close API + MCP and Nutshell need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Close API + MCP and Nutshell without installing anything?

Yes. Close API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.close.com/api/v1 and Nutshell at https://app.nutshell.com/rest.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Close API + MCP or Nutshell

- [Affinity vs Close API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/affinity-vs-close.md)
- [Affinity vs Nutshell](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/affinity-vs-nutshell.md)
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