# Close API + MCP vs Salesflare

> Close API + MCP scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Salesflare's 48.5 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do crm records. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/close-vs-salesflare
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/close-vs-salesflare.md (~2,450 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/close-vs-salesflare.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/close-vs-salesflare.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 Salesflare's 48.5 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do crm records.

- Close API + MCP: grade B, 66.7/100, rank #257 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/close.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/close.json
- Salesflare: grade D, 48.5/100, rank #721 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/salesflare.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/salesflare.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 63
- Schema & documentation, 82 against 57
- Agent ergonomics, 56 against 49
- Security & auth, 66 against 44
- Maintenance & community, 79 against 25
- Transparency & trust, 67 against 58

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

### Salesflare (D)

Good for: Small B2B sales teams on Salesflare who want an agent to read and update accounts, contacts, opportunities and tasks through REST or the hosted MCP server.

Watch for: No rate limit numbers found. The API introduction lists 429 among its status codes with no limit, Retry-After or backoff guidance


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Close API + MCP | Salesflare | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 81 | 63 | Close API + MCP +18 |
| 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 | 49 | Close API + MCP +7 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 66 | 44 | Close API + MCP +22 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 30 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 79 | 25 | Close API + MCP +54 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 67 | 58 | Close API + MCP +9 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **66.7 · B** | **48.5 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Close API + MCP | Salesflare |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Close | Salesflare BVBA |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.close.com/api/v1` | `https://api.salesflare.com` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Proprietary service under Salesflare's Terms of Service |
| Tools exposed | 121 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `com.close/close-mcp` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-10 | 2026-10-08 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-10-31 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-30 | couldn't be read |
| 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 | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| 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.

**Salesflare.** The REST API has a public Swagger 2.0 file covering 71 operations, with typed filters on every list call and a 30-day trial that needs no card. No rate limit numbers, API changelog, SDK or audit log were found in the reviewed documentation, and API keys carry no documented 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

### Salesflare

1. Send `Authorization: Bearer <API key>` to `https://api.salesflare.com`. A person creates the key in Settings, API keys
2. Set `limit` on every list call. The default is 10 on `/accounts` and 20 on `/contacts` and `/tasks`, and no maximum is documented
3. Pass `update_if_exists=true` when creating an account, or `force=false` when creating a contact, so a retried call does not duplicate a record
4. Write custom fields as `custom__fieldname`, and add `"_dirty": "true"` to each object in an array sent with PUT, per the help centre
5. Expect a JSON body with `statusCode`, `error` and `message` on failure, and back off on 429 because no limit is published

## Questions

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

Close API + MCP scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Salesflare's 48.5 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

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

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

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

Yes. Close API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.close.com/api/v1 and Salesflare at https://api.salesflare.com.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Close API + MCP or Salesflare

- [Affinity vs Close API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/affinity-vs-close.md)
- [Affinity vs Salesflare](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/affinity-vs-salesflare.md)
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- [Close API + MCP vs Zoho CRM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/close-vs-zoho-crm.md)
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- [Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales vs Salesflare](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dynamics-365-sales-vs-salesflare.md)
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