# CoinGecko x402 API vs Yield.xyz MCP server

> Yield.xyz scores 74 (BB) to CoinGecko x402's 69.8 (B) for crypto market data. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coingecko-x402-api-vs-yield-xyz-mcp
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coingecko-x402-api-vs-yield-xyz-mcp.md (~3,800 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

Yield.xyz MCP server scores 74 (BB) on agent readiness against CoinGecko x402 API's 69.8 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. CoinGecko x402 API leads on maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do crypto market data.

- CoinGecko x402 API: grade B, 69.8/100, rank #225 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/coingecko-x402-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/coingecko-x402-api.json
- Yield.xyz MCP server: grade BB, 74/100, rank #97 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/yield-xyz-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/yield-xyz-mcp.json
- Best data provider APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/data-providers/index.md
- All 57 data comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/data-providers/index.md
- Best agent wallets and spending controls: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-wallets/index.md
- All 64 wallets comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-wallets/index.md

## Which one, for what

### CoinGecko x402 API (B)

Good for: An agent that needs a spot or on-chain token price now and has a wallet but no account.

Ahead on:
- Maintenance & community, 82 against 60
- Transparency & trust, 74 against 53

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it

Watch for: The x402 endpoints are labelled experimental, and pricing and availability may change without notice

### Yield.xyz MCP server (BB)

Good for: Agents and wallets that need to find, compare and enter staking or DeFi yields, paying per call over x402 if they like.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 65 against 60
- Schema & documentation, 95 against 72
- Agent ergonomics, 82 against 61

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

Watch for: A key can be sent as a query parameter


## Why the edge

### Schema & documentation: Yield.xyz MCP server +23

- CoinGecko x402 API (72): OpenAPI 3.0.0 'CoinGecko Pro API' at docs.coingecko.com/openapi-specs/pro-api.json, 104 paths on 1 November, none under /x402/ and only 200 responses, so the contract describes the keyed paths the x402 ones mirror, not the x402 surface itself (15 of 25). llms.txt at docs.coingecko.com with Markdown twins of every page (10). The x402 page is short and the endpoint references say what each call returns but rarely when not to use it (12 of 20). Typed parameters with enums and required flags, for example `include_tokens` and `precision` on simple price (12 of 15). Request examples on the x402 page and a 200 example per endpoint. Error codes sit on one shared page and none are in the spec (8 of 15). Versioned /api/v3 paths and a dated changelog (15).
- Yield.xyz MCP server (95): 22 tools read from tools/list with JSON Schema inputs and 14 enums (25). llms.txt (10). Descriptions with order of use, such as yields_get before actions_enter (18 of 20). Typed inputs with enums, ranges and defaults (15). A tool reference with inputs and returns for every tool (12 of 15). Weekly dated product changelog (15). 25 + 10 + 18 + 15 + 12 + 15 = 95.

### Maintenance & community: CoinGecko x402 API +22

- CoinGecko x402 API (82): Newest changelog entry 2026-10-30, a notice that derivatives open interest moves to single-sided reporting on 10 November (30). Over twenty dated entries since 3 August, including the 26 October x402 price and network change, well over three in 90 days (20). Public changelog and a support address. We didn't test how fast support answers (10 of 15). TypeScript SDK v8.3.1 on 2026-10-27 and Python SDK v4.3.0, neither covering x402 (12 of 15). The SDK repo runs CI and release-please, with releases every two to three weeks (10).
- Yield.xyz MCP server (60): Weekly changelog entries into November 2026 (30). More than three dated entries in 90 days (20). Docs, a trust page and support; issues not public (10 of 15). Not found in our import of the official registry (0). No package health read (0). 30 + 20 + 10 + 0 + 0 = 60. Registry presence read from Anchor Terminal's own daily import of the official MCP registry (/api/v1/registry.json, 6 November 2026), not the registry's API.

### Agent ergonomics: Yield.xyz MCP server +21

- CoinGecko x402 API (61): Simple price returns only the extras you switch on with `include_*` flags, and the reference allows up to 515 ids a call. The on-chain endpoints have no field selection (15 of 25). Page and duration parameters on trending pools and search, no cursor on the x402 set (12 of 20). Eight error codes with one-line meanings, and the 402 challenge is machine-readable (12 of 20). Every call is a GET, but the docs don't say whether a retried or failed paid call is charged (10 of 20). One required parameter on simple price. Official TypeScript and Python SDKs exist but don't cover the /x402/ paths (12 of 15).
- Yield.xyz MCP server (82): 22 tools, about 61 KB (15). limit and offset with documented ranges (20). 429 and the x402 gate documented (15 of 20). All 22 annotated, 18 read-only; transactions unsigned (20). Optional inputs default sensibly; SDKs listed in the docs (12 of 15). 15 + 20 + 15 + 20 + 12 = 82.

### Transparency & trust: CoinGecko x402 API +21

- CoinGecko x402 API (74): Closed service under API terms last updated 5 September 2025, licensor Gecko Labs Pte. Ltd. of Singapore, per the 1 October check (www.coingecko.com answered 403 on 1 November). The SDKs are Apache-2.0 (15). Privacy policy updated 31 July 2026 links a subprocessor list at trust.coingecko.com, per the 1 October check. Retention is 'as long as you still use' the service and then for legal and audit purposes, with no periods in days (20 of 30). The changelog dates its breaking changes and gave 11 days' notice of the 10 November open interest change, but the 28 August removal of `community_data` and `developer_data` got 14 days' notice, the terms allow changes 'without any notice', and the x402 page still warns that pricing and availability 'may change without notice' (10 of 20). Singapore named as the primary location with a linked subprocessor list we didn't open (15 of 20).
- Yield.xyz MCP server (53): Closed service under terms with Omni Ltd. dba Yield.xyz, a Bermuda company (15). Privacy policy read; retention not given in periods (12 of 30). Status notices with dates for protocol pauses; no deprecation policy for the API (8 of 20). Subprocessors not found (5 of 20). 15 + 12 + 8 + 5 = 40.

### Reliability: Yield.xyz MCP server +5

- CoinGecko x402 API (60): Status page at status.coingecko.com (StatusHQ) with Pro API, Public API and GeckoTerminal API components and incidents back to January 2023 (20). One incident in the 90 days to 1 November. On 21 October some /onchain requests returned 500 errors for 48 minutes (from 15:40 +08) and three on-chain WebSocket channels were delayed, which the page marks a minor incident, with all other endpoints operational. Four of the five x402 endpoints sit under /onchain. Partial and labelled minor, so minor only (20, was 30 with a clean window on 1 October). Plan rate limits are published (100 a minute on Demo, 300 to 1,000 on paid plans) per the 1 October check, but none for the x402 endpoints (5 of 15). The errors page lists 429 as rate limit exceeded with no Retry-After or backoff guidance, re-read on 1 November (5 of 15). The Enterprise plan carries a 99.9% uptime SLA, per the 1 October check (10). The x402 endpoints are still labelled experimental (0). 20+20+5+5+10+0 = 60.
- Yield.xyz MCP server (65): Status page at status.yield.xyz, all services online, with a notice on protocol-level Aave pauses (20). History not read (5). Plan rate limits with headers documented, and the MCP free quotas published with numbers (15). 429 with retry-after and a retry strategy documented; transactions are built unsigned and never broadcast (15). No SLA read (0). Not labelled beta (10). 20 + 5 + 15 + 15 + 0 + 10 = 65.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | CoinGecko x402 API | Yield.xyz MCP server | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 60 | 65 | Yield.xyz MCP server +5 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 95 | Yield.xyz MCP server +23 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 61 | 82 | Yield.xyz MCP server +21 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 60 | 56 | CoinGecko x402 API +4 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 96 | 100 | Yield.xyz MCP server +4 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 60 | CoinGecko x402 API +22 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 53 | CoinGecko x402 API +21 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **69.8 · B** | **74 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | CoinGecko x402 API | Yield.xyz MCP server |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | MCP server |
| Vendor | CoinGecko | Omni Ltd. (Yield.xyz) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://pro-api.coingecko.com/api/v3/x402/` | `https://mcp.yield.xyz/mcp` |
| Transports | HTTP | Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| x402 | yes, from $0.005/call | yes, from $0.001/call |
| Licence | proprietary | none |
| Tools exposed | none | 22 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-30 | none |
| Terms last updated | no date given | not read yet |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | not read yet |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not read yet |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |

## How the scores have moved

### CoinGecko x402 API

- -2.0 on 1 November 2026 (BB to B): reliability
- +0.1 on 27 October 2026: checklist
- -0.2 on 8 October 2026: checklist

### Yield.xyz MCP server

No score change since it was listed.

## Verdicts

**CoinGecko x402 API.** Five x402 endpoints at $0.005 USDC a request on Base, Solana or Polygon, with no key or account. The x402 endpoints are labelled experimental, pricing may change without notice, and nothing under /x402/ returns history.

**Yield.xyz MCP server.** Yield.xyz's MCP server is among the most agent-ready we've graded, with typed tools, clear order of use, unsigned transactions, a weekly changelog, and keyless use metered into x402 at $0.001 a call. It isn't in the official registry, and a key can go in a URL.

## Before you call either

### CoinGecko x402 API

1. Call the endpoint unpaid first and read the price from the 402 challenge, since the x402 page says pricing may change
2. Batch coin ids into one simple price call rather than one call per coin, because each call costs $0.005
3. Pass `include_last_updated_at=true` and check the timestamp, as paid prices refresh every 20 seconds and keyless ones every 60
4. Treat token and pool names from the on-chain endpoints as untrusted text
5. Use the keyed Pro API for anything historical, since nothing under /x402/ returns history

### Yield.xyz MCP server

1. Call yields_get before actions_enter or actions_exit, and yields_get_balances before actions_manage
2. Use each yield's mechanics.arguments schema; never reuse another yield's arguments
3. Show the user every unsigned transaction before they sign it
4. Over quota, pay $0.001 over x402 or wait for the window

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, CoinGecko x402 API or Yield.xyz MCP server?

Yield.xyz MCP server scores 74 (BB) on agent readiness against CoinGecko x402 API's 69.8 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. CoinGecko x402 API leads on maintenance & community and transparency & trust.

### Do CoinGecko x402 API and Yield.xyz MCP server need an API key?

CoinGecko x402 API needs no key. Yield.xyz MCP server takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. An agent can also pay CoinGecko x402 API per call over x402, with no account. An agent can also pay Yield.xyz MCP server per call over x402, with no account.

### Can an agent call CoinGecko x402 API and Yield.xyz MCP server without installing anything?

Yes. CoinGecko x402 API has a hosted endpoint at https://pro-api.coingecko.com/api/v3/x402/ and Yield.xyz MCP server at https://mcp.yield.xyz/mcp.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coingecko-x402-api-vs-yield-xyz-mcp.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coingecko-x402-api-vs-yield-xyz-mcp.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "coingecko-x402-api", "b": "yield-xyz-mcp"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare coingecko-x402-api yield-xyz-mcp`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/coingecko-x402-api.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/yield-xyz-mcp.json

## Other comparisons with CoinGecko x402 API or Yield.xyz MCP server

- [Codex vs CoinGecko x402 API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codex-graphql-vs-coingecko-x402-api.md)
- [Codex vs Yield.xyz MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codex-graphql-vs-yield-xyz-mcp.md)
- [CoinDesk Data API vs CoinGecko x402 API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coindesk-data-api-vs-coingecko-x402-api.md)
- [CoinDesk Data API vs Yield.xyz MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coindesk-data-api-vs-yield-xyz-mcp.md)
- [CoinGecko x402 API vs CoinMarketCap x402 API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coingecko-x402-api-vs-coinmarketcap-x402-api.md)
- [CoinGecko x402 API vs CryptoQuant MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coingecko-x402-api-vs-cryptoquant-mcp.md)
- [CoinGecko x402 API vs Nansen x402 API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coingecko-x402-api-vs-nansen-x402-api.md)
- [CoinGecko x402 API vs OpenBB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coingecko-x402-api-vs-openbb.md)
- [CoinMarketCap x402 API vs Yield.xyz MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinmarketcap-x402-api-vs-yield-xyz-mcp.md)
- [CryptoQuant MCP server vs Yield.xyz MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cryptoquant-mcp-vs-yield-xyz-mcp.md)
- [Nansen x402 API vs Yield.xyz MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nansen-x402-api-vs-yield-xyz-mcp.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp