Head to head · Kyc identity · October 2026 research run
ComplyCube vs Middesk
ComplyCube scores 63.7 (B) on agent readiness against Middesk's 59 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do kyc identity.
Which one, for what
Good for An agent that creates clients, uploads documents, starts document, identity and AML screening checks and reads results for a regulated business, with low entry cost ($99 a month) and a scripted sandbox.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 84 against 73
- Payments & pricing, 27 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 74 against 64
Watch for
One API key per environment with no scopes. The docs say keys carry many privileges
Middesk C
Good for An agent onboarding or re-checking US businesses for a bank, lender or marketplace that already holds a Middesk contract, with registry, TIN, sanctions and lien data in one object.
No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.
Watch for
No public price. Fees are set in an order form, and every docs page ends with a prompt to contact sales
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | ComplyCube | Middesk | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 84 | 73 | ComplyCube +11 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 78 | 82 | Middesk +4 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 60 | 56 | ComplyCube +4 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 52 | 56 | Middesk +4 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 27 | 10 | ComplyCube +17 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 74 | 64 | ComplyCube +10 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 63 | 61 | ComplyCube +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 63.7 · B | 59 · C |
Facts side by side
| Fact | ComplyCube | Middesk |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | ComplyCube (Teemo Technology Ltd) | Middesk, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | https://api.complycube.com | https://api.middesk.com/v1 |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under ComplyCube's terms of service. The PHP library and the web, iOS and Android SDK repositories are MIT, and @complycube/api on npm is MIT | Proprietary service under Middesk's Business Verification Terms and Conditions. The Claude Code and Codex plugins on GitHub are MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 11 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-06 | 2026-10-05 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes |
| 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 | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | 6.2k npm/wk, 292 PyPI/wk | 2 stars |
Verdicts
ComplyCube
A sandbox with its own key and scripted outcomes, a public OpenAPI spec, Markdown docs and an audit log API suit an agent running verification checks. Each environment has one unscoped key, no idempotency keys were found, and the only published terms are undated and read as website terms.
Middesk
A public OpenAPI 3.1 contract for 87 operations, llms.txt, Markdown docs and a dated weekly changelog make the REST API readable to an agent, and OAuth has a read-only scope. Access is sales-led. No price, self-serve signup or official SDK was found, and the hosted MCP server rejects sandbox keys.
Before you call either
ComplyCube
- Send the key bare in the
Authorizationheader, with no Bearer prefix. Keys starttest_orlive_ - Create a client first, then documents or live photos for it, then
POST /v1/checkswith the client and upload IDs - Stay under 10 requests a second live and 5 in the sandbox. On 429, back off exponentially with jitter, starting at 30 seconds
- A badly formed filter returns 200 with no results, so check filter names before trusting an empty list
- Checks are asynchronous. Subscribe to webhooks, verify the
ComplyCube-SignatureHMAC-SHA256 header, and expect duplicate and out-of-order events
Middesk
- Match the key to the host.
mk_testkeys work only at https://api-sandbox.middesk.com/v1 andmk_livekeys only at https://api.middesk.com/v1 - Name the
ordersonPOST /v1/businesses. Omitting them places a verification order plus every package the account runs automatically, all billed - Send
address_line1andaddress_line2. The API ignoresaddress_line_1without an error - A 201 means the business was created, not verified. Wait for the
business.updatedwebhook or poll untilstatusleavespending - Stay under 20 requests a second per account, and in sandbox wait the seconds in
Retry-Afterafter a 429 on business creation
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, ComplyCube or Middesk?
ComplyCube scores 63.7 (B) on agent readiness against Middesk's 59 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.
Do ComplyCube and Middesk need an API key?
ComplyCube needs an API key. Middesk takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.
Can an agent call ComplyCube and Middesk without installing anything?
Yes. ComplyCube has a hosted endpoint at https://api.complycube.com and Middesk at https://api.middesk.com/v1.
Other comparisons with ComplyCube or Middesk
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/complycube-vs-middesk.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/complycube.json·/api/v1/tools/middesk.json - From a terminal
anchor compare complycube middesk(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "complycube", "b": "middesk"}at/mcp, no key