# FreeAgent API vs rotki MCP server

> FreeAgent scores 57.2 (C) to rotki's 45.6 (E) for accounting ledgers. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-rotki-mcp
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-rotki-mcp.md (~2,400 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-rotki-mcp.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-rotki-mcp.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: 2026-10-10

FreeAgent API scores 57.2 (C) on agent readiness against rotki MCP server's 45.6 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. rotki MCP server leads on schema & documentation and agent ergonomics. Both do accounting ledgers.

- FreeAgent API: grade C, 57.2/100, rank #621 of 954. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freeagent.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/freeagent.json
- rotki MCP server: grade E, 45.6/100, rank #865 of 954. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/rotki-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/rotki-mcp.json
- Best accounting and invoicing APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/accounting/index.md
- All 77 accounting comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accounting/index.md

## Which one, for what

### FreeAgent API (C)

Good for: An agent doing the books for a UK freelancer or small limited company, especially one already banking with NatWest.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 85 against 50
- Security & auth, 44 against 20
- Payments & pricing, 30 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 60 against 35
- Transparency & trust, 74 against 48

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for: No OAuth scopes, so a token can do anything the authorising user can

### rotki MCP server (E)

Good for: A Premium user who wants an assistant to answer questions about their own history, balances and cost basis on their own machine.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 76 against 50
- Agent ergonomics, 69 against 55

Also in its favour:
- Open source

Watch for: The desktop endpoint at http://127.0.0.1:4445/mcp takes no token, because the session key is forced empty outside Docker, so any local process can call it while the server runs


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | FreeAgent API | rotki MCP server | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 85 | 50 | FreeAgent API +35 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 50 | 76 | rotki MCP server +26 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 55 | 69 | rotki MCP server +14 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 44 | 20 | FreeAgent API +24 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 10 | FreeAgent API +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 60 | 35 | FreeAgent API +25 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 48 | FreeAgent API +26 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **57.2 · C** | **45.6 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | FreeAgent API | rotki MCP server |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | Platform |
| Vendor | FreeAgent | Rotki Solutions GmbH |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.freeagent.com/v2` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Your plan | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | AGPL-3.0 |
| Tools exposed | none | 8 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-01 | 2026-10-02 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-02-28 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read |  |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text |  |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**FreeAgent API.** Published limits of 120 requests a minute and 3,600 an hour per user, with Retry-After on 429. No OAuth scopes, so a token can do anything the authorising user can.

**rotki MCP server.** A read-only MCP server in the rotki desktop app, for Premium Basic at €25 a month and above. Privacy modes mask addresses and account names, but amounts, dates, assets and counterparties reach the connected assistant in every mode. The desktop endpoint takes no token, and the feature shipped in v1.44.0 on 21 August 2026.

## Before you call either

### FreeAgent API

1. Store the new refresh token from every refresh response. The old one stops working
2. Create the invoice, then PUT /v2/invoices/:id/transitions/mark_as_sent. A draft isn't visible to the customer
3. Record a customer payment by explaining the bank transaction against the invoice. There's no invoice payments endpoint
4. Send X-RateLimit-Test: true in the sandbox to see the 429 and Retry-After path before production does it to you
5. Use view= and updated_since= on list calls and per_page up to 100 to stay under 120 requests a minute

### rotki MCP server

1. Ask the person to start the server under Settings > MCP in the desktop app, since it stays down until started, then connect to http://127.0.0.1:4445/mcp
2. Call info first. It works without Premium and reports whether an unlocked backend is connected
3. Call get_event_taxonomy before any aggregate over event_type, and sum on direction or event_group, since informational rows double count MEV and block rewards
4. Call refresh_analytics_data before query_sql, and check source.completeness and unpriced_rows before reporting any total
5. Check the privacy mode before answering from the data. Strict keeps amounts and dates, and raw sends addresses, hashes and notes verbatim

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, FreeAgent API or rotki MCP server?

FreeAgent API scores 57.2 (C) on agent readiness against rotki MCP server's 45.6 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. rotki MCP server leads on schema & documentation and agent ergonomics.

### Can an agent call FreeAgent API and rotki MCP server without installing anything?

FreeAgent API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.freeagent.com/v2. No hosted endpoint is listed for rotki MCP server.

### Are FreeAgent API and rotki MCP server open source?

No open-source release is listed for FreeAgent API. rotki MCP server is open source (AGPL-3.0).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with FreeAgent API or rotki MCP server

- [Apideck Accounting API + MCP vs FreeAgent API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apideck-accounting-vs-freeagent.md)
- [Apideck Accounting API + MCP vs rotki MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apideck-accounting-vs-rotki-mcp.md)
- [Codat vs FreeAgent API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codat-vs-freeagent.md)
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- [FreeAgent API vs Pennylane](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-pennylane.md)
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- [FreeAgent API vs Xero API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-xero.md)
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- [FreshBooks API vs rotki MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-rotki-mcp.md)
- [Merge Accounting API vs rotki MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/merge-accounting-vs-rotki-mcp.md)
- [Odoo External API vs rotki MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/odoo-vs-rotki-mcp.md)
- [Pennylane vs rotki MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pennylane-vs-rotki-mcp.md)
- [QuickBooks Online API + MCP vs rotki MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/quickbooks-online-vs-rotki-mcp.md)
- [rotki MCP server vs Rutter Accounting API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rotki-mcp-vs-rutter.md)
- [rotki MCP server vs Xero API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rotki-mcp-vs-xero.md)
- [rotki MCP server vs Zoho Books](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rotki-mcp-vs-zoho-books.md)
- [FreeAgent API vs Invoice Ninja API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-invoice-ninja.md)