{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "freeagent", "name": "FreeAgent API", "vendor": "FreeAgent", "vendorUrl": "https://dev.freeagent.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "accounting", "summary": "REST API for FreeAgent, the UK small-business accounting product owned by NatWest Group.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freeagent", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freeagent.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freeagent.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/freeagent.json", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.freeagent.com/v2", "packages": [], "auth": "oauth", "authNotes": "OAuth 2.0 authorisation code. Register an app in the developer dashboard for an OAuth identifier and secret. Access tokens last one hour, and each refresh returns a new access token and a new refresh token, so store the replacement. One token per FreeAgent user who authorised the app. The same flow works against the sandbox at api.sandbox.freeagent.com.", "pricing": "byo-plan", "pricingNotes": "The API is free under section 4.1 of the API terms, with 30 days' notice before any fee is introduced. A live company needs a FreeAgent subscription, listed at £33 a month for a limited company on freeagent.com, or free with a NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account. The sandbox is a free temporary account at signup.sandbox.freeagent.com (https://dev.freeagent.com/docs/api_terms).", "priceSummary": "Your plan", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://dev.freeagent.com/docs", "capabilities": [ "accounting.ledger", "accounting.invoices", "accounting.bills", "accounting.reports" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "byo-plan", "free-tier", "oauth", "uk", "status-page", "closed-source" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-01", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 57.2, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 481, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 6, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 55, "maintenance": 60, "payments": 30, "reliability": 85, "schema": 50, "security": 44, "transparency": 74 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "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.", "bestFor": "An agent doing the books for a UK freelancer or small limited company, especially one already banking with NatWest.", "strengths": [ "Published limits of 120 requests a minute and 3,600 an hour per user, with Retry-After on 429", "X-RateLimit-Test header that lowers the sandbox to 5 requests a minute for testing back-off", "API free under section 4.1 of the terms, with 30 days' notice before any fee", "Free sandbox with its own sign-up and API host", "Valid security.txt, a disclosure policy and Cyber Essentials Plus" ], "weaknesses": [ "No OAuth scopes, so a token can do anything the authorising user can", "No OpenAPI spec, SDK, llms.txt or official MCP server", "Error responses aren't documented beyond the 429", "UK only, so VAT, MTD and HMRC filings are the tax model", "API terms bar migrating data to a competitor and using the API for benchmarking or comparison" ], "agentNotes": [ "Store the new refresh token from every refresh response. The old one stops working", "Create the invoice, then PUT /v2/invoices/:id/transitions/mark_as_sent. A draft isn't visible to the customer", "Record a customer payment by explaining the bank transaction against the invoice. There's no invoice payments endpoint", "Send X-RateLimit-Test: true in the sandbox to see the 429 and Retry-After path before production does it to you", "Use view= and updated_since= on list calls and per_page up to 100 to stay under 120 requests a minute" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 2.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 57.2 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 55, "maintenance": 60, "payments": 30, "reliability": 85, "schema": 50, "security": 44, "transparency": 55 }, "provenanceScore": 92 }, "connect": { "http": "curl \"https://api.freeagent.com/v2/invoices?view=open\" \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer $FREEAGENT_ACCESS_TOKEN\" -H \"Accept: application/json\"" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/accounting.ledger", "tool": "https://letme.dev/freeagent" }, "area": "domain-data", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "FreeAgent Central Limited", "domain": "freeagent.com", "domainRegistered": "1999-04-15", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://dev.freeagent.com/docs/api_terms", "privacy": "https://www.freeagent.com/privacy/", "statusPage": "https://status.freeagent.com", "changelog": "https://dev.freeagent.com/docs/changes", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-09-30", "notes": [ "The API terms name FreeAgent Central Limited, registered in Scotland (SC316774) at One Edinburgh Quay, 133 Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, wholly owned by NatWest Group.", "security.txt at www.freeagent.com expires 2027-04-17 and points to a disclosure policy.", "The terms let FreeAgent introduce API fees on 30 days' notice." ], "score": 92 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freeagent.json", "live": { "slug": "freeagent", "probe": { "target": "https://api.freeagent.com/v2", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:10.84736066Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 400, "lastMs": 61, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 70, "p95ms24h": 156, "samples24h": 271, "samples30d": 1955, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-01", "probes": 109, "ok": 109 }, { "date": "2026-10-02", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-03", "probes": 271, "ok": 271 }, { "date": "2026-10-04", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-05", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-06", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-07", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 239, "ok": 239 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.freeagent.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T21:06:05.595175508Z" }, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://freeagent.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2027-04-17T12:00:00.000Z", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:39:10.080845316Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "freeagent.com", "registered": "1999-04-15", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/freeagent.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:09:45.721300128Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://dev.freeagent.com/docs/changes", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:16:59.402956377Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-07T18:03:52.701375992Z", "fingerprint": "56e6cd1faf4a" }, { "url": "https://www.freeagent.com/privacy/", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:27:47.216277008Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "12e01f7684e7" }, { "url": "https://dev.freeagent.com/docs/api_terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:16:57.343684784Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "ca4e227eec74" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:10.84736066Z" } }, "answer": "Zoho Books scores 61.1 (C) on agent readiness against FreeAgent API's 57.2 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. FreeAgent API leads on reliability.", "b": { "slug": "zoho-books", "name": "Zoho Books", "vendor": "Zoho", "vendorUrl": "https://www.zoho.com/books/", "kind": "http-api", "category": "accounting", "summary": "Zoho Books is hosted accounting software from Zoho for small and mid-sized businesses. Agents reach it through the REST API v3, covering invoices, bills, payments, banking, journals and the chart of accounts behind OAuth 2.0.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zoho-books", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zoho-books.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zoho-books.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zoho-books.json", "license": "Proprietary service under Zoho's Terms of Service", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://www.zohoapis.com/books/v3", "packages": [], "auth": "oauth", "authNotes": "OAuth 2.0 only. A person registers a client in the Zoho developer console (a server-based application, or a self client for one's own organisation) and approves scopes, which narrow to one module and one operation. The access token lasts one hour and goes in `Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken \u003ctoken\u003e`. The refresh token lasts until revoked. Every call also needs `organization_id`. Each data centre has its own accounts host and API domain. Registration is self-serve, with no app review or sales approval found for use inside one's own organisation.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free plan for one user and one accountant with 1,000 API requests a day, open to businesses with yearly revenue under $50,000. Paid plans cost $15 to $240 an organisation a month billed yearly in the US edition ($20 to $275 monthly) and have a 14-day trial. The plan sets the daily API cap, up to 10,000. No sandbox organisation was found, so an agent starts on the Free plan or a trial (https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/, checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "$15 / mo", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the API docs, the OpenAPI files or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://www.zoho.com/books/api/v3/introduction/", "llmsTxt": "https://www.zoho.com/us/books/help/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://www.zoho.com/books/api/v3/openapi-all.zip", "capabilities": [ "accounting.ledger", "accounting.invoices", "accounting.bills" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "closed-source", "oauth", "openapi", "mcp", "webhooks", "free-tier", "status-page", "bug-bounty", "soc2" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-07", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 61.1, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 377, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 5, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 51, "maintenance": 56, "payments": 30, "reliability": 71, "schema": 71, "security": 68, "transparency": 75 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "The public OpenAPI files cover 885 operations with OAuth scopes per module and operation, and the Free plan allows 1,000 API requests a day. No report endpoint, official SDK, SLA or dated API changelog was found, and the documented token calls put the client secret in the URL.", "bestFor": "Small businesses already on Zoho that want an agent to raise invoices, record bills and payments, reconcile bank transactions and post journals with narrow scopes.", "strengths": [ "OpenAPI 3.0.0 files for 45 resources and 885 operations download from the docs as `openapi-all.zip`", "OAuth scopes narrow to one module and one operation, such as `ZohoBooks.invoices.READ`", "Every API reference operation has a Markdown twin, such as `/books/api/v3/invoices/create-an-invoice.md`", "The Free plan includes 1,000 API requests a day per the plan comparison", "The API Usage dashboard lists recent calls by user, module, IP address and application" ], "weaknesses": [ "No profit and loss, balance sheet or other report endpoint appears in the API docs or the OpenAPI files", "The documented token and refresh calls put the client secret and refresh token in the URL query string", "Daily caps are low, 1,000 requests on Free and 10,000 on the top three plans", "No official SDK, SLA, API deprecation policy or dated API changelog found in the reviewed pages", "429 is documented without a Retry-After header or backoff guidance" ], "agentNotes": [ "Send `organization_id` as a query parameter on every call. Read it from `GET /organizations` first", "Use the `api_domain` returned with the token, since each of the nine data centres has its own host (zohoapis.com, zohoapis.eu, zohoapis.in and others)", "Send `Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken \u003ctoken\u003e` and refresh hourly. Each user keeps at most 20 refresh tokens and the oldest is deleted", "Stay under 100 requests a minute and the plan's daily cap. Codes 44, 45 and 1070 on a 429 mean minute, day and concurrency limits", "To repeat an update safely, send `X-Unique-Identifier-Key`, `X-Unique-Identifier-Value` and `X-Upsert` with a unique custom field. Creates have no idempotency key" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 61.1 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 51, "maintenance": 56, "payments": 30, "reliability": 71, "schema": 71, "security": 68, "transparency": 54 }, "provenanceScore": 95 }, "connect": { "http": "curl -X GET 'https://www.zohoapis.com/books/v3/organizations' \\\n -H \"Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken $ZOHO_ACCESS_TOKEN\"" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/accounting.ledger", "tool": "https://letme.dev/zoho-books" }, "sameCompany": [ "zoho-zeptomail", "zoho-crm", "zoho-recruit", "zoho-people" ], "area": "domain-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Standard", "unit": "month", "usd": 15, "note": "per organisation, billed yearly; $20 billed monthly; 3 users, 2,000 API requests a day" }, { "item": "Professional", "unit": "month", "usd": 40, "note": "per organisation, billed yearly; $50 billed monthly; 5 users, 5,000 API requests a day" }, { "item": "Premium", "unit": "month", "usd": 60, "note": "per organisation, billed yearly; $70 billed monthly; 10 users, 10,000 API requests a day" }, { "item": "Elite", "unit": "month", "usd": 120, "note": "per organisation, billed yearly; $150 billed monthly; 10 users, 10,000 API requests a day" }, { "item": "Ultimate", "unit": "month", "usd": 240, "note": "per organisation, billed yearly; $275 billed monthly; 15 users, 10,000 API requests a day" }, { "item": "Additional user", "unit": "seat-month", "usd": 2.5, "note": "billed yearly; $3 billed monthly; paid plans only" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Zoho Corporation Private Limited", "domain": "zoho.com", "domainRegistered": "2004-01-16", "domainNote": "API calls go to www.zohoapis.com and its regional equivalents, a Zoho domain other than zoho.com.", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.zoho.com/terms.html", "privacy": "https://www.zoho.com/privacy.html", "statusPage": "https://status.zoho.com", "changelog": "https://www.zoho.com/books/whats-new.html", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The Terms of Service (last updated 2 March 2022) are the service agreement for Zoho's online services. The contracting entity depends on the customer's region, Zoho Corporation Private Limited for India and Zoho Corporation for the United States (https://www.zoho.com/legal/zoho-contracting-entities.html).", "A separate Zoho Developer Agreement at https://www.zoho.com/developer/terms.html covers the developer tools.", "The privacy policy was last updated on 22 December 2025 and covers Zoho's websites and the products on them.", "security.txt at www.zoho.com gives a bug bounty contact, security@zohocorp.com, a policy link and an expiry of 30 June 2028.", "The changelog link is the product What's New page, newest entry 31 July 2026. No dated API changelog was found.", "RDAP for zoho.com gives a registration date of 2004-01-16." ], "score": 95 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zoho-books.json", "live": { "slug": "zoho-books", "probe": { "target": "https://www.zohoapis.com/books/v3", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:26.720239875Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 427, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 448, "p95ms24h": 486, "samples24h": 21, "samples30d": 21, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 21, "ok": 21 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.zoho.com", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T19:39:22.344999716Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:26.720239875Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "FreeAgent", "b": "Zoho", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.freeagent.com/v2", "b": "https://www.zohoapis.com/books/v3", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth", "b": "OAuth", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Your plan", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "none", "b": "Proprietary service under Zoho's Terms of Service", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-09-01", "b": "2026-10-07", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2025-02-28", "b": "2022-03-02", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "2025-12-22", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "yes", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "2.5/5 (2)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Zoho Books scores 61.1 (C) on agent readiness against FreeAgent API's 57.2 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. FreeAgent API leads on reliability.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, FreeAgent API or Zoho Books?" }, { "answer": "Both use an OAuth sign-in.", "question": "Do FreeAgent API and Zoho Books need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. FreeAgent API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.freeagent.com/v2 and Zoho Books at https://www.zohoapis.com/books/v3.", "question": "Can an agent call FreeAgent API and Zoho Books without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 85 against 71" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "An agent doing the books for a UK freelancer or small limited company, especially one already banking with NatWest.", "slug": "freeagent", "watchFor": "No OAuth scopes, so a token can do anything the authorising user can" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 71 against 50", "Security \u0026 auth, 68 against 44" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Small businesses already on Zoho that want an agent to raise invoices, record bills and payments, reconcile bank transactions and post journals with narrow scopes.", "slug": "zoho-books", "watchFor": "No profit and loss, balance sheet or other report endpoint appears in the API docs or the OpenAPI files" } ], "job": { "capability": "accounting.ledger", "name": "Accounting ledger" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apideck-accounting-vs-freeagent.json", "title": "Apideck Accounting API + MCP vs FreeAgent API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apideck-accounting-vs-freeagent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apideck-accounting-vs-zoho-books.json", "title": "Apideck Accounting API + MCP vs Zoho Books", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apideck-accounting-vs-zoho-books" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codat-vs-freeagent.json", "title": "Codat vs FreeAgent API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codat-vs-freeagent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codat-vs-zoho-books.json", "title": "Codat vs Zoho Books", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codat-vs-zoho-books" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-freshbooks.json", "title": "FreeAgent API vs FreshBooks API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-freshbooks" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-merge-accounting.json", "title": "FreeAgent API vs Merge Accounting API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-merge-accounting" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-odoo.json", "title": "FreeAgent API vs Odoo External API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-odoo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-quickbooks-online.json", "title": "FreeAgent API vs QuickBooks Online API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-quickbooks-online" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-rutter.json", "title": "FreeAgent API vs Rutter Accounting API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-rutter" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-xero.json", "title": "FreeAgent API vs Xero API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-xero" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-zoho-books.json", "title": "FreshBooks API vs Zoho Books", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-zoho-books" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/merge-accounting-vs-zoho-books.json", "title": "Merge Accounting API vs Zoho Books", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/merge-accounting-vs-zoho-books" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/odoo-vs-zoho-books.json", "title": "Odoo External API vs Zoho Books", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/odoo-vs-zoho-books" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/quickbooks-online-vs-zoho-books.json", "title": "QuickBooks Online API + MCP vs Zoho Books", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/quickbooks-online-vs-zoho-books" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rutter-vs-zoho-books.json", "title": "Rutter Accounting API vs Zoho Books", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rutter-vs-zoho-books" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/xero-vs-zoho-books.json", "title": "Xero API + MCP vs Zoho Books", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/xero-vs-zoho-books" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-invoice-ninja.json", "title": "FreeAgent API vs Invoice Ninja API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-invoice-ninja" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/invoice-ninja-vs-zoho-books.json", "title": "Invoice Ninja API vs Zoho Books", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/invoice-ninja-vs-zoho-books" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 14, "edge": "freeagent", "freeagent": 85, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16, "zoho-books": 71 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 21, "edge": "zoho-books", "freeagent": 50, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13, "zoho-books": 71 }, { "by": 4, "edge": "freeagent", "freeagent": 55, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13, "zoho-books": 51 }, { "by": 24, "edge": "zoho-books", "freeagent": 44, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14, "zoho-books": 68 }, { "by": 0, "edge": "", "freeagent": 30, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10, "zoho-books": 30 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 4, "edge": "freeagent", "freeagent": 60, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7, "zoho-books": 56 }, { "by": 1, "edge": "zoho-books", "freeagent": 74, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7, "zoho-books": 75 } ], "summary": "Zoho Books scores 61.1 (C) on agent readiness against FreeAgent API's 57.2 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. FreeAgent API leads on reliability. Both do accounting ledger.", "verdicts": { "freeagent": "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.", "zoho-books": "The public OpenAPI files cover 885 operations with OAuth scopes per module and operation, and the Free plan allows 1,000 API requests a day. No report endpoint, official SDK, SLA or dated API changelog was found, and the documented token calls put the client secret in the URL." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-zoho-books", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-zoho-books.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-zoho-books.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-zoho-books.min.md" }, "markdown": "Zoho Books scores 61.1 (C) on agent readiness against FreeAgent API's 57.2 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. FreeAgent API leads on reliability. Both do accounting ledger.\n\n- FreeAgent API: grade C, 57.2/100, rank #481 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freeagent.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/freeagent.json\n- Zoho Books: grade C, 61.1/100, rank #377 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zoho-books.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zoho-books.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### FreeAgent API (C)\n\nGood for: An agent doing the books for a UK freelancer or small limited company, especially one already banking with NatWest.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 85 against 71\n\nWatch for: No OAuth scopes, so a token can do anything the authorising user can\n\n### Zoho Books (C)\n\nGood for: Small businesses already on Zoho that want an agent to raise invoices, record bills and payments, reconcile bank transactions and post journals with narrow scopes.\n\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 71 against 50\n- Security \u0026 auth, 68 against 44\n\nWatch for: No profit and loss, balance sheet or other report endpoint appears in the API docs or the OpenAPI files\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | FreeAgent API | Zoho Books | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 85 | 71 | FreeAgent API +14 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 50 | 71 | Zoho Books +21 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 55 | 51 | FreeAgent API +4 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 44 | 68 | Zoho Books +24 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 30 | even |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 60 | 56 | FreeAgent API +4 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 75 | Zoho Books +1 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **57.2 · C** | **61.1 · C** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | FreeAgent API | Zoho Books |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | FreeAgent | Zoho |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.freeagent.com/v2` | `https://www.zohoapis.com/books/v3` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth | OAuth |\n| Pricing | Your plan | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | none | Proprietary service under Zoho's Terms of Service |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | no | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-09-01 | 2026-10-07 |\n| Terms last updated | 2025-02-28 | 2022-03-02 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2025-12-22 |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | yes |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**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.\n\n**Zoho Books.** The public OpenAPI files cover 885 operations with OAuth scopes per module and operation, and the Free plan allows 1,000 API requests a day. No report endpoint, official SDK, SLA or dated API changelog was found, and the documented token calls put the client secret in the URL.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### FreeAgent API\n\n1. Store the new refresh token from every refresh response. The old one stops working\n2. Create the invoice, then PUT /v2/invoices/:id/transitions/mark_as_sent. A draft isn't visible to the customer\n3. Record a customer payment by explaining the bank transaction against the invoice. There's no invoice payments endpoint\n4. Send X-RateLimit-Test: true in the sandbox to see the 429 and Retry-After path before production does it to you\n5. Use view= and updated_since= on list calls and per_page up to 100 to stay under 120 requests a minute\n\n### Zoho Books\n\n1. Send `organization_id` as a query parameter on every call. Read it from `GET /organizations` first\n2. Use the `api_domain` returned with the token, since each of the nine data centres has its own host (zohoapis.com, zohoapis.eu, zohoapis.in and others)\n3. Send `Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken \u003ctoken\u003e` and refresh hourly. Each user keeps at most 20 refresh tokens and the oldest is deleted\n4. Stay under 100 requests a minute and the plan's daily cap. Codes 44, 45 and 1070 on a 429 mean minute, day and concurrency limits\n5. To repeat an update safely, send `X-Unique-Identifier-Key`, `X-Unique-Identifier-Value` and `X-Upsert` with a unique custom field. Creates have no idempotency key\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, FreeAgent API or Zoho Books?\n\nZoho Books scores 61.1 (C) on agent readiness against FreeAgent API's 57.2 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. FreeAgent API leads on reliability.\n\n### Do FreeAgent API and Zoho Books need an API key?\n\nBoth use an OAuth sign-in.\n\n### Can an agent call FreeAgent API and Zoho Books without installing anything?\n\nYes. FreeAgent API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.freeagent.com/v2 and Zoho Books at https://www.zohoapis.com/books/v3.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-zoho-books.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-zoho-books.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"freeagent\", \"b\": \"zoho-books\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare freeagent zoho-books`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/freeagent.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zoho-books.json\n\n## Other comparisons with FreeAgent API or Zoho Books\n\n- [Apideck Accounting API + MCP vs FreeAgent API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apideck-accounting-vs-freeagent.md)\n- [Apideck Accounting API + MCP vs Zoho Books](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apideck-accounting-vs-zoho-books.md)\n- [Codat vs FreeAgent API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codat-vs-freeagent.md)\n- [Codat vs Zoho Books](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codat-vs-zoho-books.md)\n- [FreeAgent API vs FreshBooks API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-freshbooks.md)\n- [FreeAgent API vs Merge Accounting API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-merge-accounting.md)\n- [FreeAgent API vs Odoo External API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-odoo.md)\n- [FreeAgent API vs QuickBooks Online API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-quickbooks-online.md)\n- [FreeAgent API vs Rutter Accounting API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-rutter.md)\n- [FreeAgent API vs Xero API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-xero.md)\n- [FreshBooks API vs Zoho Books](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-zoho-books.md)\n- [Merge Accounting API vs Zoho Books](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/merge-accounting-vs-zoho-books.md)\n- [Odoo External API vs Zoho Books](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/odoo-vs-zoho-books.md)\n- [QuickBooks Online API + MCP vs Zoho Books](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/quickbooks-online-vs-zoho-books.md)\n- [Rutter Accounting API vs Zoho Books](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rutter-vs-zoho-books.md)\n- [Xero API + MCP vs Zoho Books](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/xero-vs-zoho-books.md)\n- [FreeAgent API vs Invoice Ninja API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-invoice-ninja.md)\n- [Invoice Ninja API vs Zoho Books](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/invoice-ninja-vs-zoho-books.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-08", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "FreeAgent API vs Zoho Books", "url": "" } ], "description": "Zoho Books scores 61.1 (C) on agent readiness against FreeAgent API's 57.2 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. FreeAgent API leads on reliability. Both do accounting ledger. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "FreeAgent API C 57.2", "Zoho Books C 61.1", "scores" ], "h1": "FreeAgent API vs Zoho Books", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-freeagent-vs-zoho-books.png", "path": "/compare/freeagent-vs-zoho-books", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "FreeAgent API vs Zoho Books for AI agents, C 57.2 vs C 61.1", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-08", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-zoho-books" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2150, "slim": 580 }, "version": 1 }