# FreeScout vs Pylon API + MCP (slim)

> Pylon scores 57.6 (C) to FreeScout's 27.9 (F) for support tickets. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freescout-vs-pylon.md (~4,850 tokens) · this version ~2,680 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freescout-vs-pylon.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freescout-vs-pylon
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-07
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

Pylon API + MCP scores 57.6 (C) on agent readiness against FreeScout's 27.9 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. FreeScout leads on maintenance & community. Both do support tickets.

- FreeScout: F 27.9, rank #1431 of 1510 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freescout.min.md
- Pylon API + MCP: C 57.6, rank #787 of 1510 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pylon.min.md
- FreeScout, good for Small teams that want a free, self-hosted Help Scout alternative and can run PHP. Ahead on Maintenance & community, 70 against 62. Also Open source.
- Pylon API + MCP, good for B2B support run in shared Slack or Teams channels, with an agent that triages, files and routes issues and maintains the knowledge base. Ahead on Reliability, 85 against 73; Schema & documentation, 78 against 35; Security & auth, 61 against 30; Payments & pricing, 10 against 0; Transparency & trust, 68 against 36. Also A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install.

| Category | FreeScout | Pylon API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 73 | 85 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 35 | 78 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 50 | 47 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 30 | 61 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 0 | 10 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 70 | 62 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 36 | 68 |

| Fact (where they differ) | FreeScout | Pylon API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | FreeScout | Pylon |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.usepylon.com` |
| Transports |  | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| Licence | AGPL-3.0 | none |
| Tools exposed | none | 103 |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-31 | none |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-06-09 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2024-03-04 |
| Agent reviews | none | 2/5 (2) |

Why the edge:
- Schema & documentation, Pylon API + MCP +43: FreeScout 35 (No OpenAPI, Postman collection or other machine-readable contract found (0). No llms.txt (404) or Markdown docs (0). Each endpoint has a short description and parameter notes such as what `imported` and `embed` do (10 of 20). Parameters are marked required or optional with types, and few enums (8 of 15). curl, JavaScript and PHP examples for each endpoint, and a status-code table with an `errorCode` and `errors` body (12 of 15). Module versions and core releases are tagged, with no dated API changelog (5 of 15). 0 + 0 + 10 + 8 + 12 + 5 = 35.); Pylon API + MCP 78 (Each API reference page embeds OpenAPI 3.0.3 objects, but there's no standalone spec file. The alpha SDKs are generated from a definition that isn't published (18). llms.txt with Markdown versions of every page (10). Reference pages describe each endpoint, and the MCP page labels all 103 tools read or write (13). Typed parameters and required fields in the embedded objects, and a conventions page on IDs, timestamps, filters and update behaviour (13). An errors page lists stable machine-readable codes by status with their meaning, alongside request examples (14). A weekly dated product changelog with API and MCP entries, and no API versioning (10). 18+10+13+13+14+10 = 78.)
- Transparency & trust, Pylon API + MCP +32: FreeScout 36 (AGPL-3.0 core, and the module page says the module is AGPL-3.0 too (30). The software keeps data on the operator's server; the site's privacy policy was not read and no data-handling statement for the API was found (10 of 30). No deprecation policy or dated notices (0). No telemetry statement or opt-out found (5 of 20, since self-hosted data stays with the operator). 30 + 10 + 0 + 5 = 45.); Pylon API + MCP 68 (Closed service with published terms (15). The privacy policy is still dated 4 March 2024 and gives no retention periods. A public subprocessor list, current as of 22 September 2026, names each subprocessor's purpose and location, and the security page says customer data doesn't train models and AI providers are under zero data retention agreements (12). The MCP page lists combined tools with old names marked removed or hidden, without dates, and the errors page says codes are never renamed or repurposed. No deprecation policy or dated notice found (5). The subprocessor list covers data locations in the US and Germany or Europe per subprocessor, with EU-hosted workspaces (20). 15+12+5+20 = 52.)
- Security & auth, Pylon API + MCP +31: FreeScout 30 (A global API key and personal keys that act with a user's permissions, sent in a header or Basic auth, with no scopes. The docs list an `api_key` query parameter as a way to authenticate, so 10 off (20 less 10, 10). Personal keys follow user roles, with no read-only key and no confirmation step for deletes (5 of 20). Conversations carry customer email, the security policy notes that external images in received email load by default, and no prompt-injection guidance was found (0). No API audit log found (0). SECURITY.md routes core reports through GitHub security advisories, CVEs are requested after fixes, and advisories are published, with no bug bounty or certification (15 of 20). 10 + 5 + 0 + 0 + 15 = 30.); Pylon API + MCP 61 (REST tokens are Bearer tokens that only Admins can create. A token can take its own role (editable on existing tokens since 31 August 2026), act as a user or bot, and carry an IP allowlist of up to 20 entries; tokens don't expire and there are no scopes beyond the role. The MCP server uses OAuth 2.0 through AuthKit as the signed-in user, who needs the MCP Access role (24). MCP can't see or write anything the user can't in the dashboard, and the docs say AI tools are told to show a reply and get approval before sending it. There's no read-only mode, and the 42 write tools include `delete_task`, `delete_feature_request`, `delete_tag` and `publish_article` (12). Issues carry customer-written Slack and email text and we found no injection guidance (0). An audit logs API endpoint and MCP tool, with 30 days of history below Enterprise, and token actions show under the token's name (13). The security page states SOC 2 Type II and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 with reports through the trust centre, annual penetration tests and a vulnerability disclosure policy (last updated 5 September 2025) with a reporting address and safe harbour but no response time. No bug bounty and no security.txt (404). Graded below Plain's 14 before its bounty was found, which adds a 48-hour acknowledgement and security.txt (12). 24+12+0+13+12 = 61.)
- Reliability, Pylon API + MCP +12: FreeScout 73 (Read with the local-software lines, because FreeScout runs only on the operator's server; there is no first-party hosted service. Installs from official releases with a web installer and updater, with PHP and MySQL or PostgreSQL requirements stated (20). Public CI in test.yml, test-pgsql.yml and phpcs.yml with feature tests; pass status not read (18 of 25). Open crash and regression issues were not read because the GitHub API refused us for its rate limit (10 of 25, unchecked). Patch releases v1.8.238 to v1.8.249 with notes on GitHub, and module versions tied to a required core version (10 of 15). Past 1.0 (15). 20 + 18 + 10 + 10 + 15 = 73.); Pylon API + MCP 85 (incident.io status page with components including API, with history and a status feed (20). Incidents touching the API in the 90 days from 6 August are partial. On 6 October Dashboard, API and Triggers & Workflows showed degraded performance for 45 minutes (18:59 to 19:44 UTC), and on 12 October EU-hosted instances couldn't log in for about 7 minutes. Other incidents named only the Dashboard, Phones, Email, Analytics or Codebase. Read from the feed back to 17 August and the page itself (20). Rate limits are published per endpoint at 30, 120 or 300 requests a minute, shared across an organisation's tokens (15). The rate-limits page documents `Retry-After`, `X-Retry-After` and `X-Rate-Limit-Remaining` and says to wait at least `Retry-After` and add backoff with jitter. There's no safe-retry guidance or idempotency key for writes (10). The terms of service, last updated 9 June 2026, carry a Service Level Agreement as Exhibit B with 99.9 per cent monthly availability, missed on 1 October (10). The API is GA and the MCP page carries no beta label (10). 20+20+15+10+10+10 = 85.)
- Payments & pricing, Pylon API + MCP +10: FreeScout 0 (Self-hosted rule, with pricing scored on the paid module the API needs. No x402, MPP or L402 (0). The module's price is drawn by the store's script and could not be read, so it scores as not found (0). The core is free, but no free route to the API exists (0). A person buys the module in a browser and installs it (0). 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 0.); Pylon API + MCP 10 (No x402, MPP or L402 (0). The pricing page now lists seat prices, Professional at $89 and Advanced at $139 a seat on an annual contract, both including the API and MCP server, with Enterprise on quote and AI credits priced through sales. Public plan-only pricing (10). The FAQ says free trials for prospects are set up by a sales representative, so no self-serve trial (0). A person books a demo and an Admin creates the token (0). 0+10+0+0 = 10.)
- Maintenance & community, FreeScout +8: FreeScout 70 (Core v1.8.249 tagged on 31 October 2026 (30). Twelve tags from 30 August to 31 October (20). Issue responsiveness was not read because the GitHub API refused us for its rate limit (10 of 25, unchecked). No official SDK, and no MCP server from the project (0). CI with tests on MySQL and PostgreSQL, and a Laravel dependency advisory taken on 31 October (10). 30 + 20 + 10 + 0 + 10 = 70.); Pylon API + MCP 62 (Changelog entry on 2 November 2026, 2 days before this check, with public API and MCP changes (30). Weekly dated entries, with API or MCP changes in every week from 10 August to 2 November (20). Weekly public changelog and support through the product, no public issue tracker (12). SDKs for TypeScript, Python and Go appeared on 11 October 2026, but every tag is an alpha pre-release (v0.1.0-alpha.5, v0.1.0a5, v0.1.0-alpha.3 on 27 October), so not counted as current releases (0). No released package to assess (0). 30+20+12+0+0 = 62.)