{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "freshbooks", "name": "FreshBooks API", "vendor": "FreshBooks", "vendorUrl": "https://www.freshbooks.com/api/start", "kind": "http-api", "category": "accounting", "summary": "REST API for FreshBooks, the invoicing-first accounting product for freelancers and small firms.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freshbooks", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freshbooks.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freshbooks.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/freshbooks.json", "repo": "https://github.com/freshbooks/freshbooks-python-sdk", "license": "MIT", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.freshbooks.com", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@freshbooks/api" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "freshbooks-sdk" } ], "auth": "oauth", "authNotes": "OAuth 2.0 authorisation code with scopes such as user:invoices:read and user:journal_entries:write. Access tokens are JWTs that expire (check the expiry in the token). Refresh tokens never expire but are single use, and only one is alive per user per app, so a refresh invalidates the old one. Call GET /auth/api/v1/users/me for the account_id used by /accounting endpoints and the business_id used by projects and time tracking.", "pricing": "byo-plan", "pricingNotes": "The API comes with any FreshBooks plan under section 12 of the terms, with no separate developer fee. Plans are Lite at $23 a month (5 billable clients), Plus at $43 (50 clients), Premium at $70 (unlimited) and Select on request, with introductory discounts. Double-entry accounting reports and bank reconciliation start at Plus (https://www.freshbooks.com/pricing).", "priceSummary": "Your plan", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 11, "npmWeekly": 685, "pypiWeekly": 415, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://www.freshbooks.com/api/start", "capabilities": [ "accounting.ledger", "accounting.invoices", "accounting.bills", "accounting.reports" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "byo-plan", "oauth", "typescript", "python", "webhooks", "status-page", "closed-source" ], "lastRelease": "2024-09-11", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 45.4, "grade": "E", "agentReady": false, "rank": 864, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 12, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 61, "maintenance": 14, "payments": 30, "reliability": 35, "schema": 48, "security": 57, "transparency": 65 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "OAuth scopes split read and write per resource, such as user:invoices:read. Rate limits have no numbers, status code or headers.", "bestFor": "An agent that bills clients, chases invoices and reads the books for a freelancer or small service firm already on FreshBooks.", "strengths": [ "OAuth scopes split read and write per resource, such as user:invoices:read", "Journal entries, chart of accounts, trial balance and general ledger through the API", "Numbered error codes such as 1001 RequiredField and 1012 UnknownResource", "30-day product trial with no card", "PCI DSS Level 1 with an annual third-party audit" ], "weaknesses": [ "Rate limits have no numbers, status code or headers", "No sandbox, so testing happens in a trial account", "Official SDKs last released in April 2023 (Python) and September 2024 (Node)", "Changelog holds a single entry, the move to JWT tokens", "About two hours of full outage on 4 August 2026, and no API component on the status page" ], "agentNotes": [ "Call /auth/api/v1/users/me first and keep both ids. Accounting endpoints take account_id, projects and time tracking take business_id", "Serialise token refreshes. Issuing a new refresh token kills the old one at once", "Mark an invoice as sent (action_mark_as_sent) or email it. Reports ignore drafts", "Send x-api-version: 2023-09-25 on journal entry calls", "Back off on any throttling response yourself. There's no Retry-After to read and no published limit" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 3, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "E", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 45.4 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 61, "maintenance": 14, "payments": 30, "reliability": 35, "schema": 48, "security": 57, "transparency": 56 }, "provenanceScore": 73 }, "connect": { "http": "curl \"https://api.freshbooks.com/accounting/account/$FRESHBOOKS_ACCOUNT_ID/invoices/invoices?per_page=10\" \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer $FRESHBOOKS_ACCESS_TOKEN\"" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/accounting.ledger", "tool": "https://letme.dev/freshbooks" }, "area": "domain-data", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "2NDSITE Inc.", "domain": "freshbooks.com", "domainRegistered": "2004-03-23", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.freshbooks.com/policies/terms-of-service", "privacy": "https://www.freshbooks.com/policies/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.freshbooks.com", "changelog": "", "securityTxt": "unknown", "checked": "2026-09-30", "notes": [ "The terms name 2NDSITE Inc., 225 King St W, Suite 1200, Toronto, under Ontario law, effective 29 October 2025 for new accounts.", "The API terms are section 12 of the general terms. There's no separate developer agreement.", "The API changelog page has a single entry, the 2021 to 2023 move from fixed-length bearer tokens to JWTs.", "www.freshbooks.com/.well-known/security.txt returned 403 to our fetch." ], "score": 73 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freshbooks.json", "live": { "slug": "freshbooks", "probe": { "target": "https://api.freshbooks.com", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-10T02:54:56.04644812Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 134, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 135, "p95ms24h": 195, "samples24h": 249, "samples30d": 2264, "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": 268, "ok": 268 }, { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 30, "ok": 30 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.freshbooks.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-10T02:50:20.752134932Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "freshbooks/freshbooks-python-sdk", "version": "release/1.2.1", "released": "2023-04-24", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:54:05.486494992Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@freshbooks/api", "version": "4.1.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:54:03.225529448Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "freshbooks-sdk", "version": "1.3.0", "released": "2024-10-08", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:54:05.297368214Z" } ], "githubStars": 11, "npmWeekly": 1577, "pypiWeekly": 189, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://freshbooks.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "unknown", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T15:40:06.928684593Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "freshbooks.com", "registered": "2004-03-23", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/freshbooks.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:03:59.146069659Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://www.freshbooks.com/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:50:20.322638549Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-07T18:11:59.395322104Z", "fingerprint": "4803a26e7245" }, { "url": "https://www.freshbooks.com/policies/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:50:15.862969449Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-08T18:27:49.805877308Z", "fingerprint": "5f9c94f6bd5a" }, { "url": "https://www.freshbooks.com/policies/terms-of-service", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:50:18.103371296Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-08T18:27:52.104944649Z", "fingerprint": "1b34cd7eae1e" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-10T02:54:56.04644812Z" } }, "answer": "Pennylane scores 66.3 (B) on agent readiness against FreshBooks API's 45.4 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. FreshBooks API leads on payments \u0026 pricing.", "b": { "slug": "pennylane", "name": "Pennylane", "vendor": "Pennylane SAS", "vendorUrl": "https://www.pennylane.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "accounting", "summary": "Pennylane is a French accounting and invoicing platform for companies and accounting firms. Its Company and Firm REST APIs cover invoices, supplier invoices, ledger entries, transactions and exports. A hosted read-only MCP server exposes the same books to AI assistants.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pennylane", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pennylane.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pennylane.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pennylane.json", "license": "Proprietary service under Pennylane's API agreement and customer terms", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://app.pennylane.com/api/external/v2", "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "Bearer token on every call. Companies generate a Company API token under Settings, Connectivity, Developers, which needs the Essentiel plan or above and an admin role. Each token is tied to one company, is read only or read and write, expires after 1, 6 or 12 months or never, and can be deleted. Firms generate Firm API tokens. Integration partners use the OAuth 2.0 authorisation code grant after the Partnerships team issues a client ID and secret, with 24-hour access tokens and rotating 90-day refresh tokens. The MCP server uses OAuth 2.1 with PKCE and dynamic client registration, and the user signs in through a browser.", "pricing": "paid", "pricingNotes": "API and MCP access for companies needs the Essentiel plan or above, listed at 24 euros a month before VAT for one user on the pricing tab for sole traders and single-shareholder companies. Premium is 79 euros. Each plan has a 15-day trial with no commitment, and a sandbox can be created inside an account. Whether the trial needs a card and the prices for other company types were not established. Accounting firms get the MCP at no extra cost (https://www.pennylane.com/fr/tarifs, checked 2026-10-09).", "priceSummary": "Paid", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the API docs, the MCP docs or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-09).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 31, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-09" }, "docsUrl": "https://pennylane.readme.io/docs/api-overview", "llmsTxt": "https://pennylane.readme.io/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "accounting.ledger", "accounting.invoices", "accounting.bills", "accounting.reports" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "closed-source", "oauth", "openapi", "mcp", "llms-txt", "webhooks", "status-page" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-30", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 66.3, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 297, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 4, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 65, "payments": 20, "reliability": 75, "schema": 85, "security": 68, "transparency": 76 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-09" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "The v2 API has per-resource read and write scopes, an OpenAPI definition on every reference page, llms.txt and a breaking-change process that ran over 24 weeks. Access needs a paid Essentiel plan or partner approval, creation endpoints are not idempotent, and the API agreement lets Pennylane change or revoke the API without notice.", "bestFor": "An agent working on the books of French companies or an accounting firm's client portfolio, with French chart of accounts, FEC export, Factur-X e-invoicing and VAT returns.", "strengths": [ "Scopes split each resource into `:readonly` and `:all`, for company tokens, firm tokens and OAuth apps", "Hosted MCP server at `https://mcp.pennylane.com/mcp` with 31 read-only tools, OAuth 2.1 with PKCE and dynamic client registration", "OpenAPI 3.0.1 definitions on each reference page, an llms.txt index and Markdown twins of every docs page", "The 2026 breaking changes ran in three phases over 24 weeks with an opt-in header, ending 1 July 2026", "ISO 27001 certificate published, EU hosting on AWS in Ireland, and a dated sub-processor list with 30 days' notice of additions" ], "weaknesses": [ "The API agreement allows changes, suspension or revocation with or without notice and supplies the API as is", "Creation endpoints do not enforce idempotency, except supplier invoice imports", "API and MCP access for companies starts at the Essentiel plan, and OAuth apps need approval from the Partnerships team", "No official SDK was found, and the MCP server is not in the official MCP registry", "No security.txt, bug bounty or published disclosure policy was found", "The API agreement grants Pennylane an exclusive licence over API integrations and their source code on request" ], "agentNotes": [ "Call `GET https://app.pennylane.com/api/external/v2/me` first to confirm the token, user and company context", "Stay under 25 requests per 5 seconds per token and wait for the `retry-after` value on a 429", "Do not retry a create after a timeout without checking first. Only supplier invoice imports are deduplicated", "Send `filter` and `sort` again with every `cursor`. The cursor stores position only", "Send amounts as strings such as \"120.00\", and ask for `:readonly` scopes when the task only reads", "Use the MCP server for reads only. It cannot create, edit or delete, and firm connections need `company_id`" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 66.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 65, "payments": 20, "reliability": 75, "schema": 85, "security": 68, "transparency": 71 }, "provenanceScore": 80 }, "connect": { "http": "curl https://app.pennylane.com/api/external/v2/me \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer $PENNYLANE_API_TOKEN\"", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http pennylane https://mcp.pennylane.com/mcp", "config": { "mcpServers": { "pennylane": { "url": "https://mcp.pennylane.com/mcp" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/accounting.ledger", "tool": "https://letme.dev/pennylane" }, "area": "domain-data", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Pennylane SAS", "domain": "pennylane.com", "domainRegistered": "1998-09-23", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://pennylane.readme.io/page/api-contract-terms", "privacy": "https://www.pennylane.com/fr/legal/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.pennylane.com", "changelog": "https://pennylane.readme.io/changelog", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-09", "notes": [ "The legal notice (updated 8 September 2026) names Pennylane, a société par actions simplifiée, SIREN 880 265 921 RCS Paris, 2-4 rue Jules Lefebvre, 75009 Paris. Pennylane GmbH sells the product in Germany.", "The API agreement (API Contract terms, last updated January 2024) governs API use and is cited by clause 26.9 of the customer terms. It gives a registered office in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, which differs from the Paris address in the customer terms and legal notice.", "The customer terms for companies (version of 16 December 2025) are a PDF linked from https://www.pennylane.com/fr/conditions-generales, with the data processing agreement and the SLA as annexes.", "The privacy policy (updated 30 January 2026) covers processing where Pennylane is controller. Processing as processor is governed by the data processing agreement annexed to the customer terms.", "www.pennylane.com/.well-known/security.txt returns 404.", "The API answers on app.pennylane.com and the MCP server on mcp.pennylane.com. The API docs are hosted on pennylane.readme.io.", "RDAP for pennylane.com gives a registration date of 1998-09-23." ], "score": 80 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pennylane.json", "live": { "slug": "pennylane", "probe": { "target": "https://app.pennylane.com/api/external/v2", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-10T02:55:05.478821158Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 200, "lastMs": 76, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 111, "p95ms24h": 670, "samples24h": 115, "samples30d": 115, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 85, "ok": 85 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 30, "ok": 30 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.pennylane.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-10T02:50:41.945863598Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://pennylane.readme.io/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:43:10.597188172Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "baba0cf1ecaa" }, { "url": "https://www.pennylane.com/fr/legal/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:52:57.370338236Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "2e89b0e31f0b" }, { "url": "https://pennylane.readme.io/page/api-contract-terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:43:13.114667877Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "7815b7f4ccf6" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-10T02:55:05.478821158Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "FreshBooks", "b": "Pennylane SAS", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.freshbooks.com", "b": "https://app.pennylane.com/api/external/v2", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Your plan", "b": "Paid", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT", "b": "Proprietary service under Pennylane's API agreement and customer terms", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "none", "b": "31", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2024-09-11", "b": "2026-09-30", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2026-10-07", "b": "no date given", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-10-05", "b": "no date given", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "11 stars, 685 npm/wk, 415 PyPI/wk", "b": "none", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "3/5 (2)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Pennylane scores 66.3 (B) on agent readiness against FreshBooks API's 45.4 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. FreshBooks API leads on payments \u0026 pricing.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, FreshBooks API or Pennylane?" }, { "answer": "FreshBooks API uses an OAuth sign-in. Pennylane takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.", "question": "Do FreshBooks API and Pennylane need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. FreshBooks API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.freshbooks.com and Pennylane at https://app.pennylane.com/api/external/v2.", "question": "Can an agent call FreshBooks API and Pennylane without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Payments \u0026 pricing, 30 against 20" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "An agent that bills clients, chases invoices and reads the books for a freelancer or small service firm already on FreshBooks.", "slug": "freshbooks", "watchFor": "Rate limits have no numbers, status code or headers" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 75 against 35", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 85 against 48", "Agent ergonomics, 66 against 61", "Security \u0026 auth, 68 against 57", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 65 against 14", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 76 against 65" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "An agent working on the books of French companies or an accounting firm's client portfolio, with French chart of accounts, FEC export, Factur-X e-invoicing and VAT returns.", "slug": "pennylane", "watchFor": "The API agreement allows changes, suspension or revocation with or without notice and supplies the API as is" } ], "job": { "capability": "accounting.ledger", "name": "Accounting ledgers" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apideck-accounting-vs-freshbooks.json", "title": "Apideck Accounting API + MCP vs FreshBooks API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apideck-accounting-vs-freshbooks" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apideck-accounting-vs-pennylane.json", "title": "Apideck Accounting API + MCP vs Pennylane", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apideck-accounting-vs-pennylane" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codat-vs-freshbooks.json", "title": "Codat vs FreshBooks API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codat-vs-freshbooks" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codat-vs-pennylane.json", "title": "Codat vs Pennylane", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codat-vs-pennylane" }, { "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-pennylane.json", "title": "FreeAgent API vs Pennylane", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-pennylane" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-merge-accounting.json", "title": "FreshBooks API vs Merge Accounting API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-merge-accounting" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-odoo.json", "title": "FreshBooks API vs Odoo External API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-odoo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-quickbooks-online.json", "title": "FreshBooks API vs QuickBooks Online API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-quickbooks-online" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-rutter.json", "title": "FreshBooks API vs Rutter Accounting API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-rutter" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-xero.json", "title": "FreshBooks API vs Xero API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-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-pennylane.json", "title": "Merge Accounting API vs Pennylane", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/merge-accounting-vs-pennylane" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/odoo-vs-pennylane.json", "title": "Odoo External API vs Pennylane", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/odoo-vs-pennylane" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pennylane-vs-quickbooks-online.json", "title": "Pennylane vs QuickBooks Online API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pennylane-vs-quickbooks-online" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pennylane-vs-rutter.json", "title": "Pennylane vs Rutter Accounting API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pennylane-vs-rutter" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pennylane-vs-xero.json", "title": "Pennylane vs Xero API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pennylane-vs-xero" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pennylane-vs-zoho-books.json", "title": "Pennylane vs Zoho Books", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pennylane-vs-zoho-books" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-invoice-ninja.json", "title": "FreshBooks API vs Invoice Ninja API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-invoice-ninja" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/invoice-ninja-vs-pennylane.json", "title": "Invoice Ninja API vs Pennylane", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/invoice-ninja-vs-pennylane" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 40, "edge": "pennylane", "freshbooks": 35, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "pennylane": 75, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 37, "edge": "pennylane", "freshbooks": 48, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "pennylane": 85, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 5, "edge": "pennylane", "freshbooks": 61, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "pennylane": 66, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 11, "edge": "pennylane", "freshbooks": 57, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "pennylane": 68, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 10, "edge": "freshbooks", "freshbooks": 30, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "pennylane": 20, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 51, "edge": "pennylane", "freshbooks": 14, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "pennylane": 65, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 11, "edge": "pennylane", "freshbooks": 65, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "pennylane": 76, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Pennylane scores 66.3 (B) on agent readiness against FreshBooks API's 45.4 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. FreshBooks API leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do accounting ledgers.", "verdicts": { "freshbooks": "OAuth scopes split read and write per resource, such as user:invoices:read. Rate limits have no numbers, status code or headers.", "pennylane": "The v2 API has per-resource read and write scopes, an OpenAPI definition on every reference page, llms.txt and a breaking-change process that ran over 24 weeks. Access needs a paid Essentiel plan or partner approval, creation endpoints are not idempotent, and the API agreement lets Pennylane change or revoke the API without notice." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-pennylane", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-pennylane.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-pennylane.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-pennylane.min.md" }, "markdown": "Pennylane scores 66.3 (B) on agent readiness against FreshBooks API's 45.4 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. FreshBooks API leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do accounting ledgers.\n\n- FreshBooks API: grade E, 45.4/100, rank #864 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freshbooks.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/freshbooks.json\n- Pennylane: grade B, 66.3/100, rank #297 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pennylane.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pennylane.json\n- Best accounting and invoicing APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/accounting/index.md\n- All 66 accounting comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accounting/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### FreshBooks API (E)\n\nGood for: An agent that bills clients, chases invoices and reads the books for a freelancer or small service firm already on FreshBooks.\n\nAhead on:\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 30 against 20\n\nWatch for: Rate limits have no numbers, status code or headers\n\n### Pennylane (B)\n\nGood for: An agent working on the books of French companies or an accounting firm's client portfolio, with French chart of accounts, FEC export, Factur-X e-invoicing and VAT returns.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 75 against 35\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 85 against 48\n- Agent ergonomics, 66 against 61\n- Security \u0026 auth, 68 against 57\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 65 against 14\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 76 against 65\n\nWatch for: The API agreement allows changes, suspension or revocation with or without notice and supplies the API as is\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | FreshBooks API | Pennylane | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 35 | 75 | Pennylane +40 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 48 | 85 | Pennylane +37 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 61 | 66 | Pennylane +5 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 68 | Pennylane +11 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 20 | FreshBooks API +10 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 14 | 65 | Pennylane +51 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 76 | Pennylane +11 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **45.4 · E** | **66.3 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | FreshBooks API | Pennylane |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | FreshBooks | Pennylane SAS |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.freshbooks.com` | `https://app.pennylane.com/api/external/v2` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Your plan | Paid |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | MIT | Proprietary service under Pennylane's API agreement and customer terms |\n| Tools exposed | none | 31 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |\n| llms.txt | no | yes |\n| Last release | 2024-09-11 | 2026-09-30 |\n| Terms last updated | 2026-10-07 | no date given |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-05 | no date given |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | yes |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |\n| Popularity | 11 stars, 685 npm/wk, 415 PyPI/wk | none |\n| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**FreshBooks API.** OAuth scopes split read and write per resource, such as user:invoices:read. Rate limits have no numbers, status code or headers.\n\n**Pennylane.** The v2 API has per-resource read and write scopes, an OpenAPI definition on every reference page, llms.txt and a breaking-change process that ran over 24 weeks. Access needs a paid Essentiel plan or partner approval, creation endpoints are not idempotent, and the API agreement lets Pennylane change or revoke the API without notice.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### FreshBooks API\n\n1. Call /auth/api/v1/users/me first and keep both ids. Accounting endpoints take account_id, projects and time tracking take business_id\n2. Serialise token refreshes. Issuing a new refresh token kills the old one at once\n3. Mark an invoice as sent (action_mark_as_sent) or email it. Reports ignore drafts\n4. Send x-api-version: 2023-09-25 on journal entry calls\n5. Back off on any throttling response yourself. There's no Retry-After to read and no published limit\n\n### Pennylane\n\n1. Call `GET https://app.pennylane.com/api/external/v2/me` first to confirm the token, user and company context\n2. Stay under 25 requests per 5 seconds per token and wait for the `retry-after` value on a 429\n3. Do not retry a create after a timeout without checking first. Only supplier invoice imports are deduplicated\n4. Send `filter` and `sort` again with every `cursor`. The cursor stores position only\n5. Send amounts as strings such as \"120.00\", and ask for `:readonly` scopes when the task only reads\n6. Use the MCP server for reads only. It cannot create, edit or delete, and firm connections need `company_id`\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, FreshBooks API or Pennylane?\n\nPennylane scores 66.3 (B) on agent readiness against FreshBooks API's 45.4 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. FreshBooks API leads on payments \u0026 pricing.\n\n### Do FreshBooks API and Pennylane need an API key?\n\nFreshBooks API uses an OAuth sign-in. Pennylane takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.\n\n### Can an agent call FreshBooks API and Pennylane without installing anything?\n\nYes. FreshBooks API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.freshbooks.com and Pennylane at https://app.pennylane.com/api/external/v2.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-pennylane.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-pennylane.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"freshbooks\", \"b\": \"pennylane\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare freshbooks pennylane`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/freshbooks.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pennylane.json\n\n## Other comparisons with FreshBooks API or Pennylane\n\n- [Apideck Accounting API + MCP vs FreshBooks API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apideck-accounting-vs-freshbooks.md)\n- [Apideck Accounting API + MCP vs Pennylane](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apideck-accounting-vs-pennylane.md)\n- [Codat vs FreshBooks API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codat-vs-freshbooks.md)\n- [Codat vs Pennylane](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/codat-vs-pennylane.md)\n- [FreeAgent API vs FreshBooks API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-freshbooks.md)\n- [FreeAgent API vs Pennylane](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freeagent-vs-pennylane.md)\n- [FreshBooks API vs Merge Accounting API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-merge-accounting.md)\n- [FreshBooks API vs Odoo External API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-odoo.md)\n- [FreshBooks API vs QuickBooks Online API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-quickbooks-online.md)\n- [FreshBooks API vs Rutter Accounting API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-rutter.md)\n- [FreshBooks API vs Xero API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-xero.md)\n- [FreshBooks API vs Zoho Books](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-zoho-books.md)\n- [Merge Accounting API vs Pennylane](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/merge-accounting-vs-pennylane.md)\n- [Odoo External API vs Pennylane](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/odoo-vs-pennylane.md)\n- [Pennylane vs QuickBooks Online API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pennylane-vs-quickbooks-online.md)\n- [Pennylane vs Rutter Accounting API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pennylane-vs-rutter.md)\n- [Pennylane vs Xero API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pennylane-vs-xero.md)\n- [Pennylane vs Zoho Books](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pennylane-vs-zoho-books.md)\n- [FreshBooks API vs Invoice Ninja API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshbooks-vs-invoice-ninja.md)\n- [Invoice Ninja API vs Pennylane](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/invoice-ninja-vs-pennylane.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-10", "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": "FreshBooks API vs Pennylane", "url": "" } ], "description": "Pennylane scores 66.3 (B) to FreshBooks's 45.4 (E) for accounting ledgers. 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