# Freshsales API vs Nutshell

> Nutshell scores 49.6 (D) on agent readiness against Freshsales API's 40.6 (E), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Freshsales API leads on reliability. Both do crm records. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshsales-vs-nutshell
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshsales-vs-nutshell.md (~2,300 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshsales-vs-nutshell.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freshsales-vs-nutshell.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: 2026-10-08

Nutshell scores 49.6 (D) on agent readiness against Freshsales API's 40.6 (E), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Freshsales API leads on reliability. Both do crm records.

- Freshsales API: grade E, 40.6/100, rank #688 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freshsales.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/freshsales.json
- Nutshell: grade D, 49.6/100, rank #607 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nutshell.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nutshell.json

## Which one, for what

### Freshsales API (E)

Good for: Small teams already paying for Freshworks who want an agent to upsert contacts and log activities through REST.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 51 against 42

Watch for: No MCP server for Freshsales

### Nutshell (D)

Good for: Small sales teams already on Nutshell who want an agent to read pipeline data over MCP or write records over REST at a low seat price.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 57 against 27
- Security & auth, 58 against 44
- Payments & pricing, 35 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 46 against 5

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

Watch for: No rate limit numbers, 429 handling or Retry-After found for the REST API


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Freshsales API | Nutshell | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 51 | 42 | Freshsales API +9 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 27 | 57 | Nutshell +30 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 48 | 44 | Freshsales API +4 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 44 | 58 | Nutshell +14 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 35 | Nutshell +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 5 | 46 | Nutshell +41 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 71 | Freshsales API +1 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **40.6 · E** | **49.6 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Freshsales API | Nutshell |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Freshworks | Nutshell, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://app.nutshell.com/rest` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Proprietary service under Nutshell's Terms of Service |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | none | 2026-08-21 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-04-01 | 2026-06-02 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2026-06-02 |
| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Freshsales API.** Contact upsert and bulk upsert of up to 100 records make creates safe to retry. No MCP server for Freshsales.

**Nutshell.** The REST reference is served as Markdown with an OpenAPI fragment per operation, and the hosted MCP server uses OAuth with PKCE and can only read. No rate limit numbers, error format or API changelog were found in the reviewed documentation, and API keys carry no scopes.

## Before you call either

### Freshsales API

1. Build the base URL from the bundle alias shown under the API key, `https://<alias>.myfreshworks.com/crm/sales/api/`
2. Use `/api/contacts/upsert` rather than create, so a retry updates instead of duplicating
3. Budget calls, since 1,000 an hour covers the whole account and 429s carry no Retry-After
4. Add `include=owner,sales_accounts` to pull related records in one call
5. Expect to see only what the key owner's role can see

### Nutshell

1. Authenticate REST calls with HTTP Basic, a Nutshell user's email as username and the API key as password, against `https://app.nutshell.com/rest`
2. Use IDs in the `<number>-<type>` form, such as `3-accounts`, and send updates as JSON Patch with `content-type: application/json-patch+json`
3. Page lists with `page[limit]` and `page[page]`, which is 0-based, and call `/accounts/list/fields` or the lead and contact equivalents for valid filter keys
4. Use the REST API for writes. The MCP server only reads, and OAuth tokens need the `read` scope
5. Filter webhook events yourself, because every webhook receives all events and subscriptions are created in Setup, not through the API

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Freshsales API or Nutshell?

Nutshell scores 49.6 (D) on agent readiness against Freshsales API's 40.6 (E), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Freshsales API leads on reliability.

### Do Freshsales API and Nutshell need an API key?

Freshsales API needs an API key. Nutshell takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Freshsales API and Nutshell without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Freshsales API. Nutshell has a hosted endpoint at https://app.nutshell.com/rest.


## For agents

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

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