# Gate vs Kraken API

> Kraken scores 71 (BB) to Gate's 56.4 (C) for exchange market data. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-kraken
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-kraken.md (~4,850 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-04

Kraken API scores 71 (BB) on agent readiness against Gate's 56.4 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do exchange market data.

- Gate: grade C, 56.4/100, rank #740 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gate-io.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gate-io.json
- Kraken API: grade BB, 71/100, rank #159 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kraken.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kraken.json
- Best crypto exchange APIs and MCP servers for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/crypto-exchanges/index.md
- All 210 exchanges comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-exchanges/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Gate (C)

Good for: An agent trading spot, futures and earn products in a person's Gate account outside the 35 restricted locations, with a keyless MCP for research and an OAuth MCP or scoped key for trading.

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

Watch for: No status page, incident history or SLA; the terms give no uptime guarantee and cap liability at three months of fees

### Kraken API (BB)

Good for: An agent that trades spot, xStocks, forex or futures on a person's Kraken account from a local machine, with paper trading to test first and an approval gate on live orders.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 67 against 42
- Schema & documentation, 80 against 70
- Agent ergonomics, 79 against 66
- Security & auth, 80 against 60
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 35
- Transparency & trust, 65 against 49

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: No self-service spot sandbox; the spot UAT environment is on request through an account manager, and paper trading lives in the CLI


## Why the edge

### Reliability: Kraken API +25

- Gate (42): Graded with the hosted lines on the API v4 at api.gateio.ws with the hosted MCP beside it. No status page found (status.gate.com does not resolve, the docs link none), so 0 for the page and 5 for no readable history. Rate limits are published per endpoint group with numbers and fill-ratio rules (15). Every response carries X-Gate-RateLimit-Limit, X-Gate-RateLimit-Requests-Remain and X-Gate-RateLimit-Reset-Timestamp, 429 answers with the label TOO_FAST, and spot orders take a user `text` identifier, but no retry or idempotency guidance is written down (12 of 15). No SLA (0). API v4 and the MCP endpoints are production surfaces (10). 42.
- Kraken API (67): Read with the hosted lines on the spot API. status.kraken.com is a Statuspage site with REST, WebSocket and FIX components (20). The incidents feed read covers 4 September to 3 November 2026. On 30 October spot and derivatives clients could not connect or submit orders across web, mobile, REST, WebSocket and FIX for 59 minutes 39 seconds, rated minor by Kraken; on 28 October some FIX clients were rejected on reconnection for 1 hour 59 minutes while other interfaces worked; the futures engine was degraded for 3 minutes on 13 October. A whole-exchange order outage 21 seconds short of an hour is read as one major (10 of 30). Numeric limits per key by tier and per pair for the matching engine (15). EAPI:Rate limit exceeded and EService:Throttled with a retry timestamp, a client order id and a validate flag on orders, but no Retry-After header (12 of 15). No SLA (0). Generally available (10). 20 + 10 + 15 + 12 + 0 + 10 = 67.

### Security & auth: Kraken API +20

- Gate (60): Gate OAuth 2 for the hosted trading MCP with eight scopes per the protected-resource metadata and revocation on the API management page, and API keys with disabled, read-only or read-write per product group, a separate withdrawal group and an IP allow-list of 20 addresses (30). A read-only key and a GATE_READONLY switch exist, and the guide says fund-moving actions need the person's confirmation in the client, with no server-side cap documented (15 of 20). The news and info servers return third-party content with no guidance on treating it as untrusted (5 of 15). Key changes and OAuth grants are visible on the API management page; no per-call log found (5 of 15). No security.txt, no disclosure policy or bounty on a page we read, a proof-of-reserves repository (5 of 20). 60.
- Kraken API (80): Keys with nine named permissions, optional expiry, IP restriction and nonce window, plus an OAuth sign-in from the CLI (authorisation code with PKCE, public client) that mints a no-withdrawal key expiring within 90 days or a read-only key (30). Read-only and no-withdrawal keys, position limits and pair allowlists in account settings, and MCP approval prompts for 33 dangerous tools (18 of 20). The API returns no untrusted content; the CLI docs warn that the feedback tool uploads a local file without approval (10). Keys and their permissions are listed in settings and ledgers record activity, but no per-call log for the operator was found (6 of 15). A valid security.txt, a bug bounty policy page, SECURITY.md and a secure SDLC workflow in the CLI; certifications not read (16 of 20). 30 + 18 + 10 + 6 + 16 = 80.

### Transparency & trust: Kraken API +16

- Gate (49): The editorial half. A closed hosted service with a clear user agreement that names no company; the MCP packages are MIT (12 of 30). The privacy policy names a DPO address and categories of recipients, with no retention numbers and no named subprocessors (12 of 30). The changelog records breaking changes such as the amend endpoint path move of 16 October 2026 with no notice period or policy (8 of 20). Transfers outside the user's jurisdiction are disclosed with no locations or provider names (5 of 20). 37.
- Kraken API (65): The editorial half. A closed service with clear terms naming regional Payward entities under California law; the CLI is MIT (15 of 30). The privacy notice was not read (5 of 30). The changelog dates deprecations and the terms carry a last-updated date (16 of 20). No subprocessor or data-location statement read (0 of 20). 15 + 5 + 16 + 0 = 36.

### Agent ergonomics: Kraken API +13

- Gate (66): Read for the API with the hosted MCP beside it. The MCP is split by endpoint (58 public tools on /mcp, 400 or more on /mcp/exchange, smaller info and news servers) and the local package filters by module and read-only flag, which stands in for toolsets (5 of 25 for the trading server, 10 added back). Pagination by page and limit, from and to timestamps, status filters (15 of 20). Error labels such as INVALID_SIGNATURE, REQUEST_EXPIRED, IP_FORBIDDEN and READ_ONLY name the recovery (15 of 20). The `text` order identifier makes retries safe; the local server's source sets no readOnlyHint or destructiveHint and the hosted annotations are unread (8 of 20). Three required fields on a spot order, SDKs in seven languages and a CLI (13 of 15). 66.
- Kraken API (79): The MCP server loads services with -s, defaults to no live trading, and its 152 tool definitions average about 520 characters; the REST API takes count, limit and pair filters but has no field selection (18 of 25). Cursor pagination on ledgers and trades since 30 September and 6 October 2026, with ofs deprecated (17 of 20). Prefixed error strings such as EOrder:Rate limit exceeded and EAPI:Invalid nonce, and the CLI's error catalogue says which to retry (17 of 20). cl_ord_id and validate on orders, destructive_hint and elicitation on dangerous MCP tools, no idempotency key on REST (16 of 20). An official Rust SDK at 5 stars, a Go module and example clients, HMAC-SHA512 signing with a strict nonce (11 of 15). 18 + 17 + 17 + 16 + 11 = 79.

### Schema & documentation: Kraken API +10

- Gate (70): No public OpenAPI file was found, though the SDKs are generated and the MCP tools carry typed parameters per the tool reference; the hosted tools' JSON Schema could not be read without a session (12 of 25). The whole REST and WebSocket documentation is downloadable as Markdown and the agent guide is a plain page (10). The tool reference gives one line and the main parameters per tool, the API reference a description per endpoint, no when-not-to-use guidance (12 of 20). Required flags, enums for side, type and time_in_force (11 of 15). Examples per endpoint and a labelled error body with a fixed label list the docs tell you to branch on instead of messages (13 of 15). A versioned changelog, v4.106.177 on 2 November 2026 (12 of 15, since entries are terse). 70.
- Kraken API (80): No OpenAPI file was found for the REST API in the docs read; the CLI's agents/tool-catalog.json gives JSON Schema inputs for all 188 commands and the 152 MCP tools (15 of 25). The docs serve Markdown twins such as quickstart.md and the CLI ships llms.txt, AGENTS.md and CONTEXT.md (10). Endpoint pages and guides on order lifecycle, errors and rate limits say what each call does, with less on when not to use one (15 of 20). Enums for order types, time in force and flags, and enums and required fields in the tool catalogue (12 of 15). Python, Node.js and cURL examples, an errors guide and the CLI's error-catalog.json with retry guidance (13 of 15). A changelog of 120 dated entries with deprecations dated (15). 15 + 10 + 15 + 12 + 13 + 15 = 80.

### Payments & pricing: Kraken API +5

- Gate (35): No machine payment protocol (0). The fee page's table loads after login; help centre and learn articles give the VIP 0 spot rates (15 of 20). Market data over REST and the public MCP needs no account and no card (20). A person registers, verifies identity and mints the key or approves the grant in a browser (0). 35.
- Kraken API (40): No machine payment protocol (0). Maker and taker fees by tier published without login (20). Public market data, paper trading and the futures demo need no account or card (20). A person signs up, verifies and mints a key or approves the OAuth sign-in (0). 0 + 20 + 20 + 0 = 40.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Gate | Kraken API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 42 | 67 | Kraken API +25 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 80 | Kraken API +10 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 79 | Kraken API +13 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 60 | 80 | Kraken API +20 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 40 | Kraken API +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 81 | Kraken API +4 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 49 | 65 | Kraken API +16 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **56.4 · C** | **71 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Gate | Kraken API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Gate | Payward, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.gatemcp.ai/mcp` | no (local only) |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP, stdio | stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Proprietary hosted service under Kraken's Global Terms of Service (30 October 2026). kraken-cli, which carries the kraken-mcp server, is MIT |
| Tools exposed | 58 | 152 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.gateio-dev/gate-mcp` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-29 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-07-22 | 2026-10-30 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2026-10-21 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 44 stars | 795 stars |

## Verdicts

**Gate.** Gate runs official hosted MCP servers with keyless market data and OAuth-scoped trading, a local stdio server with a read-only switch, per-endpoint rate limits with headers and a futures testnet. There is no status page, SLA or OpenAPI file, the fee table needs a login, the MCP host is a separate domain, and the terms name no company.

**Kraken API.** Kraken pairs a documented REST, WebSocket and FIX API with the open-source kraken-cli, whose kraken-mcp server gates 33 dangerous tools behind approval and signs in by OAuth with a no-withdrawal key. Spot has no self-service sandbox, no OpenAPI file was found, and a 59-minute connectivity outage hit every interface on 30 October 2026.

## Before you call either

### Gate

1. Start on https://api.gatemcp.ai/mcp for prices and order books with no credential; switch to /mcp/exchange only when the person has approved the OAuth grant with the narrowest scopes
2. For a key-based route, create a key on a dedicated sub-account with read-only on every group but the one the task needs, withdrawal disabled and an IP allow-list; changes take up to 5 minutes
3. Put a unique `text` value starting with t- on every spot order and reuse it on the retry; read the order back before placing again
4. Read X-Gate-RateLimit-Requests-Remain and stop at zero; spot order placement is capped at 10 a second and withdrawals at 1 per 3 seconds
5. Rehearse futures logic on api-testnet.gateapi.io with TestNet keys; there is no spot testnet

### Kraken API

1. Start kraken-mcp with -s market,paper,feedback or the default services; add trade only with a least-privilege key, and never pass --allow-dangerous on an agent that reads untrusted input
2. Ask the person to run kraken auth login in their own terminal; it needs a browser and saves a no-withdrawal key that expires in 90 days at most
3. Send a fresh --cl-ord-id on each order and run it with --validate first; after a network error look the order up before sending it again
4. Keep the nonce strictly increasing per key and stay under the tier's counter, since EAPI:Rate limit exceeded has no Retry-After header
5. Test strategies in a paper workspace, which fills at live prices with no account, before a live workspace

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Gate or Kraken API?

Kraken API scores 71 (BB) on agent readiness against Gate's 56.4 (C), and leads in every scored category.

### Do Gate and Kraken API need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Gate and Kraken API without installing anything?

Gate has a hosted endpoint at https://api.gatemcp.ai/mcp. Kraken API runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Gate or Kraken API

- [Bitfinex API vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-gate-io.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-kraken.md)
- [Bitget vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitget-vs-gate-io.md)
- [Bitget vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitget-vs-kraken.md)
- [Bithumb Open API vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-gate-io.md)
- [Bithumb Open API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-kraken.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-gate-io.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-kraken.md)
- [Bybit vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bybit-vs-gate-io.md)
- [Bybit vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bybit-vs-kraken.md)
- [Crypto.com Exchange API vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-com-exchange-vs-gate-io.md)
- [Crypto.com Exchange API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-com-exchange-vs-kraken.md)
- [Gate vs Gemini Exchange API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-gemini-exchange.md)
- [Gate vs HTX trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-htx.md)
- [Gate vs Hyperliquid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-hyperliquid.md)
- [Gate vs KuCoin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-kucoin.md)
- [Gate vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-mexc.md)
- [Gate vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-okx.md)
- [Gate vs Uniswap Trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-uniswap.md)
- [Gate vs Upbit Open API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-upbit.md)
- [Gemini Exchange API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-exchange-vs-kraken.md)
- [HTX trading API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/htx-vs-kraken.md)
- [Binance API vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-gate-io.md)
- [Binance API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-kraken.md)
- [Coinbase Advanced Trade API vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-advanced-trade-vs-gate-io.md)
- [Coinbase Advanced Trade API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-advanced-trade-vs-kraken.md)
- [Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents) vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-mcp-vs-gate-io.md)
- [Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents) vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-mcp-vs-kraken.md)
- [Kraken API vs KuCoin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-kucoin.md)
- [Kraken API vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-mexc.md)
- [Kraken API vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-okx.md)
- [Kraken API vs Uniswap Trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-uniswap.md)
- [Kraken API vs Upbit Open API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-upbit.md)
- [Deribit vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-gate-io.md)
- [Deribit vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-kraken.md)
- [dYdX vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-gate-io.md)
- [dYdX vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-kraken.md)
- [Hyperliquid vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperliquid-vs-kraken.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp