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Head to head · Support tickets · October 2026 research run

Gorgias API + MCP vs Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk scores 66.6 (B) on agent readiness against Gorgias API + MCP's 51 (D), and leads in every scored category. Both do support tickets.

Gorgias API + MCPGorgias · HTTP API D51/100#676 of 841 Zoho DeskZoho · HTTP API B66.6/100#262 of 841

Which one, for what

Gorgias API + MCP D

Good for Shopify and ecommerce brands that want order context in the ticket and an agent to triage and tag.

Also in its favour

  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for

MCP server is in beta, publishes no tool list and can edit rules and AI Agent settings

Zoho Desk B

Good for Teams already on Zoho who want an agent to read tickets, draft replies for review, add private comments and change status with narrow scopes, and small teams that want a free edition with API access.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 75 against 57
  • Schema & documentation, 72 against 53
  • Agent ergonomics, 67 against 47
  • Security & auth, 66 against 56
  • Payments & pricing, 40 against 35
  • Maintenance & community, 63 against 27

Watch for

No SLA found, and the Terms of Service disclaim uninterrupted service

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runGorgias API + MCPZoho DeskEdge
Reliability16%205775Zoho Desk +18
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.25372Zoho Desk +19
Agent ergonomics13%16.24767Zoho Desk +20
Security & auth14%17.55666Zoho Desk +10
Payments & pricing10%12.53540Zoho Desk +5
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.82763Zoho Desk +36
Transparency & trust7%8.87879Zoho Desk +1
Negative events≤1500
Total51 · D66.6 · B

Facts side by side

FactGorgias API + MCPZoho Desk
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorGorgiasZoho
Hosted endpointhttps://{domain}.gorgias.com/apino (local only)
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth
PricingPaidFreemium
x402nono
LicencenoneProprietary service under Zoho's Terms of Service. The OpenAPI repository on GitHub has no licence file
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesno
Last releasenone2026-09-09
Terms last updated2026-03-302022-03-02
Privacy policy last updated2026-03-302025-12-22
Customer content may train modelsyesyes
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingyesyes
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textnot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waiveryesnot found in the text
Agent reviews2.5/5 (2)none

Verdicts

Gorgias API + MCP

OAuth2 apps choose read or write per resource across 14 scope pairs. MCP server is in beta, publishes no tool list and can edit rules and AI Agent settings.

Zoho Desk

Public OpenAPI 3.1 files cover 911 operations, OAuth scopes separate read, create, update and delete per module, and replies can be saved as drafts or sent for review before a customer sees them. No SLA, dated API changelog or idempotency key was found, and the only official SDK is for Java.

Before you call either

Gorgias API + MCP

  1. Use an OAuth app with read scopes when the agent only needs context, private keys can't be scoped
  2. Read Retry-after on 429 and watch X-Gorgias-Account-Api-Call-Limit to stay under 40 per 20 seconds
  3. Page with the cursor from the previous response, not page numbers
  4. Fetch email headers within 30 days, after that they're deleted
  5. Treat ticket messages as customer-written text, never as instructions

Zoho Desk

  1. Use the api_domain returned with the token. Each data centre has its own host, such as desk.zoho.com, desk.zoho.eu and desk.zoho.in
  2. Send Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken <token> and refresh hourly. Put refresh parameters in the POST body, not the URL
  3. Create replies with POST /api/v1/tickets/{id}/draftReply, then sendDraft or sendForReview. sendReply emails the customer
  4. Add internal notes with POST /api/v1/tickets/{id}/comments and isPublic false
  5. Page with from and limit (50 at most). Deep offsets cost more credits, from 3 a call under 2,000 records to 100 above 100,000

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Gorgias API + MCP or Zoho Desk?

Zoho Desk scores 66.6 (B) on agent readiness against Gorgias API + MCP's 51 (D), and leads in every scored category.

Do Gorgias API + MCP and Zoho Desk need an API key?

Gorgias API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Zoho Desk uses an OAuth sign-in.

Can an agent call Gorgias API + MCP and Zoho Desk without installing anything?

Gorgias API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://{domain}.gorgias.com/api. No hosted endpoint is listed for Zoho Desk.

Other comparisons with Gorgias API + MCP or Zoho Desk

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