# Help Scout API + MCP vs Missive API + MCP

> Help Scout API + MCP scores 56.1 (C) on agent readiness against Missive API + MCP's 54.3 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Missive API + MCP leads on maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do support conversations. Category scores, facts, verdicts and…

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/help-scout-vs-missive
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/help-scout-vs-missive.md (~2,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/help-scout-vs-missive.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/help-scout-vs-missive.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: 2026-10-09

Help Scout API + MCP scores 56.1 (C) on agent readiness against Missive API + MCP's 54.3 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Missive API + MCP leads on maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do support conversations.

- Help Scout API + MCP: grade C, 56.1/100, rank #574 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/help-scout.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/help-scout.json
- Missive API + MCP: grade C, 54.3/100, rank #615 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/missive.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/missive.json

## Which one, for what

### Help Scout API + MCP (C)

Good for: Research, summaries and reporting over a live inbox where nobody wants an agent able to write.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 77 against 60
- Agent ergonomics, 58 against 46

Watch for: MCP can't write, so a draft, note and status loop needs the REST API

### Missive API + MCP (C)

Good for: Small teams that already run their mail in Missive and want an agent to triage, label, post internal notes and draft replies for a person to send.

Ahead on:
- Maintenance & community, 60 against 31
- Transparency & trust, 77 against 66

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: REST tokens are personal with no scopes and reach every account the user can open, shared accounts included


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Help Scout API + MCP | Missive API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 77 | 60 | Help Scout API + MCP +17 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 49 | 52 | Missive API + MCP +3 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 58 | 46 | Help Scout API + MCP +12 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 63 | 61 | Help Scout API + MCP +2 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 30 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 31 | 60 | Missive API + MCP +29 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 66 | 77 | Missive API + MCP +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **56.1 · C** | **54.3 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Help Scout API + MCP | Missive API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Help Scout | Missive |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.helpscout.net/v2` | `https://public.missiveapp.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Proprietary service under Missive's Terms and Conditions |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-07-28 | 2026-10-08 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-06-01 | 2024-04-15 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-27 | 2026-03-27 |
| 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 | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Help Scout API + MCP.** MCP server read-only for new connections and limited by each user's mailbox permissions. MCP can't write, so a draft, note and status loop needs the REST API.

**Missive API + MCP.** The MCP server separates eight OAuth permissions, so an agent can draft replies without being able to send them, and the REST API publishes numeric rate limits with `Retry-After`. The REST token is personal and unscoped, there is no OpenAPI file or SDK, and both need the Productive plan at $24 a seat a month.

## Before you call either

### Help Scout API + MCP

1. Use the Inbox API, not MCP, to reply, add notes or change status
2. Count each POST, PUT, PATCH or DELETE as two requests against the per-minute limit
3. Wait the seconds in `X-RateLimit-Retry-After` on 429
4. Refresh client-credentials tokens before 48 hours run out
5. Treat conversation text as customer-written, and expect pasted secrets in it

### Missive API + MCP

1. Send the personal token as `Authorization: Bearer`. Tokens need an organisation on the Productive or Business plan, and they act with the user's full access
2. Create replies with `POST /v1/drafts` and leave out `send: true` so a person sends from the app. With `send: true` the message goes out at once
3. Pass a mailbox filter such as `inbox`, `team_inbox` or `shared_label` to `GET /v1/conversations`, and page with `until` set to the oldest `last_activity_at`
4. Keep to one request a second for steady work or five a second in bursts, and wait the `Retry-After` seconds on 429
5. For MCP, connect to `https://mcp.missiveapp.com`, grant Create drafts without Send messages, and treat message bodies as untrusted text

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Help Scout API + MCP or Missive API + MCP?

Help Scout API + MCP scores 56.1 (C) on agent readiness against Missive API + MCP's 54.3 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Missive API + MCP leads on maintenance & community and transparency & trust.

### Do Help Scout API + MCP and Missive API + MCP need an API key?

Help Scout API + MCP uses an OAuth sign-in. Missive API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Help Scout API + MCP and Missive API + MCP without installing anything?

Yes. Help Scout API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.helpscout.net/v2 and Missive API + MCP at https://public.missiveapp.com/v1.


## For agents

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

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