# Kraken API vs KuCoin (slim)

> Kraken scores 71 (BB) to KuCoin's 53.9 (D) for exchange spot trading. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-kucoin.md (~4,850 tokens) · this version ~2,680 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-kucoin.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-kucoin
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-03
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

Kraken API scores 71 (BB) on agent readiness against KuCoin's 53.9 (D), and leads in every scored category. Both do exchange spot trading.

- Kraken API: BB 71, rank #159 of 1349 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kraken.min.md
- KuCoin: D 53.9, rank #891 of 1349 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kucoin.min.md
- Kraken API, 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 45; Schema & documentation, 80 against 60; Agent ergonomics, 79 against 62; Security & auth, 80 against 55; Payments & pricing, 40 against 35; Maintenance & community, 81 against 73; Transparency & trust, 65 against 54. Also Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better; Runs on your own machine; Free to start without a card.
- KuCoin, good for An agent trading spot, margin and futures in a person's KuCoin account outside the restricted list, with no sandbox and no MCP server, so through the SDK or raw REST.

| Category | Kraken API | KuCoin |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 67 | 45 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 80 | 60 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 79 | 62 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 80 | 55 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 40 | 35 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 81 | 73 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 65 | 54 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Kraken API | KuCoin |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Payward, Inc. | KuCoin |
| Transports | stdio |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted service under Kraken's Global Terms of Service (30 October 2026). kraken-cli, which carries the kraken-mcp server, is MIT | none |
| Tools exposed | 152 | none |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-29 | 2026-11-02 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-10-30 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-21 | no date given |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 795 stars | 55 stars |

Why the edge:
- Security & auth, Kraken API +25: 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.); KuCoin 55 (API key with a user-set passphrase, HMAC-SHA256 signing, nine permission groups, IP allow-lists required for Withdrawal and FlexTransfers, trading keys without an IP disabled after 30 days of inactivity, revocation on the management page; no OAuth and no expiry on General keys (24 of 30). A General-only key is a true read-only mode and withdrawals are a separate permission; no confirmation step for writes beyond the key scope (12 of 20). Tools return the exchange's own data (10). The API key info endpoint shows permissions and IP lists; no per-call audit log was found (5 of 15). No security.txt, no disclosure policy or bounty on a page we could read, a whistleblower notice on the legal page (4 of 20). 55.)
- Reliability, Kraken API +22: 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.); KuCoin 45 (Graded with the hosted lines on the API at api.kucoin.com. No status page found (status.kucoin.com does not resolve, the docs link none), so 0 for the page and 5 for no readable history. Rate limits are published per VIP level with per-endpoint weights and IP limits for public endpoints (15). Every response carries gw-ratelimit-limit, gw-ratelimit-remaining and gw-ratelimit-reset, 429000 is documented with a wait rule, and orders take a clientOid the docs recommend as a UUID (15). No SLA (0). The UTA V2 API is the production surface (10). 45.)
- Schema & documentation, Kraken API +20: 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.); KuCoin 60 (No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract was found; the docs link a Postman workspace and the universal SDK is generated from an internal spec (8 of 25). No llms.txt; the skills hub ships Markdown SKILL.md files with endpoint tables for seven product areas, read-only (6 of 10). One docs page per endpoint with a description, permission and weight, but no when-to-use guidance (12 of 20). Typed parameter tables with enums for type and side and required flags (11 of 15). Request and response examples per endpoint and a unified six-digit error code scheme introduced with V2 (10 of 15). Dated changelog with V1 to V2 versioning (13 of 15). 60.)
- Agent ergonomics, Kraken API +17: 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.); KuCoin 62 (Read for the API alone, since there is no MCP server. Responses take limit and cursor parameters on list endpoints and the order book depth is a parameter (14 of 25). Pagination and symbol filters on orders, fills and ledgers (15 of 20). Codes and messages per response, with the V2 scheme claimed to be clearer; the rate-limit page's own examples contradict its table, which costs an agent a turn (12 of 20). clientOid on orders makes retries safe; no MCP annotations to read (10 of 20). Three required fields on a spot order, official SDKs in five languages (11 of 15). 62.)
- Transparency & trust, Kraken API +11: 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.); KuCoin 54 (The editorial half. A closed hosted service with terms that are clear on use, liability and law but name no company (12 of 30). The privacy policy gives retention periods by purpose and provider (2 years after closure, 14 months for Firebase, 3 years for Jumio, 5 years for Sumsub) and names 41 services, with no data centre locations (22 of 30). Endpoints are removed and fields deprecated in dated changelog entries with no notice period or policy (8 of 20). Third parties named by service, locations not stated beyond transfers around the globe (10 of 20). 52.)
- Maintenance & community, Kraken API +8: Kraken API 81 (Read as a closed service with an open-source client. Changelog entry of 27 October 2026 and kraken-cli v0.5.1 on 29 October (30). Fourteen changelog entries since 19 August 2026 and CLI tags on 6 and 7 August and 28 and 29 October (20). A public changelog, api@kraken.com, a status page and a CLI repository merging pull requests at the end of October; issue replies not read (11 of 15). An official Rust SDK pushed in October 2026 and a Go module from January; the MCP server is not in the official registry (12 of 15). The CLI has release and secure SDLC workflows, deny.toml and a pinned toolchain; the SDK's CI not read (8 of 10). 30 + 20 + 11 + 12 + 8 = 81.); KuCoin 73 (Read as a closed hosted service. The changelog's newest past entry is 2 November 2026 and the universal SDK was pushed 15 September (30). Nine dated changelog entries since 5 August 2026 (20). A Telegram API group (t.me/KuCoin_API) and api@kucoin.com for limit requests, no public issue tracker for the API; the SDK repository's issues were not checked (10 of 25). Official SDKs current in five languages, no MCP registry presence (13 of 15). No package health signal checked (0 of 10). 73.)