{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "kraken", "name": "Kraken API", "vendor": "Payward, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://docs.kraken.com/api/", "kind": "http-api", "category": "crypto-exchanges", "summary": "Kraken's exchange APIs cover spot, tokenised US stocks, forex and futures over REST, WebSocket and FIX, with rate limits by client tier, a self-service futures demo and kraken-cli, an open-source CLI whose kraken-mcp binary is a local MCP server.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kraken", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kraken.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kraken.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kraken.json", "dns": "kraken.grade.anchorterminal.com", "repo": "https://github.com/krakenfx/kraken-cli", "license": "Proprietary hosted service under Kraken's Global Terms of Service (30 October 2026). kraken-cli, which carries the kraken-mcp server, is MIT", "transports": [ "stdio" ], "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "Spot API key and private key, signed with HMAC-SHA512 over the path, nonce and POST data, sent as API-Key and API-Sign. Permissions per key are Query Funds, Deposit Funds, Withdraw Funds, Query Open Orders \u0026 Trades, Query Closed Orders \u0026 Trades, Modify Orders, Cancel/Close Orders, Query Ledger Entries and Export Data, with optional Key Expiration, IP Address Restriction, a custom nonce window and a WebSocket interface setting. Futures keys are separate. kraken auth login signs in with OAuth (authorisation code with PKCE) in a browser and saves a restricted spot key with no withdrawal rights that expires after at most 90 days, or a read-only one with --read-only (https://support.kraken.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000919966, https://github.com/krakenfx/kraken-cli, checked 2026-11-03).", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "The API costs nothing to call. Kraken Pro spot fees at the lowest 30-day volume tier are 0.40 per cent maker and 0.80 per cent taker, stablecoin, pegged token and FX pairs 0.20 per cent each way, and futures 0.02 per cent maker and 0.05 per cent taker. Public market data, paper trading in kraken-cli and the futures demo need no account.", "priceSummary": "0.4% fee", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the API docs, the CLI or the MCP docs (checked 2026-11-03).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 152, "popularity": { "githubStars": 795, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-11-03" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.kraken.com/api/", "llmsTxt": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/krakenfx/kraken-cli/main/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "exchange.spot-trading", "exchange.market-data", "exchange.derivatives", "exchange.balances", "exchange.transfers", "exchange.staking", "market.crypto" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "official", "closed-source", "api-key", "oauth", "mcp", "cli", "llms-txt", "status-page", "bug-bounty", "rust", "go", "usage-priced", "no-card", "mit" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-29", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 71, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 159, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1349, "categoryRank": 2, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 79, "maintenance": 81, "payments": 40, "reliability": 67, "schema": 80, "security": 80, "transparency": 65 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-11-03" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "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.", "bestFor": "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.", "strengths": [ "Official local MCP server with 152 typed tools in services, destructive_hint on dangerous tools and an elicitation approval before each unless disabled", "OAuth sign-in from the CLI mints a restricted spot key with no withdrawal rights that expires within 90 days, or a read-only key", "Rate limits published with numbers by client tier for REST and the matching engine, shared across REST, WebSocket and FIX", "Fees published without login, 0.40 per cent maker and 0.80 per cent taker at the lowest Pro tier, 0.02 and 0.05 on futures", "Dated changelog of 120 entries with deprecations announced by date, a Statuspage site with API components and a valid security.txt" ], "weaknesses": [ "No self-service spot sandbox; the spot UAT environment is on request through an account manager, and paper trading lives in the CLI", "No OpenAPI file was found for the REST API; the machine-readable contract is the CLI's tool catalogue", "Spot and derivatives clients could not connect or submit orders on any interface for 59 minutes on 30 October 2026", "The CLI's feedback tool can upload a local file it names with no approval step, so the docs say to drop it for agents reading untrusted input", "The terms bar bots, scripts and third-party applications on Kraken's content without written consent, alongside the documented API" ], "agentNotes": [ "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", "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", "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", "Keep the nonce strictly increasing per key and stay under the tier's counter, since EAPI:Rate limit exceeded has no Retry-After header", "Test strategies in a paper workspace, which fills at live prices with no account, before a live workspace" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 71 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 79, "maintenance": 81, "payments": 40, "reliability": 67, "schema": 80, "security": 80, "transparency": 36 }, "provenanceScore": 94, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-03", "maintenance": "2026-11-03", "payments": "2026-11-03", "reliability": "2026-11-03", "schema": "2026-11-03", "security": "2026-11-03", "transparency": "2026-11-03" }, "last": "2026-11-03", "oldest": "2026-11-03", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "install": "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/krakenfx/kraken-cli/releases/latest/download/kraken-cli-installer.sh | sh", "http": "curl https://api.kraken.com/0/public/Ticker?pair=XBTUSD", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --scope user kraken -- kraken-mcp -s market,paper,feedback", "config": { "mcpServers": { "kraken": { "args": [ "-s", "market,paper,feedback" ], "command": "kraken-mcp" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/exchange.spot-trading", "tool": "https://letme.dev/kraken" }, "area": "payments", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Spot trade, maker, tier 1", "unit": "pct", "usd": 0.4, "note": "Kraken Pro, under $10,000 30-day volume" }, { "item": "Spot trade, taker, tier 1", "unit": "pct", "usd": 0.8, "note": "Kraken Pro, under $10,000 30-day volume" }, { "item": "Futures trade, maker, tier 1", "unit": "pct", "usd": 0.02, "note": "under $5M 30-day volume" }, { "item": "Futures trade, taker, tier 1", "unit": "pct", "usd": 0.05, "note": "under $5M 30-day volume" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Payward, Inc.", "domain": "kraken.com", "domainRegistered": "2000-04-03", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.kraken.com/legal/global-terms", "privacy": "https://www.kraken.com/legal/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.kraken.com", "changelog": "https://docs.kraken.com/api/docs/change-log", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-11-03", "notes": [ "The Global Terms of Service (last updated 30 October 2026) name Payward Interactive, Inc., Payward Ltd., Bit Trade Pty Limited and Payward Trading Ltd as contracting entities by region under California law; the site footer is © 2011 to 2026 Payward, Inc. The privacy notice was linked from the legal hub and not read.", "RDAP gives kraken.com a registration date of 3 April 2000, before the exchange's 2011 founding.", "https://www.kraken.com/.well-known/security.txt names bugbounty@kraken.com and a bug bounty policy page on kraken.com, expiring 13 February 2027.", "www.kraken.com, docs.kraken.com and support.kraken.com robots.txt disallow only /u/ and /lp/ (docs allows all but /cdn-cgi/ and /_next/).", "status.kraken.com is a Statuspage site; its history page renders by script, so incidents were read from its incidents.json feed, which reached back to 4 September 2026." ], "score": 94 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kraken.json", "live": { "slug": "kraken", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.kraken.com", "indicator": "minor", "summary": "Partially Degraded Service", "checkedAt": "2026-11-04T20:39:20.853991623Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "krakenfx/kraken-cli", "version": "v0.5.1", "released": "2026-10-29", "seenAt": "2026-11-04T20:28:50.559125133Z" } ], "githubStars": 798, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://kraken.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2027-02-13T00:00:00.000Z", "checkedAt": "2026-11-04T15:54:35.804472383Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-11-04T20:39:20.853991623Z" } }, "answer": "Kraken API scores 71 (BB) on agent readiness against MEXC API's 56.3 (C), and leads in every scored category.", "b": { "slug": "mexc", "name": "MEXC API", "vendor": "MEXC (Comoros) Ltd", "vendorUrl": "https://www.mexc.com/mexc-api", "kind": "http-api", "category": "crypto-exchanges", "summary": "MEXC's spot and futures API gives programmatic access to market data, orders, balances, transfers and withdrawals over REST and WebSocket, with an official command-line tool that also runs as a local MCP server for AI agents.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mexc", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mexc.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mexc.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mexc.json", "dns": "mexc.grade.anchorterminal.com", "repo": "https://github.com/mexcdevelop", "transports": [ "stdio" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@mexc-ai/cli" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "API keys made at mexc.com/user/openapi after a browser sign-up; the futures API also needs identity verification. The key goes in the X-MEXC-APIKEY header and signed endpoints carry an HMAC SHA256 signature with a timestamp and a recvWindow of up to 60 seconds. Permissions are granular (SPOT_ACCOUNT_READ, SPOT_DEAL_WRITE, SPOT_WITHDRAW_WRITE, SPOT_TRANSFER_WRITE and the futures equivalents), a key can be limited to chosen trading pairs and linked to up to 10 IP addresses, and a key with no linked IP is valid for 90 days and can be renewed for 90 more from 5 days before expiry. Up to 30 keys per account (https://www.mexc.com/api-docs/spot-v3/introduction, checked 2026-11-03).", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Trading fees per fill. MEXC's own fee guide of 20 October 2026 gives spot 0 per cent maker and 0.05 per cent taker (0.04 per cent with MX deduction), futures from 0 per cent maker and 0.02 per cent taker on BTCUSDT to 0.01 and 0.04 per cent on standard contracts, and a separate API futures schedule of 0.06 per cent maker and 0.08 per cent taker since 1 June 2026. Zero-fee campaigns and MX discounts don't apply to API trading. The fee page itself is drawn by script. Market data needs no key (https://www.mexc.com/learn/article/17827791510370, checked 2026-11-03).", "priceSummary": "0.05% fee", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the API docs, the CLI docs, llms.txt or the terms (checked 2026-11-03). Fees are taken from each fill.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 299, "popularity": { "githubStars": 315, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-11-03" }, "docsUrl": "https://www.mexc.com/api-docs/spot-v3/introduction", "llmsTxt": "https://www.mexc.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "exchange.market-data", "exchange.spot-trading", "exchange.derivatives", "exchange.balances", "exchange.transfers", "market.crypto" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "api-key", "closed-source", "usage-priced", "mcp", "cli", "agent-skills", "read-only-mode", "llms-txt", "python", "java", "go", "no-status-page" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-23", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 56.3, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 743, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1349, "categoryRank": 13, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 64, "maintenance": 75, "payments": 31, "reliability": 43, "schema": 64, "security": 65, "transparency": 58 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-11-03" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "MEXC publishes granular key permissions, per-pair key limits, weighted rate limits with Retry-After and a dated changelog, and its official CLI runs a read-only-capable MCP server with confirmation before any fund movement. There is no sandbox or status page, API futures orders pay a higher fee schedule, and the user agreement excludes the US, UK, EU members and others.", "bestFor": "Spot and futures for agents in served countries that want a vendor-built MCP server with read-only and confirmation modes.", "strengths": [ "Granular key permissions (account read, trade, withdraw, transfer), per-pair restriction, up to 10 linked IPs and a 90-day expiry for unbound keys", "An official MCP mode in the `@mexc-ai/cli` tool with `--read-only`, a read-only market subset of 22 tools and a confirmation step before orders and transfers", "Rate limits published as weight buckets per IP and UID, with Retry-After on 429 and 418", "A dated changelog of 72 spot and 26 futures entries, the newest 23 October 2026", "Fees published on MEXC's own pages, with the API futures schedule stated separately" ], "weaknesses": [ "No sandbox or testnet; only an order-validation endpoint", "No status page, incident history or SLA", "The MCP server is local only, not in the official MCP registry, and the CLI is UNLICENSED with no public source", "API futures orders pay 0.06 per cent maker and 0.08 per cent taker, and zero-fee campaigns exclude API trading", "The user agreement bars users in the United States, the United Kingdom, Mainland China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, France and other jurisdictions" ], "agentNotes": [ "Use a key limited to SPOT_ACCOUNT_READ and SPOT_DEAL_WRITE, the pairs you trade and your IP addresses; keys without a linked IP expire after 90 days", "Start the MCP server as `mexc mcp spot --read-only` unless the task trades, and never pass `--yes`; orders and transfers wait for the person's confirmation", "Call POST /api/v3/order/test before a live order, since there is no sandbox", "On 429 or 418 wait for Retry-After; order placement and cancellation share 12 requests a second per UID, and repeated breaches ban the IP for up to 3 days", "Treat a 5xx on an order as unknown, not failed, and query the order before retrying; set newClientOrderId so the order can be found" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 56.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 64, "maintenance": 75, "payments": 31, "reliability": 43, "schema": 64, "security": 65, "transparency": 38 }, "provenanceScore": 78, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-03", "maintenance": "2026-11-03", "payments": "2026-11-03", "reliability": "2026-11-03", "schema": "2026-11-03", "security": "2026-11-03", "transparency": "2026-11-03" }, "last": "2026-11-03", "oldest": "2026-11-03", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "install": "npm install -g @mexc-ai/cli", "http": "curl 'https://api.mexc.com/api/v3/ticker/price?symbol=BTCUSDT'", "config": { "mcpServers": { "mexc-spot": { "args": [ "mcp", "spot", "--read-only" ], "command": "mexc" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/exchange.market-data", "tool": "https://letme.dev/mexc" }, "area": "payments", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Spot taker fee", "unit": "pct", "usd": 0.05, "note": "maker 0 per cent; 0.04 per cent with MX deduction, not for API trading" }, { "item": "API futures taker fee", "unit": "pct", "usd": 0.08, "note": "maker 0.06 per cent, since 1 June 2026, outside the Innovation Zone" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "MEXC (Comoros) Ltd", "domain": "mexc.com", "domainRegistered": "2000-02-27", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.mexc.com/terms", "privacy": "https://www.mexc.com/privacypolicy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://www.mexc.com/api-docs/spot-v3/change-log", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-11-03", "notes": [ "MEXC (Comoros) Ltd is named in the user agreement, last updated 13 October 2026, with a registered address in Mutsamudu, Anjouan. The privacy policy, last updated 1 June 2026, names no entity.", "RDAP gives mexc.com a registration date of 27 February 2000; the exchange says it began in 2018, so the domain predates it.", "www.mexc.com/robots.txt allows the root and disallows /user/, /orders/ and some locale paths; it lists llms.txt as a sitemap. mexcdevelop.github.io has no robots.txt.", "https://www.mexc.com/.well-known/security.txt answered 404. status.mexc.com does not resolve; no status page was found.", "The fee page at mexc.com/fee is drawn by script; the fee figures come from MEXC's own fee guide and a 2024 announcement." ], "score": 78 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mexc.json", "live": { "slug": "mexc", "versions": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@mexc-ai/cli", "version": "0.0.22", "seenAt": "2026-11-04T20:34:39.588400079Z" } ], "npmWeekly": 76, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://mexc.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-11-04T15:54:36.213483882Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-11-04T20:34:39.588400079Z" } }, "edges": [ { "by": 24, "category": "reliability", "leads": "kraken", "name": "Reliability", "reasons": { "a": "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.", "b": "Read with the hosted lines. No status page found; status.mexc.com does not resolve and llms.txt points to a maintenance-updates feed (0). No readable incident history (5). Rate limits documented with numbers, 300 weight per 10 seconds per IP, 500 per UID, 12 order requests a second per UID, 100 WebSocket messages a second (15). 429 and 418 carry Retry-After with ban lengths stated, a 5xx is to be treated as unknown rather than failed, an order-test endpoint exists, and newClientOrderId is optional with no idempotency promise (13 of 15). No SLA found (0). Spot and futures are generally available, futures order placement having reopened on 31 March 2026 after being closed since July 2022 (10). 0 + 5 + 15 + 13 + 0 + 10 = 43." }, "scores": { "a": 67, "b": 43 } }, { "by": 16, "category": "schema", "leads": "kraken", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "reasons": { "a": "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.", "b": "No OpenAPI found; a Postman collection and the CLI's 25 capability reference files are the nearest machine-readable contract (5 of 25). llms.txt on mexc.com, written for assistants and pointing at the API docs and legal pages (7 of 10). Per-endpoint pages with purpose, parameters and permissions, without when-not-to-use guidance (13 of 20). Typed parameters with enums for order types, statuses and intervals (11 of 15). Examples on each endpoint and a separate error-code page with numeric codes and messages (13 of 15). Versioned API (v3) with a dated changelog of 72 entries to 23 October 2026 (15). 5 + 7 + 13 + 11 + 13 + 15 = 64." }, "scores": { "a": 80, "b": 64 } }, { "by": 15, "category": "ergonomics", "leads": "kraken", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "reasons": { "a": "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.", "b": "Graded on the REST API with the CLI's MCP mode. Responses take limit parameters and the MCP read-only market subset is 22 tools, but a full spot MCP category lists 123 tools (15 of 25). startTime, endTime and limit on history, symbol filters on open orders (14 of 20). Numeric codes with messages, a 30035 order-limit code added 23 October 2026, 5xx guidance (14 of 20). newClientOrderId is optional with no idempotency guarantee; the CLI adds --dry-run and a confirmation step (10 of 20). Few required parameters; SDKs in five languages whose repository was last pushed in February 2024 (11 of 15). 15 + 14 + 14 + 10 + 11 = 64." }, "scores": { "a": 79, "b": 64 } }, { "by": 15, "category": "security", "leads": "kraken", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "reasons": { "a": "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.", "b": "Granular permissions (account read, trade, withdraw, transfer), per-pair restriction, up to 10 linked IPs, 90-day expiry without an IP, renewal and revocation in the account, 30 keys per account (26 of 30). A read-only MCP mode that hides write tools, a confirmation step before orders and transfers in the CLI and MCP, and --yes that agents are told not to add; nothing server-side confirms an API order (17 of 20). The API returns exchange data, and the CLI security page warns that agents may be led by web pages or files into unwanted actions (12 of 15). CLI confirmations are logged and reported to MEXC with no operator access described; an apiKeyInfo endpoint shows key settings (6 of 15). No security.txt, disclosure policy or bug bounty found; a proof-of-reserves page exists (4 of 20). 26 + 17 + 12 + 6 + 4 = 65." }, "scores": { "a": 80, "b": 65 } }, { "by": 9, "category": "payments", "leads": "kraken", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "reasons": { "a": "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.", "b": "No machine payment protocol (0). Fees published without login on MEXC's own fee guide (20 October 2026) and a 2024 announcement, with a separate API futures schedule; the fee page itself is drawn by script (16 of 20). Public market data needs no key or card; trading needs a verified and funded account. Judgement call (15 of 20). A person must sign up in a browser, and futures need identity verification (0). 0 + 16 + 15 + 0 = 31." }, "scores": { "a": 40, "b": 31 } }, { "by": 7, "category": "transparency", "leads": "kraken", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "reasons": { "a": "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.", "b": "The editorial half. A closed service with a dated user agreement naming MEXC (Comoros) Ltd; the CLI is UNLICENSED on npm (15 of 30). The privacy policy names no entity, states no retention periods and relies on standard contractual clauses for transfers (10 of 30). The changelog flags endpoints as \"will be discontinued soon\" without dates and the futures log records removals (8 of 20). Third parties are named by category only, with no subprocessor list or data locations (5 of 20). 15 + 10 + 8 + 5 = 38." }, "scores": { "a": 65, "b": 58 } } ], "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Payward, Inc.", "b": "MEXC (Comoros) Ltd", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "stdio", "b": "stdio", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Pay per use", "b": "Pay per use", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary hosted service under Kraken's Global Terms of Service (30 October 2026). kraken-cli, which carries the kraken-mcp server, is MIT", "b": "none", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "152", "b": "299", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-29", "b": "2026-10-23", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2026-10-30", "b": "2026-10-13", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-10-21", "b": "2026-06-01", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "795 stars", "b": "315 stars", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Kraken API scores 71 (BB) on agent readiness against MEXC API's 56.3 (C), and leads in every scored category.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Kraken API or MEXC API?" }, { "answer": "Kraken API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. MEXC API needs an API key.", "question": "Do Kraken API and MEXC API need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Kraken API runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. MEXC API runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed.", "question": "Can an agent call Kraken API and MEXC API without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 67 against 43", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 80 against 64", "Agent ergonomics, 79 against 64", "Security \u0026 auth, 80 against 65", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 31", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 81 against 75", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 65 against 58" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "Free to start without a card" ], "goodFor": "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.", "slug": "kraken", "watchFor": "No self-service spot sandbox; the spot UAT environment is on request through an account manager, and paper trading lives in the CLI" }, { "aheadOn": null, "also": null, "goodFor": "Spot and futures for agents in served countries that want a vendor-built MCP server with read-only and confirmation modes.", "slug": "mexc", "watchFor": "No sandbox or testnet; only an order-validation endpoint" } ], "history": null, "job": { "capability": "exchange.spot-trading", "name": "Exchange spot trading" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-kraken.json", "title": "Bitfinex API vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-mexc.json", "title": "Bitfinex API vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitget-vs-kraken.json", "title": "Bitget vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitget-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitget-vs-mexc.json", "title": "Bitget vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitget-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-kraken.json", "title": "Bithumb Open API vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-mexc.json", "title": "Bithumb Open API vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-kraken.json", "title": "Bitstamp API vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-mexc.json", "title": "Bitstamp API vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bybit-vs-kraken.json", "title": "Bybit vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bybit-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bybit-vs-mexc.json", "title": "Bybit vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bybit-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-com-exchange-vs-kraken.json", "title": "Crypto.com Exchange API vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-com-exchange-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-com-exchange-vs-mexc.json", "title": "Crypto.com Exchange API vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-com-exchange-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-kraken.json", "title": "Gate vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-mexc.json", "title": "Gate vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-exchange-vs-kraken.json", "title": "Gemini Exchange API vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-exchange-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-exchange-vs-mexc.json", "title": "Gemini Exchange API vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-exchange-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/htx-vs-kraken.json", "title": "HTX trading API vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/htx-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/htx-vs-mexc.json", "title": "HTX trading API vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/htx-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kucoin-vs-mexc.json", "title": "KuCoin vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kucoin-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mexc-vs-okx.json", "title": "MEXC API vs OKX API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mexc-vs-okx" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mexc-vs-uniswap.json", "title": "MEXC API vs Uniswap Trading API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mexc-vs-uniswap" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mexc-vs-upbit.json", "title": "MEXC API vs Upbit Open API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mexc-vs-upbit" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-kraken.json", "title": "Binance API vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-mexc.json", "title": "Binance API vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-advanced-trade-vs-kraken.json", "title": "Coinbase Advanced Trade API vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-advanced-trade-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-advanced-trade-vs-mexc.json", "title": "Coinbase Advanced Trade API vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-advanced-trade-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-mcp-vs-kraken.json", "title": "Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents) vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-mcp-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-mcp-vs-mexc.json", "title": "Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents) vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-mcp-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-kucoin.json", "title": "Kraken API vs KuCoin", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-kucoin" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-okx.json", "title": "Kraken API vs OKX API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-okx" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-uniswap.json", "title": "Kraken API vs Uniswap Trading API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-uniswap" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-upbit.json", "title": "Kraken API vs Upbit Open API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-upbit" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-kraken.json", "title": "Deribit vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-mexc.json", "title": "Deribit vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-kraken.json", "title": "dYdX vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-mexc.json", "title": "dYdX vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-mexc" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperliquid-vs-kraken.json", "title": "Hyperliquid vs Kraken API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperliquid-vs-kraken" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperliquid-vs-mexc.json", "title": "Hyperliquid vs MEXC API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperliquid-vs-mexc" } ], "panel": null, "scores": [ { "by": 24, "edge": "kraken", "key": "reliability", "kraken": 67, "mexc": 43, "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 16, "edge": "kraken", "key": "schema", "kraken": 80, "mexc": 64, "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 15, "edge": "kraken", "key": "ergonomics", "kraken": 79, "mexc": 64, "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 15, "edge": "kraken", "key": "security", "kraken": 80, "mexc": 65, "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "by": 9, "edge": "kraken", "key": "payments", "kraken": 40, "mexc": 31, "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 6, "edge": "kraken", "key": "maintenance", "kraken": 81, "mexc": 75, "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "by": 7, "edge": "kraken", "key": "transparency", "kraken": 65, "mexc": 58, "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Kraken API scores 71 (BB) on agent readiness against MEXC API's 56.3 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do exchange spot trading.", "tasks": null, "tutorials": [], "verdicts": { "kraken": "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.", "mexc": "MEXC publishes granular key permissions, per-pair key limits, weighted rate limits with Retry-After and a dated changelog, and its official CLI runs a read-only-capable MCP server with confirmation before any fund movement. There is no sandbox or status page, API futures orders pay a higher fee schedule, and the user agreement excludes the US, UK, EU members and others." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-mexc", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-mexc.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-mexc.md", "mcp": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-mexc.min.md" }, "markdown": "Kraken API scores 71 (BB) on agent readiness against MEXC API's 56.3 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do exchange spot trading.\n\n- 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\n- MEXC API: grade C, 56.3/100, rank #743 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mexc.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mexc.json\n- Best crypto exchange APIs and MCP servers for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/crypto-exchanges/index.md\n- All 210 exchanges comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-exchanges/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Kraken API (BB)\n\nGood 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.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 67 against 43\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 80 against 64\n- Agent ergonomics, 79 against 64\n- Security \u0026 auth, 80 against 65\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 31\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 81 against 75\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 65 against 58\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- Free to start without a card\n\nWatch for: No self-service spot sandbox; the spot UAT environment is on request through an account manager, and paper trading lives in the CLI\n\n### MEXC API (C)\n\nGood for: Spot and futures for agents in served countries that want a vendor-built MCP server with read-only and confirmation modes.\n\nWatch for: No sandbox or testnet; only an order-validation endpoint\n\n\n## Why the edge\n\n### Reliability: Kraken API +24\n\n- 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.\n- MEXC API (43): Read with the hosted lines. No status page found; status.mexc.com does not resolve and llms.txt points to a maintenance-updates feed (0). No readable incident history (5). Rate limits documented with numbers, 300 weight per 10 seconds per IP, 500 per UID, 12 order requests a second per UID, 100 WebSocket messages a second (15). 429 and 418 carry Retry-After with ban lengths stated, a 5xx is to be treated as unknown rather than failed, an order-test endpoint exists, and newClientOrderId is optional with no idempotency promise (13 of 15). No SLA found (0). Spot and futures are generally available, futures order placement having reopened on 31 March 2026 after being closed since July 2022 (10). 0 + 5 + 15 + 13 + 0 + 10 = 43.\n\n### Schema \u0026 documentation: Kraken API +16\n\n- 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.\n- MEXC API (64): No OpenAPI found; a Postman collection and the CLI's 25 capability reference files are the nearest machine-readable contract (5 of 25). llms.txt on mexc.com, written for assistants and pointing at the API docs and legal pages (7 of 10). Per-endpoint pages with purpose, parameters and permissions, without when-not-to-use guidance (13 of 20). Typed parameters with enums for order types, statuses and intervals (11 of 15). Examples on each endpoint and a separate error-code page with numeric codes and messages (13 of 15). Versioned API (v3) with a dated changelog of 72 entries to 23 October 2026 (15). 5 + 7 + 13 + 11 + 13 + 15 = 64.\n\n### Agent ergonomics: Kraken API +15\n\n- 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.\n- MEXC API (64): Graded on the REST API with the CLI's MCP mode. Responses take limit parameters and the MCP read-only market subset is 22 tools, but a full spot MCP category lists 123 tools (15 of 25). startTime, endTime and limit on history, symbol filters on open orders (14 of 20). Numeric codes with messages, a 30035 order-limit code added 23 October 2026, 5xx guidance (14 of 20). newClientOrderId is optional with no idempotency guarantee; the CLI adds --dry-run and a confirmation step (10 of 20). Few required parameters; SDKs in five languages whose repository was last pushed in February 2024 (11 of 15). 15 + 14 + 14 + 10 + 11 = 64.\n\n### Security \u0026 auth: Kraken API +15\n\n- 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.\n- MEXC API (65): Granular permissions (account read, trade, withdraw, transfer), per-pair restriction, up to 10 linked IPs, 90-day expiry without an IP, renewal and revocation in the account, 30 keys per account (26 of 30). A read-only MCP mode that hides write tools, a confirmation step before orders and transfers in the CLI and MCP, and --yes that agents are told not to add; nothing server-side confirms an API order (17 of 20). The API returns exchange data, and the CLI security page warns that agents may be led by web pages or files into unwanted actions (12 of 15). CLI confirmations are logged and reported to MEXC with no operator access described; an apiKeyInfo endpoint shows key settings (6 of 15). No security.txt, disclosure policy or bug bounty found; a proof-of-reserves page exists (4 of 20). 26 + 17 + 12 + 6 + 4 = 65.\n\n### Payments \u0026 pricing: Kraken API +9\n\n- 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.\n- MEXC API (31): No machine payment protocol (0). Fees published without login on MEXC's own fee guide (20 October 2026) and a 2024 announcement, with a separate API futures schedule; the fee page itself is drawn by script (16 of 20). Public market data needs no key or card; trading needs a verified and funded account. Judgement call (15 of 20). A person must sign up in a browser, and futures need identity verification (0). 0 + 16 + 15 + 0 = 31.\n\n### Transparency \u0026 trust: Kraken API +7\n\n- 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.\n- MEXC API (58): The editorial half. A closed service with a dated user agreement naming MEXC (Comoros) Ltd; the CLI is UNLICENSED on npm (15 of 30). The privacy policy names no entity, states no retention periods and relies on standard contractual clauses for transfers (10 of 30). The changelog flags endpoints as \"will be discontinued soon\" without dates and the futures log records removals (8 of 20). Third parties are named by category only, with no subprocessor list or data locations (5 of 20). 15 + 10 + 8 + 5 = 38.\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Kraken API | MEXC API | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 67 | 43 | Kraken API +24 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 64 | Kraken API +16 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 79 | 64 | Kraken API +15 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 80 | 65 | Kraken API +15 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 31 | Kraken API +9 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 81 | 75 | Kraken API +6 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 58 | Kraken API +7 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **71 · BB** | **56.3 · C** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Kraken API | MEXC API |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Payward, Inc. | MEXC (Comoros) Ltd |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | stdio | stdio |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| 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 |\n| Tools exposed | 152 | 299 |\n| Read-only variant documented | yes | yes |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-10-29 | 2026-10-23 |\n| Terms last updated | 2026-10-30 | 2026-10-13 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-21 | 2026-06-01 |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | yes |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |\n| Popularity | 795 stars | 315 stars |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**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.\n\n**MEXC API.** MEXC publishes granular key permissions, per-pair key limits, weighted rate limits with Retry-After and a dated changelog, and its official CLI runs a read-only-capable MCP server with confirmation before any fund movement. There is no sandbox or status page, API futures orders pay a higher fee schedule, and the user agreement excludes the US, UK, EU members and others.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Kraken API\n\n1. 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\n2. 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\n3. 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\n4. Keep the nonce strictly increasing per key and stay under the tier's counter, since EAPI:Rate limit exceeded has no Retry-After header\n5. Test strategies in a paper workspace, which fills at live prices with no account, before a live workspace\n\n### MEXC API\n\n1. Use a key limited to SPOT_ACCOUNT_READ and SPOT_DEAL_WRITE, the pairs you trade and your IP addresses; keys without a linked IP expire after 90 days\n2. Start the MCP server as `mexc mcp spot --read-only` unless the task trades, and never pass `--yes`; orders and transfers wait for the person's confirmation\n3. Call POST /api/v3/order/test before a live order, since there is no sandbox\n4. On 429 or 418 wait for Retry-After; order placement and cancellation share 12 requests a second per UID, and repeated breaches ban the IP for up to 3 days\n5. Treat a 5xx on an order as unknown, not failed, and query the order before retrying; set newClientOrderId so the order can be found\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Kraken API or MEXC API?\n\nKraken API scores 71 (BB) on agent readiness against MEXC API's 56.3 (C), and leads in every scored category.\n\n### Do Kraken API and MEXC API need an API key?\n\nKraken API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. MEXC API needs an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call Kraken API and MEXC API without installing anything?\n\nKraken API runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. MEXC API runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-mexc.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-mexc.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"kraken\", \"b\": \"mexc\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare kraken mexc`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kraken.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mexc.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Kraken API or MEXC API\n\n- [Bitfinex API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-kraken.md)\n- [Bitfinex API vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-mexc.md)\n- [Bitget vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitget-vs-kraken.md)\n- [Bitget vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitget-vs-mexc.md)\n- [Bithumb Open API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-kraken.md)\n- [Bithumb Open API vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-mexc.md)\n- [Bitstamp API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-kraken.md)\n- [Bitstamp API vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-mexc.md)\n- [Bybit vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bybit-vs-kraken.md)\n- [Bybit vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bybit-vs-mexc.md)\n- [Crypto.com Exchange API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-com-exchange-vs-kraken.md)\n- [Crypto.com Exchange API vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-com-exchange-vs-mexc.md)\n- [Gate vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-kraken.md)\n- [Gate vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gate-io-vs-mexc.md)\n- [Gemini Exchange API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-exchange-vs-kraken.md)\n- [Gemini Exchange API vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-exchange-vs-mexc.md)\n- [HTX trading API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/htx-vs-kraken.md)\n- [HTX trading API vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/htx-vs-mexc.md)\n- [KuCoin vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kucoin-vs-mexc.md)\n- [MEXC API vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mexc-vs-okx.md)\n- [MEXC API vs Uniswap Trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mexc-vs-uniswap.md)\n- [MEXC API vs Upbit Open API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mexc-vs-upbit.md)\n- [Binance API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-kraken.md)\n- [Binance API vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-mexc.md)\n- [Coinbase Advanced Trade API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-advanced-trade-vs-kraken.md)\n- [Coinbase Advanced Trade API vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-advanced-trade-vs-mexc.md)\n- [Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents) vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-mcp-vs-kraken.md)\n- [Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents) vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-mcp-vs-mexc.md)\n- [Kraken API vs KuCoin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-kucoin.md)\n- [Kraken API vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-okx.md)\n- [Kraken API vs Uniswap Trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-uniswap.md)\n- [Kraken API vs Upbit Open API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-upbit.md)\n- [Deribit vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-kraken.md)\n- [Deribit vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-mexc.md)\n- [dYdX vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-kraken.md)\n- [dYdX vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-mexc.md)\n- [Hyperliquid vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperliquid-vs-kraken.md)\n- [Hyperliquid vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperliquid-vs-mexc.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "attributionRequired": true, "credit": "CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link the page or API address you took it from (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-11-04", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.7", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "terms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Kraken API vs MEXC API", "url": "" } ], "description": "Kraken scores 71 (BB) to MEXC's 56.3 (C) for exchange spot trading. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Kraken API BB 71", "MEXC API C 56.3", "scores" ], "h1": "Kraken API vs MEXC API", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/default.png", "path": "/compare/kraken-vs-mexc", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Kraken vs MEXC for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-11-04", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kraken-vs-mexc" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 4800, "slim": 2630 }, "version": 1 }