# LinkedIn Marketing APIs vs Microsoft Advertising API

> LinkedIn Marketing APIs scores 62.4 (B) on agent readiness against Microsoft Advertising API's 60.3 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Microsoft Advertising API leads on schema & documentation. Both do ads reporting. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side…

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- Updated: 2026-10-08

LinkedIn Marketing APIs scores 62.4 (B) on agent readiness against Microsoft Advertising API's 60.3 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Microsoft Advertising API leads on schema & documentation. Both do ads reporting.

- LinkedIn Marketing APIs: grade B, 62.4/100, rank #304 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/linkedin-marketing-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/linkedin-marketing-api.json
- Microsoft Advertising API: grade C, 60.3/100, rank #360 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/microsoft-advertising-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/microsoft-advertising-api.json

## Which one, for what

### LinkedIn Marketing APIs (B)

Good for: An agent that reports on and manages LinkedIn campaigns for accounts its operator administers, especially read-only reporting, which has no account limit on Development tier.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 66 against 60
- Security & auth, 66 against 60
- Transparency & trust, 84 against 64

Watch for: Standard rate limits are not published. An app sees its limit in the Developer Portal only after calling the endpoint

### Microsoft Advertising API (C)

Good for: Agents that manage or report on Microsoft Advertising accounts, including Google Ads imports.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 79 against 66

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

Watch for: Call-rate limits carry no numbers. The docs describe a 60-second sliding window, and call the Bulk and Reporting limits internal and subject to change


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | LinkedIn Marketing APIs | Microsoft Advertising API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 66 | 60 | LinkedIn Marketing APIs +6 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 79 | Microsoft Advertising API +13 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 63 | 63 | even |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 66 | 60 | LinkedIn Marketing APIs +6 |
| 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) | 64 | 61 | LinkedIn Marketing APIs +3 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 84 | 64 | LinkedIn Marketing APIs +20 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **62.4 · B** | **60.3 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | LinkedIn Marketing APIs | Microsoft Advertising API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | LinkedIn Corporation | Microsoft |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://campaign.api.bingads.microsoft.com/CampaignManagement/v13` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth | OAuth |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the LinkedIn API terms of use and the Marketing API terms. The beta Python and JavaScript clients carry LinkedIn's API development software licence | Proprietary service. The .NET, Java, Python and PHP SDKs are MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 7 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | yes |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-29 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-09-01 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 25k npm/wk, 386k PyPI/wk | 128 stars, 19k PyPI/wk |

## Verdicts

**LinkedIn Marketing APIs.** Monthly API versions are each supported for at least a year, with dated sunsets and a changelog, and a test ad account lets an agent create campaigns that are never served or billed. Access needs LinkedIn's approval and a member's OAuth consent, standard rate limits are not published, and no OpenAPI specification was found.

**Microsoft Advertising API.** Version 13 covers campaigns, budgets, audiences, ads and reports over REST with JSON, with a sandbox that needs no payment method and four official SDKs. Call-rate limits are unpublished, no public OpenAPI file or idempotency key was found, and one OAuth scope covers every operation. The SOAP interface retires on 31 January 2027.

## Before you call either

### LinkedIn Marketing APIs

1. Send `Linkedin-Version: YYYYMM` and `X-Restli-Protocol-Version: 2.0.0` on every call. A missing or sunset version returns an error (426 for a deprecated one)
2. Create one test ad account with `"test": true` and build there first. Its creatives are auto-rejected and never billed, and it returns no reporting data
3. Create campaigns as DRAFT or PAUSED and check `servingStatuses` before activating. Some validation is postponed until activation
4. Pass `fields=` on adAnalytics. Responses stop at 15,000 elements and the endpoint throttles at 45 million metric values per 5 minutes
5. On Development tier, map each ad account to the app in the Developer Portal. Edits are limited to five accounts

### Microsoft Advertising API

1. Build and test against the sandbox hosts (`*.api.sandbox.bingads.microsoft.com`) with developer token BBD37VB98. Sandbox and production credentials are separate
2. Send `Authorization: Bearer <token>`, `DeveloperToken`, `CustomerId` and `CustomerAccountId` on REST calls. Use the account ID, never the eight-character account number
3. Create campaigns with `Status` set to `Paused`, then read them back before activating. No validate-only mode was found
4. On error 117 (CallRateExceeded) wait 60 seconds. On Bulk error 4204 wait up to 15 minutes
5. Read `PartialErrors` on every add, update and delete. A call can succeed for some items and fail for others

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, LinkedIn Marketing APIs or Microsoft Advertising API?

LinkedIn Marketing APIs scores 62.4 (B) on agent readiness against Microsoft Advertising API's 60.3 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Microsoft Advertising API leads on schema & documentation.

### Do LinkedIn Marketing APIs and Microsoft Advertising API need an API key?

Both use an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call LinkedIn Marketing APIs and Microsoft Advertising API without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for LinkedIn Marketing APIs. Microsoft Advertising API has a hosted endpoint at https://campaign.api.bingads.microsoft.com/CampaignManagement/v13.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with LinkedIn Marketing APIs or Microsoft Advertising API

- [Amazon Ads API vs LinkedIn Marketing APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-linkedin-marketing-api.md)
- [Amazon Ads API vs Microsoft Advertising API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-microsoft-advertising-api.md)
- [Google Ads API vs LinkedIn Marketing APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-linkedin-marketing-api.md)
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