{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "mercury", "name": "Mercury API", "vendor": "Mercury Technologies, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://mercury.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "spend-management", "summary": "Mercury is a US business banking service with accounts, debit and credit cards, payments and invoicing. Its REST API reads transactions, issues virtual cards with spend limits and sends payments, and a hosted MCP server is in beta.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mercury", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mercury.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mercury.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mercury.json", "repo": "https://github.com/MercuryTechnologies/mercury-cli", "license": "Proprietary service under Mercury's Terms of Use. The Mercury CLI on GitHub is Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.mercury.com/api/v1", "packages": [ { "registry": "go", "name": "github.com/MercuryTechnologies/mercury-cli" }, { "registry": "go", "name": "github.com/MercuryTechnologies/mercury-go" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "Access is self-serve for a Mercury customer. A user with permission creates an API token under Settings, Tokens, choosing read-only, read and write, or custom scopes. The token is sent as a Bearer header or as the basic-auth username, is shown once, can be revoked and is deleted after 45 days unused. Tokens with write scopes need an IP allowlist, except the `RequestSendMoney` scope, which queues payments for dashboard approval. The MCP server takes OAuth 2.0 with dynamic client registration and PKCE, where a person signs in and grants `read` and any of five write scopes. OAuth2 clients for integrations that serve other Mercury customers need Mercury's approval through a form.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "No separate API fee was found. A Mercury business account is $0 a month, Plus is $35 and Pro $350 on monthly billing ($29.90 and $299 billed annually). The pricing FAQ says mass payments on the API may incur fees and gives no amount, and mercury.com/api says 100 free ACH transfers a month come with every account. A free sandbox with self-serve signup lets an agent's owner start without a business account or a card. Production access needs an approved Mercury business account (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "$35 / mo", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the API docs, the embedded OpenAPI definitions, the API product page or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 35, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.mercury.com", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.mercury.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "spend.transactions", "spend.cards", "spend.expenses" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "freemium", "api-key", "oauth", "mcp", "openapi", "llms-txt", "webhooks", "sandbox", "cli", "status-page", "soc2" ], "lastRelease": "2026-08-12", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 63.8, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 293, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 2, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 68, "maintenance": 64, "payments": 30, "reliability": 59, "schema": 72, "security": 82, "transparency": 63 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Custom tokens take per-endpoint scopes, write tokens need an IP allowlist, and payments can be queued for approval in the dashboard through `POST /account/{accountId}/request-send-money`. No rate limits, error catalogue or SLA were found in the reviewed documentation, the changelog carries no dates, and the MCP server is beta.", "bestFor": "A company that banks with Mercury and wants an agent to read balances and transactions, set notes and categories, upload receipts, issue virtual cards with spend limits and queue payments for human approval.", "strengths": [ "Three token tiers (read-only, read and write, custom scopes), with an IP allowlist required for write scopes and unused permissions removed after 45 days", "`POST /account/{accountId}/request-send-money` always queues a payment for approval in the dashboard, and MCP payment tools can only create such requests", "`idempotencyKey` is required on send-money calls, and a repeat returns 409 with the original transaction", "A free sandbox at `https://api-sandbox.mercury.com/api/v1/` with self-serve signup and preloaded test data", "The MCP server uses OAuth 2.0 with dynamic client registration, PKCE S256 and a separate scope for each of its five write tools" ], "weaknesses": [ "No rate limits with numbers and no 429 handling were found in the reviewed documentation", "Reference pages document only 400 and 404 errors with one-line descriptions, and no error body schema or code list was found", "The changelog lists ten entries with no dates, and no deprecation policy was found", "The MCP server is labelled beta and can't create recipients, issue or manage cards, or create invoices", "No SLA. The Terms of Use supply the services as is and cap liability at $1,000" ], "agentNotes": [ "Ask for a Custom token with only the scopes the task needs. Scopes can't be edited later, and a token unused for 45 days is deleted.", "Without a fixed IP address, send payments through `POST /account/{accountId}/request-send-money`. Direct sends through `POST /account/{accountId}/transactions` need an allowlisted IP.", "Send a stored `idempotencyKey` with every payment. The same recipient, account, amount and method within 24 hours returns 400 even with a new key.", "Set `limit` on list calls. `GET /transactions` returns up to 1,000 rows by default.", "Test against `https://api-sandbox.mercury.com/api/v1/` with a sandbox token. Webhooks aren't available in the sandbox." ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 63.8 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 68, "maintenance": 64, "payments": 30, "reliability": 59, "schema": 72, "security": 82, "transparency": 42 }, "provenanceScore": 84 }, "connect": { "install": "curl -sSf https://cli.mercury.com/install.sh | sh", "http": "curl https://api.mercury.com/api/v1/accounts --header 'accept: application/json' --header \"Authorization: Bearer TOKEN\"", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http -s user mercury https://mcp.mercury.com/mcp" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/spend.transactions", "tool": "https://letme.dev/mercury" }, "area": "domain-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Mercury business account", "unit": "month", "usd": 0, "note": "API tokens are created in account settings. ACH, domestic wires and real-time payments are free per the pricing FAQ" }, { "item": "Mercury Plus", "unit": "month", "usd": 35, "note": "$29.90 a month billed annually" }, { "item": "Mercury Pro", "unit": "month", "usd": 350, "note": "$299 a month billed annually" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Mercury Technologies, Inc.", "domain": "mercury.com", "domainRegistered": "1990-11-30", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://mercury.com/legal/terms", "privacy": "https://mercury.com/legal/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.mercury.com", "changelog": "https://docs.mercury.com/changelog", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The Terms of Use (last updated 5 October 2026) name Mercury Technologies, Inc. and its affiliates and cover the site, the app and the services, including AI connections made through an API or connector in section 3.2. No separate API or developer agreement was found on the legal index.", "The privacy policy (effective 27 August 2026) names Mercury Technologies, Inc. and applies to Mercury's websites, mobile apps and financial products.", "Mercury states it is a fintech company and not an FDIC-insured bank. Accounts are held under separate agreements with Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., linked from mercury.com/legal.", "The API answers at api.mercury.com, the Vault API at vault-api.mercury.com, the sandbox at api-sandbox.mercury.com and the MCP server at mcp.mercury.com, all mercury.com subdomains.", "mercury.com/.well-known/security.txt returns 404. The security page sends vulnerability reports to security@mercury.com.", "RDAP for mercury.com gives a registration date of 1990-11-30." ], "score": 84 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mercury.json", "live": { "slug": "mercury", "probe": { "target": "https://api.mercury.com/api/v1", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:15.175705812Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 300, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 301, "p95ms24h": 359, "samples24h": 21, "samples30d": 21, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 21, "ok": 21 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.mercury.com", "indicator": "minor", "summary": "Partial System Degradation", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T21:06:12.336155671Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:15.175705812Z" } }, "answer": "Mercury API and Pleo API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 63.8 (B) and 62.9 (B). Pleo API + MCP leads on reliability, schema \u0026 documentation and transparency \u0026 trust.", "b": { "slug": "pleo", "name": "Pleo API + MCP", "vendor": "Pleo Technologies A/S", "vendorUrl": "https://www.pleo.io/en", "kind": "http-api", "category": "spend-management", "summary": "Spend management platform from Pleo Technologies A/S in Copenhagen, covering company cards, expenses, reimbursements, invoices and accounting exports. Outside agents reach it through a hosted MCP server for expense work and a REST API built for accounting integrations.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pleo", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pleo.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pleo.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pleo.json", "license": "Proprietary service under Pleo's Master Service Agreement, API Terms of Service and AI Access Terms", "transports": [ "http", "streamable-http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://external.pleo.io", "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "A person signs in for every route. The MCP server uses OAuth 2.0 in a browser (authorisation code with PKCE, dynamic client registration, no keys to configure) and acts with the connecting user's Pleo role, once a company admin has enabled MCP access for that entity. The External API accepts OAuth 2.0 bearer tokens with resource scopes for partner integrations, whose client ID and secret Pleo issues after review in its Early Access Programme. A single company can use a Standalone API Key with chosen scopes and an expiry, sent as the Basic auth username, but only after Pleo support or a Customer Success Manager enables keys for the organisation.", "pricing": "paid", "pricingNotes": "Per-user plans, with no separate charge for the API or the MCP server. The pricing page shown to a UK visitor lists Start at £8 per user per month, Build at £14 and Optimise at £18, the last two cheaper billed yearly and with a three-user minimum. MCP is listed on Optimise only, which is sold through a demo. Start and Build have a Try for free button and the signup form states 21 days free. Whether the trial needs a payment card isn't stated. A staging environment with test data exists for customers with API keys enabled and for approved partners. Fees for payments and foreign exchange are extra (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "Paid", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the developer docs, the OpenAPI specs or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://developers.pleo.io/", "llmsTxt": "https://developers.pleo.io/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://developers.pleo.io/reference/Export%20API.json", "capabilities": [ "spend.transactions", "spend.expenses", "spend.bills" ], "tags": [ "official", "hosted", "mcp", "oauth", "api-key", "openapi", "llms-txt", "webhooks", "closed-source", "status-page", "bug-bounty", "sandbox" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-02", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 62.9, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 325, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 3, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 55, "maintenance": 64, "payments": 15, "reliability": 71, "schema": 82, "security": 71, "transparency": 75 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "The hosted MCP server acts with the connecting user's own Pleo permissions, is off until an admin enables it per entity, and can't move money, change cards or alter limits. It is listed only on the Optimise plan, its tool definitions aren't published, API keys need enabling by Pleo support, and no official SDK or SLA was found.", "bestFor": "An agent that completes, codes, reviews and queues expenses for a Pleo customer on the Optimise plan, or for a bookkeeping integration that exports accounting entries and syncs tags, tax codes, accounts and vendors.", "strengths": [ "MCP server at mcp.pleo.io/mcp uses OAuth with PKCE and dynamic client registration, and acts with the connecting user's Pleo permissions", "Payments, card changes and spending-limit changes are blocked through the MCP by design, per the AI Access Terms", "Eleven current OpenAPI 3.0.1 specs with 162 operations, plus llms.txt, llms-full.txt and a Markdown copy of every docs page", "One documented rate limit of 600 requests a minute per credential, with written 429 and Retry-After guidance", "Staging hosts for both the API (external.staging.pleo.io) and the MCP server (mcp.staging.pleo.io/mcp)", "Sub-processor list with locations, customer data in AWS Ireland, and 30 days' notice of new sub-processors in the DPA" ], "weaknesses": [ "The pricing page lists MCP on the Optimise plan only (£18 per user per month, three users minimum, sold through a demo)", "MCP tool names, schemas and count aren't published, so they can't be read without a customer sign-in", "Standalone API keys aren't self-service. Pleo support or a Customer Success Manager enables them, and partner OAuth clients go through a reviewed programme", "No Idempotency-Key header, no official SDK and no entry in the official MCP registry", "The API terms call the API a beta version that Pleo may discontinue at any time, and no SLA was found", "No end-of-life date is published for the deprecated Legacy API, and its Q3 2026 replacements for employee writes and wallet balance aren't in the docs" ], "agentNotes": [ "Ask a company admin to enable Pleo MCP access under Settings, General, Pleo AI for each entity before connecting. It is off by default", "Name the entity in every request when working outside the default one. Each MCP request targets one entity and the choice doesn't persist", "Set the AI client to require approval for Pleo write tools. Pleo leaves confirmation to the client and doesn't enforce it server-side", "Send API keys as the Basic auth username with an empty password to external.pleo.io. Legacy tokens for openapi.pleo.io don't work there", "Budget every endpoint against one bucket of 600 requests a minute per credential, and on 429 wait for Retry-After or back off from one second", "Swap mcp.staging.pleo.io for mcp.pleo.io in the Claude Code command when moving from staging to production. Each needs its own OAuth sign-in" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 62.9 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 55, "maintenance": 64, "payments": 15, "reliability": 71, "schema": 82, "security": 71, "transparency": 63 }, "provenanceScore": 87 }, "connect": { "http": "curl --request GET \\\n-u \"YOUR-API-KEY:\" \\\n-H \"Accept: application/json;charset=UTF-8\" \\\n\"https://external.staging.pleo.io/v2/employees\"", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http pleo-mcp-staging https://mcp.staging.pleo.io/mcp", "config": { "mcpServers": { "pleo": { "url": "https://mcp.pleo.io/mcp" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/spend.transactions", "tool": "https://letme.dev/pleo" }, "area": "domain-data", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Pleo Technologies A/S", "domain": "pleo.io", "domainRegistered": "2015-10-07", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://developers.pleo.io/page/terms-of-service", "privacy": "https://www.pleo.io/legal-documents/pleo-privacy-policy-en.pdf", "statusPage": "https://status.pleo.io", "changelog": "https://developers.pleo.io/changelog", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The website footer names Pleo Technologies A/S (36538686), Ravnsborg Tværgade 5C, 2200 København N, Denmark. UK payment services come from Pleo Financial Services UK Ltd, FCA firm reference 1020730, company number 15842283.", "The API Terms of Service on the developer portal name Pleo Technologies A/S, carry no date, and describe the API as a beta version. The UK Master Service Agreement has an effective date of 7 September 2026 and is governed by the laws of England and Wales.", "The API answers at external.pleo.io and the MCP server at mcp.pleo.io, both pleo.io subdomains. The MCP host publishes its OAuth metadata at https://mcp.pleo.io/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server", "www.pleo.io/.well-known/security.txt and pleo.io/.well-known/security.txt both return 403 with an AccessDenied body. The vulnerability disclosure policy gives security-vd@pleo.io as the reporting address.", "The privacy notice is dated June 2026 and the Data Processing Agreement 14 October 2025. An AI Access Terms document covers the MCP server.", "RDAP from the .io registry gives a registration date of 2015-10-07 for pleo.io." ], "score": 87 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pleo.json", "live": { "slug": "pleo", "probe": { "target": "https://external.pleo.io", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:18.801661057Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 403, "lastMs": 75, "lastNote": "asks for credentials", "authRequired": true, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 88, "p95ms24h": 163, "samples24h": 64, "samples30d": 64, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 64, "ok": 64 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.pleo.io", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T21:06:22.5618046Z" }, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://pleo.io/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "unknown", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:38:57.657849973Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://developers.pleo.io/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:17:58.324737763Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "7369dd13eb7c" }, { "url": "https://developers.pleo.io/page/terms-of-service", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:18:00.641635735Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "5da670693385" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:18.801661057Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Mercury Technologies, Inc.", "b": "Pleo Technologies A/S", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.mercury.com/api/v1", "b": "https://external.pleo.io", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP, Streamable HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "b": "Paid", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under Mercury's Terms of Use. The Mercury CLI on GitHub is Apache-2.0", "b": "Proprietary service under Pleo's Master Service Agreement, API Terms of Service and AI Access Terms", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "35", "b": "none", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-08-12", "b": "2026-10-02", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "no date given", "b": "no date given", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no date given", "b": "", "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": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Mercury API and Pleo API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 63.8 (B) and 62.9 (B). Pleo API + MCP leads on reliability, schema \u0026 documentation and transparency \u0026 trust.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Mercury API or Pleo API + MCP?" }, { "answer": "Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.", "question": "Do Mercury API and Pleo API + MCP need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Mercury API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.mercury.com/api/v1 and Pleo API + MCP at https://external.pleo.io.", "question": "Can an agent call Mercury API and Pleo API + MCP without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Agent ergonomics, 68 against 55", "Security \u0026 auth, 82 against 71", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 30 against 15" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "A company that banks with Mercury and wants an agent to read balances and transactions, set notes and categories, upload receipts, issue virtual cards with spend limits and queue payments for human approval.", "slug": "mercury", "watchFor": "No rate limits with numbers and no 429 handling were found in the reviewed documentation" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 71 against 59", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 82 against 72", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 75 against 63" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "An agent that completes, codes, reviews and queues expenses for a Pleo customer on the Optimise plan, or for a bookkeeping integration that exports accounting entries and syncs tags, tax codes, accounts and vendors.", "slug": "pleo", "watchFor": "The pricing page lists MCP on the Optimise plan only (£18 per user per month, three users minimum, sold through a demo)" } ], "job": { "capability": "spend.transactions", "name": "Spend transactions" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airwallex-vs-mercury.json", "title": "Airwallex Spend and Issuing vs Mercury API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airwallex-vs-mercury" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airwallex-vs-pleo.json", "title": "Airwallex Spend and Issuing vs Pleo API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airwallex-vs-pleo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bill-vs-mercury.json", "title": "BILL vs Mercury API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bill-vs-mercury" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bill-vs-pleo.json", "title": "BILL vs Pleo API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bill-vs-pleo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brex-vs-mercury.json", "title": "Brex vs Mercury API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brex-vs-mercury" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brex-vs-pleo.json", "title": "Brex vs Pleo API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brex-vs-pleo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expensify-vs-mercury.json", "title": "Expensify vs Mercury API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expensify-vs-mercury" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expensify-vs-pleo.json", "title": "Expensify vs Pleo API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expensify-vs-pleo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mercury-vs-ramp.json", "title": "Mercury API vs Ramp", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mercury-vs-ramp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mercury-vs-spendesk.json", "title": "Mercury API vs Spendesk API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mercury-vs-spendesk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pleo-vs-ramp.json", "title": "Pleo API + MCP vs Ramp", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pleo-vs-ramp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pleo-vs-spendesk.json", "title": "Pleo API + MCP vs Spendesk API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pleo-vs-spendesk" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 12, "edge": "pleo", "key": "reliability", "mercury": 59, "name": "Reliability", "pleo": 71, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 10, "edge": "pleo", "key": "schema", "mercury": 72, "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "pleo": 82, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 13, "edge": "mercury", "key": "ergonomics", "mercury": 68, "name": "Agent ergonomics", "pleo": 55, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 11, "edge": "mercury", "key": "security", "mercury": 82, "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "pleo": 71, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 15, "edge": "mercury", "key": "payments", "mercury": 30, "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "pleo": 15, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 0, "edge": "", "key": "maintenance", "mercury": 64, "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "pleo": 64, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 12, "edge": "pleo", "key": "transparency", "mercury": 63, "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "pleo": 75, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Mercury API and Pleo API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 63.8 (B) and 62.9 (B). Pleo API + MCP leads on reliability, schema \u0026 documentation and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do spend transactions.", "verdicts": { "mercury": "Custom tokens take per-endpoint scopes, write tokens need an IP allowlist, and payments can be queued for approval in the dashboard through `POST /account/{accountId}/request-send-money`. No rate limits, error catalogue or SLA were found in the reviewed documentation, the changelog carries no dates, and the MCP server is beta.", "pleo": "The hosted MCP server acts with the connecting user's own Pleo permissions, is off until an admin enables it per entity, and can't move money, change cards or alter limits. It is listed only on the Optimise plan, its tool definitions aren't published, API keys need enabling by Pleo support, and no official SDK or SLA was found." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mercury-vs-pleo", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mercury-vs-pleo.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mercury-vs-pleo.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mercury-vs-pleo.min.md" }, "markdown": "Mercury API and Pleo API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 63.8 (B) and 62.9 (B). Pleo API + MCP leads on reliability, schema \u0026 documentation and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do spend transactions.\n\n- Mercury API: grade B, 63.8/100, rank #293 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mercury.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mercury.json\n- Pleo API + MCP: grade B, 62.9/100, rank #325 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pleo.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pleo.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Mercury API (B)\n\nGood for: A company that banks with Mercury and wants an agent to read balances and transactions, set notes and categories, upload receipts, issue virtual cards with spend limits and queue payments for human approval.\n\nAhead on:\n- Agent ergonomics, 68 against 55\n- Security \u0026 auth, 82 against 71\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 30 against 15\n\nWatch for: No rate limits with numbers and no 429 handling were found in the reviewed documentation\n\n### Pleo API + MCP (B)\n\nGood for: An agent that completes, codes, reviews and queues expenses for a Pleo customer on the Optimise plan, or for a bookkeeping integration that exports accounting entries and syncs tags, tax codes, accounts and vendors.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 71 against 59\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 82 against 72\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 75 against 63\n\nWatch for: The pricing page lists MCP on the Optimise plan only (£18 per user per month, three users minimum, sold through a demo)\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Mercury API | Pleo API + MCP | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 59 | 71 | Pleo API + MCP +12 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 82 | Pleo API + MCP +10 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 68 | 55 | Mercury API +13 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 82 | 71 | Mercury API +11 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 15 | Mercury API +15 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 64 | even |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 63 | 75 | Pleo API + MCP +12 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **63.8 · B** | **62.9 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Mercury API | Pleo API + MCP |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Mercury Technologies, Inc. | Pleo Technologies A/S |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.mercury.com/api/v1` | `https://external.pleo.io` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under Mercury's Terms of Use. The Mercury CLI on GitHub is Apache-2.0 | Proprietary service under Pleo's Master Service Agreement, API Terms of Service and AI Access Terms |\n| Tools exposed | 35 | none |\n| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-08-12 | 2026-10-02 |\n| Terms last updated | no date given | no date given |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Mercury API.** Custom tokens take per-endpoint scopes, write tokens need an IP allowlist, and payments can be queued for approval in the dashboard through `POST /account/{accountId}/request-send-money`. No rate limits, error catalogue or SLA were found in the reviewed documentation, the changelog carries no dates, and the MCP server is beta.\n\n**Pleo API + MCP.** The hosted MCP server acts with the connecting user's own Pleo permissions, is off until an admin enables it per entity, and can't move money, change cards or alter limits. It is listed only on the Optimise plan, its tool definitions aren't published, API keys need enabling by Pleo support, and no official SDK or SLA was found.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Mercury API\n\n1. Ask for a Custom token with only the scopes the task needs. Scopes can't be edited later, and a token unused for 45 days is deleted.\n2. Without a fixed IP address, send payments through `POST /account/{accountId}/request-send-money`. Direct sends through `POST /account/{accountId}/transactions` need an allowlisted IP.\n3. Send a stored `idempotencyKey` with every payment. The same recipient, account, amount and method within 24 hours returns 400 even with a new key.\n4. Set `limit` on list calls. `GET /transactions` returns up to 1,000 rows by default.\n5. Test against `https://api-sandbox.mercury.com/api/v1/` with a sandbox token. Webhooks aren't available in the sandbox.\n\n### Pleo API + MCP\n\n1. Ask a company admin to enable Pleo MCP access under Settings, General, Pleo AI for each entity before connecting. It is off by default\n2. Name the entity in every request when working outside the default one. Each MCP request targets one entity and the choice doesn't persist\n3. Set the AI client to require approval for Pleo write tools. Pleo leaves confirmation to the client and doesn't enforce it server-side\n4. Send API keys as the Basic auth username with an empty password to external.pleo.io. Legacy tokens for openapi.pleo.io don't work there\n5. Budget every endpoint against one bucket of 600 requests a minute per credential, and on 429 wait for Retry-After or back off from one second\n6. Swap mcp.staging.pleo.io for mcp.pleo.io in the Claude Code command when moving from staging to production. Each needs its own OAuth sign-in\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Mercury API or Pleo API + MCP?\n\nMercury API and Pleo API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 63.8 (B) and 62.9 (B). Pleo API + MCP leads on reliability, schema \u0026 documentation and transparency \u0026 trust.\n\n### Do Mercury API and Pleo API + MCP need an API key?\n\nBoth take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.\n\n### Can an agent call Mercury API and Pleo API + MCP without installing anything?\n\nYes. Mercury API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.mercury.com/api/v1 and Pleo API + MCP at https://external.pleo.io.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mercury-vs-pleo.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mercury-vs-pleo.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"mercury\", \"b\": \"pleo\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare mercury pleo`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mercury.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pleo.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Mercury API or Pleo API + MCP\n\n- [Airwallex Spend and Issuing vs Mercury API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airwallex-vs-mercury.md)\n- [Airwallex Spend and Issuing vs Pleo API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airwallex-vs-pleo.md)\n- [BILL vs Mercury API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bill-vs-mercury.md)\n- [BILL vs Pleo API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bill-vs-pleo.md)\n- [Brex vs Mercury API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brex-vs-mercury.md)\n- [Brex vs Pleo API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brex-vs-pleo.md)\n- [Expensify vs Mercury API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expensify-vs-mercury.md)\n- [Expensify vs Pleo API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expensify-vs-pleo.md)\n- [Mercury API vs Ramp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mercury-vs-ramp.md)\n- [Mercury API vs Spendesk API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mercury-vs-spendesk.md)\n- [Pleo API + MCP vs Ramp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pleo-vs-ramp.md)\n- [Pleo API + MCP vs Spendesk API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pleo-vs-spendesk.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-08", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Mercury API vs Pleo API + MCP", "url": "" } ], "description": "Mercury API and Pleo API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 63.8 (B) and 62.9 (B). Pleo API + MCP leads on reliability, schema \u0026 documentation and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do spend transactions. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by…", "facts": [ "Mercury API B 63.8", "Pleo API + MCP B 62.9", "scores" ], "h1": "Mercury API vs Pleo API + MCP", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-mercury-vs-pleo.png", "path": "/compare/mercury-vs-pleo", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Mercury API vs Pleo API + MCP for AI agents, B 63.8 vs B 62.9", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-08", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mercury-vs-pleo" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2200, "slim": 730 }, "version": 1 }