# Meta Marketing API vs Refersion MCP (slim)

> Meta Marketing scores 66.5 (B) to Refersion MCP's 52.4 (D) for ad reporting. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-refersion.md (~4,200 tokens) · this version ~2,380 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-refersion.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-refersion
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-02
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Meta Marketing API scores 66.5 (B) on agent readiness against Refersion MCP's 52.4 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do ad reporting.

- Meta Marketing API: B 66.5, rank #316 of 1266 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/meta-marketing-api.min.md
- Refersion MCP: D 52.4, rank #900 of 1266 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/refersion.min.md
- Meta Marketing API, good for The direct route to Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads advertising for reporting, campaign and budget changes, audiences and creatives. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 76 against 46; Agent ergonomics, 77 against 50; Payments & pricing, 30 against 12; Maintenance & community, 77 against 58.
- Refersion MCP, good for A brand or agency running an affiliate or influencer programme on Refersion who wants an assistant to review conversions, credit missing orders, approve applicants and compare affiliates across client accounts.

| Category | Meta Marketing API | Refersion MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 75 | 72 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 76 | 46 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 77 | 50 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 61 | 58 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 30 | 12 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 77 | 58 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 63 | 65 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Meta Marketing API | Refersion MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | MCP server |
| Vendor | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Refersion Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://graph.facebook.com` | `https://api.refersion.com/mcp` |
| Pricing | Free | Paid |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the Meta Platform Terms. The Business SDKs and the codegen specs on GitHub carry Meta's own platform licence, which allows use only with Meta's APIs | Proprietary hosted service under Refersion's Terms of Service (last updated 21 November 2024), which name Refersion Inc., a New Jersey corporation. No source code or package is published for the MCP server |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-09-21 | 2026-10-26 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-02-03 | 2024-11-21 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2024-11-21 |
| Popularity | 1.6k stars, 501k npm/wk, 1.1M PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 2.8/5 (4) | none |

Why the edge:
- Schema & documentation, Meta Marketing API +30: Meta Marketing API 76 (No OpenAPI document. Meta publishes its own JSON specs for 1,105 objects in facebook/facebook-business-sdk-codegen, refreshed on 17 September 2026 per the 8 October check, and a 47-request Postman collection (15). llms.txt indexes and a Markdown copy of each guide and reference page, with a section of rules for AI agents (10). Reference pages describe each field and guides cover when to use asynchronous reports, batches and sandbox mode, with little on when not to use an endpoint (13). Parameters carry types, enums, defaults and required marks, though targeting and creative specs travel as JSON strings in form fields (11). Request examples per endpoint in several languages and an error reference with codes and subcodes. On 8 October examples used v25.0 and one Insights example v2.7; the versioning page's example now uses v26.0 (12). Numbered versions, per-version changelogs and a dated out-of-cycle log (15).); Refersion MCP 46 (The MCP tool definitions can be read only after signing in, which this run didn't do. Refersion says each tool maps to an endpoint of API v2026-08, whose OpenAPI 3.1 file is public at refersion.dev with 36 paths and 44 operations. That counts in part, since it's the API's contract and not the tools' (12 of 25). No llms.txt on refersion.com or refersion.dev (both 404) and no Markdown docs for agents (0 of 10). The OpenAPI descriptions run 240 to 1,221 characters and state behaviour and preconditions (an affiliate with unpaid conversions can't be deleted, `topics` replaces rather than merges), with little on when not to call, and the MCP descriptions weren't read (8 of 20). 315 required markers, but only 5 enums, and statuses such as PENDING or APPROVED are listed in prose rather than as enums (6 of 15). 615 examples and documented 401, 402, 403, 404, 422 and 429 responses in the API file, none readable for the MCP tools (10 of 15). A dated API version with a no-breaking-change commitment and dated product posts on the blog. The changelog site wasn't read (its robots.txt disallows agents) and the MCP server has no version of its own (10 of 15). Total 46.)
- Agent ergonomics, Meta Marketing API +27: Meta Marketing API 77 (Responses can be sized with `fields`, `limit`, Insights `level` and summaries. The Ads MCP server is not what we graded, and its 91 documented tools would score lower here (20). Cursor paging, `filtering`, date presets, breakdowns, asynchronous report runs, batch requests and ETags (20). Errors carry `code`, `error_subcode`, `error_user_title`, `error_user_msg` and `fbtrace_id`, and the error reference maps codes to causes (17). No idempotency key was found in the reviewed documentation. `execution_options=validate_only` tests a write without performing it, and objects can be created paused (8). Business SDKs in five languages, but npm's Node.js package is two versions behind, every path needs a version, and campaign creation needs `special_ad_categories` as well as name, objective and status (12).); Refersion MCP 50 (Tool count and definition size couldn't be read. Refersion says each tool maps to an endpoint of an API with 44 operations, which points to more than 30 tools, so this takes the more-than-30 reading (5 of 25). The API has page and limit, a cursor on webhook endpoints, sorting and many range filters on affiliates and conversions; whether the tools pass all of them through wasn't seen (15 of 20). Documented 422 validation errors, 402 plan-limit messages such as 'Your plan does not include webhook access.', and a 429 body with `retryAfter` (14 of 20). Refersion says every tool is marked as reading, changing or deleting, so clients can confirm a delete, but the annotations weren't read and no idempotency keys exist (8 of 20). No API key or SDK is needed for the MCP server, and Refersion's examples are plain requests. Required inputs couldn't be read (8 of 15). Total 50.)
- Maintenance & community, Meta Marketing API +19: Meta Marketing API 77 (The 2026 out-of-cycle log has a dated API change on 22 October 2026 (`is_pca_unified` on campaign groups), and the Python and Node.js SDKs were tagged 26.0.2 on 20 September (30). Since 3 August, out-of-cycle entries on 13 August, 6 October, 19 October and 22 October, and SDK tags 26.0.0, 26.0.1 and 26.0.2 (20). Closed service with a dated changelog, a support page and a developer community group. The Marketing API changelog and versioning pages now name v26.0 as current and the out-of-cycle log runs to 22 October, while the two changelog pages give different end dates for v24.0, and the 8 October reading of the Python SDK issues (30 newest open issues spam with no replies) couldn't be re-read (10). Official SDKs in five languages, with Python and Node.js tagged 26.0.2 in their repositories, while npm's latest is still 24.0.1 from 21 November 2025 (10). CI and publish workflows in the SDK repositories, with generated code and a changelog that stops at v25.0.3 (7).); Refersion MCP 58 (Read for a closed service. The server was announced on 26 October 2026, seven days before this check (30). Dated product posts on the blog within the 90 days from 4 August, among them API v2026-08 on 31 August, Branded Links on 21 September and the MCP server on 26 October (20). A help centre updated on 2 October 2026, the support address helpme@refersion.com and chat on Growth. changelog.refersion.com exists but wasn't read, and response times weren't checked (8 of 15). Not in the official MCP registry (0 of 15). No package to judge (0 of 10). Total 58.)
- Payments & pricing, Meta Marketing API +18: Meta Marketing API 30 (No x402, MPP or L402 (0). No charge for API calls was found and no price list exists for the API. Tiers differ by rate limit and ad spend is billed to the ad account, so we scored the middle value (10). Limited access is automatic with no card, and a sandbox ad account needs no funding source (20). A person has to create a Meta account and a developer app in a browser, and App Review applies to managing other businesses' accounts (0).); Refersion MCP 12 (No machine payment protocol (0 of 40). Plan prices are public without a login, Launch $39 and Growth $199 a month plus 3 or 2 per cent of affiliate-driven sales, but nothing says which plan includes the MCP server, and Scale is through sales (10 of 20). The free Marketplace Listing only publishes an offer, no trial is published, and API access is ticked for Growth only (0 of 20). A merchant signs up in a browser and approves the assistant at consent. Clients can identify themselves by a client ID metadata document with no manual registration, which earns 2 (2 of 20). Total 12.)