{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "meta-marketing-api", "name": "Meta Marketing API", "vendor": "Meta Platforms, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://developers.facebook.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "advertising", "summary": "Meta's Marketing API creates and manages campaigns, ad sets, ads, creatives and audiences across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, and reports performance through Ads Insights. It is a versioned Graph API with OAuth access tokens.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/meta-marketing-api", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/meta-marketing-api.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/meta-marketing-api.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/meta-marketing-api.json", "repo": "https://github.com/facebook/facebook-python-business-sdk", "license": "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", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://graph.facebook.com", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "facebook-business" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "facebook-nodejs-business-sdk" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "meta-ads" } ], "auth": "oauth", "authNotes": "Every call needs an access token from a Meta developer app with the Marketing API product added. Access is self-serve at the Limited tier. A user token comes from the Facebook Login OAuth dialogue with the `ads_read` or `ads_management` scope, and a system user token, created in Meta Business Suite, doesn't expire. Managing ad accounts owned by other businesses needs advanced access to those permissions through App Review, and business verification may be required. Full access (higher rate limits and the Business Manager API) is granted from the App Dashboard after 500 successful calls in 15 days with an error rate under 15 per cent.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "No charge for API calls was found in the Platform Terms or the Marketing API documentation. Access tiers differ by rate limit, and ad spend is billed to the ad account. An agent can start without a contract. Limited access is automatic when the Marketing API product is added to an app, and a sandbox ad account takes read and write calls with no funding source (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "Free", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the Marketing API documentation, the llms.txt indexes or the Platform Terms (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 1604, "npmWeekly": 500852, "pypiWeekly": 1089043, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://developers.facebook.com/docs/marketing-apis/", "llmsTxt": "https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/ads-commerce/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "ads.reporting", "ads.campaigns", "ads.budgets", "ads.audiences", "ads.creatives" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "free", "oauth", "app-review", "sandbox", "mcp", "cli", "llms-txt", "python", "typescript", "php", "ruby", "java", "status-page", "bug-bounty" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-21", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 67.7, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 243, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 2, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 77, "maintenance": 74, "payments": 30, "reliability": 80, "schema": 76, "security": 61, "transparency": 68 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Reporting, campaign, budget, audience and creative endpoints sit behind `ads_read` and `ads_management` scopes, with a `validate_only` option and sandbox ad accounts for checking a change before it spends. New apps are held to a score of 60 per ad account, with a 300-second block at the limit, and the documented requests pass the access token as a parameter.", "bestFor": "The direct route to Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads advertising for reporting, campaign and budget changes, audiences and creatives.", "strengths": [ "`execution_options=validate_only` runs the validation rules on a campaign write without performing it, and sandbox ad accounts accept writes with no funding source", "`ads_read` is a read-only scope, and system users hold only the ad accounts, Pages and catalogues assigned to them", "llms.txt indexes and a Markdown copy of every guide and reference page, with a section of rules for AI agents", "Rate limits are published with numbers per tier, with usage headers that estimate the time until access returns", "Breaking changes ship only in numbered versions with at least 90 days' notice, and v26.0 followed on 29 July 2026" ], "weaknesses": [ "Default Limited access allows a score of 60 per ad account (read 1, write 3) and blocks for 300 seconds at the limit", "The documented request style passes `access_token` as a request parameter, and system user tokens don't expire", "No idempotency key was found in the reviewed documentation, so a retried create can make a second campaign", "npm's `facebook-nodejs-business-sdk` is still 24.0.1 from 21 November 2025, while GitHub is at v26.0.2 and v24.0 expired on 6 October 2026", "The Marketing API changelog and versioning pages still name v25.0 as current, ten weeks after v26.0" ], "agentNotes": [ "Put a version in every path, such as /v26.0/act_\u003cAD_ACCOUNT_ID\u003e/campaigns. Unversioned Marketing API calls fail", "Create campaigns, ad sets and ads with `status=PAUSED`, and send `execution_options=[\"validate_only\"]` first to test a write without making it", "Ask for `ads_read` alone when the task is reporting. `ads_management` can change budgets and activate spend", "Read `X-Business-Use-Case-Usage` and `X-Ad-Account-Usage` after each call and wait for `estimated_time_to_regain_access` on errors 17, 613 and 80004", "Change an ad set budget at most four times an hour and an account spending limit at most ten times a day" ], "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": 67.7 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 77, "maintenance": 74, "payments": 30, "reliability": 80, "schema": 76, "security": 61, "transparency": 41 }, "provenanceScore": 94 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install facebook_business", "http": "curl -G \\\n -d \"access_token=\u003cACCESS_TOKEN\u003e\" \\\n \"https://graph.facebook.com/v25.0/me/adaccounts\"", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http --client-id \u003cMETA_APP_ID\u003e meta-ads https://mcp.facebook.com/ads" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/ads.reporting", "tool": "https://letme.dev/meta-marketing-api" }, "sameCompany": [ "whatsapp-cloud-api" ], "area": "communication", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Meta Platforms, Inc.", "domain": "facebook.com", "domainRegistered": "1997-03-29", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://developers.facebook.com/terms", "privacy": "https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy/", "statusPage": "https://metastatus.com", "changelog": "https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/ads-commerce/marketing-api/marketing-api-changelog", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The Meta Platform Terms (last updated 3 February 2026) name Meta Platforms, Inc. for UK data transfers and Meta Platforms Ireland Limited as controller of EEA data.", "The API answers at graph.facebook.com and the Ads MCP server at mcp.facebook.com, both facebook.com subdomains.", "www.facebook.com/.well-known/security.txt names a contact, the bug bounty policy at bugbounty.meta.com and a vulnerability disclosure policy, and expires on 7 November 2026. developers.facebook.com has no security.txt of its own.", "RDAP for facebook.com gives a registration date of 1997-03-29.", "The privacy policy and the data processing terms on facebook.com render only with JavaScript, so their text wasn't read.", "The Marketing API changelog page still shows v25.0 as the latest version. The Graph API changelog and the v26.0 changelog page show v26.0 from 29 July 2026." ], "score": 94 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/meta-marketing-api.json", "live": { "slug": "meta-marketing-api", "probe": { "target": "https://graph.facebook.com", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-10T03:53:34.365815389Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 400, "lastMs": 127, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 127, "p95ms24h": 180, "samples24h": 249, "samples30d": 383, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 93, "ok": 93 }, { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 40, "ok": 40 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://metastatus.com", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-10T00:50:48.085600167Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "facebook/facebook-python-business-sdk", "version": "26.0.2", "released": "2026-09-21", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:05:06.367506366Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "facebook-nodejs-business-sdk", "version": "24.0.1", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:05:04.481232157Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "facebook-business", "version": "26.0.2", "released": "2026-09-21", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:05:04.289808496Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "meta-ads", "version": "1.2.0", "released": "2026-09-29", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:05:05.318261432Z" } ], "githubStars": 1605, "npmWeekly": 405163, "pypiWeekly": 1084992, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://facebook.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2026-11-08T07:40:25-08:00", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T15:40:24.746158975Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/ads-commerce/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T14:02:17.714523845Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/ads-commerce/marketing-api/marketing-api-changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:35:40.938555035Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "f3469d786112" }, { "url": "https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy/", "kind": "privacy", "status": 0, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:50:02.423108259Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "blockedByRobots": true }, { "url": "https://developers.facebook.com/terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:35:45.248331142Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "b317e3abcc1f" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-10T03:53:34.365815389Z" } }, "answer": "Meta Marketing API scores 67.7 (B) on agent readiness against X Ads API's 57.3 (C), and leads in every scored category.", "b": { "slug": "x-ads", "name": "X Ads API", "vendor": "X Corp.", "vendorUrl": "https://docs.x.com/x-ads-api/introduction", "kind": "http-api", "category": "advertising", "summary": "X's Ads API creates and manages campaigns, line items, targeting, creatives and audiences on X and returns performance analytics. Agents call versioned REST endpoints at ads-api.x.com with OAuth 1.0a, or use the X Ads MCP server with OAuth 2.0.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/x-ads", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/x-ads.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/x-ads.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/x-ads.json", "license": "Proprietary service under the X Developer Agreement and its incorporated Developer Policy", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://ads-api.x.com/mcp", "packages": [], "auth": "oauth", "authNotes": "Access needs approval. A person creates an app in the X Developer Console and requests Ads API access with the Ads API Access Form, which the docs say is reviewed within three business days, at the Conversion Only or Standard Access tier. The MCP page instead says selecting Ads Project under Project Access enables Ads API access for the app. REST calls are signed with OAuth 1.0a using the app key and a user access token from the three-legged or PIN flow. The docs say these tokens do not expire and the user can revoke them. The X Ads MCP server uses OAuth 2.0 with PKCE and the scopes `ads.read`, `ads.write`, `media.write` and `offline.access`. Calls act with the user's ad account role.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "No fee for Ads API access was found in the pages read, and the X API pricing page does not mention the Ads API. Ad spend is billed to the ad account's funding instrument, and advertising prices were not read. The sandbox host creates test accounts and funding instruments and never serves ads, so an approved app can start without spend. Whether a developer account needs a payment card was not established (checked 2026-10-09).", "priceSummary": "Free", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the Ads API documentation, the X API pricing page or the Developer Agreement (checked 2026-10-09).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-09" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.x.com/x-ads-api/introduction", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.x.com/x-ads-api/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "ads.reporting", "ads.campaigns", "ads.budgets", "ads.audiences", "ads.creatives" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "free", "oauth", "mcp", "llms-txt", "sandbox", "approval-required", "closed-source" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-17", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 57.3, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 616, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 6, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 62, "maintenance": 63, "payments": 20, "reliability": 75, "schema": 64, "security": 48, "transparency": 62 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-09" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Rate limits are published per endpoint type, a sandbox host never serves ads, and the X Ads MCP server has separate read and write scopes and creates campaigns paused. The REST API needs OAuth 1.0a signing and an approved app, no OpenAPI file covers it, and the official Python and Ruby SDKs were last released in May 2022.", "bestFor": "An agent that manages or reports on X campaigns for an advertiser with an approved developer app, especially through the MCP server, where scopes separate reads from writes and writes start paused.", "strengths": [ "Rate limits are published by endpoint type, such as 450 writes a minute and 250 synchronous analytics requests per 15 minutes, with remaining quota in `x-rate-limit-*` headers", "The sandbox host `ads-api-sandbox.x.com` creates test ad accounts and funding instruments, and campaigns made there are not served", "The X Ads MCP server at `https://ads-api.x.com/mcp` lists 74 tools, with `ads.read`, `ads.write` and `media.write` as separate OAuth 2.0 scopes", "The MCP docs say campaigns and line items are always created paused, and spending starts only after `activate_campaign` or `activate_line_item`", "Every docs page has a Markdown twin, and https://docs.x.com/x-ads-api/llms.txt indexes the Ads API pages" ], "weaknesses": [ "No OpenAPI file covers the Ads API. The published file (version 2.170, 178 paths) describes api.x.com only", "REST calls need an OAuth 1.0a signature on each request, and the docs say user access tokens do not expire", "The official Python and Ruby SDKs were last released on 27 May 2022 at v11.0.0, while the current API version is 12", "No idempotency key, audit log endpoint or SLA was found in the reviewed documentation", "The Developer Agreement treats statistics on the X API's performance and responsiveness as Confidential Information for internal, non-commercial use, which matters before any probe is run", "The `video_total_views` metric was redefined in place on 13 August 2026 with no version change" ], "agentNotes": [ "Build against `https://ads-api-sandbox.x.com/12/` first. Create a test account with `POST accounts` and a funding instrument there before touching a live account", "On HTTP 429 wait until the time in `x-rate-limit-reset`. On 503 wait for `retry-after`. The docs say apps that ignore these can be throttled or lose access without notice", "Read the account-level limit from `x-account-rate-limit-*` when present and use `x-rate-limit-*` only when it is absent", "For a read-only MCP session request `ads.read offline.access` only. Without `offline.access` the token expires in about two hours with no refresh", "Page with `count` (1 to 1,000, default 200) and `cursor` until `next_cursor` is null. Analytics endpoints page by time range instead, and `with_total_count` cannot be combined with `cursor`" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 57.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 62, "maintenance": 63, "payments": 20, "reliability": 75, "schema": 64, "security": 48, "transparency": 40 }, "provenanceScore": 84 }, "connect": { "http": "twurl -H ads-api.x.com \"/11/accounts\"", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add x-ads https://ads-api.x.com/mcp \\\n --transport http \\\n --client-id YOUR_OAUTH2_CLIENT_ID \\\n --callback-port 8080" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/ads.reporting", "tool": "https://letme.dev/x-ads" }, "sameCompany": [ "x-mcp" ], "area": "communication", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "X Corp.", "domain": "x.com", "domainRegistered": "1993-04-02", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://docs.x.com/developer-terms/agreement", "privacy": "https://x.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://developer.x.com/status", "changelog": "https://docs.x.com/changelog", "securityTxt": "unknown", "checked": "2026-10-09", "notes": [ "The Developer Agreement (last updated 27 April 2026) governs use of the X API and incorporates the Developer Policy and the API Restricted Use Rules. The contracting entity is X Corp. (Bastrop, Texas), or X Internet Unlimited Company (Dublin) for a developer in the EU, EFTA or the United Kingdom.", "The privacy link is the one the Developer Policy cites. x.com's robots.txt disallows every path for unnamed agents, so the policy was not read.", "No advertiser agreement or data processing agreement was found in the pages read. business.x.com was not read.", "API calls go to https://ads-api.x.com and https://ads-api-sandbox.x.com, and OAuth 2.0 tokens come from api.x.com. The documentation is at docs.x.com.", "x.com/.well-known/security.txt is closed to us by robots.txt. developer.x.com and docs.x.com return 404 for the file.", "The status page at developer.x.com/status is script-drawn and its components were not read. The incident history is at https://docs.x.com/incidents.", "RDAP gives a registration date of 1993-04-02 for x.com." ], "score": 84 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/x-ads.json", "live": { "slug": "x-ads", "probe": { "target": "https://ads-api.x.com/mcp", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-10T03:53:50.096534036Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 401, "lastMs": 128, "lastNote": "asks for credentials", "authRequired": true, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 134, "p95ms24h": 286, "samples24h": 125, "samples30d": 125, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 85, "ok": 85 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 40, "ok": 40 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://developer.x.com/status", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-10T00:51:26.152185931Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://docs.x.com/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:38:47.238452338Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "d1064f68558e" }, { "url": "https://x.com/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 0, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:56:08.988834251Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "blockedByRobots": true }, { "url": "https://docs.x.com/developer-terms/agreement", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:38:49.524865418Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "69ecb268f31a" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-10T03:53:50.096534036Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Meta Platforms, Inc.", "b": "X Corp.", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://graph.facebook.com", "b": "https://ads-api.x.com/mcp", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth", "b": "OAuth", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "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", "b": "Proprietary service under the X Developer Agreement and its incorporated Developer Policy", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-09-21", "b": "2026-09-17", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2026-02-03", "b": "2026-04-27", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "yes", "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": "not found in the text", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "1.6k stars, 501k npm/wk, 1.1M PyPI/wk", "b": "none", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Meta Marketing API scores 67.7 (B) on agent readiness against X Ads API's 57.3 (C), and leads in every scored category.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Meta Marketing API or X Ads API?" }, { "answer": "Both use an OAuth sign-in.", "question": "Do Meta Marketing API and X Ads API need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Meta Marketing API has a hosted endpoint at https://graph.facebook.com and X Ads API at https://ads-api.x.com/mcp.", "question": "Can an agent call Meta Marketing API and X Ads API without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 80 against 75", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 76 against 64", "Agent ergonomics, 77 against 62", "Security \u0026 auth, 61 against 48", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 30 against 20", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 74 against 63", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 68 against 62" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "The direct route to Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads advertising for reporting, campaign and budget changes, audiences and creatives.", "slug": "meta-marketing-api", "watchFor": "Default Limited access allows a score of 60 per ad account (read 1, write 3) and blocks for 300 seconds at the limit" }, { "aheadOn": null, "also": null, "goodFor": "An agent that manages or reports on X campaigns for an advertiser with an approved developer app, especially through the MCP server, where scopes separate reads from writes and writes start paused.", "slug": "x-ads", "watchFor": "No OpenAPI file covers the Ads API. The published file (version 2.170, 178 paths) describes api.x.com only" } ], "job": { "capability": "ads.reporting", "name": "Ad reporting" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-meta-marketing-api.json", "title": "Amazon Ads API vs Meta Marketing API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-meta-marketing-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-x-ads.json", "title": "Amazon Ads API vs X Ads API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-x-ads" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apple-ads-vs-meta-marketing-api.json", "title": "Apple Ads Platform API vs Meta Marketing API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apple-ads-vs-meta-marketing-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apple-ads-vs-x-ads.json", "title": "Apple Ads Platform API vs X Ads API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apple-ads-vs-x-ads" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-meta-marketing-api.json", "title": "Google Ads API vs Meta Marketing API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-meta-marketing-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-x-ads.json", "title": "Google Ads API vs X Ads API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-x-ads" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkedin-marketing-api-vs-meta-marketing-api.json", "title": "LinkedIn Marketing APIs vs Meta Marketing API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkedin-marketing-api-vs-meta-marketing-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkedin-marketing-api-vs-x-ads.json", "title": "LinkedIn Marketing APIs vs X Ads API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkedin-marketing-api-vs-x-ads" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-microsoft-advertising-api.json", "title": "Meta Marketing API vs Microsoft Advertising API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-microsoft-advertising-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-snapchat-ads.json", "title": "Meta Marketing API vs Snapchat Ads API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-snapchat-ads" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-advertising-api-vs-x-ads.json", "title": "Microsoft Advertising API vs X Ads API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-advertising-api-vs-x-ads" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/snapchat-ads-vs-x-ads.json", "title": "Snapchat Ads API vs X Ads API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/snapchat-ads-vs-x-ads" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 5, "edge": "meta-marketing-api", "key": "reliability", "meta-marketing-api": 80, "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16, "x-ads": 75 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 12, "edge": "meta-marketing-api", "key": "schema", "meta-marketing-api": 76, "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13, "x-ads": 64 }, { "by": 15, "edge": "meta-marketing-api", "key": "ergonomics", "meta-marketing-api": 77, "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13, "x-ads": 62 }, { "by": 13, "edge": "meta-marketing-api", "key": "security", "meta-marketing-api": 61, "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14, "x-ads": 48 }, { "by": 10, "edge": "meta-marketing-api", "key": "payments", "meta-marketing-api": 30, "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10, "x-ads": 20 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 11, "edge": "meta-marketing-api", "key": "maintenance", "meta-marketing-api": 74, "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7, "x-ads": 63 }, { "by": 6, "edge": "meta-marketing-api", "key": "transparency", "meta-marketing-api": 68, "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7, "x-ads": 62 } ], "summary": "Meta Marketing API scores 67.7 (B) on agent readiness against X Ads API's 57.3 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do ad reporting.", "verdicts": { "meta-marketing-api": "Reporting, campaign, budget, audience and creative endpoints sit behind `ads_read` and `ads_management` scopes, with a `validate_only` option and sandbox ad accounts for checking a change before it spends. New apps are held to a score of 60 per ad account, with a 300-second block at the limit, and the documented requests pass the access token as a parameter.", "x-ads": "Rate limits are published per endpoint type, a sandbox host never serves ads, and the X Ads MCP server has separate read and write scopes and creates campaigns paused. The REST API needs OAuth 1.0a signing and an approved app, no OpenAPI file covers it, and the official Python and Ruby SDKs were last released in May 2022." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-x-ads", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-x-ads.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-x-ads.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-x-ads.min.md" }, "markdown": "Meta Marketing API scores 67.7 (B) on agent readiness against X Ads API's 57.3 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do ad reporting.\n\n- Meta Marketing API: grade B, 67.7/100, rank #243 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/meta-marketing-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/meta-marketing-api.json\n- X Ads API: grade C, 57.3/100, rank #616 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/x-ads.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/x-ads.json\n- Best advertising platform APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/advertising/index.md\n- All 28 advertising comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/advertising/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Meta Marketing API (B)\n\nGood for: The direct route to Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads advertising for reporting, campaign and budget changes, audiences and creatives.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 80 against 75\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 76 against 64\n- Agent ergonomics, 77 against 62\n- Security \u0026 auth, 61 against 48\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 30 against 20\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 74 against 63\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 68 against 62\n\nWatch for: Default Limited access allows a score of 60 per ad account (read 1, write 3) and blocks for 300 seconds at the limit\n\n### X Ads API (C)\n\nGood for: An agent that manages or reports on X campaigns for an advertiser with an approved developer app, especially through the MCP server, where scopes separate reads from writes and writes start paused.\n\nWatch for: No OpenAPI file covers the Ads API. The published file (version 2.170, 178 paths) describes api.x.com only\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Meta Marketing API | X Ads API | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 75 | Meta Marketing API +5 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 76 | 64 | Meta Marketing API +12 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 62 | Meta Marketing API +15 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 61 | 48 | Meta Marketing API +13 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 20 | Meta Marketing API +10 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 63 | Meta Marketing API +11 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 68 | 62 | Meta Marketing API +6 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **67.7 · B** | **57.3 · C** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Meta Marketing API | X Ads API |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Meta Platforms, Inc. | X Corp. |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://graph.facebook.com` | `https://ads-api.x.com/mcp` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth | OAuth |\n| Pricing | Free | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| 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 service under the X Developer Agreement and its incorporated Developer Policy |\n| Read-only variant documented | yes | yes |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-09-21 | 2026-09-17 |\n| Terms last updated | 2026-02-03 | 2026-04-27 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |\n| Popularity | 1.6k stars, 501k npm/wk, 1.1M PyPI/wk | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Meta Marketing API.** Reporting, campaign, budget, audience and creative endpoints sit behind `ads_read` and `ads_management` scopes, with a `validate_only` option and sandbox ad accounts for checking a change before it spends. New apps are held to a score of 60 per ad account, with a 300-second block at the limit, and the documented requests pass the access token as a parameter.\n\n**X Ads API.** Rate limits are published per endpoint type, a sandbox host never serves ads, and the X Ads MCP server has separate read and write scopes and creates campaigns paused. The REST API needs OAuth 1.0a signing and an approved app, no OpenAPI file covers it, and the official Python and Ruby SDKs were last released in May 2022.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Meta Marketing API\n\n1. Put a version in every path, such as /v26.0/act_\u003cAD_ACCOUNT_ID\u003e/campaigns. Unversioned Marketing API calls fail\n2. Create campaigns, ad sets and ads with `status=PAUSED`, and send `execution_options=[\"validate_only\"]` first to test a write without making it\n3. Ask for `ads_read` alone when the task is reporting. `ads_management` can change budgets and activate spend\n4. Read `X-Business-Use-Case-Usage` and `X-Ad-Account-Usage` after each call and wait for `estimated_time_to_regain_access` on errors 17, 613 and 80004\n5. Change an ad set budget at most four times an hour and an account spending limit at most ten times a day\n\n### X Ads API\n\n1. Build against `https://ads-api-sandbox.x.com/12/` first. Create a test account with `POST accounts` and a funding instrument there before touching a live account\n2. On HTTP 429 wait until the time in `x-rate-limit-reset`. On 503 wait for `retry-after`. The docs say apps that ignore these can be throttled or lose access without notice\n3. Read the account-level limit from `x-account-rate-limit-*` when present and use `x-rate-limit-*` only when it is absent\n4. For a read-only MCP session request `ads.read offline.access` only. Without `offline.access` the token expires in about two hours with no refresh\n5. Page with `count` (1 to 1,000, default 200) and `cursor` until `next_cursor` is null. Analytics endpoints page by time range instead, and `with_total_count` cannot be combined with `cursor`\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Meta Marketing API or X Ads API?\n\nMeta Marketing API scores 67.7 (B) on agent readiness against X Ads API's 57.3 (C), and leads in every scored category.\n\n### Do Meta Marketing API and X Ads API need an API key?\n\nBoth use an OAuth sign-in.\n\n### Can an agent call Meta Marketing API and X Ads API without installing anything?\n\nYes. Meta Marketing API has a hosted endpoint at https://graph.facebook.com and X Ads API at https://ads-api.x.com/mcp.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-x-ads.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-x-ads.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"meta-marketing-api\", \"b\": \"x-ads\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare meta-marketing-api x-ads`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/meta-marketing-api.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/x-ads.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Meta Marketing API or X Ads API\n\n- [Amazon Ads API vs Meta Marketing API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-meta-marketing-api.md)\n- [Amazon Ads API vs X Ads API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-x-ads.md)\n- [Apple Ads Platform API vs Meta Marketing API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apple-ads-vs-meta-marketing-api.md)\n- [Apple Ads Platform API vs X Ads API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apple-ads-vs-x-ads.md)\n- [Google Ads API vs Meta Marketing API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-meta-marketing-api.md)\n- [Google Ads API vs X Ads API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-x-ads.md)\n- [LinkedIn Marketing APIs vs Meta Marketing API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkedin-marketing-api-vs-meta-marketing-api.md)\n- [LinkedIn Marketing APIs vs X Ads API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkedin-marketing-api-vs-x-ads.md)\n- [Meta Marketing API vs Microsoft Advertising API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-microsoft-advertising-api.md)\n- [Meta Marketing API vs Snapchat Ads API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-snapchat-ads.md)\n- [Microsoft Advertising API vs X Ads API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-advertising-api-vs-x-ads.md)\n- [Snapchat Ads API vs X Ads API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/snapchat-ads-vs-x-ads.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-10", "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": "Meta Marketing API vs X Ads API", "url": "" } ], "description": "Meta Marketing scores 67.7 (B) to X Ads's 57.3 (C) for ad reporting. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Meta Marketing API B 67.7", "X Ads API C 57.3", "scores" ], "h1": "Meta Marketing API vs X Ads API", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-meta-marketing-api-vs-x-ads.png", "path": "/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-x-ads", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Meta Marketing vs X Ads for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-marketing-api-vs-x-ads" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2350, "slim": 680 }, "version": 1 }