# Middesk vs Persona

> Persona scores 69.5 (B) on agent readiness against Middesk's 59 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do kyc business. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-persona
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-persona.md (~2,100 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-persona.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-persona.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

Persona scores 69.5 (B) on agent readiness against Middesk's 59 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do kyc business.

- Middesk: grade C, 59/100, rank #440 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/middesk.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/middesk.json
- Persona: grade B, 69.5/100, rank #157 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/persona.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/persona.json

## Which one, for what

### Middesk (C)

Good for: An agent onboarding or re-checking US businesses for a bank, lender or marketplace that already holds a Middesk contract, with registry, TIN, sanctions and lien data in one object.

Watch for: No public price. Fees are set in an order form, and every docs page ends with a prompt to contact sales

### Persona (B)

Good for: A company that already runs Persona and wants an agent to create inquiries from templates, read verification and report results, screen against watchlists and work review cases with a permission-limited key.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 74 against 56
- Security & auth, 73 against 56
- Payments & pricing, 35 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 75 against 64
- Transparency & trust, 68 against 61

Watch for: Production access needs Persona's approval and a 12-month plan from $250 a month, and API-only integration is limited to Enterprise plans


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Middesk | Persona | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 73 | 70 | Middesk +3 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 85 | Persona +3 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 56 | 74 | Persona +18 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 56 | 73 | Persona +17 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 10 | 35 | Persona +25 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 75 | Persona +11 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 68 | Persona +7 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **59 · C** | **69.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Middesk | Persona |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Middesk, Inc. | Persona Identities, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.middesk.com/v1` | `https://mcp.withpersona.com` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Middesk's Business Verification Terms and Conditions. The Claude Code and Codex plugins on GitHub are MIT | Proprietary service under Persona's terms of service. The `persona` JavaScript client on npm is MIT |
| Tools exposed | 11 | 190 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-05 | 2026-09-29 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 2 stars | 570k npm/wk |

## Verdicts

**Middesk.** A public OpenAPI 3.1 contract for 87 operations, llms.txt, Markdown docs and a dated weekly changelog make the REST API readable to an agent, and OAuth has a read-only scope. Access is sales-led. No price, self-serve signup or official SDK was found, and the hosted MCP server rejects sandbox keys.

**Persona.** The REST API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 file, llms.txt, API keys with per-resource permissions, idempotency keys on every POST and a 60-day sandbox trial with no card. Production needs a business review and a 12-month plan from $250 a month. The status page lists 11 incidents since 10 July 2026, including 70 minutes of timeouts across all products.

## Before you call either

### Middesk

1. Match the key to the host. `mk_test` keys work only at https://api-sandbox.middesk.com/v1 and `mk_live` keys only at https://api.middesk.com/v1
2. Name the `orders` on `POST /v1/businesses`. Omitting them places a verification order plus every package the account runs automatically, all billed
3. Send `address_line1` and `address_line2`. The API ignores `address_line_1` without an error
4. A 201 means the business was created, not verified. Wait for the `business.updated` webhook or poll until `status` leaves `pending`
5. Stay under 20 requests a second per account, and in sandbox wait the seconds in `Retry-After` after a 429 on business creation

### Persona

1. Ask for a dedicated key limited to the permissions the task needs. A new key has every standard permission until it's limited
2. Send `Persona-Version` on every call and an `Idempotency-Key` on every POST. A replayed key returns the first result, including a 500
3. Treat redact calls as irreversible. They permanently delete personal data and cascade to downstream objects
4. Stay under 300 requests a minute in production, read `RateLimit-Remaining` and `Quota-Remaining`, and back off on 429 because rejected requests still count
5. Use `fields` and `include` to cut response size. Through MCP these parameters aren't exposed, and only 14 tools take `filter`

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Middesk or Persona?

Persona scores 69.5 (B) on agent readiness against Middesk's 59 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Do Middesk and Persona need an API key?

Middesk takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Persona needs an API key.

### Can an agent call Middesk and Persona without installing anything?

Yes. Middesk has a hosted endpoint at https://api.middesk.com/v1 and Persona at https://mcp.withpersona.com.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Middesk or Persona

- [ComplyCube vs Middesk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/complycube-vs-middesk.md)
- [ComplyCube vs Persona](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/complycube-vs-persona.md)
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- [Persona vs Veriff](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/persona-vs-veriff.md)
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- [Middesk vs Trulioo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-trulioo.md)