# Middesk vs Stripe Identity

> Stripe Identity scores 77.7 (BB) to Middesk's 59 (C) for identity verification. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-stripe-identity
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-stripe-identity.md (~2,600 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-stripe-identity.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-stripe-identity.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: 2026-10-14

Stripe Identity scores 77.7 (BB) on agent readiness against Middesk's 59 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Middesk leads on reliability. Both do identity verification.

- Middesk: grade C, 59/100, rank #596 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/middesk.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/middesk.json
- Stripe Identity: grade BB, 77.7/100, rank #21 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stripe-identity.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/stripe-identity.json
- Best identity and business verification APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/identity-verification/index.md
- All 119 verification comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/identity-verification/index.md

## 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.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 73 against 62

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

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

### Stripe Identity (BB)

Good for: A business already on Stripe that needs document and selfie checks or US SSN validation with published prices.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 94 against 82
- Agent ergonomics, 93 against 56
- Security & auth, 86 against 56
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 85 against 64
- Transparency & trust, 85 against 61

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

Watch for: Document, selfie and US SSN checks only. No sanctions or watchlist screening and no business verification


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Middesk | Stripe Identity | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 73 | 62 | Middesk +11 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 94 | Stripe Identity +12 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 56 | 93 | Stripe Identity +37 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 56 | 86 | Stripe Identity +30 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 10 | 40 | Stripe Identity +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 85 | Stripe Identity +21 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 85 | Stripe Identity +24 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **59 · C** | **77.7 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Middesk | Stripe Identity |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Middesk, Inc. | Stripe, LLC |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.middesk.com/v1` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Paid | Pay per use |
| 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 the Stripe Services Agreement and Stripe Identity Terms. The OpenAPI spec and official SDKs are MIT |
| Tools exposed | 11 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-05 | 2026-10-01 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-09-28 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2026-04-28 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 2 stars | 24.2M npm/wk, 11.4M PyPI/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.

**Stripe Identity.** Stripe Identity runs on the Stripe API, with a public OpenAPI spec, idempotency keys, restricted keys for sensitive fields and a redact endpoint. The product page lists £1.25 per document and selfie check, and the first 50 are free. It has no watchlist or business screening, and outside GB, JP and the US it is in public beta.

## 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

### Stripe Identity

1. Send an Idempotency-Key based on your user reference when creating a VerificationSession, so a retry doesn't make a second session
2. Send the end user the session URL or client secret. The person completes the check, the agent can't. Links expire after 48 hours
3. Use a restricted key for `verified_outputs.dob` and `id_number`. Without an IP restriction it reads them only for 48 hours
4. Wait for `identity.verification_session.verified` or `requires_input` webhooks instead of polling
5. Treat `redact` as irreversible, and don't put personal data in metadata

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Middesk or Stripe Identity?

Stripe Identity scores 77.7 (BB) on agent readiness against Middesk's 59 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Middesk leads on reliability.

### Do Middesk and Stripe Identity need an API key?

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

### Can an agent call Middesk and Stripe Identity without installing anything?

Middesk has a hosted endpoint at https://api.middesk.com/v1. No hosted endpoint is listed for Stripe Identity.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Middesk or Stripe Identity

- [Alloy vs Middesk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/alloy-vs-middesk.md)
- [Alloy vs Stripe Identity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/alloy-vs-stripe-identity.md)
- [ComplyCube vs Middesk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/complycube-vs-middesk.md)
- [ComplyCube vs Stripe Identity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/complycube-vs-stripe-identity.md)
- [Didit vs Middesk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/didit-vs-middesk.md)
- [Didit vs Stripe Identity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/didit-vs-stripe-identity.md)
- [Entrust Identity Verification (formerly Onfido) vs Middesk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/entrust-identity-verification-vs-middesk.md)
- [Entrust Identity Verification (formerly Onfido) vs Stripe Identity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/entrust-identity-verification-vs-stripe-identity.md)
- [Jumio vs Middesk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jumio-vs-middesk.md)
- [Jumio vs Stripe Identity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jumio-vs-stripe-identity.md)
- [Middesk vs Plaid Identity Verification](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-plaid-identity-verification.md)
- [Middesk vs Veriff](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-veriff.md)
- [Middesk vs Vouched](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-vouched.md)
- [Persona vs Stripe Identity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/persona-vs-stripe-identity.md)
- [Plaid Identity Verification vs Stripe Identity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/plaid-identity-verification-vs-stripe-identity.md)
- [Shufti vs Stripe Identity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shufti-vs-stripe-identity.md)
- [Socure RiskOS vs Stripe Identity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/socure-riskos-vs-stripe-identity.md)
- [Stripe Identity vs Sumsub](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/stripe-identity-vs-sumsub.md)
- [Stripe Identity vs Trulioo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/stripe-identity-vs-trulioo.md)
- [Stripe Identity vs Veriff](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/stripe-identity-vs-veriff.md)
- [Stripe Identity vs Vouched](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/stripe-identity-vs-vouched.md)
- [ComplyAdvantage vs Middesk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/complyadvantage-vs-middesk.md)
- [Middesk vs Persona](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-persona.md)
- [Middesk vs Shufti](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-shufti.md)
- [Middesk vs Socure RiskOS](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-socure-riskos.md)
- [Middesk vs Sumsub](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-sumsub.md)
- [Middesk vs Trulioo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/middesk-vs-trulioo.md)