# Nevermined API + MCP vs Skyfire API + MCP

> Nevermined API + MCP has a score of 71.1 (BB) against Skyfire API + MCP's 40.6 (E). Both do payments stablecoin. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 58 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- 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: 2026-10-05

Nevermined API + MCP has a score of 71.1 (BB) against Skyfire API + MCP's 40.6 (E). Both do payments stablecoin. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 58 points.

- Nevermined API + MCP: grade BB, 71.1/100, rank #89 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nevermined.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nevermined.json
- Skyfire API + MCP: grade E, 40.6/100, rank #422 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/skyfire.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/skyfire.json

## Which one, for what

Pick Nevermined API + MCP for reliability (+53), schema & documentation (+21), agent ergonomics (+13), security & auth (+22), payments & pricing (+45), maintenance & community (+58).

Pick Skyfire API + MCP for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Nevermined API + MCP | Skyfire API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 72 | 19 | Nevermined API + MCP +53 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 59 | Nevermined API + MCP +21 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 61 | Nevermined API + MCP +13 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 63 | 41 | Nevermined API + MCP +22 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 65 | 20 | Nevermined API + MCP +45 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 89 | 31 | Nevermined API + MCP +58 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 54 | 56 | Skyfire API + MCP +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **71.1 · BB** | **40.6 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Nevermined API + MCP | Skyfire API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Nevermined | Skyfire |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.live.nevermined.app` | `https://api.skyfire.xyz` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | payer tooling only | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | none |
| Tools exposed | 12 | 4 |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.nevermined-io/catalog` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-29 | 2026-08-04 |
| Popularity | 17 stars, 468 npm/wk, 4.4k PyPI/wk | 16 npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | 2/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Nevermined API + MCP.** Fees published without a login, 1% on stablecoins, 2% on cards and 2% for the Router. The x402 paywall settles Nevermined plan tokens, so generic x402 clients need its SDK or API to pay.

**Skyfire API + MCP.** Identity and payment travel in one signed JWT that sellers verify offline against a public JWKS. No x402 or MPP; both buyer and seller must be on Skyfire.

## Before you call either

### Nevermined API + MCP

1. Call `quote_service` before `pay_service`; quotes cost nothing
2. Ask the person to open the `setup_delegation` URL once; you can't mint the first key or budget yourself
3. Branch on the error `code` and retry only when `retryable` is true
4. Create a small, short delegation per task; cards stop at $10.00 across delegations unless the owner raises it
5. Use `sandbox:` keys and mcp.sandbox.nevermined.app until the flow works

### Skyfire API + MCP

1. Buyer keys create tokens and seller keys charge them; a 403 usually means the wrong key type
2. Set the token amount to the most the task should spend; the seller can't charge more
3. Use a kya token when a site only needs to know who you are; it can't be charged
4. Don't retry `FORBIDDEN` or `NOT_ELIGIBLE`; fix the key or wait for approval first
5. Rehearse against mcp-sandbox.skyfire.xyz before using mcp.skyfire.xyz

## Other comparisons with Nevermined API + MCP or Skyfire API + MCP

- [Nevermined API + MCP vs Tempo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-tempo.md)
- [Skyfire API + MCP vs Stripe API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/skyfire-vs-stripe-mcp.md)
- [Skyfire API + MCP vs Tempo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/skyfire-vs-tempo.md)
- [Crossmint API + Docs MCP vs Nevermined API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crossmint-vs-nevermined.md)
- [Crossmint API + Docs MCP vs Skyfire API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crossmint-vs-skyfire.md)
- [Payman Genie MCP vs Skyfire API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payman-vs-skyfire.md)
- [Nevermined API + MCP vs Payman Genie MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-payman.md)
- [Nevermined API + MCP vs Stripe API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-stripe-mcp.md)