Head to head · Exchange spot trading · October 2026 research run
OKX API vs Upbit Open API
OKX API scores 64.3 (B) on agent readiness against Upbit Open API's 54.7 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do exchange spot trading.
Best crypto exchange APIs and MCP servers for AI agents · All 210 exchanges comparisons
Which one, for what
OKX API B
Best for An agent trading spot, perpetuals, futures or options on a person's OKX account from a local machine, with demo trading to test first and grid or DCA bots through the kit.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 65 against 42
- Schema & documentation, 73 against 66
- Agent ergonomics, 77 against 70
- Security & auth, 68 against 59
- Payments & pricing, 20 against 15
- Transparency & trust, 62 against 54
Also in its favour
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card
Watch for
The fee table loads by script and the fee FAQ defers to the logged-in view, so maker and taker rates were not read
Best for KRW-market trading for agents acting for a verified Korean account, with first-party SDKs, a CLI and skills but no MCP.
No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.
Watch for
No MCP server; the agent route is the CLI through skills, which need a terminal
Why the edge
Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.
Reliability OKX API +23
OKX API 65
Read with the hosted lines on the V5 REST API. okx.com/status is OKX's own page with issue descriptions, maintenance notices and deposit and withdrawal status, but no component history or feed (10 of 20). It lists no incident between 5 August and 3 November 2026; its newest entry is from March 2024, and whether every incident reaches the page cannot be told, so read as clean with a doubt (20 of 30). Rate limits per endpoint, per User ID and per sub-account with numbers, and WebSocket limits (15). Error 50011 on a limit, a clOrdId on orders and a cap of 3 amendments in flight, but no Retry-After or backoff guidance found (10 of 15). No SLA (0). Generally available (10). 10 + 20 + 15 + 10 + 0 + 10 = 65.
Upbit Open API 42
Read with the hosted lines. No status page found on docs.upbit.com or in llms.txt; a wallet-status endpoint and an announcements stream stand in (0). No readable incident history (5). Rate limits documented with numbers per group, per IP and per pocket, updated 7 October 2026 (15). 429 then 418 with a stated block length and a Remaining-Req header, an order-test endpoint and a self-match-prevention default; an order identifier for safe retries was not checked (12 of 15). No SLA found (0). Generally available (10). 0 + 5 + 15 + 12 + 0 + 10 = 42.
Security & auth OKX API +9
OKX API 68
Key, secret and passphrase with Read, Trade and Withdraw permissions, up to 20 bound IPs, revocation in the account, and unbound Trade or Withdraw keys that expire after 14 idle days; no OAuth (28 of 30). Read-only keys, sub-account keys, demo trading, the kit's --read-only flag and its startup check that hides order tools when the key cannot trade, and an API Agreement requiring minimum scope; no confirmation step in the kit (18 of 20). The news and smartmoney modules return third-party text and the docs read give no guidance on treating it as untrusted (5 of 15). An account audit log tool in the kit and usage records for unbound keys in the Security Center, no per-call log (9 of 15). No security.txt; SECURITY.md with security@okx.com and GitHub private advisories; certifications and a bounty not read (8 of 20). 28 + 18 + 5 + 9 + 8 = 68.
Upbit Open API 59
Keys limited to chosen functions, a mandatory public IPv4 allow-list, a JWT per request with a fresh nonce, keys listed with expiry through the API, and a withdrawal safe-lock on by default (27 of 30). Read-only keys, the default withdrawal lock lifted only in the app, and skills that require a typed CONFIRM before writes (17 of 20). The API returns exchange data and announcements, no third-party content (10 of 15). An API key list endpoint; no per-call log for the operator (5 of 15). No disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification found; security.txt on upbit.com could not be fetched under its robots.txt (0 of 20). 27 + 17 + 10 + 5 + 0 = 59.
Transparency & trust OKX API +8
OKX API 62
The editorial half. A closed service with terms that name the contracting entities by region and an API Agreement for agents; the kit is MIT (17 of 30). The privacy policy was not read (5 of 30). The changelog dates sunsets and labels breaking changes, such as port 8443 on 31 October and 16 November 2026 (16 of 20). No subprocessor or data-location statement read; the MCP server is local and its npm package runs a postinstall script whose purpose we did not trace (0 of 20). 17 + 5 + 16 + 0 = 38.
Upbit Open API 54
The editorial half. A closed service whose user and Open API terms could not be fetched under upbit.com's robots.txt, and whose SDK licence page calls the SDK material not open source while the repositories carry Apache-2.0 (8 of 30). The developer centre's privacy policy names Dunamu Inc., gives retention periods and names Zendesk in Japan; the main privacy policy was not read (14 of 30). Notices with effective dates, including the path-format change and the deprecated Remaining-Req min field (12 of 20). Zendesk and Google Analytics named with a location for the developer centre only (8 of 20). 8 + 14 + 12 + 8 = 42.
Schema & documentation OKX API +7
OKX API 73
No OpenAPI file was found in the V5 docs; the kit's tool definitions are typed TypeScript with annotations, and the organisation has an undescribed ai-builder-openapi-md repository we did not read (12 of 25). okx.com/llms.txt exists and links the API and Agent Trade Kit pages, though the V5 docs have no Markdown twins (5 of 10). Each endpoint states its rate limit, rule, parameters and notes (15 of 20). Enums for ordType, tdMode and instType with required flags (12 of 15). Request and response examples per endpoint and an error code list with messages (14 of 15). A dated changelog with an upcoming-changes section that labels breaking changes and dates sunsets (15). 12 + 5 + 15 + 12 + 14 + 15 = 73.
Upbit Open API 66
No OpenAPI found; the reference is a readme.io site with a Markdown twin of every page (5 of 25). llms.txt on docs.upbit.com and a kr/llms.txt index (10). Each reference page states what the endpoint does, its group and its errors, with warnings such as market_offline after maintenance (14 of 20). Typed parameters with enums for order type, side and time in force and required flags (11 of 15). Recipes in Python, Java and Node.js and an error format of error.name and error.message with HTTP statuses (13 of 15). Feature versions in page histories (v1.6.1) and dated notices with effective dates, no single API version (13 of 15). 5 + 10 + 14 + 11 + 13 + 13 = 66.
Agent ergonomics OKX API +7
OKX API 77
limit parameters on books, candles and history, and in the kit --modules and --read-only narrow 170 tools to the three default modules; no field selection (17 of 25). after, before and limit cursors on history endpoints (18 of 20). Numeric codes with messages, such as 51020 for an invalid quantity, and the kit returns a structured error block with code, message and endpoint (17 of 20). clOrdId on orders, batch endpoints and a cap of 3 amendments in flight; the kit sets readOnlyHint on query tools but destructiveHint false on order tools and has no idempotency key (13 of 20). python-okx, the CLI and a demo profile, with passphrase and HMAC signing on every private call (12 of 15). 17 + 18 + 17 + 13 + 12 = 77.
Upbit Open API 70
Graded on the REST API with the CLI. Candle counts, list limits and the CLI's --max-items and --transform size responses (16 of 25). Paging and filters on orders and history (15 of 20). error.name codes to branch on, which the November 2026 notice tells clients to use, and 418 with its block length (15 of 20). An order-test endpoint and a CONFIRM gate in the skills; an order identifier for idempotent placement was not checked (11 of 20). Few required parameters, SDKs in three languages and a CLI, but keys need the PC web site and a registered IP (13 of 15). 16 + 15 + 15 + 11 + 13 = 70.
Payments & pricing OKX API +5
OKX API 20
No machine payment protocol (0). The fee table loads by script and the fee FAQ defers to the logged-in view, so no rate was read (0 of 20, unchecked). Public market data and demo trading need no funded account or card (20). A person signs up, verifies and mints a key (0). 0 + 0 + 20 + 0 = 20.
Upbit Open API 15
No machine payment protocol (0). The fee schedule is on upbit.com, which disallows every crawler path, so no price is recorded (0 of 20, unchecked). Public quotation endpoints need no key, card or account; trading needs a verified Korean account. Judgement call (15 of 20). A person must sign up, pass identity checks and issue keys on the PC web site (0). 0 + 0 + 15 + 0 = 15.
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | OKX API | Upbit Open API | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 65 | 42 | OKX API +23 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 73 | 66 | OKX API +7 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 77 | 70 | OKX API +7 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 68 | 59 | OKX API +9 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 20 | 15 | OKX API +5 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 81 | 83 | Upbit Open API +2 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 62 | 54 | OKX API +8 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | B 64.3/100 | C 54.7/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | OKX API | Upbit Open API |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | OKX | Dunamu Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | stdio | |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted service under OKX's Terms of Service (29 October 2026) and API Agreement (28 July 2026). The Agent Trade Kit (MCP server, CLI and skills) is MIT | none |
| Tools exposed | 170 | 0 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-28 | 2026-10-20 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-10-29 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not read yet |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not read yet |
| Popularity | 499 stars, 1.8k npm/wk | 91 stars |
Verdicts
OKX API
OKX publishes per-endpoint rate limits, Read, Trade and Withdraw key permissions with IP binding, demo trading on the production host, and an MIT MCP server with 170 tools, a read-only flag and a permission check at startup. The fee table and privacy policy were not read, no OpenAPI file was found, and the news tools return third-party text.
Upbit Open API
Upbit's Open API has a mandatory IP allow-list, scoped keys with a default withdrawal lock, per-group rate limits with 429 and 418 signalling, an order-test endpoint, official SDKs, a CLI and agent skills with a CONFIRM gate. There is no MCP server, sandbox or status page, and the fees and terms sit on a host our crawler may not read.
Before you call either
OKX API
- Start okx-trade-mcp with --profile demo first, then --read-only on a live key; load only the modules the task needs
- Use a sub-account key with Read and Trade only, bound to the agent's IP; an unbound Trade key expires after 14 idle days
- Stay under 60 place-order requests per 2 seconds per instrument and at most 3 amendments in flight per order; 50011 means the limit was hit
- Send a clOrdId on every order and use the structured error block (code, message, endpoint) to diagnose with read-only tools before retrying
- Call us.okx.com or eea.okx.com for US, Australian and EEA accounts; openapi.okx.com does not serve those regions
Upbit Open API
- Ask the person for a key with only the functions the task needs and your server's public IPv4 address registered; a private or unregistered IP is refused
- Sign every request with a fresh JWT (HS512, new nonce, SHA512 query hash) and branch on error.name, not error.message
- Run POST /v1/orders/test before a live order; it costs nothing and shares the 8-a-second order-test group
- Read Remaining-Req and keep orders under 12 a second per pocket; on 429 wait for the next second and on 418 wait out the stated block
- Leave the withdrawal safe-lock on unless the person lifts it in the app, and send paths with single slashes and no trailing slash before 16 November 2026
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, OKX API or Upbit Open API?
OKX API scores 64.3 (B) on agent readiness against Upbit Open API's 54.7 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.
Do OKX API and Upbit Open API need an API key?
Both need an API key.
Can an agent call OKX API and Upbit Open API without installing anything?
OKX API runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. No hosted endpoint is listed for Upbit Open API.
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Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/okx-vs-upbit.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/okx.json·/api/v1/tools/upbit.json - From a terminal
anchor compare okx upbit(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "okx", "b": "upbit"}at/mcp, no key