{
  "data": {
    "a": {
      "slug": "paychex",
      "name": "Paychex",
      "vendor": "Paychex, Inc.",
      "vendorUrl": "https://www.paychex.com",
      "kind": "http-api",
      "category": "payroll",
      "summary": "Paychex's REST API reads and updates company, worker and pay data in Paychex Flex, a US payroll and HR service. Clients create an app inside their Flex account. Software partners apply to Paychex for a sandbox and production credentials.",
      "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/paychex",
      "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/paychex.md",
      "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/paychex.min.md",
      "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/paychex.json",
      "license": "Proprietary service. Public use is under the Paychex User Terms of Use. Partner terms aren't published",
      "transports": [
        "http"
      ],
      "packages": [],
      "auth": "oauth",
      "authNotes": "Graded on the Paychex API for Paychex Flex. Access is by OAuth 2.0 client credentials. A key and secret go in the form body of POST `/auth/oauth/v2/token` and return a Bearer token that lasts 60 minutes, with no refresh token. A Paychex client with a Super Admin or Security Admin role creates an app inside Flex and chooses its access levels. A software partner fills in a questionnaire, is reviewed by the Corporate Partnerships Team, builds in a sandbox Paychex issues, demos the integration and then receives a production key and secret limited to the verbs and endpoints requested. Each client approves a partner app in Flex before its data is reachable.",
      "pricing": "paid",
      "pricingNotes": "No price is published for the API or for Paychex payroll. The Request Pricing button on paychex.com/payroll leads to the sales contact form, and the developer centre states no fee. The API reaches only companies with a paid Paychex Flex account, and the Payroll API needs online payroll added by a Paychex representative. The partner sandbox is issued after Paychex approves the partnership, so there is no way to start without Paychex's agreement (checked 2026-10-08).",
      "priceSummary": "Paid",
      "where": "local",
      "x402": {
        "level": "no",
        "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the developer centre pages or the OpenAPI definition (checked 2026-10-08).",
        "endpoints": []
      },
      "toolCount": null,
      "popularity": {
        "githubStars": null,
        "npmWeekly": null,
        "pypiWeekly": null,
        "asOf": "2026-10-08"
      },
      "docsUrl": "https://developer.paychex.com/documentation",
      "openapi": "https://developer.paychex.com/sites/default/files/apidocument/openapi-merge-develop.210-public.json",
      "capabilities": [
        "payroll.employees",
        "hr.employees",
        "hr.onboarding",
        "hr.documents",
        "hr.org"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "hosted",
        "payroll",
        "hr",
        "oauth",
        "openapi",
        "partner-approval",
        "sandbox",
        "webhooks",
        "sales-led",
        "soc2",
        "iso27001"
      ],
      "lastRelease": "2026-08-20",
      "graded": true,
      "anchor": {
        "graded": true,
        "score": 44.8,
        "grade": "E",
        "agentReady": false,
        "rank": 666,
        "ranked": true,
        "rankOf": 722,
        "categoryRank": 9,
        "methodology": "0.4",
        "run": "2026-10-01",
        "scores": {
          "ergonomics": 54,
          "maintenance": 26,
          "payments": 0,
          "reliability": 41,
          "schema": 66,
          "security": 58,
          "transparency": 54
        },
        "pending": [
          "performance",
          "tasks"
        ],
        "assessment": {
          "confidence": "medium",
          "date": "2026-10-08"
        },
        "negative": 0,
        "verdict": "A public OpenAPI 3.0.3 definition covers 110 operations, and payroll entries stay unprocessed until a person submits the payroll in Flex. Partner credentials and the sandbox follow approval by Paychex, no price is published, and no status page, SLA or SDK was found in the reviewed pages.",
        "bestFor": "A software partner with shared customers on Paychex Flex that needs to sync workers, pay rates, direct deposits and tax setup, or to send hours and earnings into pay entry.",
        "strengths": [
          "One public OpenAPI 3.0.3 file describes 110 operations and 147 schemas, with named request and response examples for most of them",
          "Checks are created as unprocessed entries. The docs say the client or a Paychex service provider must review and submit the payroll",
          "A client admin approves each partner app inside Paychex Flex before any company data is reachable, and a delete endpoint removes the link",
          "Errors return a `code`, `description` and `resolution`, and every response carries an `x-payx-txid` for support",
          "Published limit of 10,000 requests a minute per partner, with `X-RateLimit-*` headers and `Retry-After` on 429"
        ],
        "weaknesses": [
          "Partner access needs a questionnaire, review by the Corporate Partnerships Team, a demo and final approval. The sandbox is issued only after approval",
          "No price is published for the API or for Paychex payroll. The pricing button leads to a sales contact form",
          "No status page, incident history or SLA was found, and the User Terms of Use give no availability guarantee",
          "Paging works on three endpoints only, and on the worker list it can't be combined with filters",
          "No SDK, llms.txt or dated changelog was found. The News page holds two notices",
          "The User Terms of Use bar automated access to Paychex sites and applications unless Paychex approves it, and allow suspension without notice"
        ],
        "agentNotes": [
          "POST `grant_type=client_credentials` with the key and secret in the form body to `/auth/oauth/v2/token`. Tokens last 60 minutes and there is no refresh token, so request a new one",
          "Call GET `/companies` first. Worker and payroll paths need a `companyId` or `workerId` the app has been granted",
          "Send `offset` and `limit` on GET `/companies/{companyId}/workers`, 50 at most, and resend the `ETag` between pages. The unpaged form is withdrawn on 24 February 2027",
          "Creating a check doesn't pay anyone. A person must review and submit the payroll in Paychex Flex",
          "Send a unique `X-payx-client-correlationId` per request and keep the `x-payx-txid` from the response. Support asks for it",
          "On 423 the client is locked by another user or process. Wait and retry"
        ],
        "metrics": {
          "kind": "remote",
          "measured": false
        },
        "reviewCount": 0,
        "avgRating": 0,
        "history": [
          {
            "basis": "public evidence",
            "confidence": "medium",
            "grade": "E",
            "methodology": "0.4",
            "pending": [
              "performance",
              "tasks"
            ],
            "run": "2026-10-01",
            "runLabel": "October 2026 research run",
            "score": 44.8
          }
        ],
        "editorialScores": {
          "ergonomics": 54,
          "maintenance": 26,
          "payments": 0,
          "reliability": 41,
          "schema": 66,
          "security": 58,
          "transparency": 39
        },
        "provenanceScore": 69
      },
      "connect": {
        "http": "curl --location 'https://api.paychex.com/auth/oauth/v2/token' \\\n--header 'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded' \\\n--data-urlencode 'grant_type=client_credentials' \\\n--data-urlencode 'client_id=CLIENT_ID' \\\n--data-urlencode 'client_secret=CLIENT_SECRET'"
      },
      "letme": {
        "capability": "https://letme.dev/payroll.employees",
        "tool": "https://letme.dev/paychex"
      },
      "area": "domain-data",
      "provenance": {
        "legalEntity": "Paychex, Inc.",
        "domain": "paychex.com",
        "domainRegistered": "1991-06-10",
        "endpointOnVendorDomain": true,
        "terms": "https://www.paychex.com/corporate/terms",
        "privacy": "https://www.paychex.com/corporate/security/privacy",
        "statusPage": "",
        "changelog": "https://developer.paychex.com/news",
        "securityTxt": "none",
        "checked": "2026-10-08",
        "notes": [
          "The privacy policy (last updated 1 June 2026) names Paychex, Inc., 911 Panorama Trail South, Rochester, NY 14625.",
          "The terms link is the Paychex User Terms of Use, effective 1 June 2026, which govern Paychex's websites, software applications, mobile applications and services. No API-specific terms are published. The partner agreement and the Third-Party Terms of Use a client accepts in Flex weren't found in public.",
          "API calls go to https://api.paychex.com. An unauthenticated GET `/companies` answered 401 with error code API-103.",
          "www.paychex.com/.well-known/security.txt, www.paychex.com/security.txt and developer.paychex.com/.well-known/security.txt return 404. Vulnerability reports go through a form at paychex.com/corporate/security/responsible-disclosure run with Bugcrowd.",
          "No status page was found on the developer centre or the security page, and status.paychex.com didn't resolve.",
          "The changelog link is the developer centre's News page, which holds two notices and no dated list of changes.",
          "RDAP for paychex.com gives a registration date of 1991-06-10."
        ],
        "score": 69
      },
      "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/paychex.json"
    },
    "answer": "Salsa scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Paychex's 44.8 (E), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Paychex leads on reliability and agent ergonomics.",
    "b": {
      "slug": "salsa",
      "name": "Salsa",
      "vendor": "Salsa Software Inc.",
      "vendorUrl": "https://www.salsa.dev",
      "kind": "http-api",
      "category": "payroll",
      "summary": "Embedded payroll from Salsa Software Inc. for software platforms. A partner's backend onboards employers and workers, sends pay data, previews and confirms payroll runs and reads pay statements through a REST API, while Salsa files taxes and moves money.",
      "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/salsa",
      "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/salsa.md",
      "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/salsa.min.md",
      "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/salsa.json",
      "license": "Proprietary service. The website Terms of Use are public and the partner agreement isn't. The browser library @salsa-payroll/salsa-js on npm is MIT",
      "transports": [
        "http"
      ],
      "remoteUrl": "https://api.salsa.dev/api/rest/v1",
      "packages": [
        {
          "registry": "npm",
          "name": "@salsa-payroll/salsa-js"
        }
      ],
      "auth": "api-key",
      "authNotes": "A partner receives two bearer API tokens from Salsa after a sales contact, one for the sandbox and one for production. The docs say these tokens grant many privileges. From them a backend mints user tokens (JWT) at POST /api/rest/v1/auth/token, each with one of 12 roles in three tiers (basic, admin, super-admin, with onboarding variants), a list of up to 125 employers and a lifetime of 60 minutes by default, or up to 30 days for onboarding roles. Role limits are enforced at the API. No self-serve key page or key rotation procedure was found in the docs. This is embedded-payroll partner access. Salsa has no route into an employer's existing payroll account at another provider.",
      "pricing": "paid",
      "pricingNotes": "No public prices. salsa.dev has no pricing page (www.salsa.dev/pricing returns 404) and access starts with a contact form. The sandbox is issued by Salsa on request, so an agent can't start without a person contacting sales, and no free tier or trial was found. A Usage API reports confirmed payroll runs, worker payments, workers paid and tax filings per employer so a partner can bill its own customers, with no unit price published (checked 2026-10-08).",
      "priceSummary": "Paid",
      "where": "hosted",
      "x402": {
        "level": "no",
        "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs index, the OpenAPI spec or the website (checked 2026-10-08).",
        "endpoints": []
      },
      "toolCount": null,
      "popularity": {
        "githubStars": null,
        "npmWeekly": 435,
        "pypiWeekly": null,
        "asOf": "2026-10-08"
      },
      "docsUrl": "https://docs.salsa.dev",
      "llmsTxt": "https://docs.salsa.dev/llms.txt",
      "openapi": "https://docs.salsa.dev/openapi/salsadev.yaml",
      "capabilities": [
        "payroll.run",
        "payroll.embedded",
        "payroll.employees",
        "payroll.tax-filing",
        "payroll.contractors"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "hosted",
        "closed-source",
        "api-key",
        "openapi",
        "llms-txt",
        "webhooks",
        "sandbox",
        "sales-led",
        "partner-access",
        "soc2"
      ],
      "lastRelease": "2026-10-07",
      "graded": true,
      "anchor": {
        "graded": true,
        "score": 46.1,
        "grade": "D",
        "agentReady": false,
        "rank": 651,
        "ranked": true,
        "rankOf": 722,
        "categoryRank": 7,
        "methodology": "0.4",
        "run": "2026-10-01",
        "scores": {
          "ergonomics": 48,
          "maintenance": 50,
          "payments": 5,
          "reliability": 36,
          "schema": 73,
          "security": 56,
          "transparency": 51
        },
        "pending": [
          "performance",
          "tasks"
        ],
        "assessment": {
          "confidence": "medium",
          "date": "2026-10-08"
        },
        "negative": 0,
        "verdict": "Salsa is reached as an embedded-payroll partner, not through an employer's existing payroll account. The REST API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 spec with 123 operations, a payroll preview, a separate confirm step and short-lived user tokens limited by role. Access starts with a sales conversation, and no public price, self-serve sandbox, status page or API changelog was found.",
        "bestFor": "A software platform that wants to sell payroll to its own business customers and can sign a partner agreement, with Salsa handling tax filing and money movement.",
        "strengths": [
          "Public OpenAPI 3.1 spec with 123 operations and 78 webhook events, last modified 7 October 2026, plus llms.txt and a Markdown copy of every docs page",
          "A payroll run is previewed, created as PENDING and paid only after a separate confirm call. A pending run can be deleted",
          "User tokens last 60 minutes by default, carry one of 12 roles in three tiers and name the employers they cover",
          "Audit entries record who changed what and when, with the actor shown as a user, an API client or the system",
          "Sandbox at api.sandbox.salsa.dev with mock-onboard endpoints that fill in employer and worker details for tests"
        ],
        "weaknesses": [
          "API tokens come from Salsa after a sales contact. No self-serve signup, public price, free tier or trial was found",
          "No status page, SLA, API changelog or deprecation policy was found on salsa.dev or docs.salsa.dev",
          "No Idempotency-Key header. The rate-limit page names 429 with no Retry-After or backoff guidance",
          "No server-side SDK. The only official package is the browser library Salsa.js, last published on 11 December 2025",
          "The signup link used across the docs, www.salsa.dev/get-a-demo, returned 404 on 8 October 2026",
          "No security.txt, disclosure policy, DPA or subprocessor list was found. SOC 2 Type 2 appears only as a badge image"
        ],
        "agentNotes": [
          "Use the sandbox token against https://api.sandbox.salsa.dev and the production token against https://api.salsa.dev. Each environment has its own token",
          "Call POST /payroll-runs/preview before creating a run, then confirm the PENDING run in a separate call. Confirming starts the employer debit",
          "Send your own externalId on every create. A repeat returns a uniqueness error, which is the only duplicate protection",
          "Make sure externalId values are unique across all employers, since each entity type has one namespace",
          "Mint a user token with the lowest role and the fewest employerIds the task needs, and keep the partner token on the server"
        ],
        "metrics": {
          "kind": "remote",
          "measured": false
        },
        "reviewCount": 0,
        "avgRating": 0,
        "history": [
          {
            "basis": "public evidence",
            "confidence": "medium",
            "grade": "D",
            "methodology": "0.4",
            "pending": [
              "performance",
              "tasks"
            ],
            "run": "2026-10-01",
            "runLabel": "October 2026 research run",
            "score": 46.1
          }
        ],
        "editorialScores": {
          "ergonomics": 48,
          "maintenance": 50,
          "payments": 5,
          "reliability": 36,
          "schema": 73,
          "security": 56,
          "transparency": 31
        },
        "provenanceScore": 70
      },
      "connect": {
        "http": "curl --location --request GET 'https://api.sandbox.salsa.dev/api/rest/v1/partner-pay-types' \\\n  --header 'Accept: application/json' \\\n  --header 'Authorization: Bearer ${YOUR_API_TOKEN}'"
      },
      "letme": {
        "capability": "https://letme.dev/payroll.run",
        "tool": "https://letme.dev/salsa"
      },
      "area": "domain-data",
      "provenance": {
        "legalEntity": "Salsa Software Inc.",
        "domain": "salsa.dev",
        "domainRegistered": "2021-08-06",
        "endpointOnVendorDomain": true,
        "terms": "https://www.salsa.dev/terms-of-use",
        "privacy": "https://www.salsa.dev/privacy-policy",
        "statusPage": "",
        "changelog": "https://www.salsa.dev/blog-category/product-updates",
        "securityTxt": "none",
        "checked": "2026-10-08",
        "notes": [
          "The privacy policy (last modified 24 September 2025) names Salsa Software Inc., 169 Madison Ave #38368, New York, NY 10016, and says it doesn't cover data processed on behalf of platforms, which is governed by Salsa's agreements with them.",
          "The Terms of Use are dated 7 April 2022 and governed by California law. The partner agreement that covers API use isn't public.",
          "www.salsa.dev/.well-known/security.txt and docs.salsa.dev/.well-known/security.txt return 404.",
          "No status page is linked from salsa.dev or docs.salsa.dev. status.salsa.dev didn't connect. salsa.statuspage.io exists with two components marked \"(example)\" and a last update of 4 November 2022, and nothing ties it to this company.",
          "The changelog link is the product updates category of the blog, whose newest entry is 11 February 2026. docs.salsa.dev/changelog returns 404.",
          "RDAP for salsa.dev gives a registration date of 2021-08-06 and Squarespace Domains II LLC as registrar."
        ],
        "score": 70
      },
      "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/salsa.json",
      "live": {
        "slug": "salsa",
        "probe": {
          "target": "https://api.salsa.dev/api/rest/v1",
          "method": "get",
          "lastAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:20.70344865Z",
          "lastOk": true,
          "lastStatus": 401,
          "lastMs": 448,
          "lastNote": "asks for credentials",
          "authRequired": true,
          "uptime24h": 100,
          "uptime30d": 100,
          "p50ms24h": 454,
          "p95ms24h": 517,
          "samples24h": 64,
          "samples30d": 64,
          "days": [
            {
              "date": "2026-10-08",
              "probes": 64,
              "ok": 64
            }
          ]
        },
        "versions": [
          {
            "registry": "npm",
            "name": "@salsa-payroll/salsa-js",
            "version": "0.3.0",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:28:07.049435331Z"
          }
        ],
        "npmWeekly": 435,
        "securityTxt": {
          "url": "https://salsa.dev/.well-known/security.txt",
          "state": "none",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:38:49.425969804Z"
        },
        "pages": [
          {
            "url": "https://www.salsa.dev/blog-category/product-updates",
            "kind": "changelog",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:30:07.056601151Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "6c036ec0ed44"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.salsa.dev/privacy-policy",
            "kind": "privacy",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:30:09.140715304Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "08a0e2898a35"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.salsa.dev/terms-of-use",
            "kind": "terms",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:30:11.191316869Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "3bb24864bd0f"
          }
        ],
        "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:20.70344865Z"
      }
    },
    "facts": [
      {
        "a": "HTTP API",
        "b": "HTTP API",
        "name": "Kind"
      },
      {
        "a": "Paychex, Inc.",
        "b": "Salsa Software Inc.",
        "name": "Vendor"
      },
      {
        "a": "no (local only)",
        "b": "https://api.salsa.dev/api/rest/v1",
        "name": "Hosted endpoint"
      },
      {
        "a": "HTTP",
        "b": "HTTP",
        "name": "Transports"
      },
      {
        "a": "OAuth",
        "b": "API key",
        "name": "Auth"
      },
      {
        "a": "Paid",
        "b": "Paid",
        "name": "Pricing"
      },
      {
        "a": "no",
        "b": "no",
        "name": "x402"
      },
      {
        "a": "Proprietary service. Public use is under the Paychex User Terms of Use. Partner terms aren't published",
        "b": "Proprietary service. The website Terms of Use are public and the partner agreement isn't. The browser library @salsa-payroll/salsa-js on npm is MIT",
        "name": "Licence"
      },
      {
        "a": "no",
        "b": "no",
        "name": "Read-only variant documented"
      },
      {
        "a": "no",
        "b": "yes",
        "name": "llms.txt"
      },
      {
        "a": "2026-08-20",
        "b": "2026-10-07",
        "name": "Last release"
      },
      {
        "a": "no date given",
        "b": "2022-04-07",
        "name": "Terms last updated"
      },
      {
        "a": "2026-06-01",
        "b": "2025-09-24",
        "name": "Privacy policy last updated"
      },
      {
        "a": "yes",
        "b": "not found in the text",
        "name": "Customer content may train models"
      },
      {
        "a": "yes",
        "b": "yes",
        "name": "Terms restrict automated access"
      },
      {
        "a": "not found in the text",
        "b": "not found in the text",
        "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking"
      },
      {
        "a": "yes",
        "b": "yes",
        "name": "Terms or service can change without notice"
      },
      {
        "a": "yes",
        "b": "yes",
        "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver"
      },
      {
        "a": "none",
        "b": "435 npm/wk",
        "name": "Popularity"
      }
    ],
    "faq": [
      {
        "answer": "Salsa scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Paychex's 44.8 (E), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Paychex leads on reliability and agent ergonomics.",
        "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Paychex or Salsa?"
      },
      {
        "answer": "Paychex uses an OAuth sign-in. Salsa needs an API key.",
        "question": "Do Paychex and Salsa need an API key?"
      },
      {
        "answer": "No hosted endpoint is listed for Paychex. Salsa has a hosted endpoint at https://api.salsa.dev/api/rest/v1.",
        "question": "Can an agent call Paychex and Salsa without installing anything?"
      }
    ],
    "goodFor": [
      {
        "aheadOn": [
          "Reliability, 41 against 36",
          "Agent ergonomics, 54 against 48"
        ],
        "also": null,
        "goodFor": "A software partner with shared customers on Paychex Flex that needs to sync workers, pay rates, direct deposits and tax setup, or to send hours and earnings into pay entry.",
        "slug": "paychex",
        "watchFor": "Partner access needs a questionnaire, review by the Corporate Partnerships Team, a demo and final approval. The sandbox is issued only after approval"
      },
      {
        "aheadOn": [
          "Schema \u0026 documentation, 73 against 66",
          "Payments \u0026 pricing, 5 against 0",
          "Maintenance \u0026 community, 50 against 26"
        ],
        "also": [
          "A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install"
        ],
        "goodFor": "A software platform that wants to sell payroll to its own business customers and can sign a partner agreement, with Salsa handling tax filing and money movement.",
        "slug": "salsa",
        "watchFor": "API tokens come from Salsa after a sales contact. No self-serve signup, public price, free tier or trial was found"
      }
    ],
    "job": {
      "capability": "payroll.employees",
      "name": "Payroll employees"
    },
    "others": [
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-paychex.json",
        "title": "Argyle vs Paychex",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-paychex"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-salsa.json",
        "title": "Argyle vs Salsa",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-salsa"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/check-payroll-vs-paychex.json",
        "title": "Check vs Paychex",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/check-payroll-vs-paychex"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/employment-hero-vs-paychex.json",
        "title": "Employment Hero Payroll vs Paychex",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/employment-hero-vs-paychex"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/everee-vs-paychex.json",
        "title": "Everee vs Paychex",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/everee-vs-paychex"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-paychex.json",
        "title": "Finch vs Paychex",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-paychex"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-salsa.json",
        "title": "Finch vs Salsa",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-salsa"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gusto-vs-paychex.json",
        "title": "Gusto vs Paychex",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gusto-vs-paychex"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paychex-vs-zeal.json",
        "title": "Paychex vs Zeal",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paychex-vs-zeal"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/check-payroll-vs-salsa.json",
        "title": "Check vs Salsa",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/check-payroll-vs-salsa"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/employment-hero-vs-salsa.json",
        "title": "Employment Hero Payroll vs Salsa",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/employment-hero-vs-salsa"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/everee-vs-salsa.json",
        "title": "Everee vs Salsa",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/everee-vs-salsa"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gusto-vs-salsa.json",
        "title": "Gusto vs Salsa",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gusto-vs-salsa"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/salsa-vs-zeal.json",
        "title": "Salsa vs Zeal",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/salsa-vs-zeal"
      }
    ],
    "scores": [
      {
        "by": 5,
        "edge": "paychex",
        "key": "reliability",
        "name": "Reliability",
        "paychex": 41,
        "salsa": 36,
        "weight": 16
      },
      {
        "key": "performance",
        "name": "Performance",
        "pending": true,
        "weight": 10
      },
      {
        "by": 7,
        "edge": "salsa",
        "key": "schema",
        "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation",
        "paychex": 66,
        "salsa": 73,
        "weight": 13
      },
      {
        "by": 6,
        "edge": "paychex",
        "key": "ergonomics",
        "name": "Agent ergonomics",
        "paychex": 54,
        "salsa": 48,
        "weight": 13
      },
      {
        "by": 2,
        "edge": "paychex",
        "key": "security",
        "name": "Security \u0026 auth",
        "paychex": 58,
        "salsa": 56,
        "weight": 14
      },
      {
        "by": 5,
        "edge": "salsa",
        "key": "payments",
        "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing",
        "paychex": 0,
        "salsa": 5,
        "weight": 10
      },
      {
        "key": "tasks",
        "name": "Task success",
        "pending": true,
        "weight": 10
      },
      {
        "by": 24,
        "edge": "salsa",
        "key": "maintenance",
        "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community",
        "paychex": 26,
        "salsa": 50,
        "weight": 7
      },
      {
        "by": 3,
        "edge": "paychex",
        "key": "transparency",
        "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust",
        "paychex": 54,
        "salsa": 51,
        "weight": 7
      }
    ],
    "summary": "Salsa scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Paychex's 44.8 (E), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Paychex leads on reliability and agent ergonomics. Both do payroll employees.",
    "verdicts": {
      "paychex": "A public OpenAPI 3.0.3 definition covers 110 operations, and payroll entries stay unprocessed until a person submits the payroll in Flex. Partner credentials and the sandbox follow approval by Paychex, no price is published, and no status page, SLA or SDK was found in the reviewed pages.",
      "salsa": "Salsa is reached as an embedded-payroll partner, not through an employer's existing payroll account. The REST API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 spec with 123 operations, a payroll preview, a separate confirm step and short-lived user tokens limited by role. Access starts with a sales conversation, and no public price, self-serve sandbox, status page or API changelog was found."
    }
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  "links": {
    "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json",
    "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paychex-vs-salsa",
    "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paychex-vs-salsa.json",
    "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt",
    "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paychex-vs-salsa.md",
    "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paychex-vs-salsa.min.md"
  },
  "markdown": "Salsa scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Paychex's 44.8 (E), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Paychex leads on reliability and agent ergonomics. Both do payroll employees.\n\n- Paychex: grade E, 44.8/100, rank #666 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/paychex.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/paychex.json\n- Salsa: grade D, 46.1/100, rank #651 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/salsa.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/salsa.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Paychex (E)\n\nGood for: A software partner with shared customers on Paychex Flex that needs to sync workers, pay rates, direct deposits and tax setup, or to send hours and earnings into pay entry.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 41 against 36\n- Agent ergonomics, 54 against 48\n\nWatch for: Partner access needs a questionnaire, review by the Corporate Partnerships Team, a demo and final approval. The sandbox is issued only after approval\n\n### Salsa (D)\n\nGood for: A software platform that wants to sell payroll to its own business customers and can sign a partner agreement, with Salsa handling tax filing and money movement.\n\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 73 against 66\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 5 against 0\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 50 against 26\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install\n\nWatch for: API tokens come from Salsa after a sales contact. No self-serve signup, public price, free tier or trial was found\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Paychex | Salsa | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 41 | 36 | Paychex +5 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 73 | Salsa +7 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 54 | 48 | Paychex +6 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 58 | 56 | Paychex +2 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 5 | Salsa +5 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 26 | 50 | Salsa +24 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 54 | 51 | Paychex +3 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **44.8 · E** | **46.1 · D** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Paychex | Salsa |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Paychex, Inc. | Salsa Software Inc. |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.salsa.dev/api/rest/v1` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth | API key |\n| Pricing | Paid | Paid |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary service. Public use is under the Paychex User Terms of Use. Partner terms aren't published | Proprietary service. The website Terms of Use are public and the partner agreement isn't. The browser library @salsa-payroll/salsa-js on npm is MIT |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | no | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-08-20 | 2026-10-07 |\n| Terms last updated | no date given | 2022-04-07 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-06-01 | 2025-09-24 |\n| Customer content may train models | yes | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | yes |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |\n| Popularity | none | 435 npm/wk |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Paychex.** A public OpenAPI 3.0.3 definition covers 110 operations, and payroll entries stay unprocessed until a person submits the payroll in Flex. Partner credentials and the sandbox follow approval by Paychex, no price is published, and no status page, SLA or SDK was found in the reviewed pages.\n\n**Salsa.** Salsa is reached as an embedded-payroll partner, not through an employer's existing payroll account. The REST API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 spec with 123 operations, a payroll preview, a separate confirm step and short-lived user tokens limited by role. Access starts with a sales conversation, and no public price, self-serve sandbox, status page or API changelog was found.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Paychex\n\n1. POST `grant_type=client_credentials` with the key and secret in the form body to `/auth/oauth/v2/token`. Tokens last 60 minutes and there is no refresh token, so request a new one\n2. Call GET `/companies` first. Worker and payroll paths need a `companyId` or `workerId` the app has been granted\n3. Send `offset` and `limit` on GET `/companies/{companyId}/workers`, 50 at most, and resend the `ETag` between pages. The unpaged form is withdrawn on 24 February 2027\n4. Creating a check doesn't pay anyone. A person must review and submit the payroll in Paychex Flex\n5. Send a unique `X-payx-client-correlationId` per request and keep the `x-payx-txid` from the response. Support asks for it\n6. On 423 the client is locked by another user or process. Wait and retry\n\n### Salsa\n\n1. Use the sandbox token against https://api.sandbox.salsa.dev and the production token against https://api.salsa.dev. Each environment has its own token\n2. Call POST /payroll-runs/preview before creating a run, then confirm the PENDING run in a separate call. Confirming starts the employer debit\n3. Send your own externalId on every create. A repeat returns a uniqueness error, which is the only duplicate protection\n4. Make sure externalId values are unique across all employers, since each entity type has one namespace\n5. Mint a user token with the lowest role and the fewest employerIds the task needs, and keep the partner token on the server\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Paychex or Salsa?\n\nSalsa scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Paychex's 44.8 (E), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Paychex leads on reliability and agent ergonomics.\n\n### Do Paychex and Salsa need an API key?\n\nPaychex uses an OAuth sign-in. Salsa needs an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call Paychex and Salsa without installing anything?\n\nNo hosted endpoint is listed for Paychex. Salsa has a hosted endpoint at https://api.salsa.dev/api/rest/v1.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paychex-vs-salsa.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paychex-vs-salsa.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"paychex\", \"b\": \"salsa\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare paychex salsa`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/paychex.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/salsa.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Paychex or Salsa\n\n- [Argyle vs Paychex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-paychex.md)\n- [Argyle vs Salsa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/argyle-vs-salsa.md)\n- [Check vs Paychex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/check-payroll-vs-paychex.md)\n- [Employment Hero Payroll vs Paychex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/employment-hero-vs-paychex.md)\n- [Everee vs Paychex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/everee-vs-paychex.md)\n- [Finch vs Paychex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-paychex.md)\n- [Finch vs Salsa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/finch-vs-salsa.md)\n- [Gusto vs Paychex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gusto-vs-paychex.md)\n- [Paychex vs Zeal](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paychex-vs-zeal.md)\n- [Check vs Salsa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/check-payroll-vs-salsa.md)\n- [Employment Hero Payroll vs Salsa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/employment-hero-vs-salsa.md)\n- [Everee vs Salsa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/everee-vs-salsa.md)\n- [Gusto vs Salsa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gusto-vs-salsa.md)\n- [Salsa vs Zeal](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/salsa-vs-zeal.md)\n",
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    "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)",
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    "description": "Salsa scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Paychex's 44.8 (E), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Paychex leads on reliability and agent ergonomics. Both do payroll employees. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.",
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    "title": "Paychex vs Salsa for AI agents, E 44.8 vs D 46.1 | Anchor Terminal",
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