# QuickBooks Online API + MCP vs Xero API + MCP

> Xero API + MCP has a score of 67.4 (B) against QuickBooks Online API + MCP's 49.3 (D). Both do accounting ledger. The largest gap is schema & documentation, 36 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/quickbooks-online-vs-xero.min.md (~380 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/quickbooks-online-vs-xero.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: 2026-10-04

Xero API + MCP has a score of 67.4 (B) against QuickBooks Online API + MCP's 49.3 (D). Both do accounting ledger. The largest gap is schema & documentation, 36 points.

- QuickBooks Online API + MCP: grade D, 49.3/100, rank #369 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/quickbooks-online.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/quickbooks-online.json
- Xero API + MCP: grade B, 67.4/100, rank #143 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/xero.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/xero.json

## Which one, for what

Pick QuickBooks Online API + MCP for maintenance & community (+9).

Pick Xero API + MCP for reliability (+23), schema & documentation (+36), agent ergonomics (+7), security & auth (+26), payments & pricing (+5), transparency & trust (+24).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | QuickBooks Online API + MCP | Xero API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 45 | 68 | Xero API + MCP +23 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 43 | 79 | Xero API + MCP +36 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 68 | 75 | Xero API + MCP +7 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 38 | 64 | Xero API + MCP +26 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 35 | Xero API + MCP +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 76 | QuickBooks Online API + MCP +9 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 51 | 75 | Xero API + MCP +24 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **49.3 · D** | **67.4 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | QuickBooks Online API + MCP | Xero API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Intuit | Xero |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://quickbooks.api.intuit.com/v3` | `https://api.xero.com/api.xro/2.0` |
| Transports | HTTP, stdio | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | OAuth | OAuth |
| Pricing | Your plan | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Tools exposed | 145 | 51 |
| 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 | no | no |
| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-17 | 2026-10-01 |
| Popularity | 145 stars, 400k npm/wk, 260k PyPI/wk | 350 stars, 395k npm/wk, 64k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**QuickBooks Online API + MCP.** Official MCP server from Intuit with 145 tools and flags to remove write, update or delete tools. Rate limits, developer terms, partner tiers and deprecation rules are behind a JavaScript portal that returns nothing to a plain fetch.

**Xero API + MCP.** Granular OAuth scopes, such as accounting.reports.profitandloss.read, required for apps created from 29 April 2026. Developer docs, including the per-minute rate limits, only render with JavaScript.

## Before you call either

### QuickBooks Online API + MCP

1. Store the realmId with the tokens. Every URL needs it and the token alone doesn't name the company
2. Persist the new refresh token from every refresh response. The previous one expires 24 hours later
3. Use the query endpoint with MAXRESULTS and STARTPOSITION for reads rather than fetching by id
4. Send a unique `requestid` query parameter on writes, so a retry returns the first response instead of posting twice
5. On 429, wait for Retry-After before retrying, and don't retry other 4xx errors

### Xero API + MCP

1. Send xero-tenant-id on every call. The token alone doesn't name the organisation
2. A bill is an Invoice with Type ACCPAY, a sales invoice is ACCREC. There's no separate bills endpoint
3. Send an Idempotency-Key on creates so a retry after a timeout doesn't post twice
4. Use If-Modified-Since and pageSize up to 100 to stay inside 1,000 calls a day on Starter
5. Set XERO_SCOPES to read scopes only when the agent shouldn't write. The MCP still lists its write and delete tools

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