# Sendcloud vs Shippo

> Sendcloud and Shippo score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62 (B) and 61.9 (C). Shippo leads on maintenance & community. Both do shipping rates. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sendcloud-vs-shippo
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sendcloud-vs-shippo.md (~1,950 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sendcloud-vs-shippo.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sendcloud-vs-shippo.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: 2026-10-08

Sendcloud and Shippo score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62 (B) and 61.9 (C). Shippo leads on maintenance & community. Both do shipping rates.

- Sendcloud: grade B, 62/100, rank #314 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/sendcloud.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/sendcloud.json
- Shippo: grade C, 61.9/100, rank #317 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/shippo.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/shippo.json

## Which one, for what

### Sendcloud (B)

Good for: An agent shipping parcels for a European shop that wants many carriers behind one account, including its own carrier contracts on paid plans.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 68 against 59
- Schema & documentation, 89 against 83
- Agent ergonomics, 71 against 64
- Transparency & trust, 72 against 61

Watch for: One OAuth scope, `api`, and key pairs with full account access. No read-only credential was found in the reviewed documentation

### Shippo (C)

Good for: An agent that quotes and buys parcel labels across USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL Express for a small or mid-size shipper, with a free test mode and public unit prices.

Ahead on:
- Maintenance & community, 77 against 67

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Sendcloud loses 3 points for them

Watch for: No idempotency key on label purchase or other writes. Only the Reporting API accepts one


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Sendcloud | Shippo | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 68 | 59 | Sendcloud +9 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 89 | 83 | Sendcloud +6 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 71 | 64 | Sendcloud +7 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 49 | 52 | Shippo +3 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 37 | 40 | Shippo +3 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 67 | 77 | Shippo +10 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 61 | Sendcloud +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **62 · B** | **61.9 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Sendcloud | Shippo |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Sendcloud B.V. | Shippo |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.sendcloud.com/mcp` | `https://api.goshippo.com` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| Price for shipping rates | not published | $0.01 per call |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Sendcloud's terms and conditions | Proprietary service under Shippo's terms of use. The SDKs and the goshippo/ai repository (skills and MCP bridge) are MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 4 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `com.shippo/shippo-mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-10-05 | 2026-10-01 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | none | 3 stars, 73k npm/wk, 20k PyPI/wk |

## Verdicts

**Sendcloud.** API v3 has 29 public OpenAPI 3.1 specs, an llms.txt index, a dated changelog and a hosted MCP server with toolset filtering. OAuth has one scope, `api`, so a credential can't be limited to reading. The changelog records response fields removed from tracking events on 25 September 2026 with no earlier deprecation entry.

**Shippo.** Per-label and per-call prices are public, test keys are self-serve, and the OpenAPI spec, llms.txt and Markdown docs are open to a fetch. Label purchase has no idempotency key, API keys carry no scopes, and the status page logged carrier-side incidents on most days between July and October 2026.

## Before you call either

### Sendcloud

1. Use API v3 at https://panel.sendcloud.sc/api/v3. The v2 create-parcel endpoint is closed to accounts created from April 2026
2. Test with `shipping_option_code` `sendcloud:letter` (returns use `sendcloud:letterreturn`). Any other label is billed unless cancelled within the carrier's deadline
3. Set `external_reference_id` on every shipment so a retry returns the existing shipment (409) instead of a second label
4. Read the `errors` array on synchronous announce responses. A carrier failure can arrive inside a success status
5. Connect MCP with `?toolsets=shipments,shipping-options,parcel-tracking,returns` to keep the tool list short. Create and cancel tools act on the live account

### Shippo

1. Build and test with a shippo_test_ key. Test and live object IDs are separate, and the hosted MCP server has no test mode
2. Send `Authorization: ShippoToken <key>`, not Bearer, and pin `Shippo-API-Version: 2018-02-08`
3. Before retrying a failed POST /transactions, list recent transactions. There is no idempotency key, and a second purchase is a second charge
4. Pass `async: false` on shipments and transactions, or poll the object until its status leaves QUEUED
5. Set `results` on list calls (under 200). Defaults vary by resource, and list calls are limited to 50 a minute on live keys

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Sendcloud or Shippo?

Sendcloud and Shippo score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62 (B) and 61.9 (C). Shippo leads on maintenance & community.

### Do Sendcloud and Shippo need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Sendcloud and Shippo without installing anything?

Yes. Sendcloud has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.sendcloud.com/mcp and Shippo at https://api.goshippo.com.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Sendcloud or Shippo

- [EasyPost vs Sendcloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/easypost-vs-sendcloud.md)
- [EasyPost vs Shippo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/easypost-vs-shippo.md)
- [Easyship vs Sendcloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/easyship-vs-sendcloud.md)
- [Easyship vs Shippo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/easyship-vs-shippo.md)
- [Sendcloud vs ShipStation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sendcloud-vs-shipstation.md)
- [Shippo vs ShipStation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shippo-vs-shipstation.md)