# Skyfire API + MCP vs Stripe API + MCP

> Stripe API + MCP has a score of 82.4 (A) against Skyfire API + MCP's 40.6 (E). Both do payments stablecoin. The largest gap is security & auth, 56 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/skyfire-vs-stripe-mcp.min.md (~380 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/skyfire-vs-stripe-mcp.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

Stripe API + MCP has a score of 82.4 (A) against Skyfire API + MCP's 40.6 (E). Both do payments stablecoin. The largest gap is security & auth, 56 points.

- 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
- Stripe API + MCP: grade A, 82.4/100, rank #3 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stripe-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/stripe-mcp.json

## Which one, for what

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

Pick Stripe API + MCP for reliability (+44), schema & documentation (+31), agent ergonomics (+33), security & auth (+56), payments & pricing (+45), maintenance & community (+51), transparency & trust (+31).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Skyfire API + MCP | Stripe API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 19 | 63 | Stripe API + MCP +44 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 59 | 90 | Stripe API + MCP +31 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 61 | 94 | Stripe API + MCP +33 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 41 | 97 | Stripe API + MCP +56 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 65 | Stripe API + MCP +45 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 31 | 82 | Stripe API + MCP +51 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 56 | 87 | Stripe API + MCP +31 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **40.6 · E** | **82.4 · A** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Skyfire API + MCP | Stripe API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Skyfire | Stripe |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.skyfire.xyz` | `https://api.stripe.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | payer tooling only |
| Licence | none | MIT |
| Tools exposed | 4 | 10 |
| 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 | not listed | `com.stripe/mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-08-04 | 2026-09-30 |
| Popularity | 16 npm/wk | 1.8k stars, 15k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | 4/5 (8) |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Stripe API + MCP.** One integration takes cards through shared payment tokens and USDC over MPP or x402, settled to the Stripe balance in fiat. Card payments from agents have a 0.50 USD minimum, so per-call micropayments must use stablecoins.

## Before you call either

### 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

### Stripe API + MCP

1. Switch to an Agent-tagged restricted key or OAuth before 31 October 2026; other keys get a 401
2. Call `stripe_api_search` and `stripe_api_details` before `stripe_api_write` to get the method and parameters right
3. When a write needs approval, give the person the URL and retry only after they approve; approvals expire after 24 hours
4. Send an `Idempotency-Key` on every create so a retry can't charge twice
5. On 429, read `Stripe-Rate-Limited-Reason` and back off with jitter; a 429 without it is a lock timeout

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