# Stripe API + MCP vs Tempo

> Stripe API + MCP has a score of 82.4 (A) against Tempo's 76.6 (BB). Both do payments stablecoin. The largest gap is security & auth, 27 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/stripe-mcp-vs-tempo
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/stripe-mcp-vs-tempo.md (~1,350 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/stripe-mcp-vs-tempo.min.md (~330 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/stripe-mcp-vs-tempo.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 Tempo's 76.6 (BB). Both do payments stablecoin. The largest gap is security & auth, 27 points.

- 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
- Tempo: grade BB, 76.6/100, rank #27 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/tempo.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/tempo.json

## Which one, for what

Pick Stripe API + MCP for agent ergonomics (+16), security & auth (+27), transparency & trust (+24).

Pick Tempo for reliability (+8), payments & pricing (+15), maintenance & community (+6).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Stripe API + MCP | Tempo | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 63 | 71 | Tempo +8 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 90 | 88 | Stripe API + MCP +2 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 94 | 78 | Stripe API + MCP +16 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 97 | 70 | Stripe API + MCP +27 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 65 | 80 | Tempo +15 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 88 | Tempo +6 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 63 | Stripe API + MCP +24 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **82.4 · A** | **76.6 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Stripe API + MCP | Tempo |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Stripe | Tempo |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.stripe.com/v1` | `https://api.tempo.xyz/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | payer tooling only | no |
| Licence | MIT | MIT OR Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | 10 | 4 |
| 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 | `com.stripe/mcp` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-30 | 2026-09-24 |
| Popularity | 1.8k stars, 15k npm/wk | 1k stars, 209k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 4/5 (8) | 3.1/5 (8) |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Tempo.** api.tempo.xyz accepts MPP on its anonymous endpoints, so an agent can pay per request without an account. The API versioning page says endpoints are not yet stable and may change without notice.

## Before you call either

### 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

### Tempo

1. Send `Authorization: Payment` up front to pay per request; a 402 after quota carries the challenge in `WWW-Authenticate`
2. Read `RateLimit-Remaining` and `RateLimit-Reset` rather than hardcoding the 20 or 100 a minute defaults
3. Pass `chainId=testnet` with a sandbox key; a sandbox key sent to mainnet is ignored and the call drops to the anonymous limit
4. Use `tempo request --dry-run` before paying an MPP endpoint to see the cost
5. Branch on `error.code`, never on `error.message`

## Other comparisons with Stripe API + MCP or Tempo

- [Crossmint API + Docs MCP vs Tempo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crossmint-vs-tempo.md)
- [Nevermined API + MCP vs Tempo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-tempo.md)
- [Skyfire API + MCP vs Stripe API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/skyfire-vs-stripe-mcp.md)
- [Skyfire API + MCP vs Tempo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/skyfire-vs-tempo.md)
- [Crossmint API + Docs MCP vs Stripe API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crossmint-vs-stripe-mcp.md)
- [Nevermined API + MCP vs Stripe API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-stripe-mcp.md)
- [Payman Genie MCP vs Stripe API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payman-vs-stripe-mcp.md)