MCP vs API for Selling Online: Which Should You Use?
Use MCP to sell online when you want an AI app like Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor to run your store for you, and use the API when your own website or app needs to sell without a person in the loop. On Pocketsflow you get both on the same account: a hosted MCP server with 303 tools that you connect by signing in, and a REST API with an SDK and webhooks that you call with an API key.
What MCP and an API mean for a Pocketsflow store
An API is a set of addresses your code calls. The Pocketsflow API lives at https://api.pocketsflow.com, and a developer writes the requests: create a product, open a checkout, list orders.
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets an AI app use another app's tools. The Pocketsflow MCP server lives at https://www.pocketsflow.com/mcp. You type "make a 20% off code for my course" and the AI picks the right Pocketsflow tool, fills in the fields and calls it.
The two are not rivals inside Pocketsflow. Every MCP tool call is forwarded to the matching REST endpoint, so the checks, the errors and the data you can reach are the same either way. The difference is who makes the call: an AI you talk to, or code you wrote.
Pocketsflow MCP vs the Pocketsflow API at a glance
| Question | Pocketsflow MCP | Pocketsflow API and SDK |
|---|---|---|
| Who makes the calls | An AI app you chat with | Your server code |
| How you connect | Paste the URL, sign in, click Allow access | Create a pk_live_ or pk_test_ key and send it as a Bearer token |
| Code needed | None | Yes: HTTP calls or the pocketsflow npm package |
| What you work with | 303 named tools | REST endpoints described in an OpenAPI spec |
| Reacting to sales | You ask, the AI checks | Webhooks push each event to your server |
| Test mode | Connect while the dashboard is in test mode | Use a pk_test_ key |
| Price | Free on every plan | Free on every plan |
How you connect to Pocketsflow MCP: sign in, no key
Pocketsflow MCP uses OAuth, the same "Sign in with" flow you already know. You add https://www.pocketsflow.com/mcp to your AI app as a connector, sign in to Pocketsflow and click Allow access. You never paste an API key into the AI.
Behind the scenes, Pocketsflow creates a key named "MCP: <app>" under Developers, API keys, in the mode your dashboard is in. The AI app only gets short tokens that last one hour and renew on their own. To unplug that AI, delete its key. For a script or CI job with no browser, Pocketsflow also runs the MCP server locally with an API key through npx @pocketsflow/mcp.
How you connect to the Pocketsflow API: keys, SDK and webhooks
The Pocketsflow API uses API keys. You create one in the dashboard under Developers, API keys, keep it on your server and send it on every request. A key starting with pk_live_ works on real data; a key starting with pk_test_ works on sandbox data and never charges a real card. The key decides the mode, whatever the dashboard toggle says.
Pocketsflow publishes a typed SDK, the pocketsflow package on npm, with namespaces such as products, checkout, orders and webhooks. Keys get 600 requests a minute per account. Never put a key in browser code or a mobile app.
Webhooks are the part MCP cannot replace. When an order completes, Pocketsflow sends an HTTPS POST to your URL, signed with HMAC-SHA256 in the X-Pocketsflow-Signature-V2 header, and waits up to 15 seconds for a 2xx reply. That is how your app grants access the moment someone pays. An AI chat only learns about a sale when you ask.
What Pocketsflow MCP can do for selling
Pocketsflow groups its MCP tools by job. The six groups closest to selling hold 33 tools between them, from creating a product to opening a checkout link to registering a webhook.
| Point | Tools |
|---|---|
| Products | 6 |
| Checkout | 3 |
| Discounts | 7 |
| Upsells | 5 |
| Orders | 6 |
| Webhooks | 6 |
Source: Pocketsflow MCP tool catalog (www.pocketsflow.com/mcp), November 2026. 303 tools in 48 groups in all.
Pocketsflow's MCP server can also create webhooks with create_webhook and send a test event with test_webhook. The AI sets up the plumbing; your server still receives the events.
When to choose Pocketsflow MCP
- You sell templates, courses or presets and want to run the store by asking: "how many sales this week?", "make a Black Friday code".
- You don't write code, or you don't want to for store chores.
- You want answers from your phone, where Claude and other AI apps already live.
- You are building in Cursor or Claude Code and want the agent to set up products and prices while it writes your app.
When to choose the Pocketsflow API
- Your own site or SaaS app sells, and each buyer must get access the second they pay. That needs webhooks.
- You open checkouts from code, with your own user id in
clientReferenceIdand data inmetadata. - You sync orders to your own database or run jobs on a schedule with no person watching.
Most software founders end up with both: the API and webhooks in production, and Pocketsflow MCP in their editor for setup and questions. If you only sell from Pocketsflow pages, MCP alone is enough.
What both cost on Pocketsflow
Pocketsflow does not charge for the API, the SDK, webhooks or MCP, on any plan. Selling has no monthly fee. You pay 4.7% + $0.30 per sale, as of November 2026, and Pocketsflow handles sales tax and VAT as the merchant of record. See the pricing page for the Volume plans.
Start with Pocketsflow MCP or the API
To connect an AI, open the Pocketsflow MCP page and follow the card for your app, or read how to connect Pocketsflow to Claude. To write code, start at the Pocketsflow developers page. For a list of what the AI can do, read what Pocketsflow MCP can do.