Circles vs Green-API
Circles vs Green-API: a developer gateway, or your chats for your agent
Green-API is a long-running hosted WhatsApp gateway for developers, and it now runs a hosted MCP. Circles is for a person who wants Claude, ChatGPT or Instinct to read their own chats, with nothing to build.
Choose Green-API if you are a developer building bots or integrations, possibly across several numbers, and want a mature gateway API with a free developer plan. Choose Circles if you want your agent to read your own chats, connected with one address and an approval, with per-chat permissions, voice notes as text and an OAuth sign-in with no instance tokens to handle, on Free, Starter $9.90 or Pro $29 a month (as of October 2026).
Updated
Green-API and Circles at a glance
As of October 2026. Facts about Green-API come from the sources listed at the end of this page.
| Green-API | Circles | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | About 5 steps: create an account, create an instance, scan a QR, add the connector, enter the instance ID and token | Link your number from your phone (a code or a QR), then connect your agent with a tap, an address or a token |
| Your personal number | Yes, any number as a linked device | Yes, your existing number as a linked device. No WhatsApp Business, no second number. |
| Hosted | Yes | Yes, always on. Nothing to install, no computer that must stay awake. |
| MCP and sign-in | Hosted at mcp.green-api.com/mcp (SSE too). In Claude you add it as a custom connector and authorise in the browser with your instance ID and token. | Remote MCP at https://app.usecircles.app/api/mcp: OAuth 2.1 (paste one address and approve) or a token |
| Per-chat permissions | Allow or block API methods (Advanced Restriction Settings). No per-chat scoping. | Per chat: hidden, read, or read and send. Hidden chats do not exist for agents. |
| Voice notes | No transcription | Transcribed automatically, Hebrew and English, inline as text and searchable |
| Photos and files | Through API methods | Photos, PDFs, documents and video handed over on request, up to 50 MB each. The agent reads them itself. |
| Sending controls | Sending methods can be allowed or blocked | On Pro. Off until you open a chat for it. Daily cap across all agents (default 5), never retried automatically, every request logged. |
| Price (October 2026) | Developer plan free: 1 instance, 3 chats, monthly caps such as 300 history calls. Business is priced per instance; we could not verify the figure on 27 October 2026. | Free; Starter $9.90 a month; Pro $29 a month (₪99 in Israel), 14 days of Pro free |
Where Green-API is the better choice
- Building a product. A broad, mature API for bots and integrations, with an MCP as well.
- Many numbers. Instances are the unit, so running several numbers is the normal case.
- A free developer plan to try things on three chats.
- Likely cheaper per instance at scale, though we could not verify the Business price.
- Transparency on risk. Green-API published its own article on WhatsApp's unofficial-client warning (3 September 2026).
Where Circles is the better choice
- Made for a person. Link from your phone, then connect Claude, ChatGPT or Codex by pasting one address and approving. No instance ID or token to copy.
- Per-chat permissions. Circles restricts access chat by chat, and a hidden chat does not exist for agents at all. Green-API restricts API methods.
- Voice notes as text, Hebrew and English, inside each message. Green-API does not transcribe.
- Agent-shaped tools.
activity,catch_up,search,peopleanddocumentsanswer "what did I miss?" directly, with senders by name. - Sending off by default, capped per day, never retried, logged.
Same terms for both. Circles, like every tool that reads a personal number, connects as an unofficial linked device, which is outside WhatsApp's terms. No one can promise WhatsApp will never disconnect a device. What Circles offers is careful defaults: reading by default, sending off until you allow it, a daily cap, no broadcast, and a dedicated IP address shared with no other customer. It makes no claim to a safer protocol. How Circles handles your chats.
Using both
A developer can keep building on Green-API for a product or a client, and still use Circles on their own personal number so their agent can read it. If you need an HTTP API for your own agent, Circles has one too: a WhatsApp API for your personal number.
Questions and answers
Does Green-API have an MCP server?
Yes. As of October 2026 it runs a hosted MCP at mcp.green-api.com/mcp, added in Claude as a custom connector with your instance ID and token. Circles' MCP is at https://app.usecircles.app/api/mcp, with OAuth and no instance token.
Does Green-API transcribe voice notes?
No, per its pages on 27 October 2026. Circles transcribes voice notes automatically, in Hebrew and English.
Can I limit which chats the agent sees in Green-API?
Green-API restricts API methods, with no per-chat setting. In Circles, each chat is hidden, read, or read and send.
Which is cheaper?
Green-API has a free developer plan for three chats; its Business price per instance was not verifiable on 27 October 2026. Circles is free for 2 chats, $9.90 a month on Starter for up to 5, and $29 a month on Pro for every chat. Each plan covers one number and every agent.
Are both unofficial?
Yes. Both link a number as an unofficial linked device, which is outside WhatsApp's terms. Circles reads by default, caps sends and never broadcasts.
Sources
Competitor facts as seen on 27 October 2026 unless another date is given. Prices change often in this category: check the vendor's own page before you buy.
Connect your WhatsApp to your agent today.
14 days free. Link your number, pick the chats, then connect Instinct with one tap or Claude, ChatGPT and Codex with one address.