Comparing sanctions screening APIs on the dimensions that matter for AI agent operators: speed, SDN coverage freshness, false positive rates, and agent-integration readiness.
| Provider | Avg latency | SDN sync | Agent API | Free tier | Startup price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| agentmail | ~80ms | ≤2 hours | ✓ (MCP, HTTP, CLI) | 5 checks/day | $29/mo |
| Chainalysis | ~250ms | ≤24 hours | Limited | None | Custom quote |
| Elliptic | ~300ms | ≤24 hours | No | None | Custom quote |
| ComplyAdvantage | ~180ms | ≤12 hours | REST only | None | Custom quote |
| SumSub | ~400ms | ≤24 hours | No | Limited trial | $150/mo |
Latency measured as p50 for wallet screening. Agent API = native MCP server or agent-protocol endpoint. Pricing at time of publication. Agentmail is included transparently as our own product.
When an AI agent executes a payment, the sanctions screen happens in the critical path between user intent and transaction confirmation. At 80ms, the user doesn't notice. At 400ms, every payment feels sluggish. At 1-second+, the agent experience degrades to the point where users disable screening — which is worse than no screening at all.
Traditional sanctions screening APIs were built for compliance teams using dashboards. Agentmail was built for code: MCP server for Claude/Codex, HTTP API with JSON responses optimized for programmatic consumption, and CLI for shell scripts. The difference is whether you spend 2 hours or 2 weeks integrating sanctions screening into your agent's payment pipeline.
MCP server, HTTP API, or CLI — choose your integration.
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