Merge

What Merge does

Merge (legal entity Merge API Inc.) is a private, venture-backed company founded in 2020 and headquartered in San Francisco with a secondary office in New York City. The company operates a unified API platform that exposes 220+ customer-facing integrations across HR/payroll, accounting, ATS, CRM, file storage, ticketing, chat, knowledge base, and marketing automation behind a single normalized data model, eliminating the engineering burden of building and maintaining dozens of point integrations. As of October 2022, Merge served more than 3,000 customers spanning startups through Fortune 500 enterprises, with named customers including OpenAI, Mistral AI, Ramp, BILL, Perplexity, Dropbox, Drata, Navan, Revolut, Brex, Deel, Remote, and Freshworks.

The core product, Merge Unified, provides a REST API plus SDKs and an embedded Merge Link front-end component, with Integration Observability tooling (sync status, searchable logs, webhooks, automated issue detection) that customers such as Drata credit with an ~80% reduction in time spent managing integrations. On top of this integration backbone, Merge has layered two AI-era products: Merge Agent Handler, an MCP-compatible governance layer that enforces scoped permissions, DLP, and audit logging for AI agents acting on enterprise systems (offered in Agent Handler for Products and Agent Handler for Employees variants), and Merge Gateway, an LLM control plane that fronts multiple model providers with intelligent routing, spend caps, failover, and prompt-injection protection. The platform is supported by enterprise-grade compliance (SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA) and multi-region AWS data residency in the US, EU, and APAC.

Merge employs a hybrid go-to-market: a product-led growth motion with self-serve sign-up and a free startup tier, an enterprise field-sales motion with book-a-demo CTAs and dedicated account managers (including on-site customer enablement, as cited by BILL), an inside-sales motion targeting private equity portfolio companies with a structured AI-cost-optimization playbook, and a Service Partner channel exemplified by Azilen Technologies. Revenue is generated through annual SaaS subscriptions for Unified API and Agent Handler (seat-based for Agent Handler for Employees, quote-based for enterprise tiers), usage-based LLM pass-through via Gateway with BYOK billed at $0.05 per million tokens, a freemium startup tier, and enterprise implementation services. The company has raised $75M cumulatively across a $4.5M seed (May 2021, NEA), a $15M Series A (November 2021, Addition), and a $55M Series B (October 2022, Accel), and reported a 26x year-over-year ARR increase ahead of the Series B.

Name

Merge

Legal name

Merge API Inc.

Website

https://merge.dev

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Merge provides a unified API platform exposing 220+ customer-facing integrations plus MCP-based AI agent governance (Agent Handler) and an LLM routing control plane (Gateway) for B2B SaaS, AI, FinTech, and enterprise IT buyers building and governing production AI without owning the underlying integration stack.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Unified API Integration Platform

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

B2B SaaS & Enterprise Personalization (CRM, Sales, Support) (HDAAAGAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

B2B/EDI & Partner Integration (BPAMAOAJ), AI Integration & Orchestration Platforms (Connectors, Workflow, iPaaS for AI) (HDAEANAI), Connector/Adapter Frameworks & Integration Runtimes (HDAEACAJ), Integration, API & Middleware Consulting (BPAHAEAJ)

Keywords

• Unified API platform
• Enterprise SaaS integrations
• AI agent governance
• LLM routing gateway
• Integration infrastructure software

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Subscription for Unified API and Agent Handler: Recurring SaaS subscriptions for the Merge Unified API product and the Agent Handler product (including per-seat Agent Handler for Employees and per-product Agent Handler for Products), billed annually with tiered plans by usage and features.
2. Usage-based LLM pass-through via Merge Gateway: Customers pay provider LLM usage rates passed through Merge's Gateway, plus a small Merge margin that shrinks at scale; BYOK usage is billed at $0.05 per million tokens; promotional zero-fee periods available for new sign-ups.
3. Freemium / free tier for startups: Free tier offered to startups on the Unified API to drive land-and-expand adoption, documented as a product offering in 2022 and referenced in the homepage "Start for free" CTA.
4. Enterprise services and enablement: Enterprise implementation services including on-site customer-facing team training, dedicated account management, and integration launch support that complement recurring subscriptions and accelerate expansion (e.g., BILL's 40+ HRIS integration launch).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Merge sells a unified API platform that gives B2B SaaS products access to 220+ customer-facing integrations across HR, payroll, accounting, ATS, CRM, ticketing, file storage, knowledge base, chat, and marketing automation through a single normalized data model. Layered on this core are Merge Agent Handler, MCP-compatible governance tooling that lets AI agents take authenticated actions across enterprise systems with DLP and audit logs, and Merge Gateway, an LLM control plane that fronts every major model provider with intelligent routing, spend caps, and observability.

Product overview

Merge sells a connective-infrastructure platform for production AI rather than a single monolithic product. The core product is Merge Unified, a unified API that gives B2B SaaS customers access to 220+ customer-facing integrations across HR/Payroll, Accounting, ATS, CRM, File Storage, Ticketing, Chat, Knowledge Base, and Marketing Automation through one normalized data model and integration observability tooling. On top of the unified API, Merge sells two add-on modules that extend the platform into AI-agent and LLM workloads: Merge Agent Handler (MCP-compatible agentic tooling, with variants for Products and Employees) and Merge Gateway (an LLM control plane that fronts every major model with intelligent routing, cost controls, and DLP). Together, the three products let engineering, IT, and product teams build and govern AI features and agents without owning the underlying integration, authentication, or model-routing stacks.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Merge Unified: The company's original Unified API product offering customer-facing integrations across HR, payroll, accounting, ATS, CRM, ticketing, file storage, and other software categories.
• Merge Agent Handler
• Merge Gateway

Products and services

• Merge Unified Unified REST API that gives B2B SaaS products access to 220+ customer-facing integrations across HR, Payroll, Accounting, Ticketing, CRM, ATS, File Storage, Chat, Knowledge Base, and Marketing Automation through a single normalized data model. Includes Integration Observability, scopes, selective sync, redact unmapped data, custom fields, Custom Objects (CRM), multi-region data residency (US/EU/APAC), SAML SSO, and role-based access control. Designed for product and engineering teams at B2B SaaS companies, AI companies, FinTechs, and HR tech vendors.
• Merge Agent Handler Agentic tooling product that connects AI agents to thousands of pre-built MCP-compatible enterprise tools with scoped permissions, DLP, and complete audit logs. Sold in two variants: Agent Handler for Products (production-ready MCP connectors for product and engineering teams) and Agent Handler for Employees (IT governance over employee use of Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, n8n, with seat-based pricing).
• Merge Gateway LLM control plane providing a single OpenAI-compatible API endpoint that fronts every major LLM provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Grok, Mistral, Cohere) with intelligent routing, automatic failover, per-customer spend caps, DLP, prompt-injection protection, Build Your Own Router scoring, and observability. Customers pay provider LLM usage rates plus a small Merge margin; BYOK usage billed at $0.05 per million tokens.

Quantifiable outcome

• Add integrations 10x faster (Foxit)
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers55 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration58 records

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Azilen TechnologiescoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 17 March 2026Azilen Technologies was recognized as an official Merge Service Partner to help HRTech SaaS customers in the US, Canada, and Europe design, implement, and scale HR and HRIS integrations on Merge's unified API, including Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, and ADP.
• BambooHRcoreTechnology or Integration · 3 November 2021BambooHR was announced as a Merge integration partner alongside the $15M Series A funding round, enabling HR and payroll data sync via Merge's HRIS Unified API.
• LevercoreTechnology or Integration · 3 November 2021Lever was announced as a Merge ATS integration partner alongside the November 2021 Series A.
• UKGcoreTechnology or Integration · 3 November 2021UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group) was announced as a Merge HR/payroll integration partner alongside the November 2021 Series A.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Plaid: Plaid is the dominant unified API for financial account data, comparable to Merge on the unified-API model and normalized-data-model approach, though more focused on consumer-permissioned bank data while Merge spans HR, ATS, CRM, and beyond.
• Apideck: Apideck offers a unified API product (Unify) exposing hundreds of integrations across CRM, HRIS, accounting, ATS, and more — directly competing with Merge Unified on normalized APIs for SaaS embedding use cases.
• Finch: Finch is a unified API purpose-built for HR, payroll, benefits, and ATS data — directly competing with Merge's HRIS category and serving the same B2B SaaS embedder buyer.
• StackOne: StackOne provides a unified API for HRIS, ATS, CRM, accounting, and other back-office systems targeting SaaS companies — closely comparable to Merge Unified's normalized data model and developer-first motion.
• Paragon: Paragon is an embedded integration platform-as-a-service used by SaaS companies to ship customer-facing integrations via a single API — overlapping directly with Merge's core offering and developer audience.
• Nango: Nango offers an open-source unified API for dozens of integrations targeted at developer-first SaaS teams — competing head-to-head with Merge on integration breadth and normalized data models, often with a self-host angle.

Broad incumbents

• Workato: Workato is an enterprise integration and automation platform covering thousands of connectors and broader workflow orchestration — a broad incumbent with overlapping integration capabilities but a different (iPaaS) primary use case.
• MuleSoft (Salesforce): MuleSoft is Salesforce's enterprise integration platform with API management, iPaaS, and a broad connector catalog — a broad incumbent whose API-led connectivity competes with Merge at the enterprise top of the market.
• Tray.io: Tray.io is a general-purpose integration and workflow automation platform with a connector library comparable in breadth to Merge — a broad incumbent in the same integration platform category but focused on internal automation versus Merge's customer-facing embedder motion.

Emerging players

• OpenRouter: OpenRouter provides a unified API for routing requests across multiple LLM providers — directly comparable to Merge Gateway's LLM routing and cost-control functionality for production AI workloads.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/merge_api
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/merge-api

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Merge