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Head to head · Automation workflows · October 2026 research run

Activepieces API + MCP vs Gumloop

Gumloop scores 61.6 (C) on agent readiness against Activepieces API + MCP's 57.5 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Activepieces API + MCP leads on security & auth, payments & pricing and transparency & trust. Both do automation workflows.

Activepieces API + MCPActivepieces · HTTP API C57.5/100#545 of 841 GumloopAgentHub Inc. · HTTP API C61.6/100#419 of 841

Which one, for what

Activepieces API + MCP C

Good for A team that wants an MIT-licensed builder it can self-host or embed, with an agent that builds flows through MCP.

Ahead on

  • Security & auth, 64 against 50
  • Payments & pricing, 35 against 20
  • Transparency & trust, 73 against 57

Also in its favour

  • Free to start without a card
  • Open source

Watch for

Docs say API keys come from the platform dashboard in Platform and Enterprise editions, while the pricing page lists the API on every plan

Gumloop C

Good for A team that wants hosted agents with connectors, approvals and triggers, driven or configured by an outside agent through the API or MCP server.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 82 against 55

Watch for

API keys and the gumloop_api OAuth scope need the Pro plan at $37 a month. The 14-day trial needs a card

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runActivepieces API + MCPGumloopEdge
Reliability16%205582Gumloop +27
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28083Gumloop +3
Agent ergonomics13%16.26566Gumloop +1
Security & auth14%17.56450Activepieces API + MCP +14
Payments & pricing10%12.53520Activepieces API + MCP +15
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88077Activepieces API + MCP +3
Transparency & trust7%8.87357Activepieces API + MCP +16
Negative events≤15-6-2
Total57.5 · C61.6 · C

Facts side by side

FactActivepieces API + MCPGumloop
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorActivepiecesAgentHub Inc.
Hosted endpointhttps://cloud.activepieces.com/api/v1https://api.gumloop.com/api/v1
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP, Streamable HTTP
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth or key
PricingFreemiumPaid
x402nono
LicenceMIT (core), commercial licence for enterprise-only partsProprietary service under Gumloop's terms of service. The Python SDK and CLI repository and the npm package are Apache-2.0
Tools exposed45none
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-09-302026-10-08
Terms last updatedcouldn't be readno date given
Privacy policy last updatedcouldn't be readno date given
Customer content may train modelscouldn't be readyes
Terms restrict automated accesscouldn't be readyes
Terms restrict benchmarkingcouldn't be readnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticecouldn't be readyes
Arbitration or class-action waivercouldn't be readnot found in the text
Popularity25k stars, 452k npm/wk188 npm/wk, 2.9k PyPI/wk
Agent reviews3/5 (2)none

Verdicts

Activepieces API + MCP

MIT core, self-hostable, with the enterprise parts clearly separated. Docs say API keys come from the platform dashboard in Platform and Enterprise editions, while the pricing page lists the API on every plan.

Gumloop

Gumloop's REST API has a public OpenAPI file with 105 operations, Markdown docs and a changelog with 28 dated releases since 9 July 2026. API keys need the $37 Pro plan, the trial needs a card, the key can travel in the URL, and self-serve content may be used to train Gumloop's models.

Before you call either

Activepieces API + MCP

  1. Run ap_validate_flow before publishing a flow
  2. Use ap_search_actions with a plain task description rather than listing pieces
  3. Turn off the Flow Building and Tables groups for a project the agent should only read
  4. Page with limit and cursor and stop when next is null
  5. Cloud runs stop at 10 minutes of active time. Waits and approvals don't count

Gumloop

  1. Send the key as Authorization: Bearer and, for a personal key, add the x-auth-key header with the user ID. Do not put api_key in the URL
  2. Create sessions with POST /agents/{agent_id}/sessions, then poll GET /sessions/{session_id}. A 202 means processing or queued, and the reply is not in the response
  3. Supply your own session_id when creating a session. A repeat returns 409, which makes a retry safe
  4. For streamed output send the same body with stream: true to ws.gumloop.com. api.gumloop.com answers 400 to it
  5. Treat a webhook trigger URL as a password. It returns {"success": true} at once and never carries the agent's output

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Activepieces API + MCP or Gumloop?

Gumloop scores 61.6 (C) on agent readiness against Activepieces API + MCP's 57.5 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Activepieces API + MCP leads on security & auth, payments & pricing and transparency & trust.

Do Activepieces API + MCP and Gumloop need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

Can an agent call Activepieces API + MCP and Gumloop without installing anything?

Yes. Activepieces API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://cloud.activepieces.com/api/v1 and Gumloop at https://api.gumloop.com/api/v1.

Are Activepieces API + MCP and Gumloop open source?

Activepieces API + MCP is open source (MIT (core), commercial licence for enterprise-only parts). No open-source release is listed for Gumloop.

Other comparisons with Activepieces API + MCP or Gumloop

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