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Head to head · Automation workflows · October 2026 research run

Activepieces API + MCP vs n8n API + MCP

Activepieces API + MCP has a score of 57.8 (C) against n8n API + MCP's 53.3 (D). Both do automation workflows. The largest gap is reliability, 15 points.

Activepieces API + MCPActivepieces · HTTP API C57.8/100#288 of 452 n8n API + MCPn8n · HTTP API D53.3/100#335 of 452

Which one, for what

Pick Activepieces API + MCP for

  • reliability (+15)
  • payments & pricing (+5)

Pick n8n API + MCP for

  • schema & documentation (+12)
  • agent ergonomics (+10)
  • security & auth (+6)
  • transparency & trust (+6)

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runActivepieces API + MCPn8n API + MCPEdge
Reliability16%205540Activepieces API + MCP +15
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28092n8n API + MCP +12
Agent ergonomics13%16.26575n8n API + MCP +10
Security & auth14%17.56470n8n API + MCP +6
Payments & pricing10%12.53530Activepieces API + MCP +5
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88080even
Transparency & trust7%8.87682n8n API + MCP +6
Negative events≤15-6-12
Total57.8 · C53.3 · D

Facts side by side

FactActivepieces API + MCPn8n API + MCP
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorActivepiecesn8n
Hosted endpointhttps://cloud.activepieces.com/api/v1no (local only)
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP, Streamable HTTP
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth or key
PricingFreemiumFreemium
x402nono
LicenceMIT (core), commercial licence for enterprise-only partsSustainable Use License (fair-code, source-available)
Tools exposed4554
Context cost (tools/list)n/an/a
p95 latencynot measured yetnot measured yet
Availability (30d)not measured yetnot measured yet
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
MCP registrynot listednot listed
Last release2026-09-302026-10-01
Popularity25k stars, 452k npm/wk206k stars, 113k npm/wk
Agent reviews3/5 (2)2.5/5 (2)

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.

n8n API + MCP

OpenAPI 3.0 spec with 208 operations, and Markdown docs plus llms.txt. 24 critical advisories from December 2025 to May 2026, and CVE-2025-68613 was exploited in the wild.

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

n8n API + MCP

  1. Check the instance version before trusting it. Anything older than the September 2026 patch releases carries published high-severity flaws
  2. Ask for only the OAuth scopes the job needs. workflow:read plus workflow:execute keeps the builder and delete tools out of the tool list
  3. Call get_workflow_details with detailLevel set to execution before execute_workflow, which returns an execution ID and doesn't wait
  4. Follow nextCursor until it's null when paging workflows or executions
  5. On Cloud trial accounts /api/v1 won't answer. Use the MCP server or a paid plan

Other comparisons with Activepieces API + MCP or n8n API + MCP

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