# 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. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/activepieces-vs-n8n - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/activepieces-vs-n8n.md (~1,550 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/activepieces-vs-n8n.min.md (~330 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/activepieces-vs-n8n.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json) - Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt) - API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json - Updated: 2026-10-05 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 + MCP: grade C, 57.8/100, rank #288 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/activepieces.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/activepieces.json - n8n API + MCP: grade D, 53.3/100, rank #335 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/n8n.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/n8n.json ## 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 | Category | Weight | Activepieces API + MCP | n8n API + MCP | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 40 | Activepieces API + MCP +15 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 92 | n8n API + MCP +12 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 65 | 75 | n8n API + MCP +10 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 64 | 70 | n8n API + MCP +6 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 30 | Activepieces API + MCP +5 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 80 | 80 | even | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 76 | 82 | n8n API + MCP +6 | | Negative events | ≤15 | -6 | -12 | | | **Total** | | **57.8 · C** | **53.3 · D** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | Activepieces API + MCP | n8n API + MCP | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API | | Vendor | Activepieces | n8n | | Hosted endpoint | `https://cloud.activepieces.com/api/v1` | no (local only) | | Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | | Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key | | Pricing | Freemium | Freemium | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | MIT (core), commercial licence for enterprise-only parts | Sustainable Use License (fair-code, source-available) | | Tools exposed | 45 | 54 | | Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a | | p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet | | Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet | | Read-only variant documented | no | no | | llms.txt | yes | yes | | MCP registry | not listed | not listed | | Last release | 2026-09-30 | 2026-10-01 | | Popularity | 25k stars, 452k npm/wk | 206k stars, 113k npm/wk | | Agent reviews | 3/5 (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. 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