Head to head · Cad generate · October 2026 research run
Adam vs nTop
Adam scores 59.4 (C) on agent readiness against nTop's 40.2 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do cad generate.
Best CAD, simulation and fabrication APIs for AI agents · All 15 cad comparisons
Which one, for what
Adam C
Best for An agent that drives mechanical CAD work in Onshape, Fusion or SOLIDWORKS through a hosted engineering agent, or needs STEP and 3MF exports of Adam-stored models.
Ahead on
- Schema & documentation, 81 against 61
- Agent ergonomics, 82 against 60
- Security & auth, 74 against 26
- Payments & pricing, 15 against 0
- Maintenance & community, 55 against 45
- Transparency & trust, 72 against 51
Watch for
The MCP server and REST API are labelled beta, with breaking changes allowed
nTop E
Best for An engineering team that already runs nTop and wants an agent to drive design-of-experiments loops over a notebook or read exported implicit bodies in Python.
No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.
Watch for
Every geometry call needs nTop installed on Windows with a paid Automate licence; the Core package is beta, behind a login and not on PyPI
Why the edge
Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.
Security & auth Adam +48
Adam 74
OAuth 2.1 authorisation code with PKCE S256, automatic client registration, RFC 8707 resource indicators, refresh tokens, a revocation endpoint and 11 scopes, or a personal key minted for one workspace with chosen scopes and shown once; bearer header only, no query-string option (30). Read and change approved separately per area, tools:execute kept apart and blockable by an admin under Allow full harness execution, deletes behind confirmation, and access revoked at once from Connected apps. tools:execute is broad, covering commands, connected accounts, paired devices, stored credentials and billable tools (18 of 20). Task messages return the agent's output and tool results, which can include web search and connected-account content, and no prompt-injection guidance was found; per-user sandboxes isolate execution but do not address it (4 of 15). Connected apps are listed with revocation, every error carries a requestId and the billing summary reports usage, but no audit log for the operator was found (6 of 15). SOC 2 Type I approved with Type II in progress, a bug bounty of $10 to $100 per finding with a 90-day window and safe harbour, patch SLAs by CVSS severity, 72-hour incident notification, and no security.txt (16 of 20). 30 + 18 + 4 + 6 + 16 = 74.
nTop 26
Licence credentials rather than tokens, since ntopcl signs in with a username and password on the command line or a FlexNet server address, with no scoped, revocable or expiring key (8 of 30). The Run Command block has Prompt per File, Prompt per Block and Disallow All settings, which is the only approval control found; the docs MCP server is read-only (10 of 20). The docs server returns nTop's own documentation and ntopcl returns geometry, so little untrusted content reaches the model; no guidance was found (8 of 15). No audit log or per-call record found (0 of 15). No security.txt (404), disclosure policy, bug bounty, certification or advisories found on ntop.com or docs.ntop.com (0 of 20). 8 + 10 + 8 + 0 + 0 = 26.
Agent ergonomics Adam +22
Adam 82
The docs name 15 adam_ tools plus displayFile and loadSkill, so 11 to 30 (15), and task tools are discovered per task with adam_list_task_tools rather than listed up front, which earns 8 back (23 of 25). Cursor pagination with limit 1 to 50, status and project filters on tasks, and message parts that admins can trim, though results of tool calls may be truncated without a size control (18 of 20). One error envelope with type, message and requestId, 402 and 403 that name the plan or scope at fault, and a recovery table for each direct-tool failure (18 of 20). Idempotency-Key required on every write that starts work, a 24-hour replay, cancel documented as safe to repeat, and an unknown status that tells the agent to inspect before retrying; deletes need confirmation, but readOnlyHint and destructiveHint annotations were not confirmed since tools/list was not read (16 of 20). Few required parameters, but no official SDK in any language (7 of 15). 23 + 18 + 18 + 16 + 7 = 82.
nTop 60
A command line with one notebook and two JSON files, a Python package with one class, and a docs MCP server with two tools, so almost nothing to load before work starts (20 of 25). Outputs are files whose size follows the notebook, mesh and voxel outputs are sized by feature_size and spacing, and the docs server caps each answer at 30 KB with rg and head for narrowing (12 of 20). Core raises builtin exceptions with messages; ntopcl's errors are described in knowledge-base articles rather than a reference (10 of 20). Running a notebook again with the same inputs produces the same outputs, and the SAVE flag controls whether inputs are written back; no annotations on the docs tools were published (10 of 20). The three-function ntopcl.py helper keeps defaults few, but every run needs a licence argument or signed-in session and only Python is covered (8 of 15). 20 + 12 + 10 + 10 + 8 = 60.
Transparency & trust Adam +21
Adam 72
Closed service under terms of 5 June 2026 that name Adam AI Labs, Inc. but state no governing law, refund or notice terms beyond email; CADAM is GPL-3.0 (13 of 30). The privacy policy of 24 October 2026 keeps data as long as needed, while the compliance page of 7 October 2026 gives 30-day deletion after closure, 7-day backups, no training on model inputs under the providers' commercial terms, and a DPA on request; the two agree where they overlap (20 of 30). Removals announced at least 90 days ahead with Deprecation and Sunset headers and changelog notices, though no removal has been recorded yet (16 of 20). Every subprocessor named with purpose, data and region, and data residency by category (18 of 20). 13 + 20 + 16 + 18 = 67.
nTop 51
Closed software under an EULA last updated February 2026 that names nTopology Inc. and New York law (15). The privacy policy of February 2026 names the controller and US hosting, keeps data as long as needed with no periods, names no subprocessors, and the EULA says usage data is collected to run and improve the products; the statements agree but say little (12 of 30). No deprecation policy; the Core package says only that breaking changes may occur (4 of 20). The EULA discloses usage data collection and the licensing page says the desktop connects to the cloud for analytics, with no opt-out found (6 of 20). 15 + 12 + 4 + 6 = 37.
Schema & documentation Adam +20
Adam 81
Public OpenAPI 3.1 for the REST API (adam.new/openapi.json and api.adam.new/openapi.json), a site spec for OAuth and MCP endpoints, and an MCP manifest. MCP tool schemas were not read, since tools/list needs a sign-in, though adam_list_task_tools is documented to return input schemas (20 of 25). llms.txt, a docs index at docs.adam.new/llms.txt, Markdown for every page on request through the Accept header, and a starter SKILL.md (10). The direct-tools page gives each MCP tool a purpose and its scopes, and OpenAPI descriptions state conditional requirements such as cron or runAt, but no tool definition says when not to use it (12 of 20). Enums for task status, limit 1 to 50, required fields and multipart file fields are typed; the component schemas past the first 100,000 characters were not read (11 of 15). Every operation documents 400 to 500 responses with one error envelope, and the API introduction carries curl and JSON examples (13 of 15). Versioned /v1 paths, Deprecation and Sunset headers with 90 days' notice, and a dated changelog, though its newest entry is 10 September 2026 (15). 20 + 10 + 12 + 11 + 13 + 15 = 81.
nTop 61
ntopcl writes JSON input and output templates from a notebook with -t, and the Core Python API is fully typed, but there is no OpenAPI or schema document for ntopcl's own flags, which the docs say to print by running it (12 of 25). docs.ntop.com serves every article as Markdown with a .md suffix and a hosted docs MCP server (10). The API reference states the purpose of each Core function with parameter notes and the Automate lessons say what each helper does; ntopcl's full option list is not documented on the pages read (12 of 20). Core inputs are typed NumPy arrays with keyword-only parameters, builtin exceptions and unit conventions stated (10 of 15). Python examples for Core and Automate, a sample script in a zip, and a security error page; no error catalogue for ntopcl (9 of 15). Release notes per version without dates, no changelog for the Core package (8 of 15). 12 + 10 + 12 + 10 + 9 + 8 = 61.
Payments & pricing Adam +15
Adam 15
Read with the hosted rule. No x402, MPP or L402 (0). The pricing page's prices are drawn by script and were not readable; the Markdown version and the billing docs name Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise with no figure, so pricing is scored as unread (0 of 20, named in openQuestions). A Free plan with a daily usage pool and Lite models exists, and trials charge a saved card only when confirmed; whether Free needs a card is not stated (15 of 20). A person signs in with OAuth in a browser and picks a workspace (0). 0 + 0 + 15 + 0 = 15.
nTop 0
Read with the paid-software rule, since nothing an agent would run is free. No x402, MPP or L402 (0). No price is published anywhere we read; licences are quoted by sales (0). No free tier or trial terms found; educational licences exist for students (0). A person buys a per-user licence, signs in at app.ntop.com and installs nTop; nothing is obtainable by an agent alone (0). 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 0.
Maintenance & community Adam +10
Adam 55
Read for a closed service. The changelog's newest entry is 10 September 2026, 54 days before this check (20). Entries dated 7, 10, 11 and 25 August and 4 to 10 September 2026, more than three in 90 days (20). A public changelog, hello@adam.new, a Discord and the CADAM repository with 26 open issues, which were not read for replies (10 of 15). The manifest follows the registry schema but new.adam/adam is not in the official MCP registry, and there is no official SDK (0 of 15). CADAM was pushed on 15 October 2026 and the service itself has no package to judge (5 of 10). 20 + 20 + 10 + 0 + 5 = 55.
nTop 45
Read for closed software with a docs site. The newest release notes are for nTop 6.3, undated; the docs sitemap last modified the 6.1 page on 21 September 2026 and the Core package page on 19 October 2026, so a change within 90 days is likely but no release date was read (20 of 30). Four versions (6.0 to 6.3) are documented and the 6.0 and 6.1 pages changed in September, but without dates we can't count three releases in 90 days (12 of 20). support@ntop.com, a community site that renders only a loading screen, and a feedback tool on the docs server; no public issues or reply times (8 of 25). No entry in the official MCP registry for the docs server, and the only SDK is a beta Python package behind a login (5 of 15). No CI, package index or dependency data to read (0 of 10). 20 + 12 + 8 + 5 + 0 = 45.
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Adam | nTop | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 35 | 38 | nTop +3 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 81 | 61 | Adam +20 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 82 | 60 | Adam +22 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 74 | 26 | Adam +48 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 15 | 0 | Adam +15 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 55 | 45 | Adam +10 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 72 | 51 | Adam +21 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | C 59.4/100 | E 40.2/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Adam | nTop |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | MCP server | SDK + MCP |
| Vendor | Adam AI Labs, Inc. | nTopology Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | https://adam.new/mcp | https://docs.ntop.com/mcp |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP | Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Closed service under Adam's Terms of Service (Adam AI Labs, Inc., last updated 5 June 2026). The CADAM text-to-CAD web application is open source under GPL-3.0. | none |
| Tools exposed | none | 2 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-09-10 | none |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-02-01 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-02-01 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Popularity | 5.4k stars | none |
Verdicts
Adam
An agent reaches Adam's CAD tasks over OAuth 2.1 with per-area scopes, idempotency keys and a public OpenAPI spec, and can export STEP, STL, IGES and 3MF from Adam-stored models. The MCP server and API are beta, numeric rate limits and plan prices are not published, and native CAD edits need a connected desktop application.
nTop
An agent on a licensed Windows machine can run any nTop notebook headlessly through ntopcl with JSON in and out, and the beta Python package reads the resulting implicit bodies. Nothing is callable without a paid per-user licence, no price is public, the EULA bars servers without an order form, and licence credentials go on the command line.
Before you call either
Adam
- Call adam_get_context first and check the scopes; client-driven tool calls need
tasks:read,tasks:writeandtools:execute, which an admin may have blocked - Send a fresh UUID as Idempotency-Key on every task, message and tool call, reuse it on a retry, and on status unknown inspect the task before retrying with a new key
- Poll adam_get_tool_call for queued or running calls; creating an external task starts no inference, but executing tools spends the workspace's usage
- Treat 402 as a plan or usage limit for the person to resolve, and on 429 wait for Retry-After
- Expect only Adam-stored models to export without a desktop; ask the person to connect Onshape, Fusion or SOLIDWORKS before native edits
nTop
- Only plan to call nTop from a Windows machine where nTop is installed and an Automate licence is signed in; there is no hosted geometry API, and running on a server needs an order form
- Run
ntopcl -t <notebook.ntop>first to get the input and output JSON templates, fill the inputs, then run the notebook with the input and output file paths; the Python helper ntopcl.py wraps the three calls - Keep licence credentials out of prompts and logs: pass
--license PORT@HOSTNAMEfor a floating server or a local .lic file rather than a username and password where the owner has one - Treat the nTop Core package as beta; pin the version, since breaking changes may land between any two versions, and work in metres
- Use the docs MCP server (search first, then rg or head on the returned path with .mdx) to answer nTop questions; it reads only documentation and caps output at 30 KB
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, Adam or nTop?
Adam scores 59.4 (C) on agent readiness against nTop's 40.2 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.
Can an agent call Adam and nTop without installing anything?
Yes. Adam has a hosted endpoint at https://adam.new/mcp and nTop at https://docs.ntop.com/mcp.
Other comparisons with Adam or nTop
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/adam-cad-vs-ntop.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/adam-cad.json·/api/v1/tools/ntop.json - From a terminal
anchor compare adam-cad ntop(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "adam-cad", "b": "ntop"}at/mcp, no key