# AutoCua vs Pomerado

> Pomerado scores 62.5 (B) to AutoCua's 44.3 (E) for browser automation. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-pomerado
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-pomerado.md (~5,200 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-06

Pomerado scores 62.5 (B) on agent readiness against AutoCua's 44.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. AutoCua leads on payments & pricing. Both do browser automation.

- AutoCua: grade E, 44.3/100, rank #1100 of 1354. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autocua.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/autocua.json
- Pomerado: grade B, 62.5/100, rank #503 of 1354. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pomerado.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pomerado.json
- Best desktop and mobile app automation for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/desktop-automation/index.md
- All 48 desktop comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/desktop-automation/index.md
- Best browser automation tools for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/browser/index.md
- All 230 browser comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser/index.md

## Which one, for what

### AutoCua (E)

Good for: Developers who want a local agent to operate desktop apps, their own browser or phones across platforms, on a machine they control.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 42

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it

Watch for: Two weeks old at version 0.1.9, with no changelog file

### Pomerado (B)

Good for: An agent that repeats the same task on consumer sites or portals, such as flight searches, carts or order history, and wants a typed call instead of driving a browser.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 40 against 25
- Schema & documentation, 86 against 42
- Agent ergonomics, 83 against 55
- Security & auth, 69 against 38
- Maintenance & community, 81 against 65
- Transparency & trust, 53 against 42

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: First released on 5 October 2026, with a team of two per its YC profile


## Why the edge

### Schema & documentation: Pomerado +44

- AutoCua (42): Framework reading. No API reference or typed interface beyond run_agent's documented arguments (5 of 25). No llms.txt (0). The README says what each mode drives and where it runs, and agent_capabilities.md lists what it can do (16 of 20). Modes and device are documented strings (6 of 15). Many examples, no documented errors (10 of 15). Tags without a changelog (5 of 15). 5 + 0 + 16 + 6 + 10 + 5 = 42.
- Pomerado (86): OpenAPI 3.1 at /v1/openapi.json with 90 operations on 71 paths on 2 November (84 on 66 on 17 October), and every MCP tool on the keyless endpoint has a typed JSON Schema input with `additionalProperties: false` (25). llms.txt with every page, and a Markdown twin of each docs page (10). MCP descriptions say when to use each tool and when not to, such as Pomerado before a browser, the read-only run for read tools, `possible_matches` before a build, and secrets on `answer_url`, not in chat. The server's instructions say to use a browser only if Pomerado says it can't build a tool (18). 184 enums, lengths and ranges such as `limit` 1 to 100 and keys of 1 to 200 characters, and required fields marked. The run and build tools take `input` and `example_input` as JSON-encoded strings over MCP (11). 59 of 90 operations carry examples, all 90 document error responses, and the errors page gives 157 codes, each with its status, whether to retry and what to do (14). Paths are versioned `/v1`. The API reference still has a dated Changes list with one entry, of 15 October 2026, though six operations were added since, and the open-source core keeps CHANGELOG.md with breaking-change sections (8 of 15).

### Security & auth: Pomerado +31

- AutoCua (38): Framework reading (telemetry, approvals, guardrails, sandboxing). Provider keys stored in a local folder with Chrome profiles (10 of 30). The worker tools are an allow-list with no write tool, unseen ids are refused, downloads need a yes, but on Windows the model answers UAC elevation prompts itself through a kernel driver, with no person asked (6 of 20). The scraping ruleset has a prompt-injection instruction to log page text that gives instructions (10 of 15). Runs are logged in the app, with no audit log (7 of 15). No security policy, disclosure route or advisories found (5 of 20, for the vault and certificate handling). 10 + 6 + 10 + 7 + 5 = 38.
- Pomerado (69): OAuth for MCP clients, and `pom_` API keys limited to chosen permissions out of 11, expiring after 90 days by default, rotated and revoked through the API, with integration keys confined to one site's MCP. No secret travels in a URL; the keyless URL refuses a key (30). The read-only run refuses a tool that writes before a job starts, builds declare read or write, write tools carry destructiveHint, website logins go through a protected page, and a key can't reveal a saved password or authenticator code. No approval step of Pomerado's own for writes was found beyond the client's own prompt (16). Tools return website content. The job-object page says to treat a job's `message` as data, never as instructions, and outputs are checked against each tool's schema, but no wider guidance on untrusted page text was found (6). Run logs list each browser action and the site's own requests, kept 90 days, builds have an activity log, and connected apps show permissions used and last use (13). No security.txt, SOC 2, ISO 27001 or bug bounty found. The homepage footer now links a trust centre at trust.pomerado.ai, whose robots.txt answers with its script-drawn app page, so it wasn't read and nothing on it is credited. The README sends reports to GitHub private vulnerability reporting, and the terms commit to notify customers of incidents without undue delay (4). Pomerado stores website passwords, authenticator secrets and recovery codes, which raises the stakes of that gap.

### Agent ergonomics: Pomerado +28

- AutoCua (55): Framework reading. One call with a mode, provider, model and task runs a whole agent (20 of 25). A separate compression agent splices handoff summaries in, and runs are capped and stoppable (15 of 20). Permission and blocked-input errors are reported specifically, with no error reference (8 of 20). No resume or retry semantics described (2 of 20). Sensible defaults (simulators unless device is set), Python only (10 of 15). 20 + 15 + 8 + 2 + 10 = 55.
- Pomerado (83): The keyless endpoint lists eight tools with about 27,400 characters of definitions on 2 November, and the docs give 14 for a signed-in connection, with the rest of the API reached through `search_pomerado_api`, `describe_pomerado_api` and `call_pomerado_api` instead of one tool per operation. An integration MCP narrows an agent to one site's tools (19 of 25). Lists take `cursor` and `limit` 1 to 100, tool search filters by query, site and integration, `get_job` takes `include_result` and `wait_seconds`, and paged results carry a cursor (17). One error envelope with `code`, `message`, `retryable`, `docs_url` and `details`, and codes such as `key_permission_missing` name the missing permission and the page to fix it (20). Idempotency keys on runs and builds, with replay marked `Idempotent-Replayed`, and every keyless tool carries readOnlyHint or destructiveHint, idempotentHint and openWorldHint as fits (20). Few required fields (none for search, two for a run), but no official client SDK. The npm package is the local minter, not a Cloud client (7 of 15).

### Payments & pricing: AutoCua +18

- AutoCua (60): Free self-hosted package with nothing to buy: 0 + 20 + 20 + 20 = 60.
- Pomerado (42): No x402, MPP or L402 on Pomerado's endpoints (0). Plan prices are public, Free $0, Premium $50 a month and Business custom, with call and build allowances, but there is no per-call price (10). The Free plan and keyless use need no card (20). An agent can find and run 584 public read-only tools across 447 sites with no account (46 across 23 on 17 October), but writes, logins and builds need an account that a person approves, through OAuth or a device code, so partial credit (12 of 20).

### Maintenance & community: Pomerado +16

- AutoCua (65): v0.1.9 tagged on 4 November 2026 (30). Four tags in 90 days (20). Issues and pull requests weren't read (0 of 25). The PyPI wheel is current (15). No CI; dependencies pinned per OS in requirements files (0 of 10). 30 + 20 + 0 + 15 + 0 = 65.
- Pomerado (81): The repository's newest tag is v0.4.0-canary.493 on 29 October 2026, with main merged to 1 November, and the API's Changes entry is of 15 October (30). Releases 0.1.0 to 0.2.0 between 5 and 6 October, 0.3.0 closed in the changelog on 7 October, and 34 tags in all, most of them canaries (20). 1,396 commits on main from 17 October to 1 November, nearly all by the two founders. GitHub issues and replies couldn't be read, because GitHub's pages and API answer 403 in this session, so this rests on the commit history and the founders' email address (8 of 25). In the official MCP registry as `ai.pomerado/pomerado`, a domain-verified namespace, version 1.0.0, active since 15 October 2026, re-read on 2 November (15). CI runs a gitleaks secret scan, pins actions by SHA and publishes with npm provenance, per the 17 October check. Run results couldn't be read (8 of 10). 30 + 20 + 8 + 15 + 8 = 81.

### Reliability: Pomerado +15

- AutoCua (25): Local package. Installs from PyPI as AutoCua with Python 3.10 or later and the supported platforms stated (20). No CI runs the tests; the only workflow, use_case_label.yml, labels issues (0). GitHub issues weren't read, so the open-issue line is scored absent (0). Four tags in a week with no changelog file (5). Version 0.1.9 (0). 20 + 0 + 0 + 5 + 0 = 25.
- Pomerado (40): Graded as a hosted service, Pomerado Cloud, since the MCP and REST docs and the homepage's setup prompt point agents to it. No status page found on 2 November. status.pomerado.ai still doesn't resolve, and none is linked from the site, the docs or llms.txt (0). No readable incident history (5). Daily allowances are published with numbers (100 or 1,000 tool runs a day, 10 or 100 integrations a month), keyless runs have a daily limit, and 20 connect keys an hour, but no per-second or per-minute request rate was found (10 of 15). Over a limit the API answers 429 `quota_exceeded` with `reset_at`, or `try_limit_reached` with Retry-After, every error carries `retryable`, retryable MCP errors add `retry_after_seconds`, and runs, builds and invitations take idempotency keys with `write_status` and `outcome_unknown` for writes whose result is unclear (15). Business lists SLA guarantees, with no published terms (0). No beta or preview label on the hosted MCP or API, and the registry entry is version 1.0.0 (10). 0 + 5 + 10 + 15 + 0 + 10 = 40.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | AutoCua | Pomerado | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 25 | 40 | Pomerado +15 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 42 | 86 | Pomerado +44 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 55 | 83 | Pomerado +28 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 38 | 69 | Pomerado +31 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 42 | AutoCua +18 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 81 | Pomerado +16 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 42 | 53 | Pomerado +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **44.3 · E** | **62.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | AutoCua | Pomerado |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent framework | MCP server |
| Vendor | Ashish Yadav and contributors (ComputerUseAgent on GitHub) | Pomerado AI, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://mcp.pomerado.ai/mcp` |
| Transports |  | HTTP |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Pomerado Cloud is a proprietary service under Pomerado's terms of service. The minting core in Pomerado/pomerado and the `pomerado` npm package are MIT from version 0.2.0, and versions 0.1.2 and earlier were AGPL-3.0-only |
| Tools exposed | none | 14 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `ai.pomerado/pomerado` |
| Last release | 2026-11-04 | 2026-10-29 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-10-04 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-10-16 |
| Customer content may train models | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Popularity | none | 37k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3/5 (4) |

## How the scores have moved

### AutoCua

No score change since it was listed.

### Pomerado

- -0.3 on 30 October 2026: checklist
- +0.2 on 28 October 2026: checklist

## Verdicts

**AutoCua.** A capable, fast-moving open-source agent for driving desktops, browsers and phones through real input and accessibility trees, with a careful safety section. It's two weeks old, with no test CI or changelog, and on Windows the model itself decides whether to accept an admin elevation prompt.

**Pomerado.** An agent can find and run 584 public read-only website tools with no account, and signed-in calls get scoped, expiring keys, idempotency keys and a documented code for every failure. Pomerado launched on 5 October 2026, has no status page or security.txt, and its homepage lists bank and government portals that its builds refuse.

## Before you call either

### AutoCua

1. pip install AutoCua, then call run_agent with a mode such as "web use" or "computer use", a provider, a model and a task
2. Run it on a machine or account you can afford to lose; it drives real input and keeps logged-in browser profiles
3. On Windows, don't install the Interception driver unless you accept the model deciding UAC prompts
4. Set AutoCua_DATA_DIR to keep keys and profiles somewhere private
5. Phones go over USB from a script; Wi-Fi only through the desktop app

### Pomerado

1. Try public read-only tools at https://mcp.pomerado.ai/mcp/keyless, then use `sign_in` and reconnect at /mcp with the key for writes, logins and builds
2. Call `find_website_tool` with a query and `site_url`, and check `possible_matches` before starting a build
3. Send an `idempotency_key` with every run that writes, and on `outcome_unknown` read the website back before calling again
4. Give the person the job's `answer_url` for website logins and codes. Don't take passwords in chat
5. Save a run's result when it arrives. It is returned once and erased after 60 minutes if unread

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, AutoCua or Pomerado?

Pomerado scores 62.5 (B) on agent readiness against AutoCua's 44.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. AutoCua leads on payments & pricing.

### Can an agent call AutoCua and Pomerado without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for AutoCua. Pomerado has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.pomerado.ai/mcp.

### Are AutoCua and Pomerado open source?

Yes. AutoCua is open source (MIT). Pomerado is open source (Pomerado Cloud is a proprietary service under Pomerado's terms of service. The minting core in Pomerado/pomerado and the `pomerado` npm package are MIT from version 0.2.0, and versions 0.1.2 and earlier were AGPL-3.0-only).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-pomerado.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-pomerado.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "autocua", "b": "pomerado"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare autocua pomerado`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/autocua.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pomerado.json

## Other comparisons with AutoCua or Pomerado

- [agent-browser vs AutoCua](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-autocua.md)
- [agent-browser vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-pomerado.md)
- [Airtop vs AutoCua](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-autocua.md)
- [Airtop vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-pomerado.md)
- [Anchor Browser vs AutoCua](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-autocua.md)
- [Anchor Browser vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-pomerado.md)
- [AutoCua vs Browser Use](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browser-use.md)
- [AutoCua vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browserless.md)
- [AutoCua vs BxPlaywright](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-bx-playwright.md)
- [AutoCua vs Chrome DevTools MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp.md)
- [AutoCua vs Functionize MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-functionize-mcp.md)
- [AutoCua vs Hyperbrowser](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-hyperbrowser.md)
- [AutoCua vs Kane CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-kane-cli.md)
- [AutoCua vs Lightpanda](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-lightpanda.md)
- [AutoCua vs Notte](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-notte.md)
- [AutoCua vs Playwright MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-playwright-mcp.md)
- [AutoCua vs Puppeteer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-puppeteer.md)
- [AutoCua vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)
- [AutoCua vs Robocorp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-robocorp.md)
- [AutoCua vs Selenium](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-selenium.md)
- [AutoCua vs Skyvern](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-skyvern.md)
- [AutoCua vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-steel.md)
- [AutoCua vs TinyFish](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-tinyfish.md)
- [Browser Use vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-vs-pomerado.md)
- [Browserbase vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserbase-vs-pomerado.md)
- [Browserless vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-pomerado.md)
- [BxPlaywright vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bx-playwright-vs-pomerado.md)
- [Chrome DevTools MCP vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chrome-devtools-mcp-vs-pomerado.md)
- [Functionize MCP server vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/functionize-mcp-vs-pomerado.md)
- [Hyperbrowser vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperbrowser-vs-pomerado.md)
- [Kane CLI vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kane-cli-vs-pomerado.md)
- [Lightpanda vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lightpanda-vs-pomerado.md)
- [Notte vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/notte-vs-pomerado.md)
- [Playwright MCP vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playwright-mcp-vs-pomerado.md)
- [Pomerado vs Puppeteer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pomerado-vs-puppeteer.md)
- [Pomerado vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pomerado-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)
- [Pomerado vs Selenium](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pomerado-vs-selenium.md)
- [Pomerado vs Skyvern](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pomerado-vs-skyvern.md)
- [Pomerado vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pomerado-vs-steel.md)
- [Pomerado vs TinyFish](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pomerado-vs-tinyfish.md)

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