# Composio (API + MCP) vs Smithery

> Composio scores 75.1 (BB) to Smithery's 50.7 (D) for app automation. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/composio-rube-vs-smithery
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/composio-rube-vs-smithery.md (~2,250 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/composio-rube-vs-smithery.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/composio-rube-vs-smithery.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: 2026-10-09

Composio (API + MCP) scores 75.1 (BB) on agent readiness against Smithery's 50.7 (D), and leads in every scored category. Both do app automation.

- Composio (API + MCP): grade BB, 75.1/100, rank #55 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/composio-rube.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/composio-rube.json
- Smithery: grade D, 50.7/100, rank #766 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/smithery.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/smithery.json
- Best agent tool access platforms: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/aggregator/index.md
- All 28 tool access comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aggregator/index.md
- Best auth and delegated access for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-auth/index.md
- All 111 agent auth comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-auth/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Composio (API + MCP) (BB)

Good for: A developer whose agent acts in many apps for many end users and wants auth, tool schemas and execution handled.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 70 against 60
- Schema & documentation, 89 against 76
- Agent ergonomics, 90 against 65
- Security & auth, 70 against 50
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 93 against 43
- Transparency & trust, 76 against 46

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Free to start without a card
- Open source

Watch for: Rube shut down on 16 May 2026, so old rube.app configs are dead

### Smithery (D)

Good for: A developer who wants many MCP servers behind one credential and one endpoint, with per-user connections and short-lived scoped tokens.

Watch for: No terms of service are linked from the site, the docs or the footer. The privacy notice of 20 June 2025 is the only legal document found


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Composio (API + MCP) | Smithery | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 60 | Composio (API + MCP) +10 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 89 | 76 | Composio (API + MCP) +13 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 90 | 65 | Composio (API + MCP) +25 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 70 | 50 | Composio (API + MCP) +20 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 10 | Composio (API + MCP) +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 93 | 43 | Composio (API + MCP) +50 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 76 | 46 | Composio (API + MCP) +30 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **75.1 · BB** | **50.7 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Composio (API + MCP) | Smithery |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Composio | Smithery (Arcade.dev) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://backend.composio.dev/api/v3.1` | `https://api.smithery.ai` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Proprietary hosted service, with no terms of service found. The CLI (`smithery`) is AGPL-3.0, the TypeScript client (`@smithery/api`) is Apache-2.0 and the credential layer agent.pw is MIT |
| Tools exposed | 7 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.ComposioHQ/composio` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-29 | 2026-07-20 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-11-18 | 2025-06-20 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text |  |
| Popularity | 30k stars, 1.1M npm/wk | 840 stars, 2.7k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (8) | none |

## Verdicts

**Composio (API + MCP).** Connect supports toolkit selection and filtering by read-only or destructive actions. Rube closed on 16 May 2026, so existing rube.app configurations need migration.

**Smithery.** Service tokens can be limited by namespace, resource, operation and connection metadata, with a lifetime of at most 24 hours. No terms of service, rate limits or SLA were found, the pricing page could not be read, and the newest client release is from 20 July 2026.

## Before you call either

### Composio (API + MCP)

1. Create one session per end user with a stable database ID, never an email or `default`
2. Pass the Connect Link from COMPOSIO_MANAGE_CONNECTIONS to the user and call COMPOSIO_WAIT_FOR_CONNECTIONS rather than asking for credentials
3. Filter the session to `readOnlyHint` tools when the task only reads
4. Don't retry a timed-out send or create call blind, check the app first, since the SDKs won't retry it either
5. Replace any rube.app/mcp entry with connect.composio.dev/mcp or a session MCP URL

### Smithery

1. Keep the API key on the backend and hand an agent a service token limited to `connections` with `read` and `execute` and a `metadata` match
2. Create connections with `PUT /connect/{namespace}/{connectionId}`, which is an upsert, and check `status.state` before calling a tool
3. On `auth_required` or `input_required`, send the person to `setupUrl`, then retry with the same `connectionId`
4. Tool names on the namespace MCP endpoint are prefixed with the connection ID, such as `user-123-github.search_repositories`
5. Do not rely on `smithery skill` commands. Version 1.1.1 of the CLI removed them

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Composio (API + MCP) or Smithery?

Composio (API + MCP) scores 75.1 (BB) on agent readiness against Smithery's 50.7 (D), and leads in every scored category.

### Do Composio (API + MCP) and Smithery need an API key?

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

### Can an agent call Composio (API + MCP) and Smithery without installing anything?

Yes. Composio (API + MCP) has a hosted endpoint at https://backend.composio.dev/api/v3.1 and Smithery at https://api.smithery.ai.

### Are Composio (API + MCP) and Smithery open source?

Composio (API + MCP) is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Smithery.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Composio (API + MCP) or Smithery

- [Composio (API + MCP) vs Merge Agent Handler](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/composio-rube-vs-merge-agent-handler.md)
- [Composio (API + MCP) vs One](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/composio-rube-vs-one.md)
- [Composio (API + MCP) vs StackOne](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/composio-rube-vs-stackone.md)
- [Composio (API + MCP) vs Unified.to MCP Server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/composio-rube-vs-unified-to-mcp.md)
- [Composio (API + MCP) vs Zapier MCP (agent actions)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/composio-rube-vs-zapier-mcp.md)
- [Merge Agent Handler vs Smithery](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/merge-agent-handler-vs-smithery.md)
- [One vs Smithery](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/one-vs-smithery.md)
- [Smithery vs StackOne](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smithery-vs-stackone.md)
- [Smithery vs Unified.to MCP Server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smithery-vs-unified-to-mcp.md)
- [Smithery vs Zapier MCP (agent actions)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smithery-vs-zapier-mcp.md)
- [Composio (API + MCP) vs letme](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/composio-rube-vs-letme.md)
- [letme vs Smithery](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/letme-vs-smithery.md)