# Gumloop vs Kestra

> Kestra scores 63.6 (B) on agent readiness against Gumloop's 61.6 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Gumloop leads on security & auth. Both do automation workflows. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gumloop-vs-kestra
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gumloop-vs-kestra.md (~2,300 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gumloop-vs-kestra.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gumloop-vs-kestra.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

Kestra scores 63.6 (B) on agent readiness against Gumloop's 61.6 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Gumloop leads on security & auth. Both do automation workflows.

- Gumloop: grade C, 61.6/100, rank #419 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gumloop.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gumloop.json
- Kestra: grade B, 63.6/100, rank #351 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kestra.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kestra.json

## Which one, for what

### Gumloop (C)

Good for: A team that wants hosted agents with connectors, approvals and triggers, driven or configured by an outside agent through the API or MCP server.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 50 against 41

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for: API keys and the `gumloop_api` OAuth scope need the Pro plan at $37 a month. The 14-day trial needs a card

### Kestra (B)

Good for: Engineering and data teams that want declarative YAML flows with scripts in any language, run on their own infrastructure.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 89 against 82
- Agent ergonomics, 73 against 66
- Payments & pricing, 50 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 93 against 77
- Transparency & trust, 69 against 57

Also in its favour:
- Open source

Watch for: The open-source edition has one basic-auth username and password. API tokens, service accounts, RBAC and audit logs need Enterprise or Cloud


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Gumloop | Kestra | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 82 | 89 | Kestra +7 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 83 | 82 | Gumloop +1 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 73 | Kestra +7 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 50 | 41 | Gumloop +9 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 50 | Kestra +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 93 | Kestra +16 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 57 | 69 | Kestra +12 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -7 | |
| **Total** | | **61.6 · C** | **63.6 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Gumloop | Kestra |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | AgentHub Inc. | Kestra Technologies |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.gumloop.com/api/v1` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Paid | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Gumloop's terms of service. The Python SDK and CLI repository and the npm package are Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 (open-source server and SDK repository). Enterprise Edition and Kestra Cloud are commercial |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-05 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | yes |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text |  |
| Popularity | 188 npm/wk, 2.9k PyPI/wk | 29k stars, 244 npm/wk, 170 PyPI/wk |

## Verdicts

**Gumloop.** Gumloop's REST API has a public OpenAPI file with 105 operations, Markdown docs and a changelog with 28 dated releases since 9 July 2026. API keys need the $37 Pro plan, the trial needs a card, the key can travel in the URL, and self-serve content may be used to train Gumloop's models.

**Kestra.** Kestra's open-source edition has a 216-operation OpenAPI spec, Markdown docs for agents and weekly patch releases on two long-term support lines. Its only credential is one basic-auth username and password with full access, and five critical advisories were published between March and September 2026, all fixed.

## Before you call either

### Gumloop

1. Send the key as `Authorization: Bearer` and, for a personal key, add the `x-auth-key` header with the user ID. Do not put `api_key` in the URL
2. Create sessions with `POST /agents/{agent_id}/sessions`, then poll `GET /sessions/{session_id}`. A 202 means processing or queued, and the reply is not in the response
3. Supply your own `session_id` when creating a session. A repeat returns 409, which makes a retry safe
4. For streamed output send the same body with `stream: true` to `ws.gumloop.com`. `api.gumloop.com` answers 400 to it
5. Treat a webhook trigger URL as a password. It returns `{"success": true}` at once and never carries the agent's output

### Kestra

1. Run 2.0.5 or 1.3.42 or later. Earlier builds carry unauthenticated remote code execution advisories fixed in 1.3.38 and 2.0.3
2. Set `kestra.server.basic-auth` in the config file before first start. Without it the setup page is open to anyone who reaches the port
3. Put the tenant in the path. Open-source instances use `main`, as in `/api/v1/main/executions/{namespace}/{id}`
4. Send flow inputs as multipart form fields, and add `wait=true` to get the finished execution in the same call
5. Keep port 8081 off any shared network. The management endpoints there skip the API's basic auth

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Gumloop or Kestra?

Kestra scores 63.6 (B) on agent readiness against Gumloop's 61.6 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Gumloop leads on security & auth.

### Do Gumloop and Kestra need an API key?

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

### Can an agent call Gumloop and Kestra without installing anything?

Gumloop has a hosted endpoint at https://api.gumloop.com/api/v1. No hosted endpoint is listed for Kestra.

### Are Gumloop and Kestra open source?

No open-source release is listed for Gumloop. Kestra is open source (Apache-2.0 (open-source server and SDK repository). Enterprise Edition and Kestra Cloud are commercial).


## For agents

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

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