# Kestra vs Cooper (Mandl)

> Kestra scores 63.6 (B) to Cooper's 16.4 (F) for workflow automation. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kestra-vs-mandl-cooper
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kestra-vs-mandl-cooper.md (~2,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kestra-vs-mandl-cooper.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kestra-vs-mandl-cooper.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
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-10-20

Kestra scores 63.6 (B) on agent readiness against Cooper (Mandl)'s 16.4 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do workflow automation.

- Kestra: grade B, 63.6/100, rank #434 of 1184. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kestra.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kestra.json
- Cooper (Mandl): grade F, 16.4/100, rank #1149 of 1184. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mandl-cooper.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mandl-cooper.json
- Best workflow automation platforms with APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/workflow-automation/index.md
- All 154 workflows comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/workflow-automation/index.md

## Which one, for what

### 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 15
- Schema & documentation, 82 against 15
- Agent ergonomics, 73 against 5
- Security & auth, 41 against 18
- Payments & pricing, 50 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 93 against 33
- Transparency & trust, 69 against 33

Also in its favour:
- Open source
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 4.0 against 2.3 out of 5

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

### Cooper (Mandl) (F)

Good for: Commercial P&C agencies, wholesale brokers, MGAs and claims TPAs that want submissions, ACORDs, quote comparisons and proposals prepared for staff to review.

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Kestra loses 7 points for them

Watch for: No API, MCP server, webhooks or documented email address an outside agent can use


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Kestra | Cooper (Mandl) | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 89 | 15 | Kestra +74 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 15 | Kestra +67 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 5 | Kestra +68 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 41 | 18 | Kestra +23 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 50 | 10 | Kestra +40 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 93 | 33 | Kestra +60 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 69 | 33 | Kestra +36 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -7 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **63.6 · B** | **16.4 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Kestra | Cooper (Mandl) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | Platform |
| Vendor | Kestra Technologies | Cooper AI Tech, Inc. (a Mandl company) |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (open-source server and SDK repository). Enterprise Edition and Kestra Cloud are commercial | Proprietary service. The site's Terms of Use (July 2026) are Cooper AI Tech, Inc.'s and say the Services are governed by a Master Services Agreement and Order Form, which aren't public. No open-source code or published package was found |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-05 | none |
| Terms last updated | no document linked |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked |  |
| Customer content may train models |  |  |
| Terms restrict automated access |  |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  |  |
| Popularity | 29k stars, 244 npm/wk, 170 PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 4/5 (4) | 2.3/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Cooper (Mandl).** Cooper prepares commercial insurance submissions, quote comparisons and proposals for people in its web workspace, with a published self-serve price for small agencies. It has no API, MCP server or webhooks for an outside agent, and its SOC 2 and HIPAA claims come with no report and apply only to full Cooper.

## Before you call either

### 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

### Cooper (Mandl)

1. Don't plan to call Cooper from another agent. It's operated by people in its web workspace
2. If a user's agency uses Cooper, hand them the account documents to forward to Cooper themselves
3. Don't send client insurance data or PHI to Cooper without the agency's signed agreement and, for PHI, a business associate agreement

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Kestra or Cooper (Mandl)?

Kestra scores 63.6 (B) on agent readiness against Cooper (Mandl)'s 16.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Can an agent call Kestra and Cooper (Mandl) without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Kestra. No hosted endpoint is listed for Cooper (Mandl).

### Are Kestra and Cooper (Mandl) open source?

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


## For agents

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

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- [Cooper (Mandl) vs Paragon ActionKit + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mandl-cooper-vs-paragon.md)
- [Cooper (Mandl) vs Pipedream API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mandl-cooper-vs-pipedream.md)
- [Cooper (Mandl) vs Microsoft Power Automate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mandl-cooper-vs-power-automate.md)
- [Cooper (Mandl) vs Prismatic](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mandl-cooper-vs-prismatic.md)
- [Cooper (Mandl) vs Tray.ai API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mandl-cooper-vs-tray.md)
- [Cooper (Mandl) vs Windmill API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mandl-cooper-vs-windmill.md)
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