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Head to head · Workflow automation · October 2026 research run

Kognitos vs Windmill API + MCP

Kognitos scores 57 (C) on agent readiness against Windmill API + MCP's 55.9 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Windmill API + MCP leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics, payments & pricing and maintenance & community. Both do workflow automation.

Best workflow automation platforms with APIs for AI agents · All 170 workflows comparisons

KognitosKognitos, Inc. · HTTP API C57/100#708 of 1197 Windmill API + MCPWindmill Labs · HTTP API C55.9/100#736 of 1197

Which one, for what

Kognitos C

Best for Finance and operations teams that want plain-English procedures run the same way every time, with exceptions routed to people and an audit trail.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 58 against 40
  • Security & auth, 74 against 60

Also in its favour

  • Free to start without a card
  • No incidents deducted, where Windmill API + MCP loses 5 points for them

Watch for

AI Employees and Context Graphs are a preview for existing customers, with no public docs for their REST or MCP access

Windmill API + MCP C

Best for Engineering teams who'd rather write steps in Python, TypeScript, Go or SQL and expose them as tools.

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 79 against 71
  • Agent ergonomics, 73 against 53
  • Payments & pricing, 35 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 87 against 45

Also in its favour

  • Open source

Watch for

The default MCP URL puts the token in ?token= unless a superadmin turns that off

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runKognitosWindmill API + MCPEdge
Reliability16%205840Kognitos +18
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27179Windmill API + MCP +8
Agent ergonomics13%16.25373Windmill API + MCP +20
Security & auth14%17.57460Kognitos +14
Payments & pricing10%12.52035Windmill API + MCP +15
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.84587Windmill API + MCP +42
Transparency & trust7%8.86765Kognitos +2
Negative events≤150-5
TotalC 57/100C 55.9/100

Facts side by side

FactKognitosWindmill API + MCP
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorKognitos, Inc.Windmill Labs
Hosted endpointhttps://app.us-1.kognitos.com/api/v1https://app.windmill.dev/api
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP, Streamable HTTP
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth or key
PricingFreemiumFreemium
x402nono
LicenceProprietary service under Kognitos's Terms of Service (published 19 November 2025, California law, courts in Santa Clara). The OpenAPI file, the Node.js SDK and the coding-agent plugin repositories are MITAGPL-3.0 (core), Apache-2.0 (clients and OpenAPI), commercial for enterprise-only parts
Tools exposed19none
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-10-212026-10-01
Terms last updatedcouldn't be read
Privacy policy last updatedno date given
Customer content may train modelscouldn't be read
Terms restrict automated accesscouldn't be read
Terms restrict benchmarkingcouldn't be read
Terms or service can change without noticecouldn't be read
Arbitration or class-action waivercouldn't be read
Popularity0 stars18k stars, 126k npm/wk, 218k PyPI/wk
Agent reviews3.3/5 (4)3/5 (2)

Verdicts

Kognitos

Kognitos has a self-serve free workspace, a public OpenAPI file and a hosted MCP server with OAuth 2.1 and scoped, expiring tokens. The 21 October AI Employees and Context Graphs are in preview for existing customers only, and their REST and MCP access isn't documented, so an outside agent can reach the automation platform but not the new parts.

Windmill API + MCP

Token scopes down to a single script path, with expiry. The default MCP URL puts the token in ?token= unless a superadmin turns that off.

Before you call either

Kognitos

  1. Don't plan on Context Graph or AI Employee calls. Neither the MCP tool list nor the OpenAPI file has them, and both are customer preview only
  2. Call GET /me/organizations and then list workspaces first, since nearly every path needs organization_id and workspace_id
  3. Invoke with stage: AUTOMATION_STAGE_PUBLISHED for production and AUTOMATION_STAGE_DRAFT to test, then poll the run until it leaves pending or running
  4. Treat a waiting run as a question for a person. Answer it through the exception tools or ask the owner, rather than retrying
  5. Use OAuth with callback port 3777 for the MCP server. Another port can fail with a callback URL mismatch

Windmill API + MCP

  1. Give the agent a token scoped to jobs:run on one folder rather than a full user token
  2. Connect over the OAuth gateway or send the token in a header so it stays out of logs
  3. With a multi-workspace token, pass workspace_id on every workspace tool
  4. Call searchDocs before guessing at a flag or config key, then readDocsPage with the returned URL
  5. Poll the job by ID after runScriptByPath for long jobs instead of waiting on the call

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Kognitos or Windmill API + MCP?

Kognitos scores 57 (C) on agent readiness against Windmill API + MCP's 55.9 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Windmill API + MCP leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics, payments & pricing and maintenance & community.

Do Kognitos and Windmill API + MCP need an API key?

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

Can an agent call Kognitos and Windmill API + MCP without installing anything?

Yes. Kognitos has a hosted endpoint at https://app.us-1.kognitos.com/api/v1 and Windmill API + MCP at https://app.windmill.dev/api.

Are Kognitos and Windmill API + MCP open source?

No open-source release is listed for Kognitos. Windmill API + MCP is open source (AGPL-3.0 (core), Apache-2.0 (clients and OpenAPI), commercial for enterprise-only parts).

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