# n8n API + MCP vs Windmill API + MCP

> Windmill API + MCP has a score of 56.1 (C) against n8n API + MCP's 53.3 (D). Both do automation workflows. The largest gap is transparency & trust, 15 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/n8n-vs-windmill
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/n8n-vs-windmill.md (~1,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/n8n-vs-windmill.min.md (~330 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/n8n-vs-windmill.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: 2026-10-05

Windmill API + MCP has a score of 56.1 (C) against n8n API + MCP's 53.3 (D). Both do automation workflows. The largest gap is transparency & trust, 15 points.

- n8n API + MCP: grade D, 53.3/100, rank #335 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/n8n.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/n8n.json
- Windmill API + MCP: grade C, 56.1/100, rank #306 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/windmill.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/windmill.json

## Which one, for what

Pick n8n API + MCP for schema & documentation (+13), security & auth (+10), transparency & trust (+15).

Pick Windmill API + MCP for payments & pricing (+5), maintenance & community (+7).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | n8n API + MCP | Windmill API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 40 | 40 | even |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 92 | 79 | n8n API + MCP +13 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 73 | n8n API + MCP +2 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 70 | 60 | n8n API + MCP +10 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 35 | Windmill API + MCP +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 80 | 87 | Windmill API + MCP +7 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 67 | n8n API + MCP +15 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -12 | -5 | |
| **Total** | | **53.3 · D** | **56.1 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | n8n API + MCP | Windmill API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | n8n | Windmill Labs |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://app.windmill.dev/api` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Sustainable Use License (fair-code, source-available) | AGPL-3.0 (core), Apache-2.0 (clients and OpenAPI), commercial for enterprise-only parts |
| Tools exposed | 54 | none |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-01 |
| Popularity | 206k stars, 113k npm/wk | 18k stars, 126k npm/wk, 218k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | 3/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**n8n API + MCP.** OpenAPI 3.0 spec with 208 operations, and Markdown docs plus llms.txt. 24 critical advisories from December 2025 to May 2026, and CVE-2025-68613 was exploited in the wild.

**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

### n8n API + MCP

1. Check the instance version before trusting it. Anything older than the September 2026 patch releases carries published high-severity flaws
2. Ask for only the OAuth scopes the job needs. `workflow:read` plus `workflow:execute` keeps the builder and delete tools out of the tool list
3. Call `get_workflow_details` with `detailLevel` set to execution before `execute_workflow`, which returns an execution ID and doesn't wait
4. Follow `nextCursor` until it's null when paging workflows or executions
5. On Cloud trial accounts `/api/v1` won't answer. Use the MCP server or a paid plan

### 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

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