# Node-RED vs Windmill API + MCP (slim)

> Node-RED scores 61 (C) to Windmill's 55.9 (C) for workflow automation. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/node-red-vs-windmill.md (~2,450 tokens) · this version ~730 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/node-red-vs-windmill.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/node-red-vs-windmill
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-09

Node-RED scores 61 (C) on agent readiness against Windmill API + MCP's 55.9 (C), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Windmill API + MCP leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics, security & auth and maintenance & community. Both do workflow automation.

- Node-RED: C 61, rank #486 of 950 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/node-red.min.md
- Windmill API + MCP: C 55.9, rank #644 of 950 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/windmill.min.md
- Node-RED, good for Owners who want event-driven flows on their own machine or device, with a large library of community nodes, and an agent that deploys or edits flows as JSON. Ahead on Reliability, 90 against 40; Payments & pricing, 60 against 35. Also No incidents deducted, where Windmill API + MCP loses 5 points for them.
- Windmill API + MCP, good 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 41; Agent ergonomics, 73 against 44; Security & auth, 60 against 51; Maintenance & community, 87 against 81. Also A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install.

| Category | Node-RED | Windmill API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 90 | 40 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 41 | 79 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 44 | 73 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 51 | 60 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 35 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 81 | 87 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 65 | 65 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Node-RED | Windmill API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | OpenJS Foundation | Windmill Labs |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://app.windmill.dev/api` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 (core), Apache-2.0 (clients and OpenAPI), commercial for enterprise-only parts |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-01 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no date given |
| Customer content may train models |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 24k stars, 55k npm/wk | 18k stars, 126k npm/wk, 218k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3/5 (2) |