# Microsoft Power Automate vs Windmill API + MCP

> Microsoft Power Automate scores 62 (B) 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, payments & pricing and maintenance & community. Both do automation workflows. Category…

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/power-automate-vs-windmill
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/power-automate-vs-windmill.md (~2,350 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/power-automate-vs-windmill.min.md (~780 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/power-automate-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: 2026-10-08

Microsoft Power Automate scores 62 (B) 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, payments & pricing and maintenance & community. Both do automation workflows.

- Microsoft Power Automate: grade B, 62/100, rank #350 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/power-automate.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/power-automate.json
- Windmill API + MCP: grade C, 55.9/100, rank #498 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/windmill.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/windmill.json

## Which one, for what

### Microsoft Power Automate (B)

Good for: Organisations already on Microsoft 365 and Dataverse that want an agent to inventory, deploy or adjust flows inside existing roles and solutions.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 63 against 40
- Transparency & trust, 76 against 65

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Windmill API + MCP loses 5 points for them

Watch for: Flows under My flows can't be managed in code, and Microsoft calls the `api.flow.microsoft.com` API unsupported

### Windmill API + MCP (C)

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 68
- Payments & pricing, 35 against 25
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 76

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

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


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Microsoft Power Automate | Windmill API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 63 | 40 | Microsoft Power Automate +23 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 68 | 79 | Windmill API + MCP +11 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 73 | Windmill API + MCP +4 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 61 | 60 | Microsoft Power Automate +1 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 25 | 35 | Windmill API + MCP +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 76 | 87 | Windmill API + MCP +11 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 76 | 65 | Microsoft Power Automate +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -5 | |
| **Total** | | **62 · B** | **55.9 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Microsoft Power Automate | Windmill API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Microsoft | Windmill Labs |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://app.windmill.dev/api` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the Microsoft Product Terms for Microsoft Power Platform | AGPL-3.0 (core), Apache-2.0 (clients and OpenAPI), commercial for enterprise-only parts |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-02 | 2026-10-01 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-01 | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 11k PyPI/wk | 18k stars, 126k npm/wk, 218k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Microsoft Power Automate.** Cloud flows in a solution are rows an agent can read and write through the Dataverse Web API under Entra ID OAuth and security roles, with published limits and a 99.9 per cent SLA. Flows under My flows can't be managed in code, a flow's body is one hand-built JSON string, and setup needs a tenant administrator.

**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

### Microsoft Power Automate

1. Filter `workflows` on `category eq 5` for cloud flows, and add `$select`, because `clientdata` holds the whole definition
2. Flows created through the API start with `statecode` 0 (off). The docs say to turn the flow on before use
3. Put the flow in a solution first. Flows that sit only under My flows are outside the supported API
4. On 429 wait the `Retry-After` seconds. Reads of `flowruns` count against the daily Power Platform request allowance
5. Treat an HTTP trigger URL with `sig=` as a secret, and prefer the tenant or named-user trigger modes with a bearer token for `https://service.flow.microsoft.com/`

### 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, Microsoft Power Automate or Windmill API + MCP?

Microsoft Power Automate scores 62 (B) 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, payments & pricing and maintenance & community.

### Do Microsoft Power Automate and Windmill API + MCP need an API key?

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

### Can an agent call Microsoft Power Automate and Windmill API + MCP without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Microsoft Power Automate. Windmill API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://app.windmill.dev/api.

### Are Microsoft Power Automate and Windmill API + MCP open source?

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


## For agents

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

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