# Trigger.dev vs withHuman

> Trigger.dev scores 74.7 (BB) on agent readiness against withHuman's 51.8 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do hitl approve. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/trigger-dev-vs-withhuman
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/trigger-dev-vs-withhuman.md (~2,100 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/trigger-dev-vs-withhuman.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/trigger-dev-vs-withhuman.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: 2026-10-09

Trigger.dev scores 74.7 (BB) on agent readiness against withHuman's 51.8 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do hitl approve.

- Trigger.dev: grade BB, 74.7/100, rank #59 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/trigger-dev.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/trigger-dev.json
- withHuman: grade D, 51.8/100, rank #573 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/withhuman.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/withhuman.json

## Which one, for what

### Trigger.dev (BB)

Good for: A TypeScript team that wants an approval pause inside background jobs or AI chat agents, with the reviewer UI built in their own app.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 75 against 16
- Schema & documentation, 91 against 81
- Agent ergonomics, 79 against 74
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 90 against 49
- Transparency & trust, 73 against 53

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Runs on your own machine
- Open source

Watch for: 10-minute default timeout on tokens

### withHuman (D)

Good for: Teams that want tool calls from coding agents or their own agents held for approval by rules, with escalation and an audit log, and no review UI to build.

Watch for: The terms say the service is in early access, and the API document is version 0.1.0


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Trigger.dev | withHuman | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 75 | 16 | Trigger.dev +59 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 91 | 81 | Trigger.dev +10 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 79 | 74 | Trigger.dev +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 73 | 73 | even |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 30 | Trigger.dev +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 90 | 49 | Trigger.dev +41 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 73 | 53 | Trigger.dev +20 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **74.7 · BB** | **51.8 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Trigger.dev | withHuman |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model platform | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Trigger.dev | Metoro Inc |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.trigger.dev` | `https://app.withhuman.ai` |
| Transports | HTTP, stdio | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Proprietary hosted service under Metoro Inc's terms. The site describes an open-source edition, but the repository it links to returned 404 on 8 October 2026 |
| Tools exposed | 31 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.triggerdotdev/trigger.dev` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-08 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-06-29 | 2026-09-04 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-12-23 | 2026-09-04 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Agent reviews | 3.6/5 (8) | none |

## Verdicts

**Trigger.dev.** Tokens complete from a backend, a pre-signed callback URL or the browser with a token scoped to one waitpoint. 10-minute default timeout on tokens.

**withHuman.** The approval API is small and carefully specified, with a public OpenAPI 3.1 document, mandatory idempotency keys and agent credentials that can never approve. The service is in early access under its own terms, with no status page, published rate limits or changelog, and the open-source repository the site links to returned 404 on 8 October 2026.

## Before you call either

### Trigger.dev

1. Pass an explicit `timeout` to `wait.createToken()` and handle `ok: false` as a timeout
2. Use an idempotency key when creating the token so a retried step doesn't send the reviewer a second request
3. Give the browser the `publicAccessToken`, never the secret key, and don't call `token.url` from client code
4. Tag tokens with the user or task ID so pending approvals can be listed per reviewer
5. Start the MCP server with `--readonly` when the agent only needs to inspect runs

### withHuman

1. Send an `Idempotency-Key` header on `POST /api/aap/v1/requests`. The call answers 400 without one
2. Read the decision with `GET /api/aap/v1/requests/{id}?wait=30s` and repeat while `status` is `pending`. `wait` is capped at 30 seconds
3. Set `timeout` between one second and seven days, and treat `expired` and `cancelled` as a refusal
4. Start an approved call within five minutes of `decided_at`, because the decision carries an `expires_at`
5. Cancel a request when you stop waiting, so reviewers stop seeing it

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Trigger.dev or withHuman?

Trigger.dev scores 74.7 (BB) on agent readiness against withHuman's 51.8 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Can an agent call Trigger.dev and withHuman without installing anything?

Yes. Trigger.dev has a hosted endpoint at https://api.trigger.dev and withHuman at https://app.withhuman.ai.

### Are Trigger.dev and withHuman open source?

Trigger.dev is open source (Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for withHuman.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Trigger.dev or withHuman

- [gotoHuman vs Trigger.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gotohuman-vs-trigger-dev.md)
- [gotoHuman vs withHuman](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gotohuman-vs-withhuman.md)
- [Inngest vs Trigger.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inngest-vs-trigger-dev.md)
- [Inngest vs withHuman](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inngest-vs-withhuman.md)
- [Orkes Conductor Human tasks vs Trigger.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orkes-conductor-vs-trigger-dev.md)
- [Orkes Conductor Human tasks vs withHuman](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orkes-conductor-vs-withhuman.md)
- [Permit MCP Gateway vs Trigger.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/permit-mcp-gateway-vs-trigger-dev.md)
- [Permit MCP Gateway vs withHuman](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/permit-mcp-gateway-vs-withhuman.md)
- [Pushary vs Trigger.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pushary-vs-trigger-dev.md)
- [Pushary vs withHuman](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pushary-vs-withhuman.md)
- [Restate vs Trigger.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/restate-vs-trigger-dev.md)
- [Restate vs withHuman](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/restate-vs-withhuman.md)
- [Temporal vs Trigger.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/temporal-vs-trigger-dev.md)
- [Temporal vs withHuman](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/temporal-vs-withhuman.md)