# Composio vs Arcade: pricing and features

URL: https://viasocket.com/discovery/compare/composio-vs-arcade
Author: Dhwanil Bhavsar (https://viasocket.com/discovery/user/95758)
Publisher: viaSocket Discovery

## Short answer
Composio is a hosted catalog of app tools with managed auth, for teams that want an agent working across many apps. Arcade is an actions runtime built around per-user authorization, for agents that act on behalf of real users. The key difference is where each starts: the tools, or the person the agent acts for. Both support MCP.

## At a glance
- Composio: a hosted catalog of app tools with managed auth for AI agents and MCP clients (per Composio). Best for getting an agent working across many apps quickly.
- Arcade: an actions runtime that handles user authorization and tool execution for agents (per Arcade). Best for agents acting for real users where per-user permissions and audit trails matter.

## Features
- Approach: Composio is a hosted tool catalog with managed auth, used through sessions per user. Arcade is a runtime that handles user authentication, authorization, policy and tool execution (per Arcade).
- Catalog: Composio 1,500+ apps (per Composio, https://composio.dev?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm). Arcade 8,000+ tools on its homepage (https://www.arcade.dev?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm) and 7,500+ tools across 81 MCP servers in its docs (https://docs.arcade.dev?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm) (per Arcade). Counted in tools, not apps.
- Authorization: Composio-managed auth by default, connected accounts per user ID, Connect Link when a task needs an account. Arcade uses delegated authorization through your identity provider, so the agent acts as the signed-in user, with each action scoped (per Arcade).
- MCP: Composio hosted MCP endpoint per session, for clients such as Claude Desktop and Cursor. Arcade tools delivered as MCP servers; you can register your own.
- Developer interface: Composio Python and TypeScript SDKs and REST API. Arcade Python, TypeScript and Java client libraries and an open-source Python framework for MCP servers.
- Open source: Composio SDK repository MIT (30.8k GitHub stars). Arcade arcade-mcp framework MIT (1.1k GitHub stars); the prebuilt catalog is hosted.
- Deployment: Composio is hosted; self-hosting not listed. Arcade lists Arcade Cloud, your VPC or air-gapped on Enterprise, and self-hosting with Helm and an Arcade Worker.
- Security: Composio SOC 2 Type II (per Composio); SSO/SCIM and customer-managed keys on Enterprise. Arcade SOC 2 compliant (per Arcade); SSO, RBAC and audit logs on Enterprise.
- Support: Composio portal on Hobby, portal and email on Pro, dedicated support and custom SLAs on Enterprise. Arcade community on Free, next-business-day email on Team, 24/7 SLA-backed on Enterprise.

## Pricing
Composio bills on tool calls and trigger events. Arcade charges a platform fee plus a per-call rate. Each defines a call on its own terms.
- Composio Hobby: $0. 100,000 tool calls and 50,000 trigger events a month, unlimited connected accounts, 3 team members. Usage pauses at the cap.
- Composio Pro: $29 a month. Unlimited team members, then $0.0003 per tool call and $0.003 per trigger event past the included amount.
- Composio Enterprise: custom. SSO/SCIM, customer-managed keys, dedicated support, custom SLAs.
- Arcade Free: $0. 2,000 tool calls a month on Arcade Cloud, community support, no credit card.
- Arcade Team: $25 a month plus usage at $0.01 per tool call. Next-business-day email support.
- Arcade Enterprise: custom. Arcade Cloud, your VPC or air-gapped, 24/7 SLA-backed support, SSO, RBAC, audit logs.

## What it's like to use Composio and Arcade
By Dhwanil Bhavsar. Both get an agent calling real apps, but they start from different questions. Composio asks which tools your agent needs. Arcade asks who the agent is acting for.

### Composio
Composio gets you to an agent calling apps with very little setup. You create a session for a user ID, pass its tools to your agent, and when a task needs an account the agent shares a Connect Link for the user to approve. Worked examples cover the OpenAI Agents SDK and the Claude Agent SDK in Python and TypeScript, and the Vercel AI SDK in TypeScript.
What I liked:
- A short path from a user ID to an agent working in real apps.
- The agent asks for an account mid-task through a Connect Link, not up front.
- Each session has a hosted MCP endpoint that works in Claude Desktop and Cursor.
- The free plan pauses at its cap, so a test never runs up a bill.
What I didn't:
- The quickstart mixes prompts for coding agents into the human walkthrough.
- Auth is the weak spot: expect to debug connected accounts and missing scopes.
- Your users' tokens sit with a hosted third party by default.
- No self-hosted option is listed.
Best for: teams that want an agent working across many apps on a hosted catalog, fast.

### Arcade
Arcade puts the user first. You start with an API key and a user ID, then a helper checks whether a tool needs authorization, prints a link for the user and waits. Tools that need no authorization simply run. The worked example chains a Google News search, a Google Docs write and a Gmail send.
What I liked:
- Authorization runs through your identity provider, so the agent acts as the signed-in user.
- Each action is scoped to what both the user and the agent are allowed to do.
- Client libraries in Python, TypeScript and Java, plus an MIT framework for your own MCP servers.
- Deployment stretches from Arcade Cloud to your VPC or air-gapped on Enterprise.
What I didn't:
- The authorization step is extra ceremony if the agent only ever acts for you.
- 2,000 free tool calls a month goes quickly for an agent that loops.
- Bringing your own identity provider or host takes extra setup and testing.
- SSO, RBAC and audit logs sit on Enterprise.
Best for: agents that act on behalf of real users, where per-user permissions and audit trails matter.

## Which to choose
Composio if you want an agent working across many apps on a hosted catalog with little setup. Arcade if your agents act for customers or employees and you need permission checks at the moment of action, identity-provider integration or an air-gapped deployment. Both have free plans, so run each on your own workload before you commit.

## FAQ
- What is the main difference between Composio and Arcade? Composio is a hosted catalog of app tools with managed auth. Arcade describes itself as an actions runtime that handles user authorization, policy and tool execution, with delegated per-user permissions.
- Do both have a free plan? Yes. Composio Hobby includes 100,000 tool calls and 50,000 trigger events a month. Arcade Free includes 2,000 tool calls a month.
- Do both support MCP? Yes. Composio through a hosted MCP endpoint per session; Arcade delivers its tools as MCP servers and lets you register your own.
- Can I self-host? Arcade lists Arcade Cloud, your VPC or air-gapped on Enterprise, and its docs describe self-hosting with Helm. Composio does not list a self-hosted option.
- Are they open source? Composio's SDK repository and Arcade's arcade-mcp framework are both MIT licensed. Arcade's prebuilt catalog is hosted.

## Another option: viaSocket
viaSocket also sells an integration layer; it is not part of this comparison. In short, an integration layer for SaaS products and AI agents with 2,300+ integrations. One OAuth popup; viaSocket stores and refreshes tokens, keeps each user's connections separate, and handles monitoring, webhooks, polling and retries. Free plan lists 100K tasks a month and unlimited connected accounts. If you need identity-provider authorization on every action or an air-gapped runtime, Arcade is the closer fit; for a hosted tool catalog wired into agent frameworks and MCP clients, Composio is.
https://viasocket.com/?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm

## Sources
- https://composio.dev/pricing?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm
- https://composio.dev?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm
- https://docs.composio.dev?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm
- https://docs.composio.dev/docs/quickstart?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm
- https://github.com/ComposioHQ/composio?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm
- https://github.com/ComposioHQ/composio/issues?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm
- https://www.arcade.dev/pricing?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm
- https://www.arcade.dev?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm
- https://docs.arcade.dev?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm
- https://docs.arcade.dev/en/get-started/quickstarts/call-tool-agent?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm
- https://github.com/ArcadeAI/arcade-mcp?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm
- https://github.com/ArcadeAI/arcade-mcp/issues?utm_source=viasocket&utm_medium=discovery&utm_campaign=discovery-compare&utm_content=llm