The best integration SDKs in 2026

Say you're building an AI agent that pulls open deals from Salesforce, drafts follow-up emails in Gmail, and posts a summary to a Slack channel. Building the feature itself is the easy part. It's what comes afterward that makes you consider becoming a tech-free hermit in the woods: standing up OAuth flows for three separate APIs, figuring out token storage, handling refresh cycles, and making sure a credential never ends up somewhere it shouldn't. 

That stuff is all integration plumbing. And if you're building anything more than a quick prototype, you don't want to be writing it from scratch. You need an integration SDK. 

Every SDK in this article gives you authenticated access to external APIs without managing OAuth flows yourself. But they're built around different assumptions about who's doing what, and picking the wrong one means friction you'll feel as soon as you try to scale. Here's how to think about the choice.

The best integration SDKs

• Zapier for building safely with AI

• Nango for self-hosted integration infrastructure

• Composio for framework-native agent builders

• Pipedream for embedded integrations

What to look for in an integration SDK

Integration SDKs are built around two fundamentally different models. 

• The embedded integration model. In this case, your users connect their own accounts, and your app or agent acts on their behalf. Someone signs up for your product, authorizes their Salesforce or Slack account, and from that point on, your code can take actions in their name—without ever touching their credentials. The OAuth flow is user-facing, and the SDK handles token storage, refresh, and scoping. This is the model for product teams building SaaS that integrates with their customers' tools.

• The autonomous agent model. In this case, you're both the developer and the user. Your agent calls tools from a registry to do work across apps you control, like reading from a CRM, writing to a spreadsheet, or sending a Slack message. There's no end-user OAuth flow; your credentials are already in the system. The SDK's job is to give your agent a clean, consistent interface to call actions without you writing per-app integration code.

Most teams eventually need both. A SaaS product needs the embedded model for user-facing integrations, but may also want autonomous agent capabilities for internal workflows. The catalog size, self-hosting options, language support, and pricing structure all matter—but they're secondary to getting the model right first.

Zapier is arguably the only tool on this list that handles both integration patterns well. Like Pipedream Connect and Nango, it's built for the embedded case: your users connect their own accounts, and your code acts on their behalf, with Zapier managing the OAuth flows and credentials. But unlike those tools, it also works well in the autonomous agent pattern that Composio is built for, where your agent is calling actions on accounts you control. Most teams eventually need both, and the Zapier SDK doesn't require you to choose.

The best agent SDKs for integration

The best integration SDK for building safely with AI

Zapier

Zapier pros:

• 9,000+ apps accessible from a single TypeScript package

• OAuth and scoped permissions handled by Zapier (agents call actions, credentials stay out of the model's context)

• You can make raw authenticated HTTP calls to 3,000+ app APIs

• Pairs cleanly with Zapier MCP for chat-native agent access, using the same auth

Zapier cons:

• Currently in open beta (core infrastructure is stable, but the surface area is still expanding with new actions, auth patterns, and generated type improvements)

• No self-host option

The Zapier SDK is the infrastructure layer that supports agentic workflows without making you write credential flows yourself. By installing it in your code environment, you can get governed access to 9,000+ pre-built, maintained app connections. It works through a TypeScript package, with Zapier handling the OAuth flows, token refresh, retries, and rate limiting on every upstream API.

This makes life for builders much easier when it comes to integration work. When you want to add a new app to your agent's capabilities, you don't want to have to go to the trouble of setting up a new OAuth flow, a new token store, or a new set of error handlers. Instead, you install the Zapier SDK—then the action call goes through Zapier, and the credentials, audit, and refresh logic come with it.

Zapier is also a broader integration platform, not just an SDK. The same auth, governance, and 9,000+ app catalog also power Zapier MCP for chat-native agents and Zap workflows for event-driven automation. This makes it a great fit for organizations who prefer to standardize on a single platform.

Builders getting the most out of Zapier SDK are using the entire Zapier platform for AI orchestration and enterprise integration. And the underlying infrastructure isn't new: Zapier's integration layer has been running in production for 13+ years and has processed over 500 million AI tasks. The auth and reliability foundations are battle-tested even while the SDK surface is still in beta. 

Zapier pricing: Free plan available (and SDK is free while in open beta); paid plans from $19.99/month

The best integration SDK for self-hosted integration infrastructure

Nango

Nango pros:

• Source-available and self-hostable 

• Integration logic lives in your codebase as TypeScript functions you own, version, and deploy

• MCP and tool calling support built in

Nango cons:

• Smaller catalog than Zapier (800 vs. 9,000+ apps)

• More setup involved (you write and manage the integration functions yourself)

• Paid plans start at $50/month; pricing scales by connections and compute

Nango sits in an interesting spot among integration SDKs: it's closer to integration infrastructure than a turnkey package. Rather than calling pre-built actions from an SDK, you write TypeScript functions that Nango hosts and executes. The auth, retries, rate limiting, and tenant isolation are all handled by Nango, but the integration logic itself is yours to write, own, and version-control. That makes it more flexible than the Zapier SDK (you can do anything the underlying API supports), but it's also a lot more work upfront.

You install the Nango SDK (npm install nango) and call your hosted functions through a unified interface. Because Nango is source-available (under the Elastic License) with 10,000+ GitHub stars, you can inspect the infrastructure, contribute to it, or self-host the entire stack if data residency or auditability is a hard requirement.

Nango is a strong fit for product teams building multi-tenant SaaS who want full control over their integration layer without running their own auth infrastructure. The self-hosting option also makes it appealing for regulated industries. And it supports MCP and tool calling, so AI agents can call Nango-hosted functions directly: you define the tool, and Nango handles the credentials and execution.

Nango pricing: Free plan available; paid plans from $50/month

The best integration SDK for framework-native agent builders

Composio

Composio pros:

• Integrations with LangChain, CrewAI, AutoGen, and similar agent frameworks

• Multi-tenant credential management built in (each end-user of your product gets their own isolated auth context, so you don't have to build per-user credential storage yourself)

• Code-first design that fits the structure of agent loops naturally

Composio cons:

• Narrower catalog than Zapier (around 1,000 tools vs. Zapier's 9,000+)

• Tied to specific framework patterns; less flexibility outside agent loops

• No chat-native equivalent for builders who also need MCP-style access

Composio is built for code-first agent builders working in agent frameworks. The developer experience is a good fit for how those frameworks structure tool calls and supports the open-source agent libraries. Because of this, teams often use Composio when they're standardized on LangChain or CrewAI and want a curated tool registry with auth handled.

You install the Composio SDK as a Python or TypeScript package (pip install composio-core or npm install composio-core) and call tools through a unified interface that handles auth and tool selection. That makes the SDK experience feel consistent regardless of which underlying app you're calling. 

Composio's main limitation is the scope of its tools. Composio markets "20,000+ tools," but that counts individual tool calls and actions, not distinct app integrations. The number of supported apps is closer to 1,000, which covers the most-used SaaS apps but is nowhere near as broad as Zapier's library. 

The other tradeoff is framework dependency. Composio integrates natively with LangChain, CrewAI, and AutoGen, so teams already standardized on one of those frameworks will find it fits naturally. But teams that want a more flexible interface or aren't on one of those frameworks will need to put together more pieces themselves.

Composio pricing: Free plan available; paid plans from $29/month above a free tier

The best integration SDK for embedded-only integrations

Pipedream

Pipedream pros:

• Embedded SDK (Pipedream Connect) for adding managed integrations into your own app or agent

• Auth and credentials fully managed; integration logic written in Node.js or Python

Pipedream cons:

• Smaller catalog than Zapier (~3,000 apps vs. Zapier's 9,000+)

• Acquired by Workday, so long-term roadmap is uncertain

• Designed for product-embedded integrations, not autonomous agent loops

The reason Pipedream makes this list is Pipedream Connect, an embedded integration SDK for product teams who want to let their users connect external apps from inside their own product. You install it in your codebase, and your users authenticate their own accounts (Salesforce, Slack, GitHub, etc.) through a Pipedream-hosted OAuth flow. From that point on, your app or agent can call actions on those connected accounts with auth fully handled.

Zapier offers this embedded use case too: your users connect once, and your code calls actions without ever touching credentials. The main differences are catalog size (~3,000 apps vs. Zapier's 9,000+), language support (Node.js and Python vs. TypeScript), and Workday's acquisition of Pipedream, which introduces uncertainty about where the product goes from here.

Pipedream also runs an event-driven workflow platform underneath Connect, but if you're evaluating Pipedream as an agent integration SDK, Connect is what you want to be looking at.

Pipedream pricing: Free plan available; paid plans from $29/month

Use Zapier to build safely with AI

For most teams building AI products today, Zapier is the best option. The combination of enterprise experience, catalog breadth (9,000+ apps), and managed auth, governance, and MCP pairing covers everything you need for a code-first agent builder. Plus, the SDK is free during open beta while pricing is finalized, so you can try it right now.

And Zapier isn't a single-category platform. The SDK is one surface; the broader platform also supports the AI orchestration, workflow automation, and enterprise integration use cases that let you build safely across every process and flow. Builders who start with Zapier for code-driven agent work can extend into Zapier MCP for chat-native agents, into Zapier Workflows for event-driven automation, and into Zapier's enterprise governance when the organization needs central admin and audit. 

If you want to see how Zapier could fit into your automation strategy, connect with the Zapier team for a consultation. Or create an account and start building right now.

Integration SDK FAQs

Is the Zapier SDK production-ready while in beta?

The SDK is in open beta with free access, and teams are already shipping AI products on it. The beta designation means the surface area is still expanding, with new actions, new authentication patterns, and generated type improvements landing regularly (it also means it's not yet SOC 2-certified). The underlying integration infrastructure has been Zapier's core for 13 years and runs the platform's 500M+ AI tasks per month. Check the Zapier SDK documentation page for current capabilities.

What is the difference between the Zapier SDK and Zapier MCP?

The SDK is for code-driven integration work; MCP is for chat-driven agent access. The Zapier SDK is a TypeScript package that lets a coding agent call any action in the Zapier catalog with type safety. Zapier MCP exposes the same catalog to any MCP-compatible AI tool (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor) without code. The two share the same authentication and the same app catalog. See Zapier MCP, Zapier SDK, Zapier CLI: What's the difference? for the full comparison.

Can I self-host Zapier?

No. The Zapier SDK ships as a TypeScript dependency that calls Zapier's managed infrastructure. If self-hosting is a hard requirement, n8n is the most common alternative.

Which vendor has the largest app catalog?

Zapier, with 9,000+ apps accessible through both the SDK (in code) and MCP (in chat).

Related reading:

• Nango vs. Zapier: Which is best?

• Workato vs. Zapier: Which is best?

• Zapier MCP: Perform tens of thousands of actions in your AI tool

• The best AI agents for enterprises

• The best AI agent builder software

• The best MCP servers