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Arcade.dev vs Unified.to: which integration platform powers AI-driven SaaS better?


July 3, 2025

Arcade.dev helps teams build AI assistants that can act on third-party tools. Unified.to helps SaaS teams build integrations that deliver real-time, normalized data across 270+ systems—from HR to CRM to file storage.

If you're building an AI agent that sends emails or creates calendar events, Arcade.dev is a flexible starting point. But if you need structured, real-time data pipelines across business systems, Unified.to is the better fit.

At a Glance: Unified.to vs Arcade.dev

Arcade.dev focuses on tool-calling for AI agents. Unified.to powers live data pipelines and structured integrations across your SaaS product.

Unified.to gives you:

  • Real-time updates from 270+ integrations
  • Unified schemas with passthrough support
  • Database-ready delivery for AI pipelines and dashboards
  • Zero data stored—tokens, payloads, or logs
  • Developer-first SDKs and auth components

Here's how the two platforms compare, especially if you're building real-time AI features or integrations at scale.

Streaming vs single-use calls

Arcade.dev performs real-time calls when your agent or app needs to act—like sending a message or fetching a document. It doesn't offer webhook-based data sync or persistent pipelines. Developers must manage scheduling or polling if freshness is required.

Unified.to emits events via native webhooks or runs high-frequency polling under the hood (virtual webhooks). Data flows in real time to your backend or database—no cron jobs or manual refresh logic needed.

Tool actions vs normalized data

Arcade exposes each integration as a set of tools. One for Gmail, another for HubSpot, etc. There's no shared schema or consistent object model across platforms. Developers must handle varied outputs or rely on LLMs to interpret them.

Unified.to maps each domain (e.g. Contact, Job, Employee, Invoice) to a shared schema. You get structured, normalized data no matter which system the customer connects. No need to parse dozens of API variations.

Structured pipelines, not single responses

Arcade returns data at call time. There's no built-in support for change data capture, log streaming, or syncing data to a database. Developers must build those layers themselves.

Unified.to streams structured records to Postgres, MongoDB, Snowflake, and more. You get a clean data pipeline from 270+ platforms—no ETL, no caching.

Hosted vs customer-controlled

Arcade manages token storage by default. Some integrations allow you to bring your own OAuth credentials. Self-hosting is available for high-security use cases.

Unified.to never stores tokens or secrets by default. You can use your own AWS Secrets Manager to manage credentials. Unified.to proxies all requests and stores no payloads, tokens, or logs.

AI agent focus vs integration infrastructure

Arcade offers SDKs in Python and Node.js, with quickstarts for building Slack bots, Gmail assistants, and OpenAI-integrated workflows. Each integration is open source, but action-specific.

Unified.to provides SDKs in 7+ languages, plus drop-in auth components and an Integration Directory UI. Everything works against one schema, one Connect flow, and one webhook model—making it easy to scale integrations across categories.

TL;DR — Unified.to vs Arcade.dev

FeatureUnified.toArcade.dev
Delivery modelReal-time streaming via webhooksOn-demand API calls, no data sync
SchemaUnified across 270+ APIsPer-connector tool schemas
Database deliveryNative support for Postgres, Mongo, Snowflake, etc.No built-in sync
Token storageNone by default (BYO Secrets Manager supported)Stored in Arcade Cloud unless self-hosted
Data storageZero—no caching, logs, or customer data storedNo data caching, but calls routed through Arcade servers
Developer experienceUnified SDKs, auth component, real-time logsPer-tool SDKs, OpenAI function calling
AI readinessStructured data for RAG, analytics, and MLAction-based tool calls for agents
PricingUsage-based tiers, all features includedUser + call based, with free tier
Best forSaaS platforms building AI-ready integrations and data pipelinesAI copilots and agents needing tool access

Unified.to gives you real-time data, normalized schemas, and full control—no polling, no storage, no vendor lock-in.

If you're building a product that needs structured, fresh data across CRMs, HR, ATS, or storage platforms, Unified.to is the better foundation.

Start your 30-day free trial or book a demo to explore how fast you can ship real-time integrations at scale.

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