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Dify vs n8n

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors.

The short answer

Free plan
Both have one
Public API
Both have one
Higher Trust score
Dify — 89 vs 75 for n8n
Best fit
Dify: Teams that want to self-host an agent and RAG builder without writing the orchestration layer · n8n: Technical teams that want to self-host automation with Docker, on-prem or air-gapped
Status
Both up at our last check (Sep 6, 2026)

From our own records as of each tool's last check. Anything we have not confirmed is left out rather than guessed. How we verify

DifyOpen-source canvas for building LLM workflows, agents and RAG pipelines, hosted or self-runn8nWorkflow automation with AI-agent nodes that runs on n8n's cloud or self-hosted from GitHub

Side by side

FactDifyn8n
CategoryAI Agents & Autonomous WorkersWorkflow Automation Platforms
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at$59/mo—
Public APIYesYes
Trust score89 / 10075 / 100
PlatformsWeb, API, LinuxWeb, Linux, API
CompanyLangGenius, Inc.n8n GmbH
Launched2023—
Last verifiedSep 6, 2026Sep 6, 2026

What our research says

Dify

Dify is the pragmatic choice when a team wants a visual builder for agents and retrieval that it can self-host today and hand to non-engineers tomorrow; the Community Edition is real software, not a demo, and the 158K GitHub stars reflect that. Pay for Cloud only if you do not want to run Docker — the $59 Professional tier is one workspace with three seats and metered message credits, so a developer team will outgrow it or self-host. It is less suited to teams that want code-first pipelines or a single-vendor model stack.

Pros

  • Open-source Community Edition with single-command Docker deployment and an active repository
  • One canvas covers workflows, agents and a knowledge pipeline with retrieval testing
  • Apps publish as API endpoints, embeds or MCP tools with logs and feedback built in
  • Plugin marketplace for model providers, tools, data sources and MCP integrations
  • Self-hosted and cloud editions share the same product, so you can move between them

Cons

  • Cloud tiers meter message credits, members and storage per workspace, and annual billing is the headline
  • The open-source licence carries commercial conditions (multi-tenant and logo clauses) rather than plain Apache
  • Visual workflows get hard to review and version once they grow past a few dozen nodes
  • Enterprise features such as SSO, RBAC and audit logs are reserved for the paid Enterprise edition

n8n

The automation tool to pick when you want agents and integrations on one canvas and the option to run it on your own hardware; self-hosting from GitHub is the escape hatch Zapier and Make do not offer. Cloud pricing is per execution rather than per task, which rewards long workflows, but the monthly figures hide behind a toggle and the Business tier is a self-hosted licence at a very different price point.

Pros

  • Self-hosted Community Edition on GitHub under a fair-code licence, with 207k stars
  • Agent, model, MCP and RAG nodes alongside 500+ app integrations
  • JavaScript or Python at any step, with a canvas that traces agent reasoning
  • Execution-based cloud billing with unlimited steps per execution
  • Public REST API on all self-hosted editions and on cloud Starter and above

Cons

  • Cloud prices were shown only in euros and only as annual-billing figures
  • Business tier (€667 a month) is self-hosted only, with cloud availability on a waitlist
  • Fair-code licence is not OSI open source, which matters for some corporate policies
  • Forum-only support below Enterprise

Which one fits

Choose Dify if you need

  • Teams that want to self-host an agent and RAG builder without writing the orchestration layer
  • Product groups where non-engineers configure prompts and knowledge while engineers wire tools and APIs
  • Enterprises that need private deployment with SSO and audit logs for internal LLM apps

Choose n8n if you need

  • Technical teams that want to self-host automation with Docker, on-prem or air-gapped
  • Builders combining LLM agents, MCP tools and RAG with ordinary app integrations
  • Workflows with many steps, since billing counts executions rather than individual operations

Dify vs n8n: the questions people ask

Is Dify cheaper than n8n?

Dify starts at $59/mo. n8n has a free tier; what its paid plans cost is not confirmed by us yet.

Does Dify or n8n have a free tier?

Both: Dify has a free tier, and n8n has a free tier.

Which has a public API, Dify or n8n?

Both ship a public API, so either can be built on; the fact table above shows the platforms each one runs on.

More comparisons

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