n8n vs Dify

Detailed side-by-side comparison to help you choose the right tool

n8n

🟡Low Code

AI Automation

Source-available workflow automation platform with native AI agent and LangChain nodes, popular for self-hosted AI workflows.

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Starting Price

Free
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Dify

LLM app platform

Dify is an open-source LLM app development platform that combines a visual workflow builder, RAG pipelines, agent tools, and an LLMOps backbone.

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Starting Price

Free
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Feature Comparison

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Featuren8nDify
CategoryAI AutomationLLM app platform
Pricing Plans326 tiers31 tiers
Starting PriceFreeFree
Key Features
  • • Visual workflow automation with code escape hatches
  • • AI agents, RAG, and model orchestration on a traceable canvas
  • • 500+ integrations and 9,500+ templates
  • • Agentic workflow builder for LLM applications
  • • Chatbot and assistant development workflows
  • • RAG-backed app patterns for knowledge products

n8n - Pros & Cons

Pros

  • ✓Self-hosted Community edition is free and runs anywhere — no per-task pricing tax
  • ✓Native AI Agent node and LangChain blocks let you build real agents on a visual canvas
  • ✓MCP Client node integrates n8n into the emerging MCP agent ecosystem
  • ✓JavaScript code nodes provide escape hatches for anything the visual editor cannot express

Cons

  • ✗Visual editor becomes noisy on workflows with dozens of branches and tool calls
  • ✗Debugging long-running agent loops is still painful versus a real code IDE
  • ✗Cloud tier execution caps can surprise heavy users — self-hosting is the practical path at scale
  • ✗Sustainable Use License is fair-code, not OSI-approved open source, which some procurement teams flag

Dify - Pros & Cons

Pros

  • ✓Open-source self-hosted path keeps long-term costs and data residency under your control
  • ✓Model-agnostic gateway lets you swap providers without rewriting workflows
  • ✓Strong built-in RAG with rerankers, metadata filters, and multiple chunking strategies
  • ✓Production-ready observability: traces, prompt versioning, annotations, cost tracking
  • ✓Active plugin marketplace with growing MCP-compatible integrations

Cons

  • ✗Complex agent logic with many branches is harder to express than in code-first frameworks
  • ✗Cloud message credits get expensive fast at production volume — most heavy users self-host
  • ✗Plugin ecosystem is smaller than n8n or Zapier; niche integrations often need custom work
  • ✗Visual editor learning curve is real for non-technical users despite the no-code framing
  • ✗Self-hosting requires Docker, Postgres, Redis, and a vector DB — not a zero-ops deployment

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🔒 Security & Compliance Comparison

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Security Featuren8nDify
SOC2✅ Yes—
GDPR✅ Yes—
HIPAA——
SSO✅ Yes✅ Yes
Self-Hosted🔀 Hybrid✅ Yes
On-Prem✅ Yes✅ Yes
RBAC✅ Yes✅ Yes
Audit Log✅ Yes✅ Yes
Open Source✅ Yes✅ Yes
API Key Auth✅ Yes✅ Yes
Encryption at Rest✅ Yes✅ Yes
Encryption in Transit✅ Yes✅ Yes
Data ResidencyUS, EU—
Data Retentionconfigurableconfigurable
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