Dify vs n8n
n8n scores higher overall: 85/100 (S-tier) vs 75/100 (A-tier) for Dify in Agent frameworks & orchestration. Dify leads on ease. n8n leads on job fit, momentum, trust & maturity and builder/gamer bonus. They tie on value and openness & portability.
Scores are initial editorial estimates from public information, not hands-on tests. How we score →
Side by side
| Dify | n8n | |
|---|---|---|
| Tier | A | S |
| Overall score | 75/100 | 85/100 |
| Job fit | 16/30 | 23/30 |
| Ease / time-to-first-result | 13/15 | 12/15 |
| Value | 13/15 | 13/15 |
| Momentum | 13/15 | 15/15 |
| Openness & portability | 9/10 | 9/10 |
| Trust & maturity | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Builder/gamer bonus | 3/5 | 4/5 |
| What it does | Visual platform for building chatbots, RAG pipelines and agent workflows; self-hostable. | Fair-code workflow automation tool with hundreds of integrations and AI agent nodes; self-hostable. |
| Best for | You want a visual LLM app builder you can self-host. | You want visual automations with AI steps you can self-host. |
| Skip it if | You prefer code-first frameworks. | You want a pure-code framework. |
| Pricing | Sandbox free (200 message credits); Professional $590/workspace/yr; Team $1,590/yr ✓ verified on the official pricing page, Oct 18, 2026 | Self-hosted community edition free; paid cloud plans unverified editorial summary, not yet confirmed on an official pricing page |
| Starting paid price | $590/workspace/year | Not recorded |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes (unverified) |
| Platforms | web · Self-host | web · Self-host |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Official site | dify.ai | n8n.io |
| Last reviewed | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Which should you pick?
Pick Dify if…
You want a visual LLM app builder you can self-host.
Pick n8n if…
You want visual automations with AI steps you can self-host.
FAQ
Is Dify better than n8n?
n8n scores higher overall: 85/100 (S-tier) vs 75/100 (A-tier) for Dify in Agent frameworks & orchestration. Dify leads on ease. n8n leads on job fit, momentum, trust & maturity and builder/gamer bonus. They tie on value and openness & portability. The better pick depends on the job: choose Dify if you want a visual LLM app builder you can self-host. Choose n8n if you want visual automations with AI steps you can self-host.
Do Dify and n8n have free tiers?
Dify: free tier listed (verified on the official pricing page Oct 18, 2026). n8n: free tier listed (unverified). Unverified means an editorial summary not yet confirmed on the vendor's pricing page.
Is Dify or n8n open source?
Dify is listed as open source; n8n is listed as open source.
How are these scores calculated?
Both tools are scored out of 100 on the same public rubric (job fit 30, ease 15, value 15, momentum 15, openness 10, trust 10, builder/gamer bonus 5) within their category. Current scores are initial editorial estimates from public information, not hands-on tests. Sponsors cannot buy points.
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