Head-to-head · facts checked 13 Sept 2026
n8n vs SmythOS
n8n uniquely has 8 features.
From
€24/mo — Starter
Free plan
Yes — self-hosted Community Edition only
From
$39/mo — Builder
Free plan
Yes — Public/Free plan at $0
The verdict
n8n or SmythOS?
Section 01
Pricing, plan by plan
Every plan each vendor publishes, monthly and yearly where both are offered.
n8n
Community Edition
Free
Self-hosted only, unlimited workflows, no execution limits enforced by n8n
Starter
$24/mo · $240/yr
2,500 workflow executions/mo, 1 shared project, 5 concurrent executions, 2,300 AI credits/month
Pro
$60/mo · $600/yr
10,000 workflow executions/mo, 3 shared projects, 20 concurrent executions, up to 13,700 AI credits/month
Business
$960/mo · $9,600/yr
40,000 workflow executions/mo, 6 shared projects, SSO/SAML/LDAP, Git version control, different environments
Enterprise
Custom
Custom executions, unlimited shared projects, 200+ concurrent executions, dedicated SLA support, log streaming, external secret store
SmythOS
Public (Free)
Free
$5 credits/mo, 1 seat, public agents, visual IDE, local deployment, 2.5x model usage cost
Builder
$39/mo
$20 credits/mo, 40% model discount, 100 fast API calls/day, private agents, unlimited Weaver AI messages
Startup
$399/mo
$200 credits/mo, 50% model discount, 5,000 fast API calls/day, 10 team spaces, 3 seats, RAG agents, collaboration features
Scaleup
$1,499/mo
$300 credits/mo, 60% model discount, 25,000 fast API calls/day, 50 team spaces, 5 seats, forward deployed engineer, white labeling
Enterprise
$4,955/mo
100% model usage discount, unlimited agents/tasks/API calls/seats, on-prem & VPC, OEM, compliance tailoring, custom LLMs, browser automation
Section 02
Pros and cons
From each tool's full review, written from the same checked facts.
n8n
Pros
- The self-hosted community edition is genuinely free with no workflow limits, which is rare among automation platforms.
- Code nodes allow JavaScript or Python to be inserted anywhere in a workflow, so developers never feel constrained by visual node limitations.
- Full infrastructure flexibility — runs on Docker, on-prem, or cloud depending on team preference.
- The visual canvas shows every step of a workflow with execution tracing, giving technical users clear visibility into what happened and why.
- A 200,000+ strong community actively solves real problems, often filling the gap when official support is slow.
- Cloud plans start at just €24/month, making the paid tier accessible compared to competitors that charge significantly more.
- Built without dumbing down the interface, making it a genuinely powerful tool for technical and DevOps teams.
Cons
- Non-technical users tend to bounce off the platform quickly due to its complexity and technical design philosophy.
- The interface is not designed to hide complexity, which creates a steep learning curve for teams without developer resources.
- Support tickets can be slow, pushing users to rely on the community forum rather than official channels.
- The tool is not competing with beginner-friendly platforms like Zapier, so teams expecting that experience will be disappointed.
- Self-hosting requires infrastructure management overhead that smaller or less technical teams may not be equipped to handle.
SmythOS
Pros
- Supports deployment across cloud, edge, on-premise, and desktop from a single build, offering rare infrastructure flexibility.
- Includes both a visual drag-and-drop Agent Studio and a full SDK, making it accessible to non-technical users and engineers alike.
- Ships as a free Docker image, which lowers the barrier to entry and supports strong developer adoption.
- Python and JavaScript SDK support with optimization for AI-assisted IDEs like Cursor and Windsurf.
- Bulk CSV trigger option enables batch processing without requiring a custom pipeline, a feature uncommon at this level.
- Role-based access control and team features are built-in rather than added as an afterthought.
- Active open-source community with a verified 20,000+ developer user base backed by real GitHub activity.
- The gap between marketing claims and actual product capability is smaller than typical for a company founded in 2023.
Cons
- The platform is dense and complex by design — not something new users can pick up in an afternoon.
- The company is very young, founded in 2023, which introduces questions about long-term stability and support.
- The 'run anywhere' deployment claim has not been independently stress-tested beyond reviewing architecture documentation.
- The breadth of features and positioning as an 'enterprise agent operating system' may be overwhelming for smaller teams.
- Marketing claims are large relative to the company's maturity, requiring careful evaluation by prospective buyers.
Side by side
| Company | ||
| Founded | 2019 | 2023 |
| HQ | Berlin, Germany | — |
| AI model | Supports multiple — OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, and others via node integrations | Multi-model (OpenAI, bring-your-own, enterprise/fine-tuned LLMs) |
| User base | 200K+ community members, 197K+ GitHub stars | 20,000+ developers |
| Platforms | Web, Self-hosted (Docker/on-prem), Cloud | Web, Docker, On-Prem, Cloud (AWS/Azure), Edge, Desktop, Mobile, API |
| Languages | 25+ | English (primary) |
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Subscription | Freemium |
| Free plan | Yes — self-hosted Community Edition only, no free cloud tier | Yes — Public/Free plan at $0, includes $5 credits/mo, 1 seat, Visual Agent IDE, public agents, local deployment |
| Free trial | Yes | No — free tier available instead |
| Starting price | €24/mo — Starter | $39/mo — Builder |
| Enterprise | Contact Sales | $4,955/mo starting |
| All plans | Community Edition — Free Starter — $24/mo Pro — $60/mo Business — $960/mo Enterprise — Custom | Public (Free) — Free Builder — $39/mo Startup — $399/mo Scaleup — $1,499/mo Enterprise — $4,955/mo |
| Positioning | ||
| Best for | Solo builders, small teams, and companies needing workflow automation | Engineering teams and developers building, deploying, and scaling enterprise AI agents |
| Differentiator | Unlimited steps per workflow execution across all plans | SmythOS is an open-source enterprise Agent OS offering a unified stack from visual no-code builder to SDK and runtime, with strict sandboxing, multi-tenant ACL, and deploy-anywhere (cloud, edge, on-prem, mobile) in a single build. |
| Competitors | Zapier | n8n, Zapier, Make, LangChain, AutoGPT, Relevance AI |
| Features | ||
| AI Credits | ✓ | — |
| Global Variables | ✓ | — |
| SSO/Saml/Ldap | ✓ | — |
| Self Hosted Option | ✓ | — |
| Version Control via Git | ✓ | — |
| Workflow History | ✓ | — |
| AI Agents | ✓ | ✓ |
| API Webhooks | ✓ | ✓ |
| Conditional Logic | ✓ | ✓ |
| Custom Code | ✓ | ✓ |
| Data Transform | ✓ | ✓ |
| Error Handling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Execution Logs | ✓ | ✓ |
| Human in Loop | ✓ | ✕ |
| Num Integrations | 2,174+ | 500+ (integrates with HubSpot, Slack, Zapier, and many more per marketing copy) |
| Scheduled Runs | ✓ | ✓ |
| Team Features | ✓ | ✓ |
| Trigger Types | Webhook / Schedule / HTTP / Queue / Email / Manual / API / External event | API / webhook / schedule / chat / bulk CSV / manual |
| Visual Builder | ✓ | ✓ |
| Integrations | ||
| API Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Google Workspace | ✓ | — |
| Key Integrations | Slack, OpenAI, Google Workspace, GitHub, Salesforce | HubSpot, Slack, Zapier, Node.js custom components, MCP Server |
| Openai Integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Slack | ✓ | ✓ |
| Webhook Support | ✓ | ✓ |
Section 03
n8n vs SmythOS: common questions
Is n8n or SmythOS cheaper?
n8n's cheapest paid plan is €24/mo — Starter and SmythOS's is $39/mo — Builder. Compare what each plan includes below before going on price alone.
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