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Source-available workflow automation with native AI-agent nodes and 500+ integrations. Self-hostable free, or on n8n Cloud from €20/month.

Screenshot of n8nVerified · theagentsindex.com
From
Free
Pricing model
freemium
Free tier
Yes
Deployment
Both
Interface
Visual
Open source
Yes
Public API
Yes
Model / LLM
Model-agnostic (OpenAI, Anthropi…

Our verdict

n8n is the strongest choice for teams that want agentic automation built visually rather than in code, without giving up the integration breadth or self-hosting control that no-code tools usually sacrifice.

Its 500+ app integrations plus native AI-agent nodes mean an agent can actually go do something: call an API, update a CRM, post to Slack, not just answer a question. It is fair-code, not OSI open-source, so check the licence before reselling a self-hosted deployment commercially, and deeply branching agent logic can get harder to read on a canvas than in code.

It suits ops-style automation with an agent in the loop best; developers who prefer expressing control flow purely as code may find LangGraph or CrewAI a better fit.

What is n8n?

n8n is a source-available (fair-code) workflow automation platform with a visual editor and native AI-agent nodes. It lets teams build agentic automations that connect hundreds of apps and APIs, self-hosted for full control or on n8n's cloud.

Founded in 2019 by CEO Jan Oberhauser and headquartered in Berlin, n8n has raised over $248M across a $1.5M seed (2020), a $12M Series A (2021, Felicis), a €55M Series B (March 2025, Highland Europe) and a $180M Series C (October 2025, led by Accel with Nvidia's NVentures and Deutsche Telekom's T-Capital participating).

In May 2026, at SAP's Sapphire conference, SAP took a minority stake (reportedly just under 1.3%, alongside a commercial deal to embed n8n inside SAP's Joule Studio agent-building environment) at a valuation of $5.2 billion.

What does n8n do?

You build workflows on a visual canvas, dropping in AI-agent and LLM nodes alongside 500+ app integrations, triggers and code steps. Agents can call tools, branch on results and run on a schedule or webhook. Because it is self-hostable, data and credentials can stay in your own environment.

By n8n's own count, more than 80% of workflows built on the platform now involve an AI agent, across 1,400+ enterprise customers and a community of 1.7 million monthly active builders; the SAP partnership extends that reach by making n8n an automation layer inside Joule Studio, SAP's own agent-building environment.

How n8n works

  1. Build a workflow on n8n's visual canvas, dropping in AI-agent and LLM nodes alongside app integrations.
  2. Connect triggers, schedules or webhooks to start the workflow, and add JavaScript or Python code steps where needed.
  3. The agent calls tools, branches on results and can hand off to other nodes mid-workflow.
  4. Run it self-hosted for full data control, or on n8n Cloud for a managed deployment.

Key features

Visual agent workflows
Build agentic automations on a canvas. Every step of the agent's reasoning is traceable.
500+ integrations
Connect the apps and APIs your agents need to act on, with custom HTTP/API for anything else.
Self-hostable
Run it on your own infrastructure to keep data, credentials and execution in-house.
Code + UI in one flow
Drop JavaScript or Python steps anywhere in a workflow alongside the visual nodes.

What are n8n's use cases?

Ops automation with an agent in the loop
An LLM agent triages inbound requests, calls the right tool, updates the CRM and notifies Slack.
Self-hosted control for regulated data
A team runs agent workflows on its own infra, with SSO, audit logs and external secret stores.
Multi-agent coordination on a canvas
A workflow hands off between specialised agents: one retrieves, one reasons, one writes back to the system of record.

Who is n8n for?

  • Ops and automation teams who want to build agentic workflows visually while keeping data on self-hosted infrastructure
  • Teams that need an agent to actually take actions, update a CRM, post to Slack, hit an API, not just answer questions
  • Developers who want 500+ pre-built integrations rather than writing every connector by hand

Not forDevelopers who prefer expressing complex agent control as code rather than a visual graph.

What does n8n integrate with?

  • 500+ app and API integrations
  • Native AI-agent and LLM nodes (LangChain integration)
  • Model providers: OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama and others
  • Webhooks, schedules and custom code steps
  • Model Context Protocol (MCP): MCP Server Trigger node (n8n as a server) and MCP Client node (n8n as a client)
  • Data tables for structured workflow storage

Why use n8n?

  1. Visual and approachable, yet powerful enough for real agentic workflows.
  2. Self-hostable for data control, with a 500+ integration library.
  3. Code where you need it: JavaScript or Python in any step.

What are n8n's pros and cons?

What's great

  • Visual builder plus 500+ integrations make agent automations fast to ship.
  • Self-hostable for data governance and cost control.
  • MCP support in both directions: n8n as server or client.

Watch-outs

  • Fair-code licence is source-available, not OSI open-source; check terms for commercial resale.
  • Complex agent logic can get unwieldy on a visual canvas.
  • Cloud Business tier jumps to €667/month; there is no mid-market hosted tier between Pro and Business.
  • Fair-code is source-available, not OSI open-source, so check the licence before commercial resale.
  • Deeply branching agent logic can get unwieldy to read and maintain on a visual canvas.
  • No public Cloud tier between €50 (Pro) and €667 (Business); teams that outgrow Pro must jump to Business or contact sales.

n8n pricing

Cloud Starter from €20/month (2,500 executions). Self-hosted Community is free.

  • Community

    Free

    • Self-hosted, fair-code license
    • Free

  • Cloud Starter

    €20 / month (billed annually)

    • 2,500 workflow executions/month
    • 5 concurrent executions
    • 2,300 AI credits/month
    • Forum support

  • Cloud Pro

    €50 / month (billed annually)

    • 10,000 workflow executions/month
    • 20 concurrent executions
    • Up to 13,700 AI credits/month
    • Workflow history, admin roles, 7 days of insights

  • Cloud Business

    €667 / month (billed annually)

    • 40,000 workflow executions/month
    • SSO/SAML/LDAP
    • Git version control, different environments
    • 30 days of insights

  • Enterprise

    Custom

    • Hosted by n8n or self-hosted
    • Custom number of workflow executions
    • External secret store integration, log streaming, 365 days of insights
    • Dedicated support with SLA

See current pricing on n8n.io ↗Compare n8n alternatives →

Frequently asked questions

Is n8n really open-source?
n8n is fair-code: the source is available and the Community edition is free to self-host, but the licence is not OSI-approved open-source, so review the terms before commercially reselling a hosted deployment.
Can I self-host n8n?
Yes, self-hosting is a core strength. You can run the Community edition free on your own infrastructure via Docker, or use n8n's managed Cloud, which starts at €20/month for 2,500 executions and scales through Pro (€50/month, 10,000 executions) and Business (€667/month, 40,000 executions plus SSO and Git version control) up to custom Enterprise pricing.
What can n8n's AI-agent nodes do?
The native AI-agent and LLM nodes let a workflow reason over inputs, call tools and branch on results across 500+ app integrations, so an agent can actually take actions (update a CRM, post to Slack, hit an API) on a schedule or webhook, not just answer a question.
Does n8n support MCP?
Yes, in both directions. n8n ships an MCP Server Trigger node (so other agents can call n8n workflows as tools) and an MCP Client node (so n8n workflows can call any external MCP server).

n8n alternatives

  • Dify

    An open-source, self-hostable alternative that folds a built-in RAG pipeline into the same visual-canvas idea, for teams whose agents need retrieval-augmented answers rather than n8n's broader 500+ app-integration library.

  • Lindy

    A closed-source, no-code AI-employee builder for teams that want a working agent running in an afternoon without a visual canvas to configure. Tradeoff is n8n's self-hosting and 500+ integrations for Lindy's speed and credit-metered simplicity.

  • OpenClaw

    A messaging-native personal agent you talk to directly, versus n8n's visual canvas for designing multi-step automations. Both self-hostable and open, but built for different jobs.

  • Compare the whole category

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Anything to add?

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The evidence

Facts re-verified

How we checked this

The strongest visual home for agentic automation, huge integration breadth and self-hosting, with fair-code licensing and canvas sprawl the trade-offs.

Tags

APIClaudeEnterpriseFree tierGPTNo-codeOpen modelsOpen sourceSelf-hosted

What changed, and what we read (2 updates)

  1. AlternativesBest forConsFaq itemsHow it worksIntegrationsKey featuresLimitationsPricingProsTaglineUse casesVerdictWhat isWhat it doesWho forWhy use

    Read n8n.io (official), n8n.io (official), github.com (official), docs.n8n.io (docs), en.wikipedia.org (community), trendingtopics.eu (news)

  2. Tier priority

Reviewed by The Agents Index Editorial, Research desk.

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