n8n vs Windmill

n8n is a visual workflow automation tool focused on no-code, whereas Windmill is code-first with full script support and self-hosting.

Which to pick

What it is: n8n:n8n is a workflow automation platform that combines AI, code, and no-code to build and run integrations.; Windmill:Windmill is an open-source, self-hostable platform for scripts, workflows, apps and data pipelines.
Best for: n8n:Low-code AI-enabled workflow automation; Windmill:Code-first internal orchestration
Who it’s for: n8n:Technical teams needing flexible automation with AI and code control; Windmill:Engineering teams building internal tools and automation.
Pricing: n8n:Freemium; Windmill:Freemium
Plans: n8n:Starter 20€/mo billed annually · Pro 50€/mo billed annually · Business 667€/mo billed annually; Windmill:Free & Open-source $0/mo · Enterprise $120/mo per month · Developer seat $170/mo per month · Operator seat $20/mo/dev per month · Operator seat (external JWT) $10/mo/op per month
Open source: n8n:Yes, 206,435 GitHub stars; Windmill:Yes, 18,140 GitHub stars
Works with: n8n:—; Windmill:Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash, SQL, PHP, React, Svelte

AI nodes & agents. Add AI agents or AI steps to workflows, choose models and set guardrails.
Code steps (JS/Python). Write JavaScript or Python directly in any workflow node.
Extensive integrations. Over 500 pre-built integrations and ability to import cURL commands.
Version control & environments. Git-based versioning, multiple environments and visual diffs for safe deployment.
Observability. Logs interleaved with code, audit logs, real-time alerts and usage dashboards.
Security & governance. On-prem deployment, SSO/SAML/LDAP, encrypted secret store, RBAC and AI governance.

Multi-language scripts. Run Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash, SQL, PHP and more as API endpoints with full code control.
Visual DAG workflows. Design dependency graphs in a flow editor or as code, with retries, approvals and parallel branches.
Low-code app builder. Create React or Svelte front-ends with drag-and-drop and code, backed by existing scripts and flows.
AI agent integration. Connect to 12+ LLM providers or your own OpenAI-compatible endpoint to run scripts as agent tools.
Built-in observability. Each run logs inputs, outputs, traces and metrics; alerts can be sent to Slack, Teams or email.
Git-based collaboration. Workspaces fork like Git branches; changes are reviewed, merged and deployed to staging and prod.
Self-hosted infra. Deploy via Docker, Fargate or Kubernetes with YAML-defined worker groups and autoscaling.
Enterprise security. Supports SSO, SAML/SCIM, audit logs, SOC 2 Type II and external secret backends.

Is n8n or Windmill free?+

n8n has a free plan and paid plans. Windmill has a free plan (Free & Open-source); paid plans start at $120/month (Enterprise).

Is n8n or Windmill open source?+

Yes, both are open source: n8n (n8n-io/n8n on GitHub) and Windmill (windmill-labs/windmill on GitHub).

n8n

Listed by DevHunt

Windmill

Listed by DevHunt

Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.