n8n vs Windmill
Side-by-side comparison of two AI agent tools
Short answer
- n8n is growing faster: +3,991 GitHub stars in the last 30 days vs +317 for Windmill.
- Pick n8n for: fair-code workflow automation platform with native AI capabilities. Pick Windmill for: open-source developer platform to power your entire infra and turn scripts into webhooks, workflows and UIs.
From GitHub data refreshed daily.
n8nfree
Fair-code workflow automation platform with native AI capabilities. Combine visual building with custom code, self-host or cloud, 400+ integrations.
Windmillopen-source
Open-source developer platform to power your entire infra and turn scripts into webhooks, workflows and UIs. Fastest workflow engine (13x vs Airflow). Open-source alternative to Retool and Temporal.
Metrics
| n8n | Windmill | |
|---|---|---|
| Stars | 206.5k | 18.1k |
| Star velocity /mo | 4.0k | 316.984126984127 |
| Commits (90d) | 3.7k | 1.3k |
| Releases (6m) | 10 | 10 |
| Overall score | 0.9367932000861814 | 0.8135943658053529 |
Pros
- +Hybrid approach combining visual workflow building with full JavaScript/Python coding capabilities when needed
- +AI-native platform with LangChain integration for building sophisticated AI agent workflows using custom data and models
- +Fair-code license ensures source code transparency with self-hosting options, providing data control and deployment flexibility
- +Multi-language support with automatic UI generation from scripts in Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash, SQL, and more
- +High performance workflow engine claiming 13x faster execution than Airflow
- +Self-hostable open-source solution with AGPLv3 license providing full control and customization
Cons
- -Requires technical knowledge to fully leverage coding capabilities and advanced features
- -Self-hosting demands infrastructure management and maintenance overhead
- -Fair-code license restricts commercial usage at scale without enterprise licensing
- -AGPLv3 license may restrict some commercial use cases and require careful compliance consideration
- -Being a comprehensive platform may introduce complexity for simple automation tasks
- -Self-hosting requires infrastructure management and maintenance overhead
Use Cases
- •Building AI agent workflows that process customer data using LangChain and custom language models
- •Automating complex business processes that require both API integrations and custom business logic
- •Creating data synchronization pipelines between multiple SaaS tools while maintaining full control over sensitive data through self-hosting
- •Building internal APIs and webhooks from existing scripts without additional infrastructure
- •Creating automated workflows for background jobs and data processing pipelines
- •Developing low-code internal applications with custom UIs for non-technical team members
FAQ
- Which is more popular, n8n or Windmill?
- n8n has more GitHub stars (206,500 vs 18,087).
- Which is more actively developed, n8n or Windmill?
- n8n had more commits in the last 90 days (3,663 vs 1,250).
- Should I use n8n or Windmill?
- Compare their capabilities, limitations and "best for" notes above. Trying each on a small task is the fastest way to decide.