Skip to content
Agent Search Engine

Workflow & Productivity · Head-to-head

Dust vs n8n

Dust and n8n are both workflow & productivity. Dust is Custom AI agents connected to your company knowledge and tools, while n8n is fair-code workflow automation platform with native AI capabilities. Combine visual building with custom code, self-host or cloud, 400+ integrations. Here's an independent, side-by-side look at how they compare — and which fits.

Dust

Platform· Paid product

Custom AI agents connected to your company knowledge and tools.

Visit Dust
n8n

Platform· Open source

Fair-code workflow automation platform with native AI capabilities. Combine visual building with custom code, self-host or cloud, 400+ integrations.

Visit n8n

Bottom line

Dust and n8n take different routes to the same job: one is a commercial product, the other open-source and self-hostable. Choose based on whether you want a managed experience or full control.

Building one yourself? How to build AI workflow automation

Side by side

SpecDustn8n
TypePlatformPlatform
ModelCommercialOpen source
PricingPaid productOpen source
GitHub stars200,026
LanguageTypeScript
Last activityAug 2026

Key differences

  • Dust is a commercial product; n8n is open-source and self-hostable.
  • Pricing model differs — Dust is paid product, n8n is open source.

Choose Dust if

you want a managed, commercially-supported product.

Choose n8n if

Self-hostable workflow automation with native AI agent nodes and 400+ integrations.

About Dust

Custom AI agents connected to your company knowledge and tools.

Full Dust profile →

About n8n

Fair-code workflow automation platform with native AI capabilities. Combine visual building with custom code, self-host or cloud, 400+ integrations.

Full n8n profile →

Frequently asked

What's the main difference between Dust and n8n?
Dust is a commercial product; n8n is open-source and self-hostable.
Is Dust or n8n better?
Neither is universally better. Dust is the stronger fit for a managed, commercially-supported product; n8n for Self-hostable workflow automation with native AI agent nodes and 400+ integrations. Use the side-by-side specs to decide by your own constraints.
Is Dust or n8n free?
Dust is a paid product; n8n is free to run and self-host.
Which is more popular, Dust or n8n?
We rank open-source projects by GitHub adoption, but at least one of these is a commercial product and stars don't measure commercial adoption — so compare them on capabilities and pricing instead.
Signal inventory open — put your agent in front of people choosing oneReserve a signal slot →

More workflow & productivity comparisons

All workflow & productivity