Alfera vs Dify
Dify: Open platform to build agentic workflows, RAG pipelines and AI apps in a visual, collaborative workspace; cloud or self-hosted. Alfera is the AI coworker your whole team shares: a company brain that syncs your apps, connections shared per person or per team, permissions on every action, and Slack, WhatsApp and email. Open source, in one click on your server or on Alfera Cloud.
In one line: Alfera is a coworker your team talks to, vs an AI app builder.
| DifyAgentic workflow and RAG app builder | Open source, or Alfera Cloud | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Open platform to build agentic workflows, RAG pipelines and AI apps in a visual, collaborative workspace; cloud or self-hosted. | The AI coworker your whole team shares, with a company brain that syncs your apps. Open source. | |
| Open source | Yes, Modified Apache License 2.0 ("Dify Open Source License": Apache 2.0 plus conditions on multi-tenant use and keeping the frontend logo) | Yes, AGPL-3.0 | |
| Self-host | Yes | Yes: one click on DigitalOcean or AWS, or one command on any server | |
| Price | Free Sandbox (200 message credits); Professional $590 per workspace/year, 5,000 message credits/month, 3 members | Free to start: open source to self-host, and Alfera Cloud starts with $10 of free AI usage | |
| Where it works | Web app, API, Website embed (chat widget or iframe), MCP server | Slack, WhatsApp, email from its own address, the web app, a Mac app, the API and MCP | |
| Team use | Shared workspace with Owner, Admin, Editor and Normal roles; Normal members use published apps only. Team plan allows 50 members. | Multiplayer: one coworker for the whole team. It knows who is asking, and each connection is shared with everyone, one project, or one person | |
| Permissions | Human Input node pauses a workflow and sends a review form via the web app or by email to workspace members or external addresses. | Allow, ask first, or never, per connection and per action. Approvals in Slack, email or the app, and every action logged | |
| Starts on its own | Schedule trigger, webhook trigger, and integration triggers that run a workflow on events in external systems. | On a schedule, from a webhook, or on 600+ app events | |
| Models | Hundreds of proprietary and open-source LLMs, self-hosted solutions and any OpenAI API-compatible model; bring your own API key or use Dify Cloud credits. | 230+ models: Claude, GPT, Gemini, open models, your ChatGPT plan, or your own |
Where Dify is the better choice
Teams building production agentic workflows and RAG apps, from prototype to production, on cloud, VPC or self-hosted.
- Visual workflow canvas with built-in RAG pipelines and knowledge bases
- Every app publishes at once as a web app, an API, a website embed and an MCP server
- Large open-source community; the home page cites 158K+ GitHub stars
Everything Alfera does
- A company brain that syncs your apps. Connect Google Drive, Notion, Slack and the rest. Documents sync on their own, keep every version, and every answer draws on them.
- One coworker for the whole team. It knows who is asking. Many people, many tasks at once, each with their own chats and connections, and shared chats when you want.
- 3,000+ app connections, shared the way you choose. Each connection is open to everyone, one project, or one person. A personal mailbox stays personal; the support inbox is the team’s.
- Permissions on every action. Allow, ask first, or never, per connection and per action. Approvals land in Slack, email or the app, and every action is logged.
- Where your team already is. Slack, WhatsApp, email from its own address, the web app, a Mac app, and your own code through the API and MCP.
- It starts work by itself. On a schedule, from a webhook, or on 600+ app events in Gmail, HubSpot, Stripe and more.
- Its own computer. Every chat runs in a sandbox with a terminal and a browser, and its files stay from one chat to the next.
- Any model. 230+ models: Claude, GPT, Gemini, open models, your ChatGPT plan, or a model you run yourself.
- Open source, and free to start. AGPL-3.0. Self-host it in one click on DigitalOcean or AWS, or start on Alfera Cloud with $10 of free AI usage.
Dify and Alfera
Yes. Alfera is the AI coworker your whole team shares. It has a company brain that syncs your apps, 3,000+ app connections shared per person or per team, permissions on every action, and it works in Slack, WhatsApp, email and the web app. It starts work by itself, runs on any model, and it is open source: self-host it in one click or start free on Alfera Cloud. Dify is also open source (Modified Apache License 2.0 ("Dify Open Source License": Apache 2.0 plus conditions on multi-tenant use and keeping the frontend logo)).
If you want something like Dify, but open source and free to start, with a company brain that syncs your apps, connections shared per person or per team, and permissions on every action, pick Alfera. It works in Slack, WhatsApp and email, starts work by itself, and runs on any model.
Dify: Free Sandbox (200 message credits); Professional $590 per workspace/year, 5,000 message credits/month, 3 members. Alfera: Free to start: open source to self-host, and Alfera Cloud starts with $10 of free AI usage.
Dify: Yes. Alfera: Yes: one click on DigitalOcean or AWS, or one command on any server.
Teams building production agentic workflows and RAG apps, from prototype to production, on cloud, VPC or self-hosted. Visual workflow canvas with built-in RAG pipelines and knowledge bases. Every app publishes at once as a web app, an API, a website embed and an MCP server. Large open-source community; the home page cites 158K+ GitHub stars.
Sources
Facts about Dify come from its own pages, read on 16 October 2026. Something out of date? Write to hello@alfera.ai and we will fix it.