Alfera vs n8n
n8n: Visual workflow automation platform for building AI agents and workflows, with code when needed. 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 a workflow canvas you build.
| n8nWorkflow automation / AI agent builder | Open source, or Alfera Cloud | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Visual workflow automation platform for building AI agents and workflows, with code when needed. Cloud or self-hosted. | The AI coworker your whole team shares, with a company brain that syncs your apps. Open source. | |
| Open source | Yes, Sustainable Use License + n8n Enterprise License (fair-code) | Yes, AGPL-3.0 | |
| Self-host | Yes | Yes: one click on DigitalOcean or AWS, or one command on any server | |
| Price | Community Edition free to self-host. Cloud Starter €20/month billed annually, 2,500 workflow executions | Free to start: open source to self-host, and Alfera Cloud starts with $10 of free AI usage | |
| Where it works | Web app (n8n Chat), Slack, Microsoft Teams, Email (Gmail, Outlook), Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp Business, Google Chat | Slack, WhatsApp, email from its own address, the web app, a Mac app, the API and MCP | |
| Team use | All plans list unlimited users and workflows. Business and Enterprise add shared projects (6 on Business, unlimited on Enterprise), SSO, LDAP and RBAC. | 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-in-the-loop: an AI Agent tool can require approval; the workflow pauses until a person approves or denies, via n8n Chat, Slack, email and more. | 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 | Trigger nodes start workflows: Schedule Trigger (fixed intervals and times), Webhook node, and On App Event triggers for supported services. | On a schedule, from a webhook, or on 600+ app events | |
| Models | Connect OpenAI, Anthropic, Google or open-source models and switch providers; site says you can swap cloud or offline models. | 230+ models: Claude, GPT, Gemini, open models, your ChatGPT plan, or your own |
Where n8n is the better choice
Technical teams that want to build AI agents and workflows visually, go deep with code, and self-host if needed.
- Visual canvas to build and inspect multi-step workflows and multi-agent setups node by node
- Large node library: its GitHub README lists 1500+ integrations, plus custom API calls and code nodes
- Can run on-prem and air-gapped with Docker; repo has over 200,000 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.
n8n 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. n8n is also open source (Sustainable Use License + n8n Enterprise License (fair-code)).
If you want something like n8n, 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.
n8n: Community Edition free to self-host. Cloud Starter €20/month billed annually, 2,500 workflow executions. Alfera: Free to start: open source to self-host, and Alfera Cloud starts with $10 of free AI usage.
n8n: Yes. Alfera: Yes: one click on DigitalOcean or AWS, or one command on any server.
Technical teams that want to build AI agents and workflows visually, go deep with code, and self-host if needed. Visual canvas to build and inspect multi-step workflows and multi-agent setups node by node. Large node library: its GitHub README lists 1500+ integrations, plus custom API calls and code nodes. Can run on-prem and air-gapped with Docker; repo has over 200,000 GitHub stars.
Sources
Facts about n8n come from its own pages, read on 16 October 2026. Something out of date? Write to hello@alfera.ai and we will fix it.