AutoGPT vs n8n
The two are close in size: 187.1k stars for AutoGPT, 203.4k for n8n. Over the days we have tracked them AutoGPT moved +0.8% and n8n +3%, so n8n is growing faster right now.
n8n leads on noise control. AutoGPT does not take any axis by a clear margin.
Stars and commit dates come from our own daily tracking. The six axes are read off each project's documentation by our review pipeline, so they describe what a project says about itself, not what we measured in its code.
Where they stand today
Provides both a managed, no-API-key hosted platform and an open-source self-hostable agent runtime with a visual builder and marketplace.
- Stars
- 187.1k
- Tracked growth
- +0.8%
- Maturity
- ●●●●●
- Last commit
- 17m ago
- Language
- Python
- License
- NOASSERTION
- Cost to run
- Paid hosted service; self-hosted uses your infrastructure and model-provider costs
Provides a visual low-code canvas plus custom code and 1,500+ integrations to build production-ready multi-step AI agents with self-hosting and no provider lock-in.
- Stars
- 203.4k
- Tracked growth
- +3%
- Maturity
- ●●●●●
- Last commit
- 22m ago
- Language
- TypeScript
- License
- NOASSERTION
- Cost to run
- Self-hostable; cloud offering available
Six axes, head to head
Each axis runs 0 to 5. The label under a score is what that project's own docs claim, not a category average.
| Axis | AutoGPT | n8n |
|---|---|---|
Context depth How much of your codebase it sees before it answers: the open diff, the diff plus related files, or the whole repository. | ●●●●● Workspace-level access | ●●●●● Workflow-level |
Noise control How it keeps output volume down — severity thresholds, deduplication, incremental runs over new commits only. | ●●●●● None mentioned | ●●●●● Human approvals |
Customization How far it bends to your team: custom rules, prompts, style guides, per-path config. | ●●●●● Visual builder & marketplace | ●●●●● Highly extensible |
Privacy Whether your code stays on your own infrastructure: fully local, self-hostable, or cloud API only. | ●●●●● Self-hostable | ●●●●● Self-hostable |
Model freedom Whether you can point it at any provider, or it is wired to one. | ●●●●● Bring your own key | ●●●●● Provider-agnostic |
Setup ease What it takes to get a first useful run out of it. | ●●●●● One-click hosted | ●●●●● One-command start |
Which one to pick
Pick AutoGPT if…
Flexible deployment — use the managed platform for instant agents or self-host to retain control over infrastructure, data, and model keys.
Pick n8n if…
Model flexibility — pick OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or open-source models and self-host the platform while composing agents visually and adding custom code.
- Noise control: Human approvals (3/5 against 1/5)
What people want from each one
Significant-Gravitas/AutoGPT
Hacker News: AI Report #4: AutoGPT And Open-source lags behind Part 2 drew 60 points and 36 comments.
n8n-io/n8n
Questions people ask
Is AutoGPT better than n8n?
n8n leads on noise control. AutoGPT does not take any axis by a clear margin. AutoGPT is worth picking when flexible deployment — use the managed platform for instant agents or self-host to retain control over infrastructure, data, and model keys.
Which of AutoGPT and n8n keeps my code private?
AutoGPT: Self-hostable (4/5). n8n: Self-hostable (4/5).
What does each one cost to run?
AutoGPT: Paid hosted service; self-hosted uses your infrastructure and model-provider costs. n8n: Self-hostable; cloud offering available.
Full profiles: Significant-Gravitas/AutoGPT and n8n-io/n8n. Everything else in Low-code builders.