langflow vs n8n

The two are close in size: 154.3k stars for langflow, 203.4k for n8n. Over the days we have tracked them langflow moved +1.4% and n8n +3%, so n8n is growing faster right now.

n8n leads on context depth and noise control and model freedom. langflow 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 a visual low-code flow builder with built-in API and MCP servers to turn workflows into deployable tools.

Stars
154.3k
Tracked growth
+1.4%
Maturity
Last commit
10h ago
Language
Python
License
MIT
Cost to run
Bring your own API key or self-hosted

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
0%+3%46 tracked days
langflow-ai/langflown8n-io/n8n

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.

Axislangflown8n
Context depth
How much of your codebase it sees before it answers: the open diff, the diff plus related files, or the whole repository.
Diff only
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.
Customizable code and UI
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.
Multiple providers
Provider-agnostic
Setup ease
What it takes to get a first useful run out of it.
One-command start
One-command start

Which one to pick

Pick langflow if…

Easy setup — run locally in one command or use the Desktop app to start building and deploying agents quickly.

Runs in web-app, cli. Works with byok.

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.

  • Context depth: Workflow-level (3/5 against 1/5)
  • Noise control: Human approvals (3/5 against 1/5)
  • Model freedom: Provider-agnostic (5/5 against 3/5)
Runs in web-app, cli. Works with byok, openai, anthropic, gemini, local-ollama.

What people want from each one

Questions people ask

Is langflow better than n8n?

n8n leads on context depth and noise control and model freedom. langflow does not take any axis by a clear margin. langflow is worth picking when easy setup — run locally in one command or use the Desktop app to start building and deploying agents quickly.

Which of langflow and n8n keeps my code private?

langflow: Self-hostable (4/5). n8n: Self-hostable (4/5).

What does each one cost to run?

langflow: Bring your own API key or self-hosted. n8n: Self-hostable; cloud offering available.

Full profiles: langflow-ai/langflow and n8n-io/n8n. Everything else in Low-code builders.