Kortix vs n8n: an open-source agent platform or a workflow engine

n8n is a strong visual workflow automation platform you can self-host, and Kortix is the open-source alternative for work that will not fit a flowchart. Both run on your own infrastructure and both let a person approve what the software does. The difference is the unit of work: n8n runs a fixed workflow, and Kortix runs an agent session that decides its own steps and lands the result as a change you review.

What n8n is

n8n is a fair-code workflow automation platform with native AI, distributed under the Sustainable Use License and the n8n Enterprise License, which keep the source visible and the platform self-hostable (n8n on GitHub). It is built on a visual canvas that you extend with JavaScript and Python, and you can run it self-hosted or on n8n Cloud. n8n's own listing counts 1500+ integrations and 9,000+ workflow templates, so most common systems already have a node (n8n repo). The unit n8n runs is the workflow: a defined path of steps that fires on a schedule, a webhook or a click, and executes the same way every time.

What Kortix is

Kortix is the open-source AI Management System: one platform where your agents, their skills, your company memory and every connector live as files in a git repo you own (Kortix docs). Every session runs on its own isolated Linux machine and lands its work on the default branch as a change request a person reads as a diff. Kortix is open source (Elastic License 2.0): self-host, read and modify the code. It reaches 3,000+ apps plus any MCP, OpenAPI, GraphQL or HTTP API, with connector credentials brokered server-side (Kortix on GitHub). Agents run on the OpenCode harness, and the tools and permissions beside each agent are configured in the repo (Kortix docs). You choose the model per agent, per session or per message, bring your own API key, and set each tool to allow, ask or block.

n8n and Kortix side by side

Where n8n is the better choice

• Fixed flows stay readable. When the same steps must run in the same order every time, a visual canvas shows the path at a glance, and anyone on the team can edit a node.
• The library is already built. n8n lists 1500+ integrations and 9,000+ workflow templates, so the connector you need often exists (n8n repo).
• Billing ignores step count. n8n bills per workflow execution, and a run is a single execution no matter how many steps it contains (n8n pricing). For a long workflow, that is easier to predict than pricing per operation.
• Workflow governance. The project lists role-based access and audit trails for enterprise deployments (n8n repo). These are the strengths of a workflow engine, and n8n does that well.

Where Kortix does the work

• The unit is a session. You give a Kortix agent a job in plain language from the web app, Slack, Teams, email, the CLI or an API, and it plans and runs the steps itself on its own machine (Kortix docs).
• One repo is the company. Agents, skills, memory files, connectors and triggers are text you own, so you can grep the whole company, diff any change and roll it back.
• Any model with your keys. Pick the model per agent, per session or per message, bring an API key from any provider or use a Kortix-managed model (Kortix pricing).
• A gate on every change. Set each tool call to allow, ask or block, and agent work reaches the default branch only through a change request a person reviews.

In practice an n8n flow is a few nodes you draw and ship: trigger, enrich, send, done. A Kortix session is a prompt with no fixed node list: describe a bug, ask the agent to reproduce it, fix it and open a change request, and it finds the files, runs the tests and proposes the diff for a person to merge (Kortix on GitHub).

Kortix runs on your laptop, a VPS, your own VPC or on-prem, or on the managed cloud, and the enterprise tier adds SAML SSO, SCIM directory sync and audit logs (Kortix pricing). Team is $40/seat/month with 2,500 pooled credits per seat, and sandbox compute runs about $0.20/hour for the default machine, checked October 2026 (Kortix pricing). The install is one command: curl -fsSL https://kortix.com/install | bash (Kortix on GitHub).

Where n8n costs less

For a fixed flow that runs constantly, n8n's pricing can be the cheaper model. n8n bills per workflow execution, and it states that a run counts as a single execution no matter how many steps it contains, which makes high-volume flows more predictable than per-step pricing (n8n pricing). If the job is only scheduled flows on a canvas, n8n already does it.

When to pick which

Pick n8n when the job is a fixed flow: the same steps, in the same order, on a schedule or a webhook, with a node for each system already built. It is the simpler choice for deterministic integrations that run on a clock.

Pick Kortix when the job is open-ended: research, a report, a fix, a campaign, work whose steps you cannot list in advance and whose output a person should approve. Kortix gives that work a real machine, the company's tools and memory, and one repo that holds the whole configuration. For teams that run both kinds of work, Kortix is the platform to own, and n8n keeps the scheduled flows it already handles.

Related reading: the best self-hosted AI workspace and how to build reliable AI agent workflows.

Kortix is free to start and free to self-host. Get started with open-source Kortix and bring one job your team already runs.