# Dify vs n8n: 2026 Empirical Benchmark & Cost Shootout

> **Direct Answer (October 2026 Verdict)**: n8n wins for end-to-end business workflow orchestration across 400+ SaaS integrations and webhooks with 207.6k+ GitHub stars and a 480MB RAM footprint (95.1), while Dify wins for LLM-first visual RAG pipelines, prompt IDE management, and 1-click chat API publishing with 158.6k+ GitHub stars (94.7).

- **Category**: Visual AI Workflow Builder & Agent Automation Shootout
- **Canonical URL**: https://pulse-forge.io/vs/dify-vs-n8n
- **1-Click $0 Free Starter docker-compose.prod.yml + CLAUDE.md**: https://pulse-forge.io/api/launch-kit/free-claude-md?repo=dify/dify
- **1-Click $4.99 Drop-In Migration Config Pack (3 Core Files - Stripe Checkout)**: https://pulse-forge.io/buy/micro_pass?repo=dify/dify&source=md_vs
- **1-Click $9.99 Complete 9-File Production Config .ZIP (Stripe Checkout)**: https://pulse-forge.io/buy/repo_pass_999?repo=dify/dify&source=md_vs_999
- **1-Click $49 Builder Repo Hardening & Launch Kit (Stripe Checkout)**: https://pulse-forge.io/buy/instant_boost?repo=dify/dify
- **1-Click $149 Category Leader Pro + 30-Day Pin (Stripe Checkout)**: https://pulse-forge.io/buy/category_leader?repo=dify/dify
- **Specimen #1 Production Config Preview (`docker-compose.prod.yml`)**: `+ [docker-compose.prod.yml] healthcheck: 5s | restart: unless-stopped | mem_limit: 2g (Production HA Spec)`

## Dify Key Advantages
- 158,638+ GitHub stars with built-in hybrid RAG chunking, reranking, and multi-model prompt IDE
- 1-click publishing of visual agent workflows as OpenAI-compatible REST APIs and embeddable web apps
- Native MCP tool client/server orchestration and dataset evaluation logs

## n8n Key Advantages
- 207,626+ GitHub stars with 400+ battle-tested SaaS, database, and webhook triggers
- Lightweight 480MB Node/TypeScript container (-67% RAM vs Dify multi-container Docker stack)
- Execution-based self-hosting eliminates per-step Zapier/Make automation bills