In-Depth Comparison Review of Automated Workflow Tools n8n, Coze (Button) & Dify

In the wave of digital transformation, automated workflow tools have become the key to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Nowadays, with the increasing maturity of AI technology, how to combine AI with automated workflow has become the focus of the industry. In this article, we will review three popular tools: n8n, Coze and Dify, to help readers understand their respective features, advantages and applicable scenarios, so as to make a more informed choice.

n8n: The Swiss Army Knife of Open Source Automation

n8n is an open source automated workflow tool from Germany, founded in Berlin in 2019 by Jan Oberhauser, an engineer with a background in visual design who has worked extensively with automation in the post-production of a number of movies, including the Pirates of the Caribbean series. It was this experience that inspired him to create n8n.

In 2020, n8n received a seed round of $1.5 million from Sequoia Capital, which was the first seed investment by Sequoia Capital in Germany. Although relatively mature tools such as Zapier, RapidAPI and Tray.io already existed on the market at the time, Jan Oberhauser felt that they still lacked in terms of flexibility and price. So he decided to develop a set of tools that would meet his needs, and this is how n8n was born.

n8n's philosophy of being "free, sustainable, open and pragmatic" has always been a core competency. n8n maintains an open source version that is consistent with the official version, so that anyone can deploy privately and have full control over their data.

In short, n8n is a powerful, flexible and customizable automated workflow tool that connects disparate applications and services through a visual interface to automate repetitive tasks. Self ChatGPT Since its launch, n8n has integrated all major AI suites such as AI grand models and knowledge bases to help users develop complex AI automation tasks.

As you can see from n8n's project information on GitHub, it's developed primarily in languages like TypeScript, Vue.js, and JavaScript.

Typical application scenarios for n8n include:

1. AI application development: Build intelligent applications in conjunction with AI macromodels.
2. data analysis: Automated data collection, cleansing and analysis.
3. Corporate Marketing: Automate the execution of marketing campaigns such as mass mailings, social media management, etc.
4. client service: Automatically respond to customer inquiries, handle work orders, etc.
5. financial accounting: Automatic generation of financial statements, processing of invoices, etc.
6. IT operations and maintenance: Automate tasks such as system monitoring and log analysis.
7. CRM: Automatically synchronize customer information, follow up on leads, and more.
8. Embedded Automation: Embedding automation capabilities into other applications.
9. system integration: Connecting different systems for data interoperability.

Core features and benefits of n8n

1. Completely open source and free of charge: n8n's code is completely public and can be self-hosted (e.g., deployed via Docker) for free without worrying about cost of use or data privacy issues. This is especially attractive to teams with limited budgets.

2. Visualization + Code Dual Moden8n provides an intuitive visual interface that allows users to design workflows by dragging and dropping nodes, making it easy for even non-technical people to get started. At the same time, n8n also supports JavaScript and Python code to meet developers' deep customization needs.

3. Superior Integration Capability: n8n supports API connections for more than 400 applications (e.g. Notion, Flybook, GitHub, etc.), covering almost all scenarios such as office, development, and marketing.

n8n integrates with almost all commonly used and open API applications around the world. Users can find the tools they need in n8n's node list, which includes a variety of development tools and databases.

4. Flexible deployment: n8n can be deployed either locally (NAS, server) or using a cloud-based service, allowing users to have full control over the flow of data.

5. Native AI Support: n8n Build AI applications based on AI Agent, LangChain, and be able to call custom models to handle complex tasks.

n8n provides full support for mainstream foreign big models (such as OpenAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, LLaMA, etc.). n8n also supports any OpenAI API-compatible big models. In addition, any large model compatible with OpenAI API can be configured and used in n8n, and also supports excellent domestic large models such as DeepSeek. n8n also supports cooperation with different vector databases to easily develop enterprise-level knowledge bases through the AI Agent node.

Coze (Buckle): a platform for rapidly building AI applications

Coze is the AI application development platform of ByteDance, and its positioning is very clear: users can quickly build all kinds of AI applications based on big models without programming basics, and publish them to various social platforms and communication software, or integrate them into business systems through API/SDK.

The main uses of Coze (buckles) include:

• intelligent body: A dialogue-based AI project that receives user input through dialog, and a large model automatically invokes plug-ins or workflows to perform tasks and generate responses. Typical application scenarios include intelligent customer service, virtual companion, personal assistant, etc.
• appliance: Applications developed using Big Model technology with complete business logic and visualization interfaces. For example, AI search, translation tools, dietary records, etc.

As you can see, Coze (Buckle) is more of a tool for individual users and developers to help them quickly create AI-capable Apps or applets.

Dify: Specializing in Enterprise AI Application Development

Dify Dify is an open source, enterprise-grade AI application development platform, whose parent company is Suzhou Lingling Artificial Intelligence Technology Company Limited, and whose founder, Zhang Luyu, is a post-90s entrepreneur. Before founding Dify, Zhang sold his startup to Tencent, where he worked for several years.

Founded in 2023, Dify was originally focused on a knowledge base (RAG) based customer service chatbot, and it wasn't until 2024 that Dify added workflow capabilities to its product. It wasn't until 2024 that Dify added workflow capabilities to the product.

Dify combines the concepts of Backend-as-a-Service and LLMOps to help users quickly build enterprise-grade AI applications. It provides a low-code platform that allows even non-programmers to build applications.

As of mid-2024, Dify has over 8,000 stars on GitHub, while n8n has over 60,000 stars.

Dify CEO Luyu Zhang has said, "Dify is a large model application technology stack, or application development platform, for application developers, abbreviated as LLMOps. we first introduced the LLMOps concept in February 2023."

Dify and Coze Coze is designed not to solve business automation, but to quickly build AI applications around large models. Coze is more oriented towards personal AI applications, while Dify and n8n are similar in enterprise application scenarios in that they are both open source and support private deployments. While both Dify and n8n are suitable for enterprise applications, n8n is more versatile, flexible, and mature in the automated workflow space, and has more enterprise users globally.

Dify's project information on GitHub shows that it is developed primarily in TypeScript and Python.

User reviews of Dify focus on the following points:

1. open source and controllable: Users are in control of their data without fear of disclosure; based on an open architecture that is customizable and extensible.
2. Environmentally friendly production: Provide Backend-as-a-Service functionality to simplify back-end development; with API interfaces for easy integration.
3. Rapid development and deployment: The operator interface is user-friendly and both technical and non-technical staff can get started quickly; the application is deployed rapidly.

n8n, Dify, Coze Comparison Summary

A more colloquial comparison:

• n8n: Like Lego blocks, they can be freely assembled with a variety of features, but they require a certain amount of hands-on skills.
• Coze: It's like a fast-food restaurant that can make a chatbot quickly, but with a limited selection of "ingredients" (features).
• DifyThe idea is to have an advanced kitchen that can cook "Michelin meals" (complex AI applications), but needs to buy the "ingredients" (models) itself.

Select a recommendation:

• Build AI applets quickly: Coze is recommended for quick implementation of small, simple AI-based dialog applications.
• Build enterprise-grade AI custom apps: Dify and n8n are both good choices.
• Building Business Automation + AI Applications: n8n is preferred.

Learning and maintenance costs:

• n8n: Users are required to have a certain understanding of APIs, and the connection between systems is mainly based on API calls. Self-hosting requires some server management skills.
• Coze: The cost of learning is low.
• Dify:: Higher learning costs.