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Most buyers should pick n8n.
Choose Lindy when you want a business-task assistant that works through Slack, email, text, and calendar, with approvals for actions affecting others. Choose n8n when developers need to build, inspect, and rerun workflows, add code, and control deployment through self-hosting. Lindy charges by pooled credits and active users; n8n Cloud charges by workflow executions, while its Community Edition is free to self-host. Check Lindy’s per-task credit costs and n8n’s execution caps before sizing a production workload.
01Side by side
| Lindy | n8n | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per-user plans with pooled credits | Cloud plans priced by executions |
| Free tier | $50 credits; expire after seven days | Free self-hosted edition; server-limited executions |
| Open source and licence | Hosted service; no open-source claim | Open source; check licence terms |
| Self-hosting | No self-hosting option listed | Community Edition; Docker or on-prem |
| Integrations | 1,500+ integrations and MCP support | Examples include Slack, Jira, and Notion |
| Deployment model | AI employee across business channels | Cloud or self-managed workflow platform |
| Platforms | Slack, email, text, calendar, browser | Web |
| Limits and scaling | Credit tiers; per-task costs need checking | Execution caps; higher tiers available |
Lindy Choose Lindy if
- Choose Lindy if you want delegated lead follow-up and invoice chasing.
- Choose Lindy if work should arrive through Slack, email, text, or calendar.
- Choose Lindy if approvals should gate actions affecting other people.
n8n Choose n8n if
- Choose n8n if you need inspectable, step-by-step workflows.
- Choose n8n if you want to self-host or deploy on-prem.
- Choose n8n if execution caps and rerunning failed steps suit your workload.
02Pricing at real usage
Lindy’s Free plan includes $50 in credits that last seven days. Team starts at $29.99 per active user per month for 3,000 credits; listed tiers reach $9,999.50 for 1,750,000 credits. Credits are pooled across a team, and top-ups cost $10 per 1,000 credits. The pricing page lists Enterprise as custom.
n8n Community Edition is free to self-host, with executions limited by your own server. Cloud Starter costs $24 monthly or $20 per month billed annually and includes 2,500 executions. Pro costs $60 monthly or $50 annually for 10,000 executions. Both Cloud plans are hard-capped with no execution overages; upgrades are required. The 14-day Cloud trial requires no credit card. Business starts at $960 monthly or $800 annually for 40,000 executions. Compare Lindy’s task-credit consumption with n8n’s execution allowance before estimating workload costs.
03API, SDKs and integration
Lindy is framed as a task-oriented AI employee that works through Slack, email, text, calendar, and browser. Its homepage lists 1,500+ integrations and MCP support. The product is aimed at delegating tasks such as lead replies, client reporting, and invoice follow-up, rather than assembling each operation as a visible workflow.
n8n provides a visual workflow builder with the option to add code. Its examples connect tools including Slack, Jira, and Notion, and AI models such as Claude Sonnet 4.6. Developers can inspect agent runs step by step, add human approval points, and rerun a broken step. Neither vendor publishes API/SDK language details or CLI specifications on its product pages. Check the documentation for API access, authentication, rate limits, SDK support, and workflow export formats before making either tool a core dependency.
04Open source, self-hosting and lock-in
n8n identifies itself as open source, makes source code available on GitHub, and supports self-hosting, including Docker and on-prem deployment. Its Community Edition is free, but excludes SSO, LDAP, queue mode, and admin roles. The licence name and terms should be checked before redistribution or embedding.
Lindy is presented as a hosted AI employee; its product pages do not list a self-hosted deployment. Its business context can use calls, emails, and corrections, so teams should ask how that context and related records can be exported before building dependent processes around it. Neither vendor publishes a data export path on its product pages. For n8n, confirm workflow and credential portability; for Lindy, confirm export of business context and task history. Self-hosting gives n8n more infrastructure control, but the team owns operations.
Questions people ask
Is Lindy or n8n better for developers?
n8n is the better fit when developers need to assemble inspectable workflows, add code, trace failures, and choose self-hosted deployment. Lindy is aimed at delegating business tasks through workplace channels. Before choosing either as a codebase dependency, verify API access, authentication, SDK support, and export requirements with the vendor.
Can I self-host Lindy or n8n?
n8n supports self-hosting, including Docker and on-prem deployment; its Community Edition is free, with execution capacity limited by your server. Lindy’s product pages present a hosted service and do not list a self-hosted option. Ask Lindy about deployment and data residency if those are requirements.
How do Lindy and n8n charge for usage?
Lindy’s Team plans charge per active user, with credits pooled across the team; top-ups cost $10 per 1,000 credits. n8n Cloud charges by monthly workflow executions and hard-caps Starter and Pro plans. Lindy’s credit cost per task is not specified in the listed plans, so estimate it before committing.
Is n8n open source, and what is its licence?
n8n identifies itself as open source and makes source code available on GitHub. The licence name and terms are not stated on its product pages, so review the current licence before redistribution, embedding, or other commercial use. Its Community Edition can be self-hosted.