n8n

Workflow automation and integration platform — open-source, developer-friendly, AI-native

n8n is a flexible automation solution that has a cloud offering but can be self-hosted too. As such it is a free option when running locally and can be hosted on own (cheap) servers as well.

Can use in DOCKER and has MCP support.

Features

Visual drag-and-drop workflow builder with branching, loops, and conditional logic
Code nodes (JavaScript/Python) for custom logic and transformations
800+ native integrations and unlimited custom HTTP/API connections
Self-hosting (Docker/Kubernetes) and cloud options with data sovereignty
Credentials manager with encrypted storage
Git-based versioning (workflows as code) and environment support
Built-in AI integrations (OpenAI, Google Gemini, LangChain patterns) for intelligent automation
Debugging tools: step execution, retries, logs, and data replay
Templates and pre-built workflows (600+ workflows, 1,700+ templates)

Superpowers

n8n combines low-code ease with pro-code flexibility. It’s aimed at teams who need:

Full control over deployment (self-host) and data (no vendor lock-in)
Deep customization via code nodes and custom nodes
AI-native orchestration for content generation, decision-making, and agent-like automations
Enterprise security and governance when scaled to production

What you gain by using n8n:

Treat automations as first-class engineering artifacts (workflows as code)
Cost control: free self-hosted option or pay-per-execution cloud model
Ability to integrate internal systems via APIs without waiting for native connectors

n8n nodes

In n8n, a node is a building block of your workflow. Each node performs a specific action—such as retrieving data from an API, transforming data, sending emails, or interacting with databases and cloud services. Workflows are created by connecting these nodes together.

Categories of n8n Nodes

n8n offers hundreds of nodes, which can be grouped into several broad categories:

1. Trigger Nodes

Purpose: Start workflows based on events.
Examples:
- Webhook (trigger on HTTP requests)
- Cron (trigger on schedule)
- IMAP Email (trigger on new email)
- Telegram Trigger (trigger on new message)

2. API & Service Integration Nodes

Purpose: Connect to third-party services and APIs.
Examples:
- Google Sheets
- Slack
- GitHub
- Trello
- Notion
- Airtable
- Discord
- Twitter

3. Data Transformation Nodes

Purpose: Manipulate, filter, or transform data.
Examples:
- Set (set or modify fields)
- Merge (combine data from multiple sources)
- SplitInBatches (process items in batches)
- IF (conditional logic)
- Switch (multi-way branching)

4. Utility Nodes

Purpose: Provide general-purpose functions.
Examples:
- HTTP Request (make arbitrary HTTP calls)
- Function / Function Item (run custom JavaScript code)
- Wait (pause workflow for a set time)
- Execute Command (run shell commands)

5. Database Nodes

Purpose: Interact with databases.
Examples:
- MySQL
- PostgreSQL
- MongoDB
- SQLite

6. File & Storage Nodes

Purpose: Handle files and storage.
Examples:
- Read Binary File / Write Binary File
- FTP / SFTP
- AWS S3

7. Messaging & Notification Nodes

Purpose: Send messages or notifications.
Examples:
- Email Send
- SMS via Twilio
- Microsoft Teams

How to Explore Available Nodes

In the n8n editor, click the ”+” button to add a node and browse/search the full list.
The official n8n documentation maintains an up-to-date list of all nodes and their capabilities.

Example Workflow

A simple workflow might look like:

Trigger Node: Webhook receives data.
Data Transformation Node: Set node formats the data.
API Node: Google Sheets node adds a row to a spreadsheet.

Pricing

Self-hosted: free (source-available) — you pay for infra and maintenance
n8n Cloud: pay-per-execution tiers and team/enterprise plans (hosted plans vary; see https://n8n.io/pricing for current details)
Enterprise: advanced SLAs, SSO, RBAC, dedicated support (contact sales for quotes)

Practical usage examples (focused on outcomes, not install steps)

Sales automation: AI-qualify inbound leads, enrich with external data (Clearbit/CRM), route to reps, and trigger personalized outreach sequences.
Marketing orchestration: listen to form/webhook triggers, run content-generation via LLM, A/B test variants, and sync results to analytics and ad platforms.
Customer support: triage tickets with an LLM, append KB suggestions to tickets, auto-route or escalate based on intent and SLA.
Finance ops: automate invoice ingestion, validation, posting to ERP, and alert humans only when exceptions occur.
DevOps: monitor services and trigger incident workflows (post to Slack, create JIRA issues, run remediation scripts) with controlled permissions.

Limitations / Gotchas

Requires ops/dev resources to run self-hosted securely at scale
GUI-first workflows can become complex; versioning and code nodes are advisable for larger projects
Some enterprise-grade features (fine-grained RBAC, audit, SLAs) are gated behind paid plans

n8n v2 update (2025) — Secure-by-default

Summary

n8n 2.0 (rolled out December 2025) shifts the platform to a “secure-by-default” posture, prioritizing isolation, credential safety, and safer deployment practices. This is a significant platform-level change intended for production-grade automation.

Key changes

Task runners enabled by default: Code node execution is isolated from the main n8n process, reducing blast radius from memory leaks, infinite loops, or malicious code.
Environment variable access blocked by default: Code nodes cannot read environment variables unless explicitly allowed (config: N8N_BLOCK_ENV_ACCESS_IN_NODE).
Arbitrary system command nodes disabled by default: nodes that execute shell commands or unrestricted system calls are opt-in for administrators.
Save vs Publish paradigm: saving edits no longer immediately updates live, activated workflows. Publish is an explicit action to push changes to production — reduces accidental production changes.
OAuth callback auth tightened: OAuth callback endpoints require authentication unless consciously configured otherwise.

Why it matters

Security and compliance: better protects secrets and production systems, aligns with GDPR/CCPA concerns and enterprise security standards.
Stability: isolates faulty or malicious code from affecting the entire automation platform.
Safer CI/CD for automations: the Save/Publish model enables safer iterative workflow development and lays groundwork for autosave and staged deployments.

Migration notes / practical guidance

Audit code nodes: identify any workflows that read process env vars or execute shell commands. For required cases, plan to explicitly enable the needed flags and document the justification.
Prepare runner capacity: task runners add resource considerations (separate processes/containers). Ensure your infra sizing and orchestration can host runners.
Test OAuth flows: if your integrations depend on OAuth, validate callback behavior under the new authenticated callback defaults.
Adopt credentials manager: migrate secrets into n8n’s encrypted credentials system instead of using raw env vars in code nodes.

When to upgrade

Upgrade when you need production stability, better security posture, or are operating at scale — but plan a migration window and run tests in a staging environment.

Explorer

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