head to head · open source
n8n vs ai-devkit
n8n has 209,375 GitHub stars, 61,361 forks, 1,143 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ai-devkit has 1,656 stars, 262 forks, 20 open issues and last shipped yesterday. n8n leads on adoption by 12,543% (209,375 vs 1,656 stars). n8n is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; ai-devkit is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. n8n has attracted 29% as many forks as stars, ai-devkit 16%. n8n was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai, cli), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| n8n | ai-devkit | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 209K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 61K | ⑂ 262 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick n8n if
- You weight community size — 209K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ai-devkit if
- You want the ai-devkit feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and ai-devkit fits your workflow better
About n8n
n8n – The Platform for AI Agents and Workflow Automation Fair code platform to build and deploy AI agents and workflows. Combine a visual canvas with custom code, run it self hosted or in the cloud, and connect to 1500+ integrations. AI automation you can trust with real work, from prototype to production. Key Capabilities AI Native Automation Platform : Build and operationalize AI workflows and multi step agents using your own data, models, and tools Model Flexibility, No Lock In : Connect to OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or open source models and switch providers without changing your architecture From Prototype…
About ai-devkit
AI DevKit English 中文 The control plane for AI coding agents. AI DevKit gives Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, opencode, Pi, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Devin, and other coding agents one local first operating layer: one config, one console, local memory retrieval, cross agent communication, and composable engineering skills led by dev lifecycle . One config for every agent — .ai devkit.json reconciles setup across the coding tools your team uses One console for running sessions — agent console is a live TUI dashboard for supervising local agents across providers Cross agent communication — agent send lets you…
read the full ai-devkit overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is n8n or ai-devkit more popular?
n8n has 209,375 GitHub stars and ai-devkit has 1,656. n8n has the larger community by that measure.
Are n8n and ai-devkit free?
Both are open source. n8n has no licence declared in this registry, and ai-devkit is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between n8n and ai-devkit?
n8n is written in TypeScript and ai-devkit in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, n8n or ai-devkit?
Choose n8n if you want the larger community (209,375 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose ai-devkit if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.