head to head · open source
n8n vs OBS Studio
n8n has 209,375 GitHub stars, 61,361 forks, 1,143 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OBS Studio has 78,841 stars, 11,037 forks, 1,148 open issues and last shipped yesterday. n8n leads on adoption by 166% (209,375 vs 78,841 stars). n8n is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; OBS Studio is written in C under GPL-2.0. n8n has attracted 29% as many forks as stars, OBS Studio 14%. n8n was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | OBS Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 209K | ★ 79K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 61K | ⑂ 11K |
| 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 OBS Studio if
- You want the OBS Studio feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and OBS Studio 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 OBS Studio
OBS Studio =================================== .. image:: :alt: OBS Studio Build Status GitHub Actions :target: .. image:: :alt: OBS Studio Translation Project Progress :target: .. image:: :alt: OBS Studio Discord Server :target: What is OBS Studio? OBS Studio is software designed for capturing, compositing, encoding, recording, and streaming video content, efficiently. It's distributed under the GNU General Public License v2 (or any later version) see the accompanying COPYING file for more details. Quick Links Website: Help/Documentation/Guides: Forums: Build Instructions: Developer/API Documentation…
read the full OBS Studio overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is n8n or OBS Studio more popular?
n8n has 209,375 GitHub stars and OBS Studio has 78,841. n8n has the larger community by that measure.
Are n8n and OBS Studio free?
Both are open source. n8n has no licence declared in this registry, and OBS Studio is licensed under GPL-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between n8n and OBS Studio?
n8n is written in TypeScript and OBS Studio in C. 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 OBS Studio?
Choose n8n if you want the larger community (209,375 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose OBS Studio if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.