Open-source n8n alternatives for developers: engines and agents
A workflow engine runs the graph you draw; an agent harness runs the job you describe. When the work is a fixed flowchart, keep n8n. When it is not, Kortix is open source, and your agents, skills and memory live in one git repo you own.
Kortix and n8n, side by side
Every n8n cell comes from n8n's own docs; the Kortix column quotes Kortix.
| Criteria | Kortix | n8n |
|---|---|---|
| 01Open source | Yes: Yes. Read it, fork it, audit it. — Kortix | No: No. Its docs say it does not call itself open source. — n8n |
| 02The unit of work | An agent session on its own machine. — Kortix | A workflow of nodes you draw on a canvas. — n8n |
| 03Who sets the steps | The agent plans; a person approves the change. — Kortix | You wire each node; the engine follows the graph. — n8n |
| 04Where the logic lives | Markdown agents and skills, plus kortix.yaml, in git. — Kortix | Nodes on a canvas, plus code steps in JavaScript or Python. — n8n |
| 05Version control | The config is the repo. — Kortix | Git version control needs a paid plan. — n8n |
| 06Human approval | Approval gates you set. Off until you set them. — Kortix | Human approval for tool calls. — n8n |
| 07Where it runs | Kortix Cloud, your VPC, or on-prem network. — Kortix | Self-hosted with Docker, or n8n Cloud. — n8n |
| 08Where work lands | Session work reaches main through a change request. — Kortix | The workflow runs and acts in the connected apps. — n8n |
A scheduled job is a few lines of YAML
# triggers/reports/weekly.yamltriggers: - slug: weekly-report type: cron agent: kortix cron: "0 0 15 * * 0" prompt: Build the weekly report.Triggers live in the repo, so a cron schedule or a signed webhook starts a session with nobody present.
A workflow engine and an agent harness are different tools
A developer searching for an n8n alternative usually has one of two jobs, and the tool differs.
A workflow engine runs a graph you draw. You place nodes, wire them, and the engine follows the same edges on every run. n8n is one of these, and its docs describe it as a fair-code workflow automation tool that combines AI features with business process automation. When the path is fixed, that graph is right: it is deterministic, readable, and cheap to run at high frequency.
An agent harness runs a job you describe. You state the outcome, and an agent plans the steps, installs what it needs, and works until it is done. Kortix is that harness with everything around it. OpenCode is the harness, configured by a file in the repo, and each session boots its own isolated machine with your repo already on it.
If your task list is a set of fixed flows, n8n is a fair choice. This guide is for the developer whose backlog is not a flowchart.
The developer setup path
Kortix is open source, and a project is a git repo you own. The shape on disk:
agents/<name>.mdholds one agent's behavior.skills/<name>/SKILL.mdholds a skill the company shares.memory/holds what the company has learned, as files.kortix.yamldeclares what each agent may reach, the triggers, the connectors and the machine image.
You work from a terminal. The CLI creates the project, scaffolds kortix.yaml and your agents, and brings it live. A scheduled or signed-webhook trigger starts a session with nobody present, so the jobs you would give an n8n cron node run here too.
When a session runs, the agent commits to its own branch and opens a change request. Merge is default-deny for agents, so you read the diff before it reaches the default branch. Models are your choice: any model provider with your own keys, or the ChatGPT plan you already pay for.
Which shape to reach for
- A nightly sync between two systems, the same fields every time: a workflow engine.
- Research a market and write a one-page brief: an agent session.
- Reproduce a failing test and open a fix: a coding-agent session with a change request.
- Reconcile a month of records where the exceptions vary: an agent that plans its own steps.
The open-source n8n alternative guide walks the self-host path, the migration checklist covers leaving n8n, and n8n for AI agents goes deeper on the agent case. The Kortix blog carries the longer comparison.
n8n alternatives for developers, answered
The questions a developer asks before choosing a stack.
It depends on the job. For fixed flows, keep n8n. For open-ended work, Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System, with agents running on their own machines from one repo you own.
No. Its docs say it does not call itself open source and describe the product as fair-code.
Yes. Self-host is free: install the CLI, initialize the instance, and start the stack on your own machine, VPC or on-prem network.
In one git repo you own. Agents are markdown, skills and memory are files, and kortix.yaml declares what each agent may reach and when work starts on its own.
Each session works on its own branch and opens a change request; merge is default-deny for agents, so a person reads the diff before it reaches the default branch.
Run the work you cannot draw first.
Kortix is open source, and the repo is yours to keep.
Open source · Any model, your keys · Self-host, VPC, or on-prem