# The Open-Source n8n Alternative You Can Self-Host

description: Kortix is the open-source n8n alternative for work a fixed workflow cannot finish, self-hosted on your own hardware with your setup in one git repo.

Kortix is the open-source n8n alternative for the jobs a fixed workflow cannot finish. It is the open-source AI Operating System, with your agents, their skills, your company memory and every connector in one git repo you own. When the task is research, a report, a bug fix or a reply that has to go out, Kortix runs an agent on its own isolated computer and returns the result as a change request you review before it lands. You self-host it on a laptop, a VPS, your VPC or on-prem, and you point it at any model with your own API keys.

## What open source buys you here

For Kortix, open source is a practical property. Kortix keeps your whole company setup in one git repo: agents are markdown, skills are markdown, memory is ordinary files, and the connectors, triggers and machine image are declared in a single `kortix.yaml`. You can grep the entire setup, diff any proposed change and roll any part of it back. That is what you cannot do when automation's configuration lives in someone else's database.

Self-hosting follows from the same idea: you run Kortix where you already run your infrastructure and keep the model keys on your account. Kortix is open source under the Elastic License 2.0, so you can self-host it, read the code and modify it. The source is at [Kortix on GitHub](https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna). The install and deployment commands are in the [Kortix documentation](https://kortix.com/docs). Managed cloud stays available if you would rather not run the stack yourself, and the same repo moves between the two.

## Self-host Kortix in four commands

The commands run on macOS or Linux. Start with the CLI, sign in, scaffold a project, then push it:

```
curl -fsSL https://kortix.com/install | bash
kortix login
kortix init my-app
kortix ship
```

`kortix init` scaffolds a project directory with a `kortix.yaml` and a starter agent. `kortix ship` lints that file, commits your local changes, pushes your branch, and on its first run creates the cloud project. Run `kortix ship` again to sync later changes.

To keep everything on your own box, point DNS at the machine and take the self-host path instead:

```
kortix self-host init --domain kortix.example.com
kortix self-host start
kortix self-host configure
```

Self-hosting is one Docker Compose stack holding the frontend, the API, the LLM gateway and the Supabase distribution. Agent sessions run on a separate sandbox provider, not on that stack; the default is Daytona. `kortix self-host configure` prompts for the sandbox provider key and an optional managed-git token, and a self-hosted instance uses your own LLM key by default. Check the stack with `kortix self-host status`.

## What you can build once it is running

Kortix is an agent platform, so the jobs look different from the ones you draw on a canvas. In Slack or Microsoft Teams you add the Kortix app, invite the bot to a channel and mention it with a task. The message starts a session, and the agent works on its own computer with your connected tools and replies in the same thread; follow-ups stay in the same session.

For recurring and unattended work, a trigger in `kortix.yaml` starts a session on a cron schedule or a signed webhook with nobody present. For engineering, `kortix sessions new --prompt "Reproduce issue #142, fix it, and open a change request"` runs in its own sandbox on its own branch, and you review the result with `kortix cr ls` before landing it with `kortix cr merge 1`.

Governance is set per call. You set each tool to Allow, Ask or Block, down to the arguments of a single command, and an Ask holds the call until a person approves it before the agent resumes.

## Where n8n fits, and where Kortix fits

n8n is a workflow automation platform for jobs whose steps are known in advance: you build on a visual canvas, drop into code where you need it, and the same path runs every time, on your infrastructure or n8n's cloud ([n8n](https://n8n.io)). That is the right tool for deterministic automation across connected apps, and it stays the right tool when the process does not change.

Kortix takes the open-ended work where the steps are not known up front. An agent plans, uses tools and works on its own isolated computer until the job is done, out of configuration in git and with your own model keys, and everything it produces arrives as a change request a person reads as a diff. Many teams run both: n8n for the fixed flows, Kortix for the research, reports, fixes and replies. If you are moving work across, the [concept mapping from n8n to Kortix](/migrate-from-n8n.html) shows what carries over, and the [head-to-head comparison](/n8n-vs-kortix.html) covers the rest.

## Start with the open-source n8n alternative

[Get started with open-source Kortix](https://kortix.com) and install the CLI with `curl -fsSL https://kortix.com/install | bash`, then run `kortix init` to scaffold your first project. For a wider view, see the [best n8n alternatives](/best-n8n-alternatives.html) or start at the [home page](/index.html).