Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

n8n.io VS AWS Step Functions

Compare n8n.io VS AWS Step Functions and see what are their differences

n8n.io logo n8n.io

Free and open fair-code licensed node based Workflow Automation Tool. Easily automate tasks across different services.

AWS Step Functions logo AWS Step Functions

AWS Step Functions makes it easy to coordinate the components of distributed applications and microservices using visual workflows.
  • n8n.io Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-06-26
  • AWS Step Functions Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-29

n8n.io

Website
n8n.io
$ Details
freemium $20.0 / Monthly
Platforms
Browser TypeScript JavaScript Web Linux Docker Windows Mac OSX
Release Date
2019 January
Startup details
Country
Germany
State
Berlin
City
Berlin
Employees
10 - 19

n8n.io features and specs

  • Open Source
    n8n.io is open-source, allowing users to modify and extend the platform as needed. This ensures transparency and community-driven improvements.
  • Flexibility
    The platform provides a high degree of flexibility, supporting a wide range of automation scenarios and custom workflow configurations.
  • Extensive Integrations
    n8n.io supports many third-party integrations, making it easy to connect various applications and services in workflows.
  • Self-hosting Option
    Users can choose to self-host n8n.io, which provides greater control over data security and privacy.
  • Visual Interface
    The visual workflow builder makes it easy for users to design and manage workflows without needing extensive coding knowledge.

Possible disadvantages of n8n.io

  • Learning Curve
    Due to its flexibility and range of features, n8n.io can have a steeper learning curve for beginners compared to more straightforward automation tools.
  • Performance
    Performance can be an issue for complex workflows or high-volume operations, especially when self-hosted on basic infrastructure.
  • Documentation
    While improving, documentation can sometimes be lacking or not comprehensive, making it challenging for new users to find necessary information.
  • Limited Support
    As an open-source project, professional support may be limited compared to commercial automation platforms, which might offer more robust support options.
  • Cost for Cloud Hosting
    n8n.io offers a cloud-hosted version with a subscription fee, which could be a downside for users looking for a completely free solution.

AWS Step Functions features and specs

  • Orchestration
    AWS Step Functions provide a way to coordinate multiple AWS services into serverless workflows, making it easier to build and run distributed applications and microservices.
  • Visual Workflow
    The service offers a visual interface to build, run, and monitor multi-step workflows, allowing for easier debugging and comprehension of complex processes.
  • Error Handling
    Step Functions offer built-in error handling, retry logic, and state management, which simplifies the process of managing failures and ensures more robust applications.
  • Scalability
    As a fully managed service, AWS Step Functions handle the scaling of operations automatically, allowing workflows to scale based on demand without manual intervention.
  • Integration
    Deep integration with other AWS services such as Lambda, ECS, SNS, SQS, and DynamoDB, making it straightforward to build complex, integrated workflows.
  • Cost-Effectiveness
    Pay-as-you-go pricing model means you only pay for each state transition, which can be more cost-effective compared to maintaining your own orchestration layer.
  • Audit and Logging
    Automatically logs the state of each execution, which can be used for auditing, debugging, and monitoring purposes.
  • Serverless
    Being a serverless service, it eliminates the need for server management and scaling concerns, ensuring a simpler operational setup.

Possible disadvantages of AWS Step Functions

  • Complexity
    For simple tasks, the overhead of creating and managing workflows with Step Functions can be excessive compared to using straightforward AWS Lambda functions or other simple services.
  • Cold Start Latency
    Like other serverless services, AWS Step Functions can suffer from cold start latency, especially in low-usage scenarios.
  • Cost
    While the pay-as-you-go model can be cost-effective, for workflows with a high number of state transitions, costs can accumulate quickly, making it potentially expensive.
  • Service Limits
    AWS Step Functions have certain limits, such as the number of active state machines per account and state transition limits, that could impact very large scale operations.
  • Learning Curve
    There can be a significant learning curve associated with mastering the service, particularly for those unfamiliar with AWS or similar orchestration tools.
  • JSON-Based Definitions
    State machines are defined in JSON, which can become complex and less readable when dealing with large workflows involving multiple states.
  • Limited Regional Availability
    As with many AWS services, Step Functions are not available in all regions, which can limit its use for global applications.

n8n.io videos

n8n.io - Typeform to Google Sheet and Slack or Email

More videos:

  • Review - n8n.cloud | Powerful workflow automation tool
  • Review - Get started with n8n.cloud (Part 1)
  • Review - n8n.io - Slack Notification on Github Star

AWS Step Functions videos

Orchestrating Distributed Business Workflows with AWS Step Functions - AWS Online Tech Talks

More videos:

  • Review - AWS Step Functions: Parallelism and concurrency in Step Functions and AWS Lambda
  • Review - AWS Step Functions: Workflows for development and testing

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to n8n.io and AWS Step Functions)
Automation
93 93%
7% 7
Workflow Automation
78 78%
22% 22
Web Service Automation
100 100%
0% 0
Data Integration
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using n8n.io and AWS Step Functions. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare n8n.io and AWS Step Functions

n8n.io Reviews

The Best n8n.io Alternatives for Workflow Automation in 2025
} } AlternativesRadzivon AlkhovikLow-code automation enthusiastSeptember 17, 2024A low-code platform blending no-code simplicity with full-code power 🚀Get started freeHome/Blog/The Best n8n.io Alternatives for Workflow Automation in 2025 .ellipsis { max-width: 100%; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; } September 17, 2024•10min readThe Best n8n.io...
Source: latenode.com
The 6 Best n8n.io Alternatives for 2024
When you're trying to automate your repetitive tasks, it often feels like you're spinning a bunch of plates in the air and making zero progress, doesn't it? You're far from alone. If you use n8n.io for your workflow automation and are left needing more, then you should take a look at the best n8n.io alternatives.
N8n.io Alternatives
As businesses increasingly seek efficient workflow automation tools, N8n.io has emerged as a popular choice. However, it's not the only option available. This article explores some of the best N8n.io alternatives, considering factors like ease of use, integration capabilities, and pricing. Whether you're a startup or an established enterprise, finding the right tool can...
Source: apix-drive.com
13 data integration tools: a comparative analysis of the top solutions
A standout feature of n8n is the self-hosted mode (even on a free tier!), which allows data ownership and control. For those who value data ownership and want to avoid high-cost operations, n8n is certainly a worthy consideration.
Source: blog.n8n.io
10 n8n.io Alternatives
n8n.io is a sleek and simple workflow automation platform that never indulges you in unnecessary things and boosts your productivity while letting you focus only on productive things. Some of its super reliable functions are free and open-source, fair code license, easily extendable, and extreme data safety and security. Get on n8n.io – Automate without Limits Tool to know...

AWS Step Functions Reviews

Top 8 Apache Airflow Alternatives in 2024
This service suits for many use cases, such as building ETL pipelines, orchestrating microservices, and managing high workloads. AWS Step Functions is particularly efficient when combined with other AWS solutions: Lambda for computing, Dynamo DB for storage, Athena for Analytics, SageMaker for machine learning, etc.
Source: blog.skyvia.com
10 Best Airflow Alternatives for 2024
AWS Step Functions enable the incorporation of AWS services such as Lambda, Fargate, SNS, SQS, SageMaker, and EMR into business processes, Data Pipelines, and applications. Users and enterprises can choose between 2 types of workflows: Standard (for long-running workloads) and Express (for high-volume event processing workloads), depending on their use case.
Source: hevodata.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, n8n.io should be more popular than AWS Step Functions. It has been mentiond 182 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

n8n.io mentions (182)

  • 🤖 Automating WhatsApp with AI Agents: A Developer's Guide to Scalable Customer Support
    To set up such a system, developers can take advantage of tools like n8n – a modular tool to automate workflows, combined with the newest AI tools like GPT-4. Here’s a more detailed explanation. - Source: dev.to / 5 days ago
  • I made my AI think harder by making it argue with itself. It works stupidly well
    The app is actually called n8n - https://n8n.io/. - Source: Hacker News / 5 days ago
  • Integrating AI Agents with n8n: Enhance Your Workflow Automation
    For those interested in elevating their automation capabilities, n8n offers an array of integrations worth exploring. Visit n8n.io if you're intrigued. - Source: dev.to / 25 days ago
  • Harnessing AI Automation with n8n for Seamless Blog Writing
    If you're thinking of exploring similar automation paths, I highly recommend n8n. It's an excellent platform that offers great flexibility to build your AI workflows. Check it out at n8n.io and see how it might simplify your processes as it has mine. 🚀. - Source: dev.to / 27 days ago
  • Self-hosting n8n on Ubuntu Server
    Want to automate tasks using n8n but prefer to fully control your infrastructure? By self-hosting n8n on a Linux Ubuntu server, you can cut down costs and manage your data yourself! - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
View more

AWS Step Functions mentions (67)

  • Create Stateful Serverless Workflows with AWS Step Functions and JSONata
    As an avid user of AWS Step Functions, I've been pleased by several excellent releases over the past few years, including Distributed Map, Express Workflows, Intrinsic functions, TestState, redrive, service integrations, and so many others. Those are all fantastic releases, but in my humble opinion, none of them are as big of a deal as the introduction of JSONata expressions. AWS announced this game-changing... - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Automate Email Processing using Event Driven Architecture and Generative AI
    Because the code above enables EventBridge events on the bucket, we can then create a new EventBridge rule to trigger a StepFunction that will then process the emails as follows:. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • What is AWS Step Functions? - A Complete Guide
    AWS Step Functions is one of those game-changing services that has completely changed how I approach this problem. Today, I want to share my experience with Step Functions and how it can simplify your serverless workflows. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Large-scale Data Processing with Step Functions : AWS Project
    The solution uses AWS Step Functions to provides end to end orchestration for processing billions of records with your simulation or transformation logic using AWS Step Functions Distributed Map and Activity features. At the start of the workflow, Step Functions will scale the number of workers to a (configurable) predefined number. It then reads in the dataset and distributes metadata about the dataset in batches... - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • How to invoke a lambda function from your database
    If you need to run long-running jobs, consider using AWS Step Functions in tandem with Lambda functions. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing n8n.io and AWS Step Functions, you can also consider the following products

Zapier - Connect the apps you use everyday to automate your work and be more productive. 1000+ apps and easy integrations - get started in minutes.

Apache Airflow - Airflow is a platform to programmaticaly author, schedule and monitor data pipelines.

Make.com - Tool for workflow automation (Former Integromat)

Kestra.io - Infinitely scalable, event-driven, language-agnostic orchestration and scheduling platform to manage millions of workflows declaratively in code.

ifttt - IFTTT puts the internet to work for you. Create simple connections between the products you use every day.

Dagster - The cloud-native open source orchestrator for the whole development lifecycle, with integrated lineage and observability, a declarative programming model, and best-in-class testability.