Manus vs n8n
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Manus and n8n.
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Verdict: n8n wins
n8n scores 4.3/5, edging out Manus at 4.1/5. Technical teams and engineers who want code-level control and the option to self-host automation as core infrastructure.
Manus Transform thoughts into actions with AI | n8n Workflow automation that gives you control | |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.1 (1 review) | 4.3 (1 review) |
| Pricing Model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting Price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best For | Individual professionals and small teams who want an autonomous agent that returns finished documents rather than drafts, and who can scope prompts tightly enough to keep credit costs predictable. | Technical teams and engineers who want code-level control and the option to self-host automation as core infrastructure. |
| Free Tier | ||
| API Access | ||
| Team Features | ||
| Open Source | ||
| Tags | no codefree tier | open sourcefree tierapi access |
| Visit Manus → | Visit n8n → |
Manus
Pros
- + Executes multi-step tasks end to end — in my runs it planned, browsed, coded and delivered a finished slide deck without me touching a toolchain
- + Manus 2.0's persistent Cloud Computer and Studio workspace kept project context alive across days of on-and-off work
- + Every claim came back source-linked once I required it, and the URLs checked out when I sampled them
- + Free plan's 300 daily refresh credits is enough for real small tasks, not just a demo
- + Deliverable range is wide: slides, websites, spreadsheets, PDFs, short video clips and playable game templates from one prompt
Cons
- - Credit burn is steep on iterating tasks — one Wide Research deck run cost me a few hundred credits
- - Fabricated two plausible figures in an early research run before I forced source links into the prompt
- - Hosted-only: no on-premises deployment, and data-training opt-out is a Team-plan feature
- - Corporate turbulence is real — the forced Meta deal reversal and a data deletion window in 2026 are risk signals for business users
n8n
Pros
- + Unlimited steps per execution: my 20-node nightly sync counted as one execution, so complexity stops driving cost (n8n.io/pricing)
- + Code nodes (JS/Python) with npm and env-var access meant I finished every prototype without leaving the platform
- + Self-hostable with no licence fee under the Sustainable Use License; full run snapshots and re-run-from-failed-node debugging
- + AI agent nodes (LLM connectors, vector stores, agents calling workflows as tools) are the deepest of any general automation platform I tested
- + Strong company trajectory: $180M Series C (Accel, Oct 2025) and a SAP strategic investment at ~$5.2B in May 2026
Cons
- - Not open source — the Sustainable Use License (fair-code) forbids offering n8n as a hosted service and fails OSI procurement checks
- - Assumes engineering literacy: JSON paths, expressions, and async data structures stumped every ops-only user I watched try it
- - Self-hosting carries real ops cost — queue mode, worker scaling and upgrades took me hours that a managed platform absorbs
- - Documentation is thin at the edges; AI node options and queue-mode config sent me to community forum threads
- - Business cloud tier is self-hosted-only at time of writing (cloud waitlisted), leaving a gap between Pro's 10K executions and Enterprise
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, Manus or n8n?▼
n8n scores higher at 4.3/5 vs 4.1/5 for Manus, making it the better-rated option in our comparison.
What is the difference between Manus and n8n?▼
Manus: Manus is an AI agent that carries out multi-step tasks end to end, such as research, analysis and building deliverables, rather than only answering questions. n8n: n8n is a workflow automation platform that combines AI capabilities with business process automation, giving technical teams a visual builder with the option to add code when needed.
Is Manus or n8n more affordable?▼
Manus starts at €0/mo, n8n starts at €0/mo. Check the comparison table above for current pricing.
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