--- title: "Alive vs n8n" description: "Alive vs n8n, checked 8 October 2026: what starts the work, integrations, sending mail, run history and price, and when n8n is the better pick." url: https://ali.ve/vs/n8n language: en --- # Alive vs n8n n8n is best at workflows you build and control yourself. It describes itself as AI agents and workflows you can see and control, built visually with code when you need it, and it runs on your infrastructure or on n8n's cloud. In n8n you build the workflow node by node, and you can see every step. In Alive you describe the job in plain English and an agent does it, in the tools Alive connects to, with run limits and stop rules. Alive can also build and publish the site or app the work needs. Checked 8 October 2026, against n8n's own pages. ## Side by side | Topic | Alive | n8n | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | What starts the work | A schedule written in plain English, a one-time run, a webhook, or a GitHub event (15 kinds, such as pull requests, pushes and failing checks). Tasks on the board go to an agent now or at a set time. | A Schedule Trigger that runs at fixed intervals and times, like cron. A Webhook node that receives data when an event occurs. App triggers such as the Gmail Trigger. | | Connected tools | Gmail, Outlook and IMAP, Google Calendar, Google Drive and Sheets, Search Console (read only), Linear, Stripe, Supabase and GitHub. | Over 500 integrations, in n8n's words, with pre-built nodes for common apps. | | Sending mail by itself | No. Mail stays a draft until you send it, in Gmail, Outlook and IMAP. | Yes, if the workflow does it. The Gmail node has a Send a message operation as well as Create a draft. | | What a run leaves behind | Every run reads back as a summary or the full log, with its credits. | An execution list for each workflow and one across all workflows, with status, timing and node names. You can copy data from a past execution into the workflow to debug it. | | Price | Solo €40 a month for one person. Team €200 a month for a team of up to ten. 20% off yearly. | Cloud Starter €20 and Pro €50 a month, billed annually, for 2.5K and 10K workflow executions. A self-hosted Community Edition is on GitHub. | | How you start | Book a 15 minute call with Lars, or leave your email in the box on the homepage. There is no free tier and no self-serve sign-up. | Start a free trial on n8n Cloud with no credit card, or self-host the Community Edition. | A row is left out when we could not confirm both sides. ## When to choose n8n - You want to host it yourself. n8n runs on your infrastructure or on its cloud, and its source code is on GitHub. - You want to see and control every step. n8n shows each step of an agent's reasoning on the canvas and lets you keep humans in the loop. - You need more integrations, or a node that can send mail. Alive connects a short list of tools and cannot send mail. - You want to try it free first. n8n offers a cloud trial with no credit card and the self-hosted Community Edition. Alive has no free tier. ## When Alive fits - You would rather describe the job than build and maintain a workflow. - You know how the work should be done and want it written down in plain English, with run limits and stop rules on top. - You want mail to stay a draft until you send it. - The work also needs a site or an app, built and published from the same chat. ## Questions ### Do I need to host anything to use Alive? No. Alive is a hosted product, so there is no server of your own to run, and your data is stored in the EU. ### Does Alive have schedules and webhooks like n8n? Yes. An Alive agent can run on a schedule written in plain English, once, on a webhook, or on a GitHub event, of which there are 15 kinds, such as pull requests, pushes and failing checks. n8n has a Schedule Trigger, a Webhook node and app triggers. ### Can n8n send email where Alive cannot? Yes. n8n's Gmail node has a send operation. Alive cannot send mail: its agents write drafts in Gmail, Outlook and IMAP, and mail stays a draft until you send it. ## Try it on your own work There is no self-serve sign-up. The way in is a 15 minute call with Lars, or your email in the box on the homepage. - [Book a call with Lars](https://cal.com/larse/15min) - [The box on the homepage](https://ali.ve/) - [What Alive can and cannot do](https://ali.ve/security) - [Plans and prices](https://ali.ve/products) ## Where the facts about n8n come from Every claim about n8n on this page was read on the pages below. - [n8n.io](https://n8n.io) opened 8 October 2026. - [docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.scheduletrigger](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.scheduletrigger/) opened 8 October 2026. - [docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.webhook](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.webhook/) opened 8 October 2026. - [n8n.io/integrations](https://n8n.io/integrations) opened 8 October 2026. - [docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/app-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.gmail](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/app-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.gmail/) opened 8 October 2026. - [docs.n8n.io/workflows/executions](https://docs.n8n.io/workflows/executions/) opened 8 October 2026. - [n8n.io/pricing](https://n8n.io/pricing) opened 8 October 2026. Found something here that is out of date or wrong? Write to us and we will fix it. [founders at alive.site](mailto:founders@alive.site) ## Other comparisons - [Alive vs Lovable](https://ali.ve/vs/lovable) - [Alive vs Replit](https://ali.ve/vs/replit) - [Alive vs Zapier](https://ali.ve/vs/zapier) - [Alive vs Lindy](https://ali.ve/vs/lindy) - [Alive vs ChatGPT](https://ali.ve/vs/chatgpt) - [All comparisons](https://ali.ve/vs) [alive](https://ali.ve/) - [manifesto](https://ali.ve/about) - [products](https://ali.ve/products) - [build](https://ali.ve/build) - [check us](https://ali.ve/check) - [What we did](https://ali.ve/roadmap) - [contact](https://ali.ve/contact) A small team in Amsterdam building agents that take on the work that would otherwise pile up. [Security](https://ali.ve/security) [Compare](https://ali.ve/vs) [Privacy](https://ali.ve/privacy) [Terms](https://ali.ve/terms) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/113256096) Alive AI B.V. · KvK 42143386 · Amsterdam · 2026