Question 1

Is n8n better than Portkey?

Accepted Answer

It depends on your use case. n8n is known for Open-source workflow automation with built-in AI capabilities, while Portkey AI gateway for reliable and fast LLM applications. See our full comparison above for a detailed breakdown.

Question 2

Is n8n free?

Accepted Answer

n8n pricing: Free (self-hosted), cloud from $20/mo.

Question 3

Is Portkey free?

Accepted Answer

Portkey pricing: Free + Pro plans.

Question 4

What are the main differences between n8n and Portkey?

Accepted Answer

n8n and Portkey differ in features, pricing, and platform support. n8n: Open-source workflow automation with built-in AI capabilities. Portkey: AI gateway for reliable and fast LLM applications. See the full side-by-side comparison above for details.

Feature	n8n	Portkey
Category	Automation Platforms	LLM APIs & Inference
Pricing	Free (self-hosted), cloud from $20/mo	Free + Pro plans
GitHub Stars	✓ More stars 52k	6k
Platforms	macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker	Web, Docker
Key Features	✓ 400+ integrations (APIs, databases, SaaS) ✓ Native AI nodes (LLM, vector store, RAG chains) ✓ Visual drag-and-drop workflow builder ✓ Self-hostable via Docker (full data control) ✓ Webhook triggers, cron schedules, event-driven ✓ JavaScript/Python code nodes for custom logic ✓ Credential management and encryption ✓ Active community (52K+ GitHub stars)	✓ AI gateway ✓ Fallbacks ✓ Load balancing ✓ Caching ✓ Observability
Pros	+ Self-hostable (full data control) + 400+ integrations + Visual workflow builder + Native AI/LLM nodes + Active community	+ Automatic fallbacks + Load balancing + Request caching + Observability built-in + Open-source gateway
Cons	− Resource-heavy for self-hosting − Learning curve for complex workflows	− Added infrastructure layer − Learning curve − Some features need Pro − Latency overhead
Tags	automationworkflowno-codeself-hostedintegrations	gatewayreliabilityobservabilityapi

n8nvsPortkey

n8n

Portkey

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