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n8n vs Trigger.dev

Our take

Pick n8n if technical ops, DevOps, and automation engineers who need to connect SaaS apps, internal APIs, and LLM tools — especially teams that want self-host / data residency. Pick Trigger.dev if app teams who will burn the Free $5 credits on a first durable task, then buy Hobby $10 or Pro $50 when concurrency and retention matter. Skip n8n if someone who only wants a chat window, or a non-technical team that will

n8n

n8n

visual workflow and AI-agent builder

Best for

n8n Wiring tools together

Trigger.dev Long-running agents or background jobs you meter in credits

Free plan

n8n $0 · no license fee. You run Docker or npm. Choose n8n describes a free Registered Community email unlock (folders, debug in editor, custom execution data). SSO, Git, environments, and similar extras need a paid Business/Enterprise license key

Trigger.dev $0 · /month. $5 free credits. 20 concurrent runs. 5 members. 10 schedules. 1-day logs. 10 Realtime connections. Community support

Lowest paid

n8n Cloud Starter €20/mo yearly

Trigger.dev Invocation $0.000025

Next step up

n8n Cloud Pro €50/mo yearly

Trigger.dev Compute $0.0000338

Coding agent

n8n AI agents on the canvas

Trigger.dev

Runs where

n8n Local; you host it

Trigger.dev

Watch out

n8n You operate the graph

Trigger.dev Free is $5 of credits, then you stop

Last checked

n8n 2026-10-19 · n8n.io/pricing

Trigger.dev 2026-10-22 · trigger.dev/pricing

Which one, then?

Pick n8n if

technical ops, DevOps, and automation engineers who need to connect SaaS apps, internal APIs, and LLM tools — especially teams that want self-host / data residency.

Read the n8n page

Pick Trigger.dev if

app teams who will burn the Free $5 credits on a first durable task, then buy Hobby $10 or Pro $50 when concurrency and retention matter.

Read the Trigger.dev page

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