Comparison
An n8n alternative for AI agents
n8n moves data between systems, and it does that well. The question starts when a flow has a language model inside and what it returns ends up in front of a customer. This page separates the two cases, with a source for every claim about n8n.
The short answer
If your flows move data with stable schemas, stay on n8n. Bentho makes sense when the flow depends on a model and a wrong answer costs your company something: there the code decides the next step, the model only extracts, and no figure goes out unbacked.
Updated on
What changes between n8n and Bentho
The difference is not how much AI each one contains. It is who decides, and what gets checked before anything goes out.
| The question | n8n | Bentho |
|---|---|---|
| Who decides the next step? | The flow drawn on the canvas. With an AI Agent node, the model decides inside that node. | The code. The model extracts at temperature 0 and the transitions are written down. |
| Where does the work run? | By default, in the main process. Scaling out requires queue mode, with Redis. | In domain services behind a gateway: the work does not live inside an execution. |
| What if the model returns a figure that does not exist? | The next node receives it like any other value, unless you build the check yourself. | Every figure in the final message needs backing. One without it is discarded and a template answers. |
| Where is input validated? | Wherever you put it: a Set or Code node normalises the payload. | At the boundary, with types, before anything decides. |
| What separates one customer from another? | The credentials on each connection. | Each service checks that the request's customer matches the signed identity. |
When to stay on n8n
Almost always, if the flow is deterministic. Migrating what already works spends trust and fixes nothing.
- You move data between services with stable schemas: a form to a sheet, a payment to a CRM.
- You can list the steps in advance and check each result at a glance.
- No model is deciding anything, or its output does not reach a customer unreviewed.
- You want to build and change the flow yourself on a canvas.
When to look at Bentho
The flow crashes with the agent inside
If you see «JavaScript heap out of memory» in agent nodes, the problem is where the work lives, not the size of the machine.
A bad answer raises no error
The model returns something with the right shape and the flow carries on. That is schema drift: it fails silently three nodes later.
The canvas is already code
Sub-workflows and Code nodes everywhere mean the diagram has stopped being the representation of the system.
Cost stops being predictable
If the full history travels on every turn, token spend grows with the conversation.
How to move from n8n to Bentho
You do not migrate the flow, you migrate the authority: whatever actually knows the answer. Every step can be undone until the last one.
Pick what hurts most
Start with whatever produces numbers. Flows without a model stay where they are.
Extract the authority
What several nodes share today becomes one tool with a declared input and output.
Run both at once
A full business cycle, month-end included, with every difference explained.
Deactivate, do not delete
The n8n flow stays deactivated and its credentials rotate on a written date.
The detail is in the n8n to Bentho migration guide, with the checklist for cutover day.
Keep reading
Frequently asked questions
Does Bentho replace n8n?
Only for flows with a model inside whose output reaches a customer. Whatever moves data with stable schemas can stay on n8n, and the two can coexist.
What is the best n8n alternative for AI agents?
It depends on who should decide. If you want to draw the agent on a canvas, n8n already does that. If you need the code to decide and nothing to go out unchecked, that is the case Bentho is built for.
Do I have to migrate everything at once?
No. You move one authority at a time, run it alongside n8n and switch off at the end. Flows that already work without a model do not need to move.
Where do the documents stay?
In your company's space. That space is not mixed with another company's, and Bentho answers only from what is there.
Does this page compare prices?
No. n8n changes its plans and no price is attributed to it here. Bentho's are published on the plans page.
Look at your flow before you decide
Tell us which flow worries you and what happens today when the model gets it wrong. If the answer is to stay on n8n, we will say so.
Where the data comes from
What this page says about other products comes from their public documentation. It may have changed: if you are about to decide on a figure, check your own.
- n8n execution variables (checked on September 24, 2026)
EXECUTIONS_MODEships asregular, which runs workflows in the main process.EXECUTIONS_TIMEOUTships as-1, no cap, andEXECUTIONS_TIMEOUT_MAXas 3600 seconds. - n8n queue mode (checked on September 24, 2026)
Scaling out requires queue mode, with Redis as the broker and PostgreSQL recommended. SQLite is not supported there.