n8n vs Trigger.dev
A side-by-side comparison of n8n and Trigger.dev, two Orchestration tools, drawn from Ignaite's continuously-verified listings.
Compared from listings verified as of
Trigger.dev
OrchestrationBuild and deploy durable AI agents and background workflows in TypeScript.
View Trigger.devAt a glance
| Attribute | n8n | Trigger.dev |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Orchestration | Orchestration |
| Pricing | FREEMIUM | FREEMIUM |
| License (differs) | Proprietary | Open core |
| Deployment | Hybrid | Hybrid |
| Platforms (differs) | Web, API | Web, CLI, API |
| Model support | Model-agnostic | Model-agnostic |
| Vendor (differs) | n8n | Trigger.dev |
The honest brief
n8n
The self-hostable Zapier alternative with first-class AI/LangChain nodes and per-execution (not per-task) pricing.
- Free Community Edition
- 500+ integrations
- Visual builder bridging APIs and databases
- Per-execution pricing, not per-task
- Code nodes for full control
- Fair-code license, not OSI open-source
- Self-host carries ops overhead
- Steeper than Zapier for non-technical users
Trigger.dev
Durable, long-running workflows as plain TypeScript functions, without learning a separate DSL or workflow engine like Temporal.
- Apache-2.0 open source
- Self-host or managed cloud
- No task timeouts
- Automatic retries + queues
- Built-in run observability
- TypeScript/JavaScript only
- Self-hosting needs Postgres + Redis ops
- Younger ecosystem than Temporal