Comparison
n8n is self-hostable workflow automation with genuinely good AI-agent tooling. Etlworks is built for data volume instead — log-based CDC, bulk loads, warehouses, and EDI — with an AI agent that builds the pipelines.
The verdict
Feature breakdown
| Capability | Etlworks | n8n |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & commercial | ||
| Starting price (monthly) | $300 | Free (Community, self-hosted) / Cloud from EUR 24 |
| Pricing model | Fixed per tier | Per execution; self-hosted Business at $800/mo |
| Cost transparency | High — flat rate | Medium — execution counts are easy to underestimate |
| Vendor lock-in | Monthly or annual, no contract | Source-available; self-host with no vendor |
| Integration scope | ||
| Sources | 260+ | 500+ app integrations |
| Destinations | Warehouses, databases, SaaS, NoSQL, files, APIs, queues, IoT, email | Same node library |
| ETL capabilities | ETL, ELT, Reverse ETL, wildcard processing | Partial — per-item workflow logic, not bulk ETL |
| API management | Full | HTTP nodes and webhooks |
| EDI processing | X12, EDIFACT, HL7, FHIR | |
| On-prem deployment | self-host, Docker | |
| Embeddable | Partial — embed licence | |
| Transformations | ||
| Visual mapping | drag-and-drop designer with live preview | Partial — field mapping per step |
| Scripting languages | SQL, JavaScript, Python, XSLT, shell | JavaScript or Python in code steps |
| Nested and hierarchical data | JSON, XML, Avro, Parquet — read, write, normalize, flatten by dragging | Partial — JSON per item, no bulk flattening |
| Warehouse pushdown (ELT) | transform before load or in the warehouse, same engine | |
| Reusable logic | macros, templates, and 3,900+ prebuilt flow templates | reusable sub-workflows |
| Lookups and enrichment | Lookup Builder for cross-source lookups | Partial — lookup via extra API calls |
| Data validation | validation rules with per-step error handling | Partial — conditional branches |
| Orchestration & workflow | ||
| Scheduling | Cron expressions and fixed intervals, with per-schedule parameters | Interval and cron-style schedules |
| Event-driven triggers | HTTP listeners and webhooks, message queues, file and email events | webhooks and app triggers — the primary model |
| Continuous execution | looping schedules for CDC and queue consumers | Partial — polling and webhook triggers |
| Visual workflow builder | Composer canvas, 200+ flow types | the core of the product |
| Nested workflows | nested flows with conditional and looped steps | sub-workflows |
| Run external tools | shell and SSH scripts, CLI, JavaScript, Python, SQL, HTTP calls | Execute Command node when self-hosted, plus Code nodes |
| Parallel execution | overlapping schedules run as independent, separately cancellable instances | Partial — concurrency depends on your own infrastructure |
| Retries and error handling | per-step exception handling with notifications | per-step retry and error branches |
| Run monitoring | per-schedule status, run history, automatic Flow Findings reports | execution history |
| CDC & Streaming | ||
| CDC engine | Debezium-compatible, built-in (no Kafka required) | |
| Database CDC sources | MySQL, Postgres, SQL Server, Oracle, MongoDB, DB2, others | |
| Streaming queues | Kafka, EventHubs, Kinesis, SQS, PubSub, ActiveMQ, RabbitMQ | Kafka, RabbitMQ, AMQP, MQTT |
| IoT brokers | MQTT brokers | MQTT node |
| Real-time replication | Log-based CDC, full, incremental | polling and webhook triggers |
| Change tracking modes | Log-based, trigger-based, timestamp/high-watermark | Polling, webhooks |
| Developer experience | ||
| REST API | full API for flows, connections, schedules, and runs | |
| CLI | full CLI with built-in SQL | n8n CLI |
| MCP server | built-in — connect Cursor, Claude, or ChatGPT to your instance | |
| Client libraries | Python, Bash, and PowerShell clients | Partial — community SDKs |
| Version control | built-in — automatic history, diff, and revert on every artifact | Partial — git integration on enterprise plans |
| Embeddable / white-label | ||
| Compliance & security | ||
| SOC 2 Type 2 | audited; report under NDA, SOC 3 public | Partial — cloud and enterprise, not community |
| HIPAA | supported with a BAA | Partial — higher tiers only |
| GDPR / DPA | compliant, DPA available | |
| SSO and MFA | SAML SSO, optional 2FA, JWT stateless auth | Partial — SSO on enterprise plans |
| Role and artifact-level access | six roles plus tag-based scoping of flows, connections, and schedules | Partial — role-based, no artifact-level scoping |
| Encryption and data handling | TLS in transit, encrypted at rest, customer-managed PGP, SSH tunnels, IP allowlisting; rows are not persisted by default | self-hosted keeps data in your network |
| Audit logging | admin actions logged, access logs monitored | Partial — enterprise tier |
| Security testing | monthly vulnerability and penetration scans, static analysis blocking every build, periodic third-party audits | vendor-managed, details on request |
| Gen AI | ||
| AI agent | Built-in agent (Simba) — builds and edits flows from chat | AI agent nodes with tools and memory, self-hostable |
| Agent capabilities | Reads metadata, reads/samples data, writes JS & SQL, schedules, deploys, monitors | Builds and runs agent workflows against your nodes |
| Natural-language flow building | ‘Vibe-build’ — create flows by describing what you want | AI workflow builder |
| AI-driven mapping | Auto-suggests source-to-destination mappings | |
| Built-in analytics | Agent runs analysis on flow data and pipeline behavior | |
| Chat across product | Same agent context on every screen | Partial — assistant inside the editor |
| CLI for agent | Full CLI access for run/deploy/monitor/manage | n8n CLI |
| Trains on customer data | Never | No when self-hosted |