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DeepSeek vs n8n

Features, pricing, ratings, and pros and cons, side by side.

Verdict

DeepSeek is listed under AI Assistants and n8n under Productivity. DeepSeek scores higher in FinderAtlas's editorial review (8.8 vs 8.3 out of 10), led by ease of use. Both have a free plan or trial. Only DeepSeek is available on Windows, macOS and iOS.

Best overall

DeepSeek

  • Software developers
  • Researchers and analysts
  • Students
  • AI engineers

Choose DeepSeek if

  • You want a tool built for Low-cost API integration.
  • Web chat and mobile apps are free.
  • API output costs from $0.60 per 1M tokens (Flash, off-peak), well below most frontier providers.

Choose n8n if

  • You want a tool built for Teams that want self-hostable automation with code-level control and AI agent workflows.
  • Free self-hosted Community Edition with almost the full feature set and no license key.
  • Execution-based pricing counts a whole workflow run as one execution, however many steps it has.
Best for beginners
DeepSeek
Best for business
n8n

Features

19 features compared.

  • V4 model family
    DeepSeek
    Available
    n8n
    Not available
  • Thinking mode
    DeepSeek
    Available
    n8n
    Not available
  • Open weights
    DeepSeek
    Available
    n8n
    Not available
  • OpenAI and Anthropic compatible API
    DeepSeek
    Available
    n8n
    Not available
  • Tool calls and JSON output
    DeepSeek
    Available
    n8n
    Not available
  • Search and Fetch APIs
    DeepSeek
    Available
    n8n
    Not available
  • Agent tool integrations
    DeepSeek
    Available
    n8n
    Not available
  • DeepSeek Harness
    DeepSeek
    Available
    n8n
    Not available
  • Vision on Flash
    DeepSeek
    Available
    n8n
    Not available
  • Visual Workflow Canvas
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    n8n
    Available
  • Code in Any Step
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    n8n
    Available
  • AI Agents and RAG
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    n8n
    Available
  • MCP Support
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    n8n
    Available
  • Human-in-the-Loop Approvals
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    n8n
    Available
  • 500+ Integrations
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    n8n
    Available
  • Faster Iteration
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    n8n
    Available
  • Templates
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    n8n
    Available
  • Enterprise Controls
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    n8n
    Available
  • Flexible Deployment
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    n8n
    Available

Pricing

Plans as listed by each vendor. Check their sites for current prices.

  • Pricing model
    DeepSeek
    Freemium
    n8n
    Freemium
  • Free plan
    DeepSeek
    Yes
    n8n
    Yes
  • Starting price
    DeepSeek
    $0
    n8n
    $0
  • Plans
    DeepSeek
    3 plans
    n8n
    5 plans

DeepSeek plans

  • Chat and App

    Most popular

    $0

    Free access to DeepSeek models on web, iOS and Android

    • Web chat
    • iOS and Android apps
    • Thinking mode
    • Web search
    • File upload

  • API: deepseek-flash

    $0.15/1M input tokens

    Pay as you go; $0.15 cache-miss input and $0.60 output per 1M tokens off-peak, double at peak

    • 1M context
    • 384K max output
    • Vision
    • Tool calls
    • JSON output

  • API: deepseek-v4-pro

    $0.66/1M input tokens

    Pay as you go; $0.66 cache-miss input and $1.98 output per 1M tokens off-peak, double at peak

    • 1M context
    • 384K max output
    • Tool calls
    • JSON output

n8n plans

  • Community Edition

    $0

    Self-hosted edition run on your own infrastructure

    • Most of the n8n feature set
    • no license key
    • unlimited workflows

  • Starter

    €24/month

    n8n Cloud for individuals and small projects

    • 2.5K executions/month
    • 1 shared project
    • 5 concurrent executions

  • Pro

    Most popular

    €60/month

    n8n Cloud for growing teams

    • 10K executions/month
    • 3 shared projects
    • up to 50 concurrent executions
    • admin roles

  • Business

    €800/month

    Self-hosted tier with governance features

    • 40K executions/month
    • SSO and LDAP
    • queue mode
    • Git version control

  • Enterprise

    Custom/custom

    Large organizations needing SLAs and custom volumes

    • Custom executions
    • 200+ concurrent executions
    • external secret store
    • log streaming
    • dedicated support

Our ratings

Scored out of 10 by the Finder Atlas editorial team. Last reviewed October 2026.

DeepSeek
8.8overall
n8n
8.3overall

DeepSeek leads in 1 category and n8n in 0.

  • Reasoning & Logic

    DeepSeek
    8.8
    n8n
    Not rated

  • Coding & Syntax

    DeepSeek
    8.7
    n8n
    Not rated

  • Cost Efficiency

    DeepSeek
    9.6
    n8n
    Not rated

  • Long Context

    DeepSeek
    8.8
    n8n
    Not rated

  • Ease of Use

    DeepSeek leads by 0.5
    DeepSeek
    8.0
    n8n
    7.5

  • Feature Depth

    DeepSeek
    Not rated
    n8n
    9.2

  • Value for Money

    DeepSeek
    Not rated
    n8n
    8.5

  • Performance & Speed

    DeepSeek
    Not rated
    n8n
    8.0

  • Documentation & Support

    DeepSeek
    Not rated
    n8n
    8.3

Scores weigh documented features, plan value, platform coverage, integrations and user feedback. A missing score means we have not rated that area yet.

Pros and cons

DeepSeek

Pros

  • Web chat and mobile apps are free
  • API output costs from $0.60 per 1M tokens (Flash, off-peak), well below most frontier providers
  • Open weights for V4 and earlier models on Hugging Face
  • 1M-token context and 384K max output on both API models
  • API works with both OpenAI and Anthropic SDKs and several coding agents

Cons

  • Peak-hour API rates are double the off-peak rates on weekday mornings UTC
  • deepseek-v4-pro does not support vision input
  • No image generation
  • Data is processed by a company based in China, which some organizations cannot accept

n8n

Pros

  • Free self-hosted Community Edition with almost the full feature set and no license key.
  • Execution-based pricing counts a whole workflow run as one execution, however many steps it has.
  • JavaScript and Python can be used in any step, which suits technical users.
  • More than 500 integrations and over 10,000 community templates.
  • On-premises and air-gapped deployment plus SSO, LDAP and audit logging for enterprises.

Cons

  • Fair-code license is not OSI-approved open source.
  • Business tier starts at about €667 per month billed annually and is self-hosted only for now, with a Cloud waitlist.
  • The Community Edition lacks projects, SSO, Git version control and log streaming.
  • Cloud Starter is capped at 2.5K executions per month and 5 concurrent executions.

Platforms

  • Web
    DeepSeek
    Supported
    n8n
    Supported
  • Windows
    DeepSeek
    Supported
    n8n
    Not supported
  • macOS
    DeepSeek
    Supported
    n8n
    Not supported
  • iOS
    DeepSeek
    Supported
    n8n
    Not supported
  • Android
    DeepSeek
    Supported
    n8n
    Not supported
  • API
    DeepSeek
    Supported
    n8n
    Supported
  • Browser Extension
    DeepSeek
    Not supported
    n8n
    Not supported

Integrations

DeepSeek

6 integrations
  • OpenAI SDK
  • Anthropic SDK
  • Claude Code
  • Codex
  • OpenCode
  • Hugging Face

n8n

9 integrations
  • Salesforce
  • Zoom
  • ServiceNow
  • Asana
  • Slack
  • GitHub
  • ChatGPT
  • Claude
  • Docker

Company

  • Company
    DeepSeek
    DeepSeek
    n8n
    n8n GmbH
  • Founded
    DeepSeek
    2023
    n8n
    2019
  • Headquarters
    DeepSeek
    Hangzhou, China
    n8n
    Berlin, Germany
  • Listing
    DeepSeek
    Claimed
    n8n
    Claimed

Frequently asked questions

Is DeepSeek better than n8n?

It depends on your workflow. DeepSeek is built for Low-cost API integration. n8n is built for Teams that want self-hostable automation with code-level control and AI agent workflows.

What are the key feature differences between DeepSeek and n8n?

DeepSeek: Free AI chat app and low-cost API running DeepSeek's open-weights V4 models. n8n: Build and self-host workflow automations and AI agents with visual nodes and custom code.

Does DeepSeek or n8n have a free plan?

Yes, both do. DeepSeek is freemium and n8n is freemium, and each has a free plan or trial.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek or n8n?

Both can be used for free. Paid plans differ in limits and features, so compare the tiers in the pricing table above.