Firecrawl vs n8n
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted automation & workflows options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Firecrawl
Turn websites into clean data for AI applications
VS
n8n
Workflow automation with a node-based editor
| Feature | Firecrawl | n8n |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Sustainable Use License |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 162,961 | ★ 199,764 |
| First released | 2024 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Apify | Zapier, Make |
Why pick each one
Choose Firecrawl if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 163k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Firecrawl or n8n better?
Neither is universally better. n8n has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Firecrawl and n8n free and open-source?
Yes. Firecrawl is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and n8n under Sustainable Use License. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Firecrawl and n8n with Docker?
Firecrawl: yes. n8n: yes.