n8n vs Supercronic
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?
n8n
Workflow automation with a node-based editor
VS
Supercronic
Crontab-compatible job runner built for containers
| Feature | n8n | Supercronic |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | Sustainable Use License | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 199,764 | ★ 2,596 |
| First released | 2019 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Zapier, Make | cron |
Why pick each one
Choose Supercronic if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.6k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is n8n or Supercronic better?
Neither is universally better. n8n has the larger community, while Supercronic is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are n8n and Supercronic free and open-source?
Yes. n8n is licensed under Sustainable Use License and Supercronic under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run n8n and Supercronic with Docker?
n8n: yes. Supercronic: yes.