n8nvsOpenAI Agents SDK
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
n8n
n8n GmbH · Agent framework
MCP
Panel
7.42 spec wins
- Reliability
- 7.0
- Usefulness
- 7.5
- Cost
- 7.2
- Longevity
- 8.0
“A 2019 workflow tool that discovered agents, which is still earlier than most agent companies discovered revenue.”
OpenAI Agents SDK
OpenAI · Agent framework
OSSMCP
Panel
7.14 spec wins
- Reliability
- 7.2
- Usefulness
- 7.0
- Cost
- 7.2
- Longevity
- 7.0
“Billed as the production-ready upgrade of Swarm, which tells you what Swarm was.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | n8n | OpenAI Agents SDK |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | Agent framework | Agent framework |
| Runs | local, cloud | local, cloud |
| Platforms | macos, linux, windows, web | macos, linux, windows |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | Yes | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | No | Yes |
| Multi-file edits | No | Yes |
| Git operations | No | No |
| Browser control | No | Yes |
| Sandboxed execution | No | No |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | Yes |
| Headless / CI mode | Yes | Yes |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | any | GPT, any LiteLLM-supported model |
| Bring your own model | Yes | Yes |
| Local models | Yes | Yes |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | mixed | byok |
| Starts at | n/a | $0/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Bring your own key | Yes | Yes |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | No | Yes |
| License | Sustainable Use License and n8n Enterprise License (fair-code) | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 206,477 | 29,799 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | n8n | OpenAI Agents SDK | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 7.8 | 7.0 | n8n — Pick n8n when the agent is one step in an automation that also has to touch a database and a Slack channel; pick Langflow when the agent itself is the whole project. |
| El Crítico | 6.8 | 6.8 | no preference |
| El Profesor | 7.3 | 6.5 | n8n — A builder drafts a workflow from a plain-language description, which is generation rather than execution, and a separate hub fronts several models for conversational use. |
| La Inversora | 8.5 | 7.5 | n8n — Two hundred thousand stars and six years of shipping since 2019 buy distribution nothing in this category can match, with enterprise terms negotiated privately. |
| La Jefa | 7.3 | 7.3 | no preference |
| El Hacker | 7.0 | 7.5 | OpenAI Agents SDK — MIT, pip install openai-agents, MCPServerStreamableHttp from agents.mcp, and LiteLLM means my local Ollama box counts as a provider; I can read the whole loop and fork it. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.