BuildShip vs n8n

BuildShip

• Front-end and no-code app builders who need a backend API quickly
• Teams wiring AI models into workflows without managing API keys
• Developers who want visual flows but still edit the underlying code

n8n

• Technical teams that want to host their automation on their own servers
• Developers who mix visual workflows with JavaScript or Python
• Building AI agents where every step can be inspected

BuildShip

• There is no free plan: sign-up starts a 7-day trial, and the subscription begins automatically when it ends unless canceled.
• Nodes use 1 credit for their first 3 seconds and 1 per second after that. Executions stop when credits run out unless you top up at $10 per 100,000.
• Pricing is per workspace, and each additional workspace is billed separately.
• A custom domain ($80 a year) and No Cold Start ($29 a month) are paid add-ons, and self-hosting is listed under Enterprise.

n8n

• n8n Cloud has no free plan; the free option is self-hosting the Community Edition, which you run and maintain yourself.
• The Community Edition leaves out SSO, projects, environments, Git version control and workflow sharing.
• The Business plan is self-hosted only and starts at €667 a month, billed annually.
• The pricing page showed prices in euros when checked; no US dollar price list was found on n8n's site.

BuildShip

Prompt-to-flow builder

Describe a flow in plain language and the AI builder generates its logic and nodes. It can also create a new node, modify an existing one or work from an uploaded API spec.

Visual editor with code access

Flows are edited and tested on a canvas of ready-made nodes with connected inputs and outputs. The code of every node and flow is open to edit, and custom scripts can be added.

Triggers for APIs, schedules and events

A flow can start from a REST API call, a cron schedule, a database event, a payment event from Stripe, an email, or a Telegram or WhatsApp bot message.

AI agents and Keyless Nodes

Each plan includes a set number of AI agents, 10 on Starter. Keyless Nodes run AI models from the credit balance without separate API keys, or you can bring your own keys.

Built-in database and storage

Each workspace has a built-in database with a set number of tables and file storage from 50 GB on Starter, alongside nodes for Firebase, Airtable and other data sources.

Hosted or exported

Flows deploy to BuildShip's cloud with logs, a status page and failure alerts, or export as JavaScript to run on your own infrastructure such as Vercel, GCP, AWS or Azure.

n8n

Visual builder with code steps

Workflows are built on a canvas, and JavaScript or Python can be written anywhere in them. Single steps can be re-run and earlier data replayed while debugging.

AI agents

Agents are assembled from AI nodes on the same canvas, with each step of their reasoning open to inspection and the option to require human approval.

Self-hosting

n8n can run on your own infrastructure with Docker, including air-gapped setups. The Community Edition is free; Business and Enterprise add SSO, environments and Git version control.

Execution-based pricing

One run of a whole workflow counts as a single execution, however many steps it has. Going over the plan quota does not stop workflows, but overage charges may apply.

Integrations and custom APIs

The homepage cites 500+ integrations, including Google Sheets, Slack and OpenAI, and other services can be reached through custom API connections.

Shared projects

Shared projects group workflows for a team: 1 on Starter, 3 on Pro, 6 on Business and unlimited on Enterprise. Pro adds admin roles and workflow history.

BuildShip

• Starter$19

  per workspace / month, billed yearly ($225); $25 monthly

  20,000 credits a month, 20 active flows, 10 agents, 3 team members, 10 database tables, 50 GB of storage and 7 days of logs.

• Pro$59

  per workspace / month, billed yearly ($711); $79 monthly

  100,000 credits a month, 150 flows, 50 agents, 10 team members, 50 database tables, 500 GB of storage, 14 days of logs and priority support.

• Business$449

  per workspace / month, billed yearly ($5,391); $599 monthly

  300,000 credits a month, 300 flows, 100 agents, 25 team members, 5 TB of storage, 30 days of logs, webhook alerts and a dedicated support channel.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Custom credits, self-hosting or your own cloud, Git-based version control, support SLAs, engineering consultation and compliance reports.

n8n

• Community Edition€0

  Self-hosted from GitHub. Almost the complete feature set, without SSO, projects, environments, Git version control or workflow sharing.

• Starter€20

  per month, billed annually, for 2,500 executions

  Hosted by n8n. Unlimited steps per workflow, 1 shared project, 5 concurrent executions, and agents, MCP and AI nodes.

• Pro€50

  per month, billed annually, for 10,000 executions

  Hosted by n8n. 3 shared projects, up to 50 concurrent executions, 7 days of insights, admin roles and workflow history.

• Business€667

  per month, billed annually, for 40,000 executions

  Self-hosted only. 6 shared projects, SSO with SAML and LDAP, multiple environments, Git version control, queue mode and 30 days of insights.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Hosted or self-hosted. Custom executions, unlimited shared projects, 200+ concurrent executions, external secret store, log streaming and SLA support.

BuildShip

• Annual discount

  25% off with yearly billing

  The pricing toggle marks yearly billing as 25% off: Starter is $19 a month billed yearly ($225) against $25 billed monthly, and Pro is $59 against $79.

n8n

• Annual discount

  Save 17% with annual billing

  n8n's pricing page shows a 17% saving when a plan is billed annually instead of monthly. The prices listed here are the annual rates.

• Startups

  Start-up Plan: 50% off Business

  Companies with fewer than 20 employees can check whether they qualify for the Start-up Plan, which takes 50% off the Business plan.