The Dify Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Dify in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Dify
The Insider’s Guide
Open-source platform for building AI agents and agentic workflows
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among AI agents, read from Dify’s own pages.
Made by LangGenius, Inc. · checked Oct 5, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Dify’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Dify’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 5, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.2
GPA, above 12 of the 51 other AI agents we grade
Dify is a platform for building AI applications: agents, chatbots and multi-step workflows assembled on a visual canvas and grounded in knowledge bases built from your own files and websites. Finished apps are published as hosted web apps, embeds, API endpoints or MCP-compatible tools, with logs and annotations for monitoring. It is sold as a hosted cloud service priced per workspace and a self-hosted Enterprise edition, alongside a free open-source Community Edition deployed with Docker.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Dify, taken from its own pages and our grades.
- 1
Best for building your own AI apps on your own data
SSO and more than one workspace are Enterprise only, and the free self-hosted edition is one workspace on Docker.
- 2
Paid plans start at $49.17 a month when paid by the year
As its pricing page puts it: $590 per workspace / year (Professional); $59 billed monthly.
- 3
There is a free plan
Sandbox plan: 1 member, 5 apps, 50 knowledge documents, 50 MB of knowledge storage and 200 one-time message credits. The self-hosted Community Edition is also free.
- 4
It runs on Web
Web.
- 5
Workflow Studio
A visual canvas for workflows and chatflows, where blocks define how an app retrieves data, makes decisions, calls tools, asks for human input and completes a task.
- 6
Agents
Agents are built by chatting or by manual configuration with skills, tools and knowledge, then used as an app, embedded in a website or reused as a node inside a workflow.
- 7
Knowledge pipeline
Repeatable pipelines extract, clean, chunk and index files, websites, online documents and drives into a knowledge base, with retrieval testing before it is connected to an app.
- 8
A 2.2 GPA, above 12 of 51
That is against the other AI agents we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
To replace Dify you would be making an AI agent, with the models and the safeguards behind it. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
Dify at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $590 per workspace / year (Professional); $59 billed monthly
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- None stated
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- LangGenius, Inc.
- Category
- AI Agents
- Our grade
- 2.2 GPA, fair
The report card
Best for building your own AI apps on your own data
Dify is a workbench for building your own AI apps: agents, chatbots and workflows on a visual canvas, fed with your own files and websites and published as web apps, embeds or APIs. The free cloud Sandbox stops at 1 member, 5 apps and 200 message credits that never refill, and the next step is $59 a month per workspace. SSO and more than one workspace are Enterprise only, and the free self-hosted edition is one workspace on Docker.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D | The first paid step is $59 a month per workspace, or $590 for the year, which is in the dearest tenth for this category. Three members share it, so split three ways it's bearable; on your own it's dear. Team is $159 a month. |
| Free plan and trial | C | Sandbox is free but you'll hit the end of it fast: 1 member, 5 apps, 50 knowledge documents and 200 message credits that never refill, after which you bring your own model keys. The real free option is the Community Edition, hosted by you on Docker. |
| Features | B | It covers the job: a visual canvas for workflows, agents set up by chatting or by hand, pipelines that turn files, websites and drives into a searchable knowledge base with retrieval testing, and apps published as web apps, embeds, APIs or MCP tools with logs to review. |
| Ease of use | C | No code, but it is a builder: a canvas to learn, a Marketplace to install from, and your own model keys to add once the 200 credits are gone. No rating on record to go by. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | A web app, and what you build goes out as an API endpoint, an embed or an MCP tool. The Marketplace adds model providers, tools and data sources. No phone or desktop app on the listing. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Dify is for
- Fits if your team wants agents and chatbots that answer from your own documents
- Works for teams that have to self-host or keep everything in a private cloud
Who it is not for
- Pricey if you work alone: the first paid step is $59 a month for a 3-member workspace, and Team is $159
- Tight if you're staying on Sandbox, with 1 member, 5 apps and 200 message credits that don't refill
- Not for you if you need SSO or more than one workspace, which are Enterprise only, at a price not published
- Watch out: the free Community Edition means hosting it on Docker yourself, with one workspace and Dify's own license
- Skip it if you want a phone or desktop app, as Dify is a web app
Good to know
Good for
- Teams building retrieval-backed agents and chatbots on their own data
- Organizations that need to self-host or deploy in a private cloud
- Developers who want to bring their own model API keys
Worth knowing
- The Sandbox plan's 200 message credits are a one-time grant; after that you supply your own model API keys.
- Cloud plans are priced per workspace with member caps: 1 on Sandbox, 3 on Professional and 50 on Team.
- SSO, multiple workspaces and a commercial license are part of the Enterprise edition only.
- The free Community Edition is limited to a single workspace and uses Dify's own Apache-2.0-derived license.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$49.17
A month to start, paid by the year. There is a free plan too
Dify has a free plan. Paid plans start at $590 per workspace / year (Professional); $59 billed monthly.
Three members share it, so split three ways it's bearable; on your own it's dear.
Sandbox
Free
1 member, 5 apps, 50 knowledge documents, 50 MB of knowledge storage, 200 one-time message credits and 30 days of log history.
Community
Free
Open-source edition you self-host with Docker: all core features in the public repository, a single workspace and community support.
Professional
$59
per workspace / month ($590 per year billed annually)
3 team members, 50 apps, 5,000 message credits a month, 500 knowledge documents, 5 GB of storage and 20,000 trigger events a month.
Team
$159
per workspace / month ($1,590 per year billed annually)
50 team members, 200 apps, 10,000 message credits a month, 1,000 knowledge documents, 20 GB of storage and unlimited trigger events.
Enterprise
Custom
Self-hosted or VPC deployment with a commercial license, multiple workspaces, SSO, advanced security controls and professional support.
The free plan
Sandbox plan: 1 member, 5 apps, 50 knowledge documents, 50 MB of knowledge storage and 200 one-time message credits. The self-hosted Community Edition is also free.
Read from dify.ai on Oct 5, 2026.
Ways to pay less
Annual discount
Save 17% with annual billing
Dify's pricing page lists a 17% saving for annual billing: Professional is $590 a year instead of $59 a month, and Team is $1,590 a year instead of $159 a month.
Stated on dify.aiEducation
Free Professional plan for students and educators
Verified students, teachers and school staff aged 18 or over can use the Yearly Professional plan at no cost, re-verified each year. Message credits stay at the Sandbox level of 200.
Stated on dify.ai
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
Open-source platform for building AI agents and agentic workflows. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: open source, self-hostable, public API, workflow automation, AI agents, no-code.
A web app, and what you build goes out as an API endpoint, an embed or an MCP tool.
- Workflow Studio
- A visual canvas for workflows and chatflows, where blocks define how an app retrieves data, makes decisions, calls tools, asks for human input and completes a task.
- Agents
- Agents are built by chatting or by manual configuration with skills, tools and knowledge, then used as an app, embedded in a website or reused as a node inside a workflow.
- Knowledge pipeline
- Repeatable pipelines extract, clean, chunk and index files, websites, online documents and drives into a knowledge base, with retrieval testing before it is connected to an app.
- Marketplace and plugins
- Model providers, tools, data sources and MCP integrations are installed from the Marketplace or defined yourself, and reused across the apps in a workspace.
- Publishing and monitoring
- Apps ship as hosted web apps, API endpoints, embeds or MCP-compatible tools, with logs, feedback, annotations, latency and usage data to review.
- Cloud, enterprise or self-hosted
- Use Dify Cloud, deploy the Enterprise edition in your own VPC or on Kubernetes with a Helm chart, or self-host the Community Edition with Docker.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- Google Gemini
- xAI
- Notion
- LangSmith
- Langfuse
Dify is made by LangGenius, Inc.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
12/51
Other AI agents it is graded above
Dify's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 12 of the 51 other AI agents we grade, and level with 10.
It stands best on features (B, above 27 of 51) and worst on value for money (D, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $49.17 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $21.25 for the category: 39 of the 44 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 8 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 52 AI agents we grade, cut by the letter each got. Dify’s own letter is outlined.
- DValue for moneyAbove 0 of 51
- CFree plan and trialAbove 9 of 51
- BFeaturesAbove 27 of 51
- CEase of useAbove 5 of 51
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 5 of 51
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 49 AI agents. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Dify is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace Dify you would be making an AI agent, with the models and the safeguards behind it. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 29 of the 51 other AI agents grade higher. It costs $590 a year. Dify is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.
What you could not
- An AI agent, with the models and the safeguards behind it.
- Connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
- A builder that other people can use without writing code.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Dify’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Langflow, n8n, MindStudio and Vellum
The 4 tools Dify is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.8GPA
Langflow
Free plan
Open-source visual builder for AI agents and MCP servers.
- Only Langflow lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- Dify also covers workflow automation and no-code.
- Langflow also covers templates.
- 2.4GPA
n8n
Free plan · from €20/mo
Workflow automation and AI agents you can self-host.
- Dify is open source, according to its own site.
- Dify also covers AI agents and no-code.
- 2.6GPA
MindStudio
Free plan · from $16/mo
No-code builder for AI agents, with 200+ models billed at cost.
- Only MindStudio lists a browser extension.
- Dify is open source, according to its own site.
- MindStudio also covers templates and app builder.
- 2.6GPA
Vellum
Free plan · from $30/mo
Personal AI assistant with long-term memory that acts across apps.
- Only Vellum lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps.
- Only Vellum lists a browser extension.
- Dify also covers no-code.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
15
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Dify free?
Dify has a free plan. Sandbox plan: 1 member, 5 apps, 50 knowledge documents, 50 MB of knowledge storage and 200 one-time message credits.
How much does Dify cost?
Dify lists 5 plans. Sandbox: Free.
What platforms does Dify work on?
Dify is available on Web.
Does Dify offer any discounts?
Dify publicly lists the following: Save 17% with annual billing; Free Professional plan for students and educators.
Does Dify have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. Dify is listed for Web.
Does Dify have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. Dify is listed for Web.
Is Dify open source?
Yes. Dify is open source, according to its own site.
Does Dify have an API?
Yes. Dify offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Dify integrate with?
Dify's listing names OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, xAI, Notion, LangSmith and Langfuse.
Does Dify have a student discount?
Free Professional plan for students and educators. Verified students, teachers and school staff aged 18 or over can use the Yearly Professional plan at no cost, re-verified each year.
Who makes Dify?
Dify is made by LangGenius, Inc.
What are the alternatives to Dify?
The closest alternatives to Dify in our directory are Langflow, n8n, MindStudio and Vellum.
How does Dify compare with other AI agents?
Dify's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 12 of the 51 other AI agents we grade, and level with 10.
Is Dify good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Dify D for value for money. Its paid plans start at $49.17 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $21.25 for the category: 39 of the 44 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of Dify?
To replace Dify you would be making an AI agent, with the models and the safeguards behind it.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Dify’s own pages on Oct 5, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 10, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Dify's own pages on 5 October 2026. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-05-15.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by LangGenius, Inc. Prices change, so check dify.ai before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
3,189
Tools graded, in 94 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
3,189
tools graded
94
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Dify, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/dify
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Dify: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 5, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/dify
Know someone choosing between AI agents?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/dify/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded AI agents after Dify, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- AI Agents Insider's GuideEvery one of the 52 AI agents we grade, compared
- Genspark Insider's GuideAI workspace with an agent for research, slides, sheets and docs3.2 GPA
- Manus Insider's GuideGeneral AI agent for research, slides, websites and browser tasks3.2 GPA
- OpenClaw Insider's GuideOpen-source personal AI agent you run yourself and message in chat3.2 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Dify’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Dify is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by LangGenius, Inc. Prices and plans change: check dify.ai before you buy.