n8n vs Slack
No clear leader: Slack (78.7) and n8n (76.2) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.
Features
The capabilities each product documents. These tools do not share a category taxonomy, so this aligns what each vendor states rather than a normalised feature set.
| Feature | n8n | Slack |
|---|---|---|
| Ai steps | ✓ | - |
| Api access | - | ✓ |
| App builder | ✗ | - |
| App marketplace | - | ✓ |
| Automated workflow bot builders | - | ✓ |
| Branching logic | ✓ | - |
| Bring your own key byok for llm inference | ✓ | - |
| Builder ui architecture | visual_node_canvas | - |
| Channel based topic organization | - | ✓ |
| Code steps | ✓ | - |
| Compliance controls | - | ✓ |
| Custom http connector | ✓ | - |
| Custom http webhook catch and triggering | ✓ | - |
| Deployment model | - | cloud_saas |
| Environments versioning | ✓ | - |
| Error handling | ✓ | - |
| Free tier | ✓ | - |
| Guest external access | - | ✓ |
| Hosting | both | cloud |
| Human in the loop approval steps via slack email | ✓ | - |
| Loops iteration | ✓ | - |
| Messaging | - | ✓ |
| Native llm nodes anthropic openai gemini | ✓ | - |
| On premise self hosted deployment option | ✓ | - |
| Prebuilt connectors | 1500+ integrations | - |
| Pricing metric | operation | - |
| Pricing model | freemium_with_task_credits | - |
| Rbac audit | ✓ | - |
| Recording transcription | - | recording_ai_notes |
| Robust message search and history indexing | - | ✓ |
| Soc2 type ii | ✓ | - |
| Sso scim | - | ✓ |
| Sub workflow calling and reusable templates | ✓ | - |
| Threaded reply conversations | - | ✓ |
| Video meetings | - | ✓ |
| Visual builder | ✓ | - |
What each one is
The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.
n8n
n8n is a workflow automation platform that lets you build automations visually or with code to connect and orchestrate applications and services. It supports AI-powered workflows, runs on your infrastructure or n8n's cloud, and charges only for complete workflow executions rather than individual tasks.
Slack
Slack is a cloud-based system that enables teams to communicate through channels, integrate with external tools, and automate workflows while maintaining enterprise-grade security and compliance controls.
Pricing
List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.
n8n
Free Community version. Cloud plans start with Starter; self-hosted Business plan available. Execution-based pricing model.
- Starter-
- Pro-
- BusinessContact sales
- EnterpriseContact sales
- Dedicated support with SLAs
Slack
From £0 (free tier) to £7/user/month (Pro). Free tier available.
- FreeFree
- 90 days of message history
- Up to 10 apps from Slack App Directory
- 1:1 audio and video meetings with screen sharing
- 1:1 external messages via Slack Connect
- SAML-based single sign-on
- +9 more
- Pro£7/user/month (£5.75/user/month billed annually)
- Unlimited message history
- Unlimited app integrations
- 2,600+ apps in Slack App Directory
Platform & deployment
Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.
Integrations
What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.
- Salesforce
- GitHub
n8n
- Slack
- HubSpot
- Stripe
- Typeform
- Mautic
- Airtable
- Asana
- ServiceNow
- Zoom
- Elevenlabs
- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- ClearBit
- Azure
- Webhook
- Custom HTTP API
- AWS Secrets Manager
- Azure Key Vault
- Google Cloud Platform
- HashiCorp Vault
- Infisical
- ChatGPT
- +21 more
Slack
- Atlassian
- Lucid
- Loom
- Miro
- Smartsheet
- Mural
- Zapier
- Microsoft 365
- Jira
- Google Workspace
- Okta
- ADFS
- Zendesk
n8n or Slack: which one depends on you
A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.
Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works
Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.