n8n vs Orchestrator Zero
oz0 records agent jobs running on your infrastructure. n8n puts agents inside visual automation workflows. oz0 focuses on operating agents across your machines, with tenant rules, a model gateway and a verifiable audit trail.
What n8n is
n8n is a fair-code workflow automation tool from n8n, a company based in Berlin, that combines a visual workflow editor with AI features. Agents are AI Agent nodes inside workflows that call chat models, tool nodes and MCP servers, or agents built in the newer Agent Builder, which is in preview. Executions run in the main n8n process or, in queue mode, on worker processes that pull jobs from Redis; it runs as n8n Cloud or self-hosted, with a free Community edition and paid Business and Enterprise licences.
docs.n8n.io- Runs
- Self-hosted or managed
- Checked
- 27 October 2026
Side by side.
n8n's ratings come from its own pages. A column's name opens its definition and how Orchestrator Zero does it. How we rated
Where it runs
Linux, macOS and Windows
Conditional: Native npm being deprecated
n8n runs natively wherever Node.js runs (the npm guide covers Windows), but npm installs are deprecated from n8n 3.0 and the other documented route is Docker, which on macOS and Windows means Docker Desktop.
Self-hosted control plane
Yes
DocsYes
The Community edition can be self-hosted free. Features such as projects, SSO and external secrets require the relevant paid licence.
No inbound ports
Yes
DocsYes
In queue mode, workers pick up executions from Redis, so nothing calls into the worker machines.
Fleet operations
Yes
DocsConditional: No label routing
Queue workers take the next job from a shared queue, with no labels, routing, blocking or managed upgrades.
Durability
Durable runs
Conditional: Manual retry
A failed execution can be retried with its earlier data, but automatic resume after a crash is not documented.
Governance
Tool policy outside the model
Conditional: Review set per workflow
Human review gates the tools a builder picks on each AI Agent node, and admins can block node types for the instance or a project, but no admin rule decides per tool call whether it runs, waits or is refused.
Approvals in chat
Yes: Slack, Teams and more
A tool with human review pauses the workflow until a reviewer approves or denies it in n8n Chat, Slack, Discord, Telegram, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, WhatsApp or email.
Tool snapshots
Yes
DocsNot documented
The MCP and security documentation does not describe detecting changed tool definitions and blocking them pending approval.
Tenants built in
Yes
DocsConditional: Projects, paid plans
Projects separate workflows and credentials with their own access, but they are a paid feature.
Cost
Budgets that stop a run
Conditional: Prepaid credits, Cloud only
On n8n Cloud Starter and Pro, nodes that use Gateway credits stop when the prepaid balance reaches zero. Nodes with your own credentials, and self-hosted n8n, have no spend limit.
Security
Provider keys off the workers
Yes
DocsConditional: Cloud gateway credits only
On n8n Cloud Starter and Pro, Gateway credits route model calls through an n8n gateway that holds the provider account; elsewhere credentials are stored in n8n and used by the process that runs the workflow, optionally loaded from an external vault on Enterprise.
Sandbox with an egress allowlist
Conditional: Sandbox, no egress allowlist
Code node code can run in external task runner containers, and agents get a code sandbox, but no allowlist of outbound hosts is documented; SSRF protection blocks private ranges and the docs leave egress limits to your firewall.
Audit and compliance
Tamper-evident audit trail
Conditional: Log streaming, Enterprise
Enterprise log streaming exports audit and workflow events, including MCP tool calls. The docs do not describe hash chaining or signatures that let you verify their integrity.
Erasure by key
Conditional: Delete their executions
Self-hosted admins erase a person by deleting the executions that hold their data; there are no per-person keys.
Retention with legal hold
Conditional: Pruning, no legal hold
Admins set how long executions are kept before pruning, and annotated executions are skipped by pruning, but there is no legal hold that stops deletion.
Openness
Model provider choice
Yes
DocsYes
Chat model nodes cover OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and many more, and the Ollama nodes run local models.
MCP and A2A
Yes
DocsConditional: MCP, no A2A
Agents call MCP servers through the MCP Client Tool and workflows can be MCP servers, but A2A is not documented (only third-party community nodes add it).
Where n8n is stronger.
Visual workflow canvas
Agents and workflows are built on a visual canvas, with code where needed, and each step of an agent's reasoning shows on it.
n8n.ioOver 500 integrations
Pre-built nodes cover over 500 apps and services.
n8n.ioApprovals in Microsoft Teams
Tool approvals can go to Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, Telegram, WhatsApp and email as well as Slack and Discord; Orchestrator Zero has Slack, Discord and Teams, all tested only against stand-ins so far.
docs.n8n.ioHosted cloud and SOC 2 audits
n8n Cloud is a hosted service, and n8n is audited every year against SOC 2 by an independent auditor.
n8n.io
Full in n8n, partial in oz0: Approvals in chat.
Differences to examine.
Compare the scope, conditions and editions in the source notes.
- Linux, macOS and Windows
- Fleet operations
- Tenants built in
- Budgets that stop a run
- Provider keys off the workers
- Tamper-evident audit trail
- Erasure by key
- MCP and A2A
Using both
An n8n AI Agent can call an Orchestrator Zero agent through the MCP Client Tool node, since every Orchestrator Zero agent is also an MCP tool.
Based on documentation; this pairing has not been tested.
Find your first task.
Explore an example or read the public Docs preview. Software access is coming soon.