Ditto AI vs n8n
n8n is a workflow automation platform for technical teams: you build on a canvas or in plain language, run it on n8n Cloud or your own servers, and add AI agents, MCP and human approval steps. Ditto AI skips the building: you record the task once on your Mac and it becomes an agent with a tool for each step. Pick n8n for server-side flows you own end to end; pick Ditto for a desktop task you'd rather demonstrate.
The short answer
n8n is for building workflows that run on a server. It calls itself an "AI Workflow Automation Platform" (n8n.io). You build on a canvas, or with the AI Workflow Builder, which lets you "create, refine, and debug workflows using natural language" (docs), and it runs on n8n Cloud or on your own infrastructure, "on-prem, air-gapped if you need it" (n8n.io).
Ditto AI is for a task you do on your Mac. You record it once; Ditto writes down the steps, finds and checks a tool for each, and hands you an agent that runs in Ditto or in Claude Code or Kiro.
Side by side
| Ditto AI | n8n | |
|---|---|---|
| How you define it | Record the task once | Build on the canvas or describe it to the AI Workflow Builder (source) |
| What you get | An agent: steps, inputs, a checked tool per step, a policy | A workflow of nodes, or an n8n agent (source) |
| Where it runs | On your Mac: Ditto, Claude Code or Kiro CLI | n8n Cloud or self-hosted (source) |
| Approval | Every step, tool and permission before the first run; writes can be drafts | You can "require human approval before an AI Agent executes a specific tool" (source) |
| MCP | Finds MCP servers for your steps and checks each | Both an MCP server and a client; clients can "Create and edit workflows" (source) |
| Licence | Not open source | Sustainable Use License, fair-code; n8n says it doesn't use "an open source license" (source) |
| Price | Free; no paid plan yet (pricing) | Community edition free to self-host; Cloud Starter €24 a month (€20 yearly), Pro €60 (€50), Business €800 (€667), self-hosted only (source) |
Where n8n is ahead
- You can own all of it. The free Community edition has "almost the complete feature set" (docs).
- It's always on: webhooks, schedules, retries and queue mode, on a server rather than your laptop (pricing).
- More integrations, and MCP in both directions: "over 500 integrations" plus custom API calls (n8n.io).
- Approval reaches reviewers where they are, through Slack, Teams, email and more (docs).
Where Ditto is different
- No building. The steps come from what you did, each citing the frames and clicks it came from.
- Desktop apps and signed-in sites on your Mac are in scope.
- No server to run. The agent runs where you are.
- It hands the agent to Claude Code or Kiro with its tool servers and allowlist.
Choose n8n if
- You want workflows running on your own servers, on triggers and schedules, around the clock.
- You're happy to build a workflow and want fixed steps with AI only where needed.
- Data has to stay inside your own infrastructure.
Choose Ditto AI if
- The task lives on your Mac, and you'd rather demonstrate it than model it.
- You want an agent in Claude Code or Kiro rather than a workflow on a server.
- You don't want to run or maintain a server.
See also Ditto AI vs Zapier and Mac automation tools compared.