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Workflow orchestration · November 2026 Edition

n8n vs Workato

One of fourteen models named n8n first on the direct prompt; four named Workato. n8n was named by thirteen of the fourteen models and Workato by eleven and n8n carries 32 labels and Workato 20, so the shares are not directly comparable.

n8n

accepted challenger

Named in three categories this edition.

Workato

criticized challenger

Named in three categories this edition.

First-choice share13%8%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate3%25%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#4#6A position in a field of 16; printed, not drawn.
Labels3220A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, n8n reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Microsoft Power Automate was named alongside these two in nine of the fourteen direct answers. Prefect vs n8n · Prefect vs Workato · Dagster vs n8n

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the workflow orchestration page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
n8nFirst choices, of fourteen modelsWorkato
Direct141 against Workato
Paraphrase00
Comparative00
Budget-constrained601 against Workato
Scale-constrained001 against Workato
Negative001 against n8n · 2 against Workato
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, n8n and Workato were named in the same answer twenty-eight times, of the 123 answers naming n8n and the 91 naming Workato. In those answers Workato took the first choice four times and n8n one.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where n8n and Workato stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.20
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
n8n Workato first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, n8n on the left and Workato on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where n8n and Workato stood in it.

n8n first, Workato not the choice

1 of 14 modelsWorkato was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Gemini 3.5 FlashDagster, Prefect, Temporal, n8n alternatives: Amazon Managed Workflows for Apache Airflow, Astronomer Astro, Make

Workato first, n8n an alternative

4 of 14 modelsn8n was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Perplexity SonarWorkato alternatives: Make, Microsoft Power Automate, Zapier, n8n
DeepSeek V4 FlashWorkato alternatives: Make, Prefect, Zapier, n8n
GPT-6 LunaWorkato alternatives: Camunda Platform 8, Microsoft Power Automate, Temporal, n8n
Muse Glimmer 30BWorkato alternatives: Boomi, Make, Microsoft Power Automate, SnapLogic, Zapier

Neither was the first choice, one was named

6 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Grok 4.20Zapier alternatives: Camunda Platform 8, Make, Microsoft Power Automate, SnapLogic, Workato, n8n
Mistral SmallPrefect alternatives: Apache Airflow, Camunda Platform 8, Dagster, Microsoft Power Automate, Workato
Llama 4 MaverickPrefect alternatives: Apache Airflow, Dagster, Make, Microsoft Power Automate, Workato, Zapier, n8n
Qwen 3.7 FlashMake alternatives: Apache Airflow, Microsoft Power Automate, n8n
Kimi K2Microsoft Power Automate, Zapier alternatives: Make, Workato, n8n
GLM 4.7 FlashXMake alternatives: Microsoft Power Automate, Tray.io, Workato, Zapier, n8n

Neither was named

3 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Claude Haiku 4.5Prefect, Zapier/Make alternatives: Apache Airflow
GPT-5.4 miniTemporal alternatives: Apache Airflow, Prefect
MiniMax M2.5no first choice

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
n8n leads by sixteen points.
n8n16%#4 of 10
Workato0%#– of 10
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
n8n leads by six points.
n8n13%#4 of 16
Workato8%#6 of 16
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
The order flips: Workato leads at enterprise.
Workato5%#6 of 20
n8n0%#17 of 20
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about n8n

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.

“Self-hosting avoids some vendor costs but transfers responsibility for security patches, backups, upgrades, availability, and monitoring to your team” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · soft negative
“For most budget-conscious companies with some technical capability, n8n offers the best balance of features, flexibility, and cost.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget prompt · first choice
“For most small teams, n8n (open-source, self-hosted) or Zapier (no-code, free tier) are the best starting points” Mistral Small · budget prompt · first choice
“For a company with a limited budget, n8n (self-hosted) is almost always the best choice.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · first choice

What the models said about Workato

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.

“Avoid or be cautious with Zapier, Make, and Workato for anything beyond simple automation” Mistral Small · negative prompt · hard negative
“Avoid enterprise tools such as Workato, Camunda, or ServiceNow” Perplexity Sonar · budget prompt · hard negative
“Workato, for example, can be overkill and cost-prohibitive for smaller teams” GLM 4.7 FlashX · scale prompt · soft negative
“Workato is repeatedly positioned for mid-market and enterprise organisations that need automation with strong governance, cross-department reliability and operational depth.” Muse Glimmer 30B · direct prompt · first choice
“For most mid-market B2B companies, Workato is the strongest *orchestration* choice if you have the budget and need serious governance.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
“Workato is the strongest overall choice” Perplexity Sonar · direct prompt · first choice
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.