Comparison · Chromoly vs n8n
n8n is a brilliant tool for the person building the workflow. But if you build for clients, you know the other side: no client-facing UI, self-hosted instances to babysit, and every API change turning into unpaid maintenance across every client you've ever delivered to. Chromoly is built for the delivery business, not just the workflow.
| Chromoly | n8n | |
|---|---|---|
| What you deliver | A full system: data, UI, workflows, AI - client logs in on their own domain | A workflow - the client experience is your problem to build elsewhere |
| Client structure | Isolated builds per client under one account; database-level tenant isolation | Separate instances or shared instance with manual separation |
| Hosting | Platform-hosted and operated; nothing to self-host | Self-host (you maintain it) or n8n cloud |
| When an API changes | The platform migrates the integration - across every build | You patch it, client by client, usually unpaid |
| When a workflow fails | Logged, retried with backoff, alerted - never silent | Depends on your error-handling discipline per workflow |
| AI in workflows | Native AI steps with cost caps, provider fallback, human-approval queue | AI nodes - guardrails are yours to build |
| Client-facing UI | Generated portal per build: dashboards, forms, records - end users included free | None - pair with another tool |
| Integrations | Core natives + webhooks to anything with an API | Large connector catalog - the honest win for n8n |
| Safe changes | Dependency map + blast-radius preview + rollback | Edit the workflow; you track what depends on it |
| Pricing model | Flat tiers from $59/mo; credits for usage; unlimited builds | Free self-hosted (plus your hosting + your time) or cloud per-execution tiers |
Every agency running client automations on n8n knows the arithmetic: ten clients, each with lead-routing and invoicing workflows, and every one of them is yours to keep alive. When a CRM changes its API, that's ten patches. When a webhook dies silently on a Friday, that's a client losing leads all weekend and calling you Monday. The building was billable; the babysitting isn't.
Chromoly moves the maintenance to the platform. Each client gets an isolated build - their data, their portal, their domain - and the platform hosts, monitors, and maintains the runtime underneath all of them. Integrations are migrated by the platform when providers change. Failures retry, then alert. Every change shows its blast radius before shipping, and rolls back in one click. You keep the client relationship and the retainer; the platform carries the 2am work.
That's exactly the fit: isolated client builds under one account, portals on client domains, monitoring and alerts, platform-owned maintenance. You deliver a system, not a workflow you babysit.
When you want deep technical control - node-level programming, code steps, self-hosting - and the deliverable is the automation itself rather than a client-facing system.
On n8n: your phone rings, you patch, times every client. On Chromoly: the platform migrates provider changes, retries transient failures, and alerts on the rest - per build, across all clients.
Yes - each build has its own UI on a custom domain, and you invite the client's team as end users with their own logins. Database-level isolation between clients.
No - n8n's catalog is larger. Chromoly ships core natives plus webhooks to anything with an API. The trade: fewer prebuilt nodes, but integrations that are monitored, retried, and migrated by the platform.
Describe the client system in plain language. Chromoly generates a working preview in your browser - free tier forever, 150 credits/month, no credit card.
Start free →Isolated client builds · client portals on their domain · maintained for life