Inngest vs n8n
Inngest scores higher on the AgentReady, 61/100 against 60/100. They differ on 5 of the 41 signals. Which ones decides whether an agent can adopt them without a person watching.
What each one is
Inngest. Inngest is an event-driven durable execution platform that allows developers to run fast, reliable code on any platform without managing queues, infrastructure, or state.
n8n. AI Workflow Automation Platform - the world's most popular workflow automation platform for technical teams
Where Inngest is ahead
Inngest passes structured api reference and limits / constraints documented, and n8n does not. That is understand, whether an agent can read the docs and work out how the API behaves before calling it.
It also holds operate: idempotency support. n8n misses it.
Where n8n is ahead
n8n passes search discoverable, and Inngest does not. That is discover, whether an agent can find the product at all without being told it exists.
It also holds adopt: agent-compatible signup flow. Inngest misses it.
What neither does
Both fail openapi / spec quality, authentication documented, request examples provided, response examples provided, errors and status codes documented, no mandatory sales call, programmatic credential creation, structured, predictable output, machine-readable errors, retry behavior documented, rate-limit behavior predictable, agent compatibility verified. If your agent needs any of those, you will be building it yourself either way.
Score, pillar by pillar
The AgentReady splits into four pillars, scored separately, because a product can be easy to find and still impossible to adopt.
Discover. n8n leads 100 to 87. Inngest misses search discoverable; n8n misses nothing.
Understand is whether an agent can read the docs and work out how the API behaves before calling it. Inngest leads 46 to 23. Inngest misses openapi / spec quality, authentication documented, request examples provided, response examples provided, errors and status codes documented; n8n misses structured api reference, openapi / spec quality, authentication documented, request examples provided, response examples provided, errors and status codes documented, limits / constraints documented.
Adopt. n8n leads 80 to 70. Inngest misses no mandatory sales call, agent-compatible signup flow, programmatic credential creation; n8n misses no mandatory sales call, programmatic credential creation.
Operate. Inngest leads 41 to 35. Inngest misses structured, predictable output, machine-readable errors, retry behavior documented, rate-limit behavior predictable, agent compatibility verified; n8n misses structured, predictable output, machine-readable errors, retry behavior documented, idempotency support, rate-limit behavior predictable, agent compatibility verified.
Pricing
Inngest starts at $99/mo and has a free tier. n8n starts at $20/mo and has a free tier.
| Inngest plans | n8n plans |
|---|---|
| Hobby $0/mo | Starter $20/mo, billed annually |
| Pro $99/mo | Pro $50/mo, billed annually |
| Enterprise Custom | Business $800/mo, billed annually |
| - | Enterprise Contact Sales |
| - | Start-up Plan 50% off Business |
| - | Community Edition Free |
Signal by signal
| Signal | Inngest | n8n |
|---|---|---|
| AgentReady | 61 | 60 |
| Discovery | 87 | 100 |
| Understanding | 46 | 23 |
| Adoption | 70 | 80 |
| Operability | 41 | 35 |
| Public API | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | Yes | Yes |
| OpenAPI spec | Yes | Unknown |
| CLI | Yes | Yes |
| llms.txt | Yes | Yes |
| Self-serve signup | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
Which to pick
Inngest clears more of the signals an agent needs, so it is the safer default for unattended use. Full profiles: Inngest and n8n. Alternatives to each: Inngest, n8n.
An agent can fetch this as data: POST /v1/compare {"slugs": ["inngest", "n8n"]}