n8n vs Temporal
n8n scores higher on the AgentReady, 60/100 against 46/100. They differ on 6 of the 41 signals. Which ones decides whether an agent can adopt them without a person watching.
What each one is
n8n. AI Workflow Automation Platform - the world's most popular workflow automation platform for technical teams
Temporal. Temporal is an open-source platform for building applications with durable execution, used by companies like OpenAI, Lovable, Replit, Cursor, and Retool to add agentic capabilities to applications.
Where n8n is ahead
n8n passes clear product positioning and mcp discoverable, and Temporal 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, official python sdk and mcp integration available. Temporal misses those.
Where Temporal is ahead
Temporal passes authentication 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.
What neither does
Both fail structured api reference, openapi / spec quality, request examples provided, response examples provided, errors and status codes documented, limits / constraints documented, no mandatory sales call, programmatic credential creation, structured, predictable output, machine-readable errors, retry behavior documented, idempotency support, 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 73. n8n misses nothing; Temporal misses clear product positioning, mcp discoverable.
Understand. Temporal leads 31 to 23. n8n misses structured api reference, openapi / spec quality, authentication documented, request examples provided, response examples provided, errors and status codes documented, limits / constraints documented; Temporal misses structured api reference, openapi / spec quality, request examples provided, response examples provided, errors and status codes documented, limits / constraints documented.
Adopt is whether an agent can get a key and make its first successful call without a human in the loop. n8n leads 80 to 45. n8n misses no mandatory sales call, programmatic credential creation; Temporal misses no mandatory sales call, agent-compatible signup flow, programmatic credential creation, official python sdk, mcp integration available.
Operate. Both sit at 35/100 here. n8n misses structured, predictable output, machine-readable errors, retry behavior documented, idempotency support, rate-limit behavior predictable, agent compatibility verified; Temporal misses structured, predictable output, machine-readable errors, retry behavior documented, idempotency support, rate-limit behavior predictable, agent compatibility verified.
Pricing
n8n starts at $20/mo and has a free tier. Temporal starts at $100/mo and has a free tier.
| n8n plans | Temporal plans |
|---|---|
| Starter $20/mo, billed annually | Essentials $100/mo |
| Pro $50/mo, billed annually | Business $500/mo |
| Business $800/mo, billed annually | Enterprise Custom |
| Enterprise Contact Sales | Mission Critical Custom |
| Start-up Plan 50% off Business | - |
| Community Edition Free | - |
Signal by signal
| Signal | n8n | Temporal |
|---|---|---|
| AgentReady | 60 | 46 |
| Discovery | 100 | 73 |
| Understanding | 23 | 31 |
| Adoption | 80 | 45 |
| Operability | 35 | 35 |
| Public API | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | Yes | No |
| OpenAPI spec | Unknown | Unknown |
| CLI | Yes | Yes |
| llms.txt | Yes | Yes |
| Self-serve signup | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
Which to pick
n8n clears more of the signals an agent needs, so it is the safer default for unattended use. Full profiles: n8n and Temporal. Alternatives to each: n8n, Temporal.
An agent can fetch this as data: POST /v1/compare {"slugs": ["n8n", "temporal"]}