n8n

n8n, from n8n. Building your own AI agents and automations, visually, with full control.

What it does well

• Multi-step AI agents with tools
• Self-hosted workflows for research data

What it does poorly

• A first automation
• Production systems without monitoring

What makes it different

Open-source and self-hostable, with nodes for LLMs, vector stores and custom code.

Quick start

1. Start a cloud trial or run it locally.
2. Build a workflow: webhook → LLM → Google Sheet.
3. Add an agent node with one tool and test it.

Strengths and limits

• Strength: Flexible
• Strength: Self-hostable
• Strength: Strong AI agent nodes
• Limit: Steeper learning curve
• Limit: You own the maintenance if self-hosting

Privacy

Self-hosting keeps data under your control; so does the responsibility.

Academic integrity

Not usually an issue.