Brohns vs n8n: build the workflow, or supervise the work?
Where it runs
Brohns
Hosted — nothing to run or maintain, and no self-hosted option
Where it runs
n8n
Self-hostable on your own infrastructure, or their cloud; see n8n.io for licensing
n8n is a node-based workflow tool aimed at people comfortable building: you wire nodes, drop into code when a node isn't enough, and you can self-host it so the data never leaves your infrastructure. Brohns is the opposite trade: nothing to host and nothing to wire, but also no canvas of your own — you describe a goal, a team of agents is proposed, and every outbound action waits behind a gate the server enforces. If control over the runtime is the requirement, n8n wins that argument outright; if you want the judgment work done and supervised rather than built, that's what Brohns is for.
Where they differ
n8n sits with the tools that expect capability from the user, and rewards it. You build a workflow out of nodes, add a code step where the abstraction runs out, and — the part no hosted competitor can match — you can run the whole thing on your own infrastructure. That last point deserves to be said plainly on a page like this: Brohns is a hosted product, and if self-hosting is a hard requirement for you, this comparison ends here. Check n8n.io for current licensing, nodes and pricing; those move.
What Brohns offers instead is everything around the work that you'd otherwise build yourself. A goal becomes a team of two to seven agents. Judgment — which lead is worth pursuing, what to write to this specific business — happens in the agents, with the reasoning on a visible timeline. And the parts that are tedious to build correctly are already there and enforced server-side: an approval queue for everything outbound, a send window, a daily cap, a do-not-contact list, an append-only audit log that records refusals as carefully as sends, and row-level security in the database rather than checks in the interface.
Side by side
8 dimensions
| Brohns | n8n | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Hosted — nothing to run or maintain, and no self-hosted option | Self-hostable on your own infrastructure, or their cloud; see n8n.io for licensing |
| What you build | Nothing: describe the goal, approve the proposed team | A node graph you design, with code steps where you need them |
| Extensibility | Bounded on purpose — a fixed tool register, and the class of each tool decides its gate | Open: custom nodes and arbitrary code in the flow |
| Judgment | In the agents, with the reasoning written down per item | In your graph, or in an LLM node you wire and prompt yourself |
| Approval gate | Built in and server-enforced: recipient and content come from the database, never from the request | Something you design — a wait node, a webhook, your own review step |
| Audit trail | Append-only, including every refused send and why | Execution logs; retention and detail depend on how you run it |
| Data isolation | Row-level security per user in the database, not checks in the interface | Your infrastructure, your rules — which is exactly the appeal |
| Who it's for | Freelancers and small teams who want the work done and supervised | Technical users who want the runtime under their control |
The honest picks
Choose n8n when…
- Self-hosting is a hard requirement — regulatory, contractual, or simply your preference about where data lives.
- You want to drop into code inside the flow and build custom nodes for systems nobody else supports.
- The workflow is yours to own end to end, including its failure modes and its upgrade path.
- You have the time and the appetite to build the approval, guardrail and audit layer yourself, or you don't need one.
Choose Brohns when…
- You want the judgment work done, not a place to build a system that does it.
- The approval gate, send window, daily cap, do-not-contact list and audit log matter to you and you'd rather not implement them.
- You want each agent's actual reasoning on a timeline instead of an execution log to read backwards.
- Your corrections should stick: editing a draft becomes a lasting lesson that shapes the next one.
- Deterministic numbers matter — balances, segments and metrics computed by code, never estimated by a model.
Good to know.
Can I self-host Brohns?
No. It's a hosted product, and that's a real limitation rather than a roadmap item we'll wave at. What we do offer instead is transparency about what happens to your data: keys are stored encrypted and read server-side only, just in time, for an action you approved; rows are protected by row-level security in the database; and your administration can leave whenever you want as a standard XAF 3.2 audit file, which is not gated behind a subscription.
Can Brohns run arbitrary code the way an n8n code node does?
No, and that's deliberate. Agents work from a fixed register of tools, and the class of a tool — reversible, outward-facing, or money — decides which gate applies, read from the register rather than from what the model claims. An unknown tool falls closed on the heaviest gate. That's a smaller surface than a code node by design: it's what makes "the agent can't send on its own" a property rather than a promise.
Can the two work together?
Yes. Point an approved document at your own webhook and Brohns POSTs it to your n8n instance, where your own flow takes it from there. The URL is validated as a public https address when you save it and again when it sends, redirects are refused, and every attempt lands in the audit log. Brohns does the judgment; your instance does whatever you'd rather own.
Which is cheaper?
n8n self-hosted trades money for your time — no per-run bill, but the hosting, upgrades and debugging are yours. Brohns is €40 per month for 4,000 credits, with credits moving only when agents work, and the monthly meter computed server-side from real rows against the same public price list you see on the pricing page. Compare them on total cost including your hours, not on the subscription line alone.
Does Brohns have an API or agent interface?
There's a deliberately narrow one for other assistants: four read tools and exactly one write, and that write puts a request into the same queue as your own "ask the agents" button. There is no tool that sends, publishes, pays, posts to the ledger or approves — what isn't in the list can't be done. Keys are stored as hashes, compared in constant time, and revoking one keeps the record of who had access.
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Try the approval-first way — free.
Free 7-day trial with 500 credits. No credit card. Nothing goes out without your approval.