In 2019 Jan Oberhauser launched N8N as a “Workflow automation alternative to Zapier” (see his submission here: ttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21191676).
Since then, N8N has overtaken Zapier based on certain metrics (like Web Traffic and Google Trends). They are apparently also a unicorn (valued at 1b+) and are being used by non-technical people despite being a "Flexible AI workflow automation for technical teams".
Besides the competitive pressure from agentic automation startups and Big Tech (think MS Power Automate), classical distribution channels are changing (think LLMs) and consumer preferences are shifting. Because all of that affects us building Researchly, I dug deeper into (AI) automation tools to understand what that means for us.
BoredPositron•5mo ago
N8N's influencer driven marketing has so thoroughly distorted the narrative that it's impossible to understand what's really going on with the platform. Every piece of content seems to be either "5,000 N8N workflows that made me millions" or "1 million workflows that earned me $5K each" - it's all hyperbolic noise drowning out any genuine information. Nice to read something more substantial.
leo_researchly•5mo ago
I've touched on that point on the post (shortly). But I haven't considered the downsides of that constant shilling. That's a good point. Maybe that's also why they have paused their affiliate program.
leo_researchly•5mo ago
Since then, N8N has overtaken Zapier based on certain metrics (like Web Traffic and Google Trends). They are apparently also a unicorn (valued at 1b+) and are being used by non-technical people despite being a "Flexible AI workflow automation for technical teams".
Besides the competitive pressure from agentic automation startups and Big Tech (think MS Power Automate), classical distribution channels are changing (think LLMs) and consumer preferences are shifting. Because all of that affects us building Researchly, I dug deeper into (AI) automation tools to understand what that means for us.