bytechef vs Flowise
Open-source platform unifying AI agent orchestration with classic workflow automation — visual builder, 200+ integration components, self-hosted via Docker. Apache 2.0 + EE split. — versus — The 55k-star visual builder for LLM apps and agents — drag-and-drop chatflows and Agentflows, hundreds of nodes, self-hostable Node.js. Now ARCHIVED upstream (see 'Future of Flowise').
Both fuse a visual agent builder with workflow automation and a large integration library; bytechef is the maintained option.
| bytechef | Flowise | |
|---|---|---|
| Stars | 1.0k | 55k |
| Forks | 170 | 25k |
| Language | Java | TypeScript |
| License | NOASSERTION | NOASSERTION |
| Last activity | yesterday | 29 days ago |
| Topics | agents, orchestration | orchestration, agents |
| Curated connections | 4 | 5 |
bytechef — the curator's take
The bet: agent autonomy and deterministic workflow automation belong in ONE platform, not two — let precise integration flows hand work to agents and vice versa. If your team already thinks in n8n/Zapier terms and wants agents in the same canvas, this is the natural home. NOT proven at scale yet (~900 stars, young community for a platform this ambitious), and mind the Apache-2.0 + Enterprise Edition split — check which features live behind the EE line before betting the roadmap.
Flowise — the curator's take
Flowise is the reference example of the visual-agent-builder category and still runs fine self-hosted, which is the only reason to reach for it today: the repo has been archived and development has stopped, so treat it as frozen. If you are starting new, go to sim or bytechef for the same drag-and-drop model with active maintenance, or to maxkb/claraverse if the RAG/chat-app angle matters more than the canvas. Existing Flowise deployments: plan the migration rather than extending them; the node ecosystem (LangChain/LlamaIndex bindings) will drift out of date quickly. Listed for lineage and for the many teams who still run it.