When n8n Actually Earns Its Keep
N8n shines when speed matters more than perfect architecture, like if you need to wire up a quick integration between your apps, spin up a demo, or automate something simple in your personal projects, it gets you there fast.
I’ve used it for stuff like:
- Setting up notifications when certain events happen
- Quick data transformations between services
- Prototyping workflows before deciding if they’re worth building properly
The visual interface means you can see what’s happening at a glance, useful when you come back to a project after weeks of forgetting about it because you were focused on work, then picking it up again on the weekend.
The interface also lets you manipulate and use data much better and faster than writing everything from scratch.
When to Just Write Code Instead
If you need strict reliability or custom scaling logic, you’re going to hit n8n’s limits pretty quick, complex error handling or edge cases need actual code.
I’ve learned the hard way that trying to force complex logic into n8n workflows just makes everything harder to maintain, and at that point, you’re fighting the tool instead of using it.
The AI Features Can Get Expensive
n8n’s AI features looked cool at first, but I found out it’s way cheaper to write rigid code logic than let a language model do it, and language models without specific instructions can be super inconsistent.
It’s much faster to just code it than try to mandate what the AI should output and process, logic is often faster than AI processing instructions and data anyway.
Think of It as a Staging Ground
Here’s how I actually use n8n now, it’s not an either/or decision, it’s more like a testing ground.
I’ll build a workflow in n8n to:
- Figure out if the integration actually works the way I think it does
- Test the data flow and transformations
- Run it for a bit to see if the use case is even worth automating
Then, once the requirements are clear and I know exactly what needs to happen, I can decide, keep it in n8n if it’s simple enough, or code it properly if it needs more control.
The flows I build in n8n become the blueprint for the real implementation, which is actually pretty valuable, you’re not just throwing the work away, you’re using it to understand the problem better.
Bottom Line
Is n8n worth it? Depends on what you’re trying to do.
Quick integrations and demos where velocity matters, yes, but for workflows that need bulletproof reliability and complex logic, no.
I keep it in my toolkit because sometimes the fastest way to solve a problem is to wire a few things together and move on, but it doesn’t replace proper code when you need it.
Use the right tool for the job, sometimes that’s n8n, sometimes it’s not.