7 Best Dify Alternatives in 2026 (Open Source and Self-Hosted)
Open-source Dify alternatives compared: Langflow, n8n, RAGFlow, Sim, Coze Studio, LangGraph and AnythingLLM, with licenses, GitHub stars and what each does better than Dify. Plus what to use now Flowise is archived.
Dify is one of the most popular open-source LLM app platforms, with 160.3k GitHub stars. You build agents, workflows and RAG pipelines on a visual canvas, every app gets an API, and you can self-host it with Docker or pay for Dify Cloud.
Teams look for an alternative for a few common reasons:
- The license. Dify uses Apache 2.0 with extra conditions. Without a commercial license you can’t run it as a multi-tenant service or remove its logo from the frontend.
- They want plain code. Canvas workflows get hard to review, test and version as they grow.
- They need deeper document handling than Dify’s built-in RAG.
- They want business automation (CRMs, email, spreadsheets) more than LLM apps.
- Flowise shut down. Flowise was archived on 13 August 2026, so its users need a new home.
Stars and licenses below were checked on 3 November 2026.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Interface | License | GitHub stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Langflow | A Dify-style canvas with a plain MIT license | Visual + Python | MIT | 156.3k |
| n8n | AI inside business automations | Visual | Sustainable Use (fair-code) | 209.5k |
| RAGFlow | Serious document parsing and RAG | Visual + API | Apache 2.0 | 93.4k |
| Sim | Collaborative agent workflows | Visual | Apache 2.0 | 30.0k |
| Coze Studio | ByteDance’s agent builder, self-hosted | Visual | Apache 2.0 | 21.8k |
| LangGraph | Agents in code you fully control | Code | MIT | 44.4k |
| AnythingLLM | Private document chat with little setup | Desktop app or Docker | MIT | 67.9k |
1. Langflow
The closest like-for-like replacement. Langflow is a visual builder for agents and RAG flows. Every flow can be called as an API or deployed as an MCP server, so other agents can use it as a tool. You can open the Python behind any component and change it.
uv pip install langflow -U
uv run langflow runBetter than Dify for: a plain MIT license with no multi-tenant or branding conditions, and easy access to the code behind each block.
Worse than Dify for: built-in app publishing and polished end-user chat UIs.
2. n8n
Pick it when the LLM is one step in a bigger automation. n8n is a workflow automation tool with hundreds of integrations and AI agent nodes. If your “AI app” really means “read the inbox, classify it, update the CRM and post to Slack”, n8n fits better than Dify.
Better than Dify for: connecting to business systems.
Worse than Dify for: RAG and LLM-first apps. Also note the license: n8n’s Sustainable Use License is fair-code, not open source. Internal use is fine, but check the terms before offering n8n to others as a service.
3. RAGFlow
Pick it when retrieval quality is the problem. RAGFlow is a RAG engine built around deep document understanding. It parses complex PDFs, tables and scanned documents into well-structured chunks and shows citations for every answer. It also has an agent canvas.
Better than Dify for: messy, real-world documents.
Worse than Dify for: general-purpose apps that don’t centre on documents. Some teams use RAGFlow for retrieval and Dify or LangGraph for the app layer.
4. Sim
Pick it for team-built agent workflows. Sim is a collaborative workspace for building, deploying and monitoring AI agents and workflows on a canvas. It’s Apache 2.0 with no extra conditions, and it’s actively developed.
Better than Dify for: a permissive license and a workspace designed for several people editing together.
Worse than Dify for: maturity and ecosystem size. It’s much younger, with about a fifth of Dify’s stars.
5. Coze Studio
Pick it if you know Coze. Coze Studio is the open-source, self-hostable version of ByteDance’s Coze agent platform, with visual tools to build, debug and deploy agents. It’s Apache 2.0.
Better than Dify for: teams that already use Coze and want to self-host.
Worse than Dify for: momentum. The repository’s last commit was in July 2026, so check that it’s still active before you commit to it.
6. LangGraph and LangChain
Pick them when you’ve outgrown the canvas. LangGraph is a low-level runtime for stateful agents, with persistence, streaming and human-in-the-loop steps. LangChain adds model and tool integrations on top. Your agent becomes ordinary Python or TypeScript that you can test, review and deploy like any other service.
Better than Dify for: complex logic, testing and version control.
Worse than Dify for: speed to a first demo, and building with people who don’t write code. Our Dify vs LangChain comparison goes deeper on this trade-off.
7. AnythingLLM
Pick it if you just need “chat with our documents”. AnythingLLM bundles document ingestion, a vector store, agents and a chat UI into a desktop app or Docker deployment. It can use local models through Ollama or LM Studio, or a cloud API.
Better than Dify for: a private document assistant running in minutes.
Worse than Dify for: building custom apps and workflows with their own APIs.
What about Flowise?
Flowise was a popular open-source visual agent builder, with 55.5k stars. Its maintainers froze the code on 29 July 2026, archived the repository on 13 August, and ended official support on 31 August. Their reasoning was that developers increasingly use coding agents for complex work, which outgrows rigid low-code workflows. The Apache 2.0 code is still on GitHub, and the team suggested forking it.
If you’re moving off Flowise, Langflow is the closest match in how it works, Dify is the most complete platform, and LangGraph is the place to go if you’d rather move to code.
How to choose
- Want Dify without its license conditions? Langflow or Sim.
- Building automations across business apps? n8n.
- Documents are the hard part? RAGFlow.
- Need tests, reviews and version control? LangGraph.
- Want a private document chat today? AnythingLLM.
- Happy with Dify’s license and features? Stay on Dify. It’s still among the most complete options.
Want the wider picture? See our top 10 open source AI tools and CrewAI vs LangGraph vs AutoGen.
FAQ
What is the best open-source alternative to Dify?
For a similar visual builder, Langflow. It’s MIT-licensed, has 156k GitHub stars, and can deploy flows as APIs or MCP servers. For document-heavy RAG, RAGFlow.
Is Dify really open source?
Its code is public under a modified Apache 2.0 license. The extra conditions bar running it as a multi-tenant service, or removing its logo and copyright from the frontend, without a commercial license. For most internal and single-tenant deployments those conditions don’t apply.
Is n8n a Dify alternative?
Partly. n8n is a general workflow automation tool with strong AI nodes, while Dify is built specifically for LLM apps. Choose n8n when the AI step sits inside a wider business process.
What replaced Flowise?
There’s no official successor. The maintainers suggested forking the repository. Langflow is the closest alternative in design, and Dify is the most complete platform.
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