N8n Vs. Windmill Vs. Temporal
Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago
blog.arcbjorn.comTechstory
calmpositive
Debate
40/100
Workflow AutomationOpen-Source ToolsSoftware Comparison
Key topics
Workflow Automation
Open-Source Tools
Software Comparison
The article compares N8n, Windmill, and Temporal, three open-source workflow automation tools, sparking a discussion on their strengths and use cases.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Moderate engagementFirst comment
3h
Peak period
7
0-6h
Avg / period
2.2
Comment distribution13 data points
Loading chart...
Based on 13 loaded comments
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Oct 9, 2025 at 7:16 PM EDT
3 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Oct 9, 2025 at 9:56 PM EDT
3h after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
7 comments in 0-6h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Oct 13, 2025 at 8:25 PM EDT
3 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
ID: 45534012Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 2:40:40 PM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
You should check out DBOS, which optimizes for both simplicity and correctness.
Interesting. The usual feedback is the opposite. For example, DBOS Python works both sync and async, Temporal only async.
> Also, not fully open-source:
This is not correct, everything you need for durable execution with DBOS is open source (and MIT licensed, unlike Temporal). It's open source the same way Spark is -- everything you need is open source, but you can buy services to make it easier to run and buy support.
Unlike other tools, you don't need to make any changes to existing scripts when migrating over to Windmill, it accepts plain Python, Typescript, Rust, C#, and many more.
We use it to orchestrate all internal tools and automation and has been a huge time saver.