Source: https://seerepo.com/compare/n8n-io/n8n/vs/NodeBB/NodeBB
Markdown source: https://seerepo.com/compare/n8n-io/n8n/vs/NodeBB/NodeBB.md
Description: n8n and NodeBB share 14 technologies: Postgres, Redis, Express, MongoDB, lru-cache, Ajv, validator, winston, jsonwebtoken, html-to-text, sanitize-html, bcryptjs, file-type, and nodemailer. n8n is written in TypeScript and NodeBB in JavaScript.

# n8n vs NodeBB

n8n and NodeBB share 14 technologies: Postgres, Redis, Express, MongoDB, lru-cache, Ajv, validator, winston, jsonwebtoken, html-to-text, sanitize-html, bcryptjs, file-type, and nodemailer. n8n is written in TypeScript and NodeBB in JavaScript.

- [n8n-io/n8n](https://seerepo.com/r/n8n-io/n8n): Fair-code workflow automation platform with native AI capabilities. Combine visual building with custom code, self-host or cloud, 400+ integrations.
- [NodeBB/NodeBB](https://seerepo.com/r/NodeBB/NodeBB): Node.js based forum software built for the modern web

## What they share and what sets them apart

- In common: Postgres, Redis, Express, MongoDB, lru-cache, Ajv, validator, winston, jsonwebtoken, html-to-text, sanitize-html, bcryptjs, file-type, nodemailer
- Only in n8n: Supabase, Anthropic, OpenAI, MCP, Vite, Vue, vue-router, SQLite, Sentry, PostHog, MySQL, Kafka, ai, @ai-sdk/provider-utils, yaml, Zod, opentelemetry, LangChain, pdf-parse, @joplin/turndown-plugin-gfm, @mozilla/readability, turndown, xss, logform, jose, CodeMirror, @lezer/highlight, class-validator, linkedom, mammoth, @clack/prompts, @aws-sdk/credential-providers, epub2, Cheerio, otpauth, class-transformer, highlight.js, markdown-it, tiptap, vuedraggable, Chart.js, katex, rss-parser, pdfjs-dist
- Only in NodeBB: @isaacs/ttlcache, connect-mongo, connect-pg-simple, connect-redis, Autoprefixer, PostCSS, rtlcss, Sass, prompt, Passport, express-session, csrf-sync, helmet, passport-http-bearer, passport-local, tough-cookie, zxcvbn, sharp, @xmldom/xmldom, csv-parse, rss, satori, xml, @apidevtools/swagger-parser, morgan

## Side by side

| | n8n | NodeBB |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 5,241,398 lines written, 14,224 code files | 126,874 lines written, 637 code files |
| Who writes it | 14.4% of its commits signed by AI. With Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Codex, and CodeRabbit | 0% of its commits signed by AI. With Aider and Claude Code |
| Activity | Last push November 4, 2026, 26,047 commits, 209,517 stars | Last push November 8, 2026, 31,086 commits, 15,246 stars |
| Tests | 10,704 test files. 53.7% of its code files have a test that imports them | 100 test files. 14.1% of its code files have a test that imports them |

- Size: Lines written by people and agents, without generated ones; code files, without tests.
- Who writes it: A commit counts as AI's when it carries its signature: a Co-Authored-By line, its author name or the merge of its branch.
- Activity: From GitHub and its history, on the day SeeRepo read it.
- Tests: The files that test the code, and the share of code files a test imports.

## Frequently asked questions

### Which is bigger, n8n or NodeBB?

n8n, with 5,241,398 lines written; NodeBB has 126,874.

The proof: [n8n-io/n8n's code at commit d5e7db2](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/tree/d5e7db2bf57dbc06e65648cdbec7f5db6b91bedc)

### Which has more GitHub stars, n8n or NodeBB?

n8n, with 209,517 stars; NodeBB has 15,246.

The proof: [n8n-io/n8n on GitHub](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n)

### Which has more tests, n8n or NodeBB?

n8n, with 10,704 test files; NodeBB has 100.

The proof: [n8n-io/n8n's code at commit d5e7db2](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/tree/d5e7db2bf57dbc06e65648cdbec7f5db6b91bedc)

### Which was updated more recently, n8n or NodeBB?

NodeBB: its last push was on November 8, 2026, and n8n's on November 4, 2026.

The proof: [NodeBB/NodeBB's commits on GitHub](https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/commits)

### Which has more commits signed by AI, n8n or NodeBB?

n8n: an AI signed 14.4% of its commits, with Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Codex, and CodeRabbit.

The proof: [the commits each tool signed in n8n-io/n8n](https://seerepo.com/r/n8n-io/n8n/ai)

## Sources

- n8n-io/n8n: Read on November 4, 2026, at commit d5e7db2 (https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/tree/d5e7db2bf57dbc06e65648cdbec7f5db6b91bedc)
- NodeBB/NodeBB: Read on November 8, 2026, at commit 39da887 (https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/tree/39da887dee81591c5c48e1b72188da036d2e0f75)

## What is your repo built with?

Any public repo, with no account: https://seerepo.com/r/owner/repo/built, with the owner and name it has on GitHub.