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AWS Step Functions vs n8n comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.3
JAMS automates job management, reducing costs and labor while enhancing efficiency and allowing staff to focus on critical tasks.
Sentiment score
5.3
AWS Step Functions reduce development time and costs, enhance scalability and reliability, streamline workflows, and improve ROI.
Sentiment score
4.7
n8n boosts ROI by automating tasks cost-effectively, enhancing productivity, and reducing the need for external developers.
The design of JAMS makes it very easy to copy jobs and make minimal changes while ensuring functionality.
Cloud Engineer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
n8n provides a strong return on investment and is very helpful and cost-optimized.
Cloud Engineering and Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
They can save costs because they can reduce the hiring process for external developers for this type of automation that they can do themselves.
ERP recommendation specialist at a non-tech company with 1-10 employees
I believe the return on investment from using n8n is good because employees who previously worked on the specific problems I've automated can now focus on other, more interesting tasks.
AI and Automation Engineer at PeerSpot
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
JAMS offers impressive, knowledgeable support with quick, effective solutions, proactively addressing user needs through various channels.
Sentiment score
5.9
AWS Step Functions support is reliable, but users desire quicker, tailored assistance; enterprise support offers rapid, expensive yet effective help.
Sentiment score
4.2
n8n support experiences vary; some find it helpful, while others rely on online resources, with community support praised.
Their response is prompt, exemplifying how support should be.
Manager of Reliability Engineering and Security Operations at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
They are very quick to respond depending on the issue's severity.
System Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
We contacted JAMS vendor, who guided us through the necessary steps, and after following their guidance, everything was resolved.
ETL Data Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I use enterprise support, which is excellent, providing responses within fifteen minutes.
Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios
The speed of reply and the content of their responses usually solve the problems that arise.
EPM Practice Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I describe the support team as knowledgeable, helpful, and responsive.
ERP recommendation specialist at a non-tech company with 1-10 employees
I can reach out to members of the community, ask questions, and usually within a week, they're answered.
Solutions Architect at Bear Systems
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.6
JAMS efficiently scales to handle thousands of jobs daily, offering flexibility, ease, and consistent performance, though licensing may limit scalability.
Sentiment score
7.0
AWS Step Functions are valued for efficient scalability, handling demand spikes and multiple requests, suitable for medium to large organizations.
Sentiment score
6.6
n8n supports moderate scalability, managing increased workloads with configuration, but technical expertise is needed for optimal large-scale performance.
We might be underutilizing it, but as more jobs require processing, additional servers would be necessary.
System Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
JAMS's scalability is noteworthy; we run 6,000 jobs per day without facing any problems.
Cloud Engineer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
They can handle multiple simultaneous requests effectively.
Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios
There isn't much need for scalability when creating orchestration in AWS Step Functions, which explains the rating of six.
Assistant Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The standard solution allows for about five workflows at the same time, and it is scalable since I can upgrade my plan for more executions and workflows if needed.
AI and Automation Engineer at PeerSpot
One approach might take a day to go through all of it and another approach might take fifteen minutes to go through all of it.
Solutions Architect at Bear Systems
It is crucial to have a technical team to support you with real experience in n8n and large-scale implementations.
ERP recommendation specialist at a non-tech company with 1-10 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
JAMS is stable and reliable, with the desktop version praised, while rare issues are due to external factors.
Sentiment score
7.8
AWS Step Functions are praised for stability and reliability, ensuring consistent performance and uptime across multiple availability zones.
Sentiment score
6.8
n8n is stable with minor CPU and connection issues, praised for reliability and low self-hosting costs by experienced users.
We experience periods of major incidents annually due to capacity constraints, which result in job failures.
Manager of Reliability Engineering and Security Operations at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Being on the new version, there's been zero downtime.
System Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
If one zone fails, others handle the demand, ensuring high availability.
Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios
I never faced any faults or issues due to its stability with AWS, making it very reliable with no downtime and 100% reliability.
Assistant Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
n8n deployments are some of the cheapest that I've come across; the monthly cost for n8n deployment self-hosted rarely exceeds five dollars.
Solutions Architect at Bear Systems
I have not had any downtime with n8n.
Business automation Expert at INSTRUTECH LIMITED
n8n is stable, though the part that can be less stable is that you must stay connected to many APIs.
AI and Automation Engineer at PeerSpot
 

Room For Improvement

JAMS users seek enhanced UI, search, automation, security, AI integration, and documentation to improve functionality and performance.
AWS Step Functions needs improvements in data limits, integrations, pricing, and execution visibility while enhancing fault tolerance and third-party support.
n8n needs improved user experience, scalability, documentation, integrations, and features for non-technical users and team collaboration.
Another area for improvement would be the addition of source control for jobs internally, as this feature would solve several problems for me.
Manager of Reliability Engineering and Security Operations at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
A major improvement would be the integration of AI to help us accomplish various tasks.
System Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
If around 5,000 or more jobs run at a time, JAMS slows down, and we have to wait around five to 10 minutes or restart JAMS scheduler services.
ETL Data Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
There is room for improvement in terms of integration with other products.
EPM Practice Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Documentation is really good.
Automations Engineer at Ad Up
Even though I can connect to different platforms with the HTTP node, it would be easier for people who are not technically advanced to connect with the internal integrations.
Business automation Expert at INSTRUTECH LIMITED
I would appreciate having more AI integrated into n8n, specifically an AI agent to help me better understand how to build workflows and assist when I encounter errors.
AI and Automation Engineer at PeerSpot
 

Setup Cost

JAMS offers competitive pricing for enterprise scheduling, with flexibility in licensing and lower costs than Control-M and Tivoli.
AWS Step Functions pricing fluctuates based on usage, leading to potential high bills despite being cheaper than Azure Workflow.
Enterprise users appreciate n8n's scalable pricing, low infrastructure costs, and free open source version with unlimited runs.
The price is fair considering the functionality and importance of the tool, although the increase did unsettle our management.
System Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Pricing for Step Functions is very cheap.
Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios
The cost is average, provided it is configured correctly.
Big Data Architect at SoftServe Ltd.
The open source version is free.
Business automation Expert at INSTRUTECH LIMITED
I feel that the price is right as I'm using the standard version, which allows for about one thousand five hundred executions per month, which is sufficient for me and my organization.
AI and Automation Engineer at PeerSpot
For cloud environments, I noticed that depending on the number of nodes used and the number of executions, the basic plan might not be enough.
ERP recommendation specialist at a non-tech company with 1-10 employees
 

Valuable Features

JAMS offers automation, intuitive scheduling, and integration, enhancing efficiency with flexible workflows, PowerShell support, and responsive user assistance.
AWS Step Functions enable efficient workflow automation with integration, orchestration, parallel tasking, and management through a user-friendly interface.
n8n offers flexible, integrative low-code automation, supports 500+ apps, enhances productivity, and appeals to developers with its open-source nature.
JAMS has positively impacted my organization by completely removing the headache of scheduling jobs, not just for the organization but for all internal operations teams need.
Cloud Engineer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
This efficient feature has been invaluable, enabling us to streamline our workflow and enhance productivity.
Manager of Reliability Engineering and Security Operations at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
The most valuable feature of JAMS is its user-friendly interface, especially after upgrading from version six to seven.
System Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
AWS Step Functions offers advanced workflows that save time and enhance efficiency by reducing delays and ensuring consistent orchestration among various services.
Big Data Architect at SoftServe Ltd.
Step Functions provide seamless integration with AWS services, which enhances the speed of application development.
Senior AWS Tech Lead at Nextios
It was particularly valuable for its integration capabilities, allowing for execution of scripts and data migration.
EPM Practice Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
My clients know that the information is not leaking or being sold to anybody.
Business automation Expert at INSTRUTECH LIMITED
You can use expressions anywhere. Expressions are basic JavaScript functions or JavaScript code that you can put in any node to pass data dynamically.
Automations Engineer at Ad Up
n8n has positively impacted my organization by making our work faster and automated, eliminating the need to do everything manually.
Cloud Engineering and Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

JAMS
Sponsored
Ranking in Workload Automation
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
AWS Step Functions
Ranking in Workload Automation
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (11th)
n8n
Ranking in Workload Automation
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (15th), AI-Agent Builders (2nd), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (15th), AI Scheduling & Coordination (3rd)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2770605 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Engineer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Has streamlined complex job scheduling across scripting languages while reducing manual effort
JAMS could be improved with a web client that is accessible and as fast as a normal website, eliminating the need to RDP to the servers to access the JAMS client. A functionality running on the JAMS server to continuously check the JAMS agents would ensure they are working properly. If an agent is not responding, a feature to restart the service from the job server machine would be beneficial. The upgrade process, particularly when switching from V6 to V7, could be clearer in terms of documentation, ideally with screenshots showing exactly what needs to be done on each screen.
reviewer2706945 - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Orchestration and integration simplify processes with seamless stability and reliability
I use the Visual Workflow Editor feature of AWS Step Functions. I mainly work through code and then improve it through the visual aspect. There are two ways to do orchestration: through code and through visual. My main task is to develop flows. I have only implemented AWS Step Functions with AWS services, not with any third-party tools. The integration between AWS Step Functions and other AWS services is excellent, working seamlessly with EventBridge, Glue jobs, and databases. I have not encountered any challenges with customers regarding AWS Step Functions that needed me to find a workaround. The pricing of AWS Step Functions is moderate and not particularly costly. AWS Step Functions is affordable for small, medium, and enterprise businesses as an orchestration tool. I have not used any documentation, manuals, or guides for AWS Step Functions as it's very simple to implement. When help is needed, I consult Stack Overflow or AI for commands. Overall rating for AWS Step Functions: 9 out of 10.
NR
ERP recommendation specialist at a non-tech company with 1-10 employees
Automation has transformed complex workflows and has empowered non‑technical teams to build flows
Regarding improvements for n8n, I would highlight two areas. First, while there is a growing community, the ecosystem of pre-built nodes for niche or proprietary systems still lags behind some commercial competitors. I often have to build custom HTTP request nodes or create my own node packages, which is doable but adds to project timelines. Second, features for team collaboration and lifecycle management are still evolving. Moving workflows from development to staging to production can be a manual export-import process, and native Git integration and more robust user roles for larger client teams would be a game-changer. Regarding needed improvements, I believe much of the existing documentation is not peer-reviewed. There is definitely a big community, but if the documentation or tutorials were approved or at least had a badge from n8n, customers would feel that this meets the standards of n8n editors themselves, which would give more confidence in the flows.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
27%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise18
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about JAMS?
I find the historical tracking feature of JAMS invaluable for reviewing past events.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for JAMS?
They recently switched to subscription-based pricing, which increased. The price is fair considering the functionalit...
What needs improvement with JAMS?
As far as we are using JAMS version 6, it looks good and there is nothing major to add about it. Everything is functi...
What do you like most about Amazon Step Functions?
The integration capability is easy, whereas building state machines is tricky.
What is your primary use case for Amazon Step Functions?
My customer's usual use cases for AWS Step Functions that I've been working with include orchestration, flows, diagra...
What advice do you have for others considering Amazon Step Functions?
I use the Visual Workflow Editor feature of AWS Step Functions. I mainly work through code and then improve it throug...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for n8n?
My experience with pricing and setup costs has been good. I feel that the price is right as I'm using the standard ve...
What needs improvement with n8n?
I wrote a message to n8n regarding a problem I faced, but I cannot recall what it was. Currently, most products nowad...
What is your primary use case for n8n?
I worked on n8n, and Morgan messaged me on LinkedIn to review and provide feedback about the n8n product. I have used...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Amazon Step Functions, Step Functions
n8n.io n8n
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Teradata, Arconic, General Dynamics, Yum!, CVS Health, Comcast, Ghiradelli, & Boston’s Children’s Hospital
Alpha Apps, The Guardian, SGK, Bigfinite
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Step Functions vs. n8n and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.