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Kali Linux vs n8n comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
6.2
Kali Linux improves vulnerability testing, offering cost-effective security benefits through AWS deployment and open-source tools for businesses.
Sentiment score
4.7
n8n boosts ROI by automating tasks cost-effectively, enhancing productivity, and reducing the need for external developers.
Integrating Kali Linux with DevOps tools has resulted in reduced operational costs due to automated test cases, making it a worthwhile investment with significant returns by decreasing the attack surface area and the frequency of attack incidents.
SWE-1 at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
If we had installed it on-premises or through other means, it would have incurred significant money and effort to create the VMs, deploy it on machines, and then delete and format it after use.
Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
I have saved time by avoiding the lag I sometimes face on the TryHackMe in-built machine, and I have learned more efficiently.
Associate Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ 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
5.2
Kali Linux provides strong community support and documentation but lacks direct customer support, relying on user self-research.
Sentiment score
4.2
n8n support experiences vary; some find it helpful, while others rely on online resources, with community support praised.
Since most of the tools and other things are community-based, the documentation and other community support are very good.
Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
I was able to solve the problems I was experiencing.
Product security engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ 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
7.5
Users find Kali Linux scalable and flexible, supporting diverse platforms, ideal for penetration testing and educational purposes.
Sentiment score
6.6
n8n supports moderate scalability, managing increased workloads with configuration, but technical expertise is needed for optimal large-scale performance.
You can use it on cloud, VPS, and on-premises.
Security Researcher at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would describe Kali Linux's scalability as very scalable because I can deploy it on a range of different machines, whether that is my laptop or using maybe Raspberry Pi or Android.
Enterprise Cloud Operations Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Regarding the scalability of Kali Linux for my work and projects, whenever I was conducting brute force attacks and provided more than two or three million lines of payload, the system would freeze.
Product security engineer 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
8.0
Kali Linux is praised for stability and dependability, recommended for virtualization, with occasional issues resolved using older versions.
Sentiment score
6.8
n8n is stable with minor CPU and connection issues, praised for reliability and low self-hosting costs by experienced users.
Due to the huge user base that uses it, it is kept up to date regularly.
Enterprise Cloud Operations Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Kali Linux is stable for my use cases, though not the latest version.
Product security engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Kali Linux is very stable for my needs.
Consultant at Cognizant
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

Kali Linux users seek better automation, UI, security, and support, with improved installation, hardware detection, and beginner-friendly resources.
n8n needs improved user experience, scalability, documentation, integrations, and features for non-technical users and team collaboration.
If real-time customized port scanning can be added, for example, instead of a default port such as 8080 or 443, if we can use a customized port such as 9876, that capability would be great.
Senior Technical Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I face significant challenges with Kali Linux regarding a major issue with the Grub loader becoming corrupted, which makes it very difficult to recover data.
Senior Solution Architect & Delivery Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
If there were video courses attached to how to safely use it, especially for absolute beginners with no previous experience using Linux operating systems, I think that could be very useful.
Enterprise Cloud Operations Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ 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

Kali Linux is a cost-effective, open-source solution for enterprises seeking a comprehensive operating system with no licensing costs.
Enterprise users appreciate n8n's scalable pricing, low infrastructure costs, and free open source version with unlimited runs.
Kali Linux is free software, an operating system that's available to download without any cost or licensing fees.
Associate Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I simply create a VM, so there are no costs involved.
Senior Solution Architect & Delivery Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Kali Linux has been positive, as it operates under an open-source model.
SWE-1 at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
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

Kali Linux is favored for its pre-installed security tools, user-friendly design, and customizable features for efficient cybersecurity tasks.
n8n offers flexible, integrative low-code automation, supports 500+ apps, enhances productivity, and appeals to developers with its open-source nature.
Kali Linux has positively impacted my organization by improving efficiency in penetration testing; its open-source nature permits extensive customization and inclusion of numerous comprehensive pre-installed tools, contributing to a secure network environment with effective monitoring of network applications.
SWE-1 at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
A unique and really helpful feature of Kali Linux, compared to other operating systems, is that many of the offensive security tools are already pre-configured and pre-installed.
Product security engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Kali Linux positively impacts my organization by allowing us to monitor changes and security posture for the company.
Consultant at Cognizant
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

Kali Linux
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Operating Systems (OS) for Business (10th)
n8n
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Workload Automation (11th), Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (15th), AI-Agent Builders (2nd), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (15th), AI Scheduling & Coordination (3rd)
 

Featured Reviews

Ciyagi Ciyagi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solution Architect & Delivery Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Runs efficiently across devices and streamlines penetration testing workflows
Kali Linux could be improved by including more tools. I would personally like to see improvements in Kali Linux, particularly regarding Grub issues that sometimes occur when installing the VM. Additionally, I have experienced problems when updating Kali Linux from a higher version to a lower version, which resulted in crashes. These Grub issues should be resolved. I face significant challenges with Kali Linux regarding a major issue with the Grub loader becoming corrupted, which makes it very difficult to recover data.
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
University
14%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Educational Organization
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
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 Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise16
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Kali Linux?
I use the tool with Nmap to perform network audits. We use it to find vulnerabilities in our network through attacks. It's for those who want to launch or create viruses or perform attacks on syste...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kali Linux?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Kali Linux has been that it was free to use.
What needs improvement with Kali Linux?
I think Kali Linux is good, but there is a widespread misunderstanding related to Kali Linux because many people believe Kali Linux is a tool for hackers and that anything can be hacked using it. T...
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 version, which allows for about one thousand five hundred executions per month, wh...
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 nowadays include walkthrough or guide videos, short videos of 20 to 30 seconds that i...
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 n8n for almost six months and built a personal project with it. My main goal wa...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
n8n.io n8n
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Rocky Linux, Canonical and others in Operating Systems (OS) for Business. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.