Node-RED vs Windmill
Node-RED
nodered.org
Windmill
windmill.devSide by side
| Figure | Node-RED | Windmill |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $120/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 4 |
| Spec score · Task Automation Software | 8.5 (#9) | 8.7 (#4) |
| Founded | 2013 | 2022 |
| Integrations | Official getting-started material covers local computers, Docker, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, Android through Termux, AWS and Microsoft Azure. | Windmill Hub lists more than 200 resource types, including Google services, GitHub, GitLab, Slack, Microsoft Teams, AWS, S3, BigQuery, ClickHouse, Datadog and Discord. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.5 out of 5 from 25 reviews | 5.0 out of 5 from 2 reviews |
| Security controls | HTTPS, username/password authentication and OAuth/OpenID authentication can be configured for the editor and Admin API. | The platform documents PID namespaces, optional NSJAIL sandboxing, agent workers and worker groups for process isolation. |
| Security limitation | By default, the editor is unsecured, so anyone who can access its IP address can access it and deploy changes; the security guide describes HTTPS and authentication options. | Job isolation is disabled by default, so administrators must manually enable PID namespace isolation or NSJAIL for production protection. |
| Support | The project points users to its community forum and Slack for help and discussion. | The free self-hosted plan includes community support on Discord, while Enterprise lists 24/7 priority support with a 3-hour response time. |
| What it does | Node-RED is a low-code, flow-based tool for collecting, transforming and visualizing real-time data in event-driven applications. | Windmill is an open-source workflow engine and developer platform that turns scripts into APIs, workflows and UIs for internal software. |
Plans
Windmill
- Free and Open-sourceFree
- Free and Open-sourceFree
- Enterprise$120 a month
- Enterprise example configuration$170 a month
In their own words
Node-RED
Node-RED is a free, open-source tool for building event-driven applications with flow-based programming. It is designed to collect, transform and visualize data, and its listed capabilities include workflow orchestration, real-time sync and API management. In the browser-based editor, users connect nodes into flows and deploy them to the runtime. Core nodes support triggering, inspecting, changing, routing and templating messages. The lightweight runtime is built on Node.js and is intended for use on low-cost edge hardware or in the cloud. More than 5,000 nodes and flows are available through the community Flow Library. Flows are stored as JSON for importing, exporting and sharing, and projects use Git for version control and collaboration through remote repositories. Node-RED can run on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, self-hosted systems and the web, among other listed installation options. Its editor is unsecured by default: anyone with access to its IP address can access it and deploy changes. The project points users to its community forum and Slack for help.
Windmill
Windmill is an open-source workflow engine and developer platform for building endpoints, workflows and user interfaces. It is aimed at teams making internal software across engineering, data, sales, support and marketing. Scripts can be written in TypeScript, Python, Go, PHP, Bash, C#, SQL, Rust, Ruby and R, among other languages. Windmill combines a script editor, low-code flow builder, and low-code, React or Svelte app builders. Scripts and flows can be triggered by webhooks, schedules, HTTP routes, queues or an open API. Its Hub lists more than 200 resource types, including GitHub, Slack, AWS, BigQuery and PostgreSQL; users can also define custom resource types with schemas. Local development through the CLI and Git sync support version control and deployment workflows. Self-hosting is supported. The free and open-source plan is free and includes three workspaces, 50 users, 10 GiB of workspace object storage and 100 guest app users per 30 days. Enterprise is $120 a month and includes a month-long trial. Enterprise features include granular permissions, RBAC, secret management, OAuth, SSO and audit logs.