Dify is LangGenius’s open-source platform for building agentic workflows and RAG pipelines on a visual collaborative workspace, deployable on cloud, VPC, or self-hosted, and at 158,517 stars it is the largest repository in this category (GitHub API, as of 2026-10-15).
Scale is Dify’s moat: it is the surviving giant of the visual LLM-workflow genre, the same genre whose weakest incumbent, Flowise, just archived itself.
What it is #
A visual workflow studio plus knowledge pipeline, agent strategies, and a marketplace of tools and models, shipped as a TypeScript and Python application. Deployment is a choice of Dify Cloud (hosted SaaS), Enterprise (private deployment), or Community Edition (self-hosted with Docker). The license is a modified Apache 2.0: commercial use is allowed, but multi-tenant SaaS and some other conditions require a commercial license from LangGenius, which is why GitHub reports NOASSERTION. The repo sits at 158,517 stars with 25,044 forks, created 2023-04-12 (GitHub API, as of 2026-10-15).
Status #
Active: last push 2026-11-08, latest release 1.19.0 on 2026-11-04 after 1.18.0 on 2026-10-23 and four months on 1.17.1 (2026-09-10) before that (GitHub API, as of 2026-11-08).
1.19.0 ships nested workflow tracing that follows executions into the Workflow Tools they call, Workflow Tools made portable inside .ifpkg app packages, batch agent file uploads, and workspace skill management through OpenAPI and the difyctl CLI (1.19.0 release notes, as of 2026-11-08).
Its 2024 HN launch drew 185 points, and the community has kept growing since.
The category context is the risk: Flowise’s shutdown discussion argued that capable coding agents are eroding the rigid low-code workflow approach, and that argument applies to every member of the genre, Dify included.
Strengths #
- The community is the deepest in the genre: 157k stars and 24.8k forks give it a durability none of its visual-workflow rivals can match.
- Breadth under one roof: agentic workflows, RAG pipelines, knowledge bases, a marketplace, and enterprise deployment options.
- Self-hosting with Docker is first-class, and the cloud tier exists for teams that do not want to operate it.
- Multi-agent coordination is inside the product (agent strategies in workflows), so it overlaps this category’s subject matter without being a coding-agent tool.
Cautions #
- The license is not plain Apache: multi-tenant SaaS use needs a commercial license, so check the conditions before building a product on it.
- It is a business-app platform, not a coding-agent orchestrator; nothing here manages worktrees, sessions, or parallel coding agents.
- Cloud pricing moved to annual billing with message-credit metering, which is a cost model that punishes experimentation.
- The Flowise shutdown argument, that reasoning models plus coding agents beat rigid visual workflows as tasks get complex, is the genre’s standing strategic risk.
Pricing #
Community Edition is free and self-hosted (open source under the modified Apache 2.0). Dify Cloud bills annually per workspace: Professional at $590 per workspace per year (5,000 message credits per month) and Team at $1,590 per workspace per year (10,000 message credits per month). Enterprise is custom private deployment.
Price history #
| Date | Plan | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-29 | Professional (Cloud) | observed at $590 per workspace per year, annual billing | |
| 2026-09-29 | Team (Cloud) | observed at $1590 per workspace per year, annual billing |
Compared to #
- Sim: the younger Apache-2.0 rival; Dify wins on ecosystem depth and enterprise options, Sim on license cleanliness and building modes.
- Flowise: the archived predecessor in the genre; Dify is the migration target its self-hosters need.
- AutoGPT: the other platform member of this category; AutoGPT sells autonomous workflows, Dify sells a broader app-building workspace.
Bottom line #
Recommended for teams building conversational and agentic business applications with RAG on a self-hosted or cloud platform, at scales where community depth matters. Not for coordinating parallel coding agents, and not for multi-tenant SaaS builders who cannot accept the commercial-license conditions.
Changes #
- 2026-09-29 - Created when the deferred framework-tier pile from the 2026-09-27 triage resolved.
- 2026-10-07 - Added the langgenius/dify star history chart to the Status section.
- 2026-10-18 - Re-verified in rotation: all cited sources re-fetched and live (repository, pricing page with Professional $590 and Team $1,590 per workspace per year unchanged, docs, modified-Apache LICENSE, releases still topping at 1.17.1, the 185-point launch thread).
- 2026-10-31 - Re-verified in rotation: all cited sources re-fetched and live (repository pushed 2026-10-31, pricing page still $590 and $1,590 per workspace per year, license, docs, the 1.18.0 release line, the launch thread).
- 2026-11-04 - Recorded 1.19.0 (2026-11-04) as the latest release, the push date refreshed to 2026-11-04.
- 2026-11-08 - Fully re-verified out of rotation on the 1.19.0 signal: all cited sources re-fetched and live (repository pushed 2026-11-08, pricing page still $590 and $1,590 per workspace per year annual, license, docs, the 185-point launch thread).
- 2026-11-08 - Recorded 1.19.0’s material capabilities in Status from the release notes: nested workflow tracing, portable Workflow Tools in
.ifpkgapp packages, batch agent file uploads, and skill management through OpenAPI and difyctl.
See also #
- Flowise - the archived genre-mate whose shutdown names the category’s risk
- Sim - the Apache-2.0 challenger for the same visual-workflow builders
- AutoGPT - the other workflow-platform member of this category
- Orchestration Feature Matrix - the category comparison this column joins
References #
https://api.github.com/repos/langgenius/dify - GitHub API (200): 157,458 stars, 24,813 forks, pushed 2026-09-29, created 2023-04-12 (as of 2026-09-29)
https://dify.ai - official site (200): products, deployment options
https://docs.dify.ai - official documentation, live (200)
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/langgenius/dify/main/LICENSE - license text (200): modified Apache 2.0 with multi-tenant commercial conditions
https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/40121318 - launch thread (200): 185 points, 38 comments, 2024-04-22