# What n8n Is and When to Use It — AI Automation with n8n

Source: https://www.geekswithgeeks.com/en/n8n-ai-automation/basics-what-is

> Explain what n8n does, how it differs from writing code, and what it is good and bad at.

## Workflow automation with nodes

**n8n** is a workflow automation tool. You draw a workflow on a canvas by connecting **nodes**; each node does one job such as receive a webhook, call an API, transform data, or ask an AI model. You can use n8n Cloud or **self-host** it, which keeps data on your own servers. It has hundreds of ready-made integrations, plus an HTTP Request node and a Code node for anything else.

## Trigger, nodes, result

A workflow starts at a trigger, passes data through connected nodes and ends with an action or a response.

![Four stages: trigger, transform, decide, act.](assets/figures/n8n-ai-automation/section-1-map.svg) — Figure 1.1 — Trigger, transform, decide and act.

## A factory conveyor belt

Items ride a belt past stations. One station checks quality, another packs, another ships. Nodes are stations, the workflow is the belt, and the data items are the products moving along it.

## Pick the right tool

n8n is great for glue between services and for AI pipelines with a few steps. For heavy computation, complex business logic or very high throughput, write real code and call it from n8n. Also check n8n's licence terms if you plan to resell it as a product.

**Quiz:** What does each node in an n8n workflow represent?

- [ ] A database server
- [ ] A whole company
- [x] A single step such as an API call or a data change
- [ ] A user account

*Answer:* A single step such as an API call or a data change. Nodes are individual steps connected on the canvas to form the workflow.