Dify

Free plan Open source APIExtensionLinuxMacSelf-hostedWeb+1

What Dify is

Dify is an open-source platform for building AI applications with workflows, knowledge retrieval, model management, observability, and tools. Its visual Workflow Studio lets teams combine model calls, knowledge retrieval, tools, code, branching, triggers, and human review. Workflows can begin with user input, API calls, scheduled triggers, webhooks, plugin events, or uploaded payloads. Knowledge Pipeline turns files and online sources into searchable knowledge bases, with metadata and citations; retrieval options include semantic, keyword, hybrid, and reranked methods with metadata filters. Applications can be published as hosted web apps, website embeds, API endpoints, or MCP servers. Dify connects to proprietary and open-source model providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, and xAI. The Marketplace includes more than 200 tools. The Community Edition is self-deployable with Docker, while Enterprise can run in a customer VPC, on-premises, or in an air-gapped network. Sandbox and Community are free; Professional is $590 per workspace per year and Team is $1590 per workspace per year. Enterprise pricing is custom.

Who it suits

Dify suits teams building AI applications that need visual workflow design, knowledge retrieval, or connections to multiple model providers. Organizations needing self-hosting or enterprise deployment options may also find its deployment choices relevant.

What it does well

Visual workflow canvas includes human review.
Knowledge retrieval supports citations and metadata filters.
Applications can publish as web apps, APIs, or MCP servers.
Community Edition can be self-deployed with Docker.
Enterprise supports VPC, on-premises, and air-gapped deployments.

What to know first

Sandbox limits usage to 200 message credits.
Professional costs $590 per workspace per year.
Team costs $1590 per workspace per year.
Enterprise pricing is custom.

Limits

Sandbox includes 200 message credits, 1 workspace, 1 member, 5 apps, 50 knowledge documents, 50MB storage, 10 knowledge requests per minute, 3,000 trigger events, 30-day log history, and 5,000 API requests per month. Professional is listed at $590 a year and Team at $1,590 a year; Enterprise pricing is custom.

Plans

Plan	Billed and limits	Price
Community	core public-repository features · single workspace · subject to Dify Open Source License	Free
Sandbox	200 message credits · 1 workspace · 1 member · 5 apps · 50 knowledge documents · 50MB storage · 3,000 trigger events · 30-day logs · 5,000 API calls/month	Free
Team	monthly · 10,000 message credits/month · 50 members · 200 apps · 1,000 documents · 20GB storage · unlimited triggers · unlimited logs · no Dify API rate limit	$159 a month
Team	annually · 10,000 message credits/month · 50 members · 200 apps · 1,000 documents · 20GB storage · unlimited triggers · unlimited logs · no Dify API rate limit	$1,590 a year
Professional	monthly · 5,000 message credits/month · 3 members · 50 apps · 500 documents · 5GB storage · unlimited logs · no Dify API rate limit	$59 a month
Professional	annually · 5,000 message credits/month · 3 members · 50 apps · 500 documents · 5GB storage · unlimited logs · no Dify API rate limit	$590 a year
Enterprise	commercial license authorization · multiple workspaces · SSO · advanced security controls · negotiated SLAs · official updates and maintenance · professional support	On request

As dify.ai lists them, read 15 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.

Getting started

Open https://dify.ai/.
Choose the hosted Sandbox plan or the Community Edition for self-deployment with Docker.
Build an application in Workflow Studio by combining the components you need.
Add knowledge sources through Knowledge Pipeline if your application needs searchable content.
Publish the application as a hosted web app, website embed, API endpoint, or MCP server.
Consider Professional, Team, or Enterprise if their features and allowances fit your deployment.

Verdict

Dify brings workflow building, knowledge retrieval, model connections, and several publishing options into one platform. Its free plans offer a starting point, while paid and Enterprise plans have defined costs or custom pricing and varying deployment options.

Questions

Does Dify have a free plan?

Yes. Sandbox and Community are listed as free. Sandbox has usage and workspace limits; Community provides core features released under the public repository, a single workspace, and the Dify Open Source License.

How much do the paid plans cost?

Professional is $590 a year, billed at $590 per workspace per year. Team is $1,590 a year, billed at $1590 per workspace per year. Enterprise is custom.

Can I self-host Dify?

Yes. The open-source Community Edition can be self-deployed with Docker. Enterprise can run in a customer VPC, on-premises, or in an air-gapped network.

Which platforms does Dify support?

The listed platforms are API, self-hosted, and web.

Which model providers does Dify connect to?

It connects to proprietary and open-source model providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, and xAI.

What support is included?

Sandbox support is community support and help documentation. Professional and Team include priority email support.

Facts from Dify's own pages

Adoption claim: The March 2026 funding announcement said Dify ran on more than 1.4 million machines and had more than 280 enterprise customers. · venturebeat.com, 15 Oct 2026
Agents: Agents can be configured conversationally or manually, published as apps, embedded in websites, or reused as workflow nodes. · dify.ai, 15 Oct 2026
API authentication: API calls use Bearer keys, with app keys scoped to one app and knowledge keys optionally scoped to selected knowledge bases. · docs.dify.ai, 15 Oct 2026
API hosting: Dify Cloud uses https://api.dify.ai/v1 while self-hosted deployments use the instance’s own API base URL. · docs.dify.ai, 15 Oct 2026
API surface: Every published app and knowledge base has a REST API; the documentation covers chat, completion, workflow, conversation, file, audio, feedback, annotation, end-user, and knowledge endpoints. · docs.dify.ai, 15 Oct 2026
Chrome extension rating: The Chrome Web Store listing for Dify Chatbot shows 3.6 out of 5 from 13 ratings and about 8,000 users. · chromewebstore.google.com, 15 Oct 2026
Company headquarters and size: LinkedIn lists Dify headquarters in Menlo Park, California, with a company size of 51–200 employees. · linkedin.com, 15 Oct 2026
Company legal name: Dify’s terms identify the provider as LangGenius, Inc., a Delaware corporation. · dify.ai, 15 Oct 2026
Compliance: Dify reports completing SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2022 audits and maintaining GDPR compliance for the second consecutive year. · dify.ai, 1 Oct 2026
Docker architecture: The quick start launches seven core services, eight dependent components, and a one-time permissions task. · docs.dify.ai, 15 Oct 2026
Enterprise controls: Enterprise includes SAML/OIDC SSO, workflow-level RBAC, SCIM provisioning, tamper-evident audit logs, per-call traces, and PII-redacted prompt history. · dify.ai, 1 Oct 2026
Enterprise deployment: Dify Enterprise can run inside a customer VPC, on-premises, or in an air-gapped network, with Helm deployment for Kubernetes. · dify.ai, 1 Oct 2026
Enterprise security: The official product page lists SSO/SAML, RBAC, audit logs, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and dedicated support for Enterprise. · dify.ai, 15 Oct 2026
Founded: G2 lists Dify as serving customers since 2023 and gives a 2023 founding year. · g2.com, 15 Oct 2026
Funding news: On March 9, 2026, Dify announced a $30 million Series Pre-A round led by HSG at a $180 million valuation. · venturebeat.com, 15 Oct 2026
Headquarters: California, United States · dify.ai, 28 Sept 2026
Independent limitation: operational burden: ToolVerse says self-hosting shifts responsibility for databases, vector stores, secrets, backups, upgrades, capacity, and incident response to the customer. · insights.v3rsai.com, 15 Oct 2026
Independent limitation: retrieval assurance: ToolVerse says Dify’s visual RAG workflow does not itself prove answer correctness, permission safety, freshness, or recoverability, so buyers need representative evaluations. · insights.v3rsai.com, 15 Oct 2026
Integrations: The Marketplace provides model providers, tools, data sources, MCP integrations, and reusable plugins, with support for custom definitions. · dify.ai, 15 Oct 2026
Knowledge Pipeline: Knowledge Pipeline ingests files, websites, online documents, and drives, then extracts, chunks, indexes, and tests retrieval. · dify.ai, 15 Oct 2026
Knowledge pipelines: Knowledge Pipeline turns files, online documents, drives, crawlers, and web content into searchable knowledge bases with metadata and citations. · dify.ai, 1 Oct 2026
License: Dify uses a modified Apache 2.0 license with restrictions on unauthorized multi-tenant operation and removing frontend branding or copyright notices. · github.com, 15 Oct 2026
Limit: support responsiveness: The same G2 review said paid-plan support sometimes returned generic documentation referrals instead of implementation help. · g2.com, 15 Oct 2026
Limit: workflow variables: A G2 reviewer reported that hidden startup variables, low cloud variable-size limits, and missing list-membership operations blocked some personalization and routing workflows. · g2.com, 15 Oct 2026

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