1. Who Are the “n8n Drifters”?
In recent months, a wave of content creators, consultants, and marketers—some call them “drifters”—have descended on the n8n community. They promote flashy automation workflows, often offering “exclusive” packages, courses, or coaching services centered around n8n.
To many, these individuals appear to drift between trending automation tools—sometimes with little originality. More than a few are accused of packaging repurposed or stolen workflows into paid offerings or subscriptions.
2. The Backlash: “Grifters” Called Out
Across Reddit and other forums, criticism has mounted. A striking post titled “Side hustle bros are ruining the integrity of n8n” highlights major frustration:
“X is buried in n8n grifters. Dozens per day, including some who tried grifting Notion, SEO or AI previously…”
“When they get you to follow them in exchange for their ‘exclusive workflow,’ the JSON file contains names like Nate Herk, indicating it was just stolen and re‑packaged.
It goes on:
“People have mastered how to sell courses that do not really add value to anyone. It’s nauseating.” Reddit
Critics accuse these drifters of diluting the community with low-effort content, inflated promises, and recycled code—more focused on monetization than genuine automation value.
3. Are the Critics Right?
On the positive side, n8n remains powerful and legitimate. A post titled "Is n8n a grift?" by Samyak reinforces this:
“n8n isn’t drag‑and‑drop although. It’s just JavaScript without the code... it works.” Samyak adds,
“Titles scream ‘Sell this automation for $2 000/month’ while you’re just trying to learn. But once you filter out the clickbait, the actual software is legit. Just… ignore the grifters.” Redditmedium.com
So the divide is clear: the tool merits respect, but the packaging by some opportunists does not.
4. Final Thoughts
n8n itself isn’t a scam—it’s a powerful automation platform embraced by technical and less technical users alike Redditn8n.io+1blog.n8n.io+1linkedin.comdocs.n8n.iochristopherspenn.com+1dev.to+1. The problem lies with those who use marketing tactics—and sometimes repurposed or low-quality code—to extract money without delivering real utility.
In an ecosystem built on trust, transparency, and open innovation, it’s worth filtering out the hype—and focusing on learning, building, and sharing real workflows.
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