Dify is an open-source platform designed for anyone to visually create, deploy, and operate production-ready Generative AI applications with ease. No deep coding or machine learning expertise required. Designed for fast prototyping and scalable deployment, Dify empowers users to go from ideation to operational AI without heavy infrastructure overhead. Its standout visual workflow builder empowers users to drag, drop, and orchestrate AI agents, tools, and RAG pipelines in minutes.

Dify is optimized for scalable deployment and seamless integration with countless LLM models, making it ideal for companies looking to unlock enterprise-ready GenAI solutions quickly. Its open‑source core plus optional cloud service offers both control and convenience.

Whether for startups or enterprises, Dify drastically reduces time-to-market and democratizes advanced AI development by making it accessible to all user types.

Dify Key Features

Visual Workflow Builder: Create and customize AI workflows using an intuitive drag-and-drop canvas for fast prototyping and deployment.
RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) Pipelines: Enrich your AI with contextual responses by connecting internal knowledge bases and documents for more accurate outputs.
Model‑neutral orchestration: integrates with GPT‑4, Claude, Llama 2, Hugging Face, etc., easily swapping models
Marketplace plugin ecosystem: connect tools/models like Google Search, Notion, Azure OpenAI, audio AI, etc. via Dify marketplace
Prompt orchestration & templates: manage system instructions, examples, branching logic, reuse templates for chatbots, summarizers, and generators
No-Code Team Collaboration: Involve technical and non-technical team members with a no-code environment and DSL sharing format for seamless teamwork.
Observability & usage dashboard: monitor prompts, usage, errors, and costs in real time.
Open‑source + cloud SaaS options: self‑host freely or use hosted service with support and upgrades
Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS): Skip complex infrastructure setup; Dify handles hosting, scaling, and delivery, so you focus on building. Backend built on a unified TiDB + AWS stack, enabling scalable, cost‑efficient deployments.
Private Deployment: Run Dify on-premise for maximum data privacy, ideal for compliance-heavy industries like healthcare or finance.
Integrated Analytics: Monitor conversation metrics, engagement levels, and app performance to quickly iterate and improve results.
Enterprise-Grade Security: Ensure critical data assets remain secure with enterprise-ready compliance support.
Robust API & Embedding: Extend and embed AI applications into your platforms or existing business systems easily.

Dify Key Customers

Dify is used by startups, educational institutions (via Takin.ai partnership), and many mid-market B2B firms building support bots, summarizers, content workflows, etc. Its website includes logos of companies like Panasonic, Novartis, Volvo, Ricoh, Deloitte, Anker, Lilly, and many more.

Volvo Cars: Uses Dify for rapid validation and deployment of AI workflows.
Ricoh: Leveraged Dify’s no-code platform to accelerate citizen development and NLP applications.
Other enterprises: Examples include those in biomedicine, automotive, and more, as cited in Dify’s testimonials.

Who is the CEO or Founder of Dify?

Dify was co‑founded by John Wang and Luyu Zhang, with Luyu Zhang serving as CEO.

Dify Funding News

Dify’s funding rounds include a Biz Plan Competition on September 12, 2024, and a Series A round in August 2024. Notable investors include TechCrunch Startup Battlefield, Shenzhen Capital Group, and Alibaba Cloud. Dify raised approximately $1.39 million from investors, including 5Y Capital, Alibaba Cloud, Delian Capital, VCshare, and China Growth Capital (source: CBInsights and PitchBook).

Where is Dify located or headquartered?

Dify is located in Middletown, United States.

Who Should Use Dify?

Dify is ideal for developers, product managers, startups, and enterprises who need fast, scalable, and collaborative AI app development. You can build internal AI assistants, customer support chatbots, knowledge management tools, and automated document analysis systems quickly—without heavy code.

Dify Pros

Intuitive and visual workflow builder for non-coders.
Supports integration with many proprietary/open-source LLMs.
Good for creating custom chatbots in minutes using prebuilt templates.
Robust RAG pipelines for advanced information retrieval.
Accelerates time-to-market for new AI products.
Flexible hosting: self‑host or cloud SaaS gives data control or convenience.
Strong open‑source roots with a large community and GitHub traction.

Dify Cons

Requires Docker setup or technical expertise for local/self-hosted deployments.
Some advanced workflow customizations are limited.
Depends on external APIs for certain model functionalities.
Initial setup and UI may have a learning curve for new users.
Visual interface limits custom coding compared to pure‑code platforms like LangChain.
Pricing may be higher than simpler alternatives for commercial plans.
UI may seem a bit overwhelming or less polished initially for newcomers.
The ecosystem is younger; fewer third‑party plugins than on older platforms.

Dify Integrations

Supports LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Llama2, Azure OpenAI, Hugging Face), tools via plugin: Google Search, Notion, Zapier (via MCP), Palo Alto Networks security plugin, DupDub audio AI for speech, and more through the Dify Marketplace.

Dify Free Plan

The Sandbox (free) tier offers up to 200 message credits, 1 user, up to 5 apps, 50 MB knowledge base storage—no credit card needed.

The free plan is capped; users will need to upgrade for higher usage limits, advanced features, more integrations, and enterprise-grade functions. Paid plans unlock increased capacity, advanced analytics, security, and production deployment options, making them vital for scaling or commercial projects.

Dify Paid Plan Pricing

Dify Paid Plan	Monthly Price	Dify Paid Plan Features	Who is it for?
Professional	$59	Includes up to 3 members, 50 apps, 5000 message credits/month, 5 GB docs – suitable for solo developers or small team pilots	Developers, startups
Team	$159	Up to ~50 members per workspace, up to 10k credits/month, 200 apps, 1,000 documents, 20 GB storage – good for department‑level rollout.	Growing teams
Enterprise	Custom pricing	includes single sign‑on, VPC/self‑host support, higher usage limits, dedicated support, and governance features for large organizations.	Large enterprises

Dify Discounts

Dify provides a free Professional plan for 12 months upon verification for educational users like students and educators — learn more.

No additional public discounts noted at this time.

Dify Alternatives

Alternatives include LangChain, Flowise (LangFlow), OpenPipe, and platforms like AWS Bedrock or Azure ML

AI Tool Name	What is Good	Limitations	Learn more on Applied AI Tools
Waterflai	Flexible knowledge management, advanced vector store integrations	Less open source, feature set may be vendor-locked	–
n8n	Powerful no-code workflow automation	Less AI-focused, more general automation	–
xpander AI	Simplified creation of AI agents with Agent Graph tech	Not as mature for enterprise AI workflow needs	–
Letta	AI-powered engineering ops for dev workflows	Not specifically visual/drag-and-drop for LLMs	–
Agent Pilot	Workflow automation for tasks & team management	Not AI-app focused; more process automation	–
LangChain	Maximum flexibility & control via code	Requires coding skills; slower to prototype	Explore LangChain
OpenPipe	Cost optimization, analytics, fine‑tuning	Not an app builder; engineer‑centric	–
AWS Bedrock / Azure ML	Enterprise scale + large model access	Higher cost, more complex, vendor lock‑in	–
Flowise	An open-source visual builder like Dify	Smaller ecosystem; limited logic control	Explore Flowise

What makes Dify unique compared to Dify alternatives?

Dify is distinguished by its mix of visual workflow design, agentic pipeline orchestration, plug-and-play RAG pipelines, seamless LLM switching, and rich open-source extensibility—all in a scalable, enterprise- and community-friendly package. Unlike developer‑only toolkits or enterprise ML platforms, Dify delivers a balanced, all‑in‑one visual LLMOps platform that works for citizen developers and small teams. It offers both open‑source control and SaaS convenience—all ready for production from day one.

Self-hosting AI tools

Dify – best to build low/no-code AI apps and LLM workflow development