Comparison
Belowdecks and Dify compared point by point
Dify gives you a platform to design AI workflows and agents yourself. Belowdecks installs AI agents in your business, and our team sets them up and oversees them. This page compares the two on the points that matter to a small business.
Two ways to hand work to AI
Dify is a visual platform to build AI workflows, agents and searches across your documents. Its source code is available under a modified Apache 2.0 license, which notably requires written permission to run a multi-tenant service, and forbids removing the logo and copyright notices from the console and applications. You install it with Docker on a server with at least 2 CPU cores and 4 GB of memory, or you use Dify Cloud. In the console, whose interface is available in French, you draw each workflow: trigger, model calls, tools, approvals and replies.
Belowdecks installs AI agents in your business that take on part of the work, and our team sets them up and oversees them every month. With you, it decides what starts each agent and which actions must wait for approval by someone on your team. An agent does a piece of work from start to finish, such as answering a quote request received by email, and asks your team when information is missing.
Among the technical tools, Dify is the one closest to Belowdecks, since it offers human approval inside workflows and a chat to embed on your site. It suits a business that has someone to design the workflows and maintain the server. Belowdecks suits a business that hands that design and monitoring to our team.
Dify and Belowdecks, line by line
The facts about Dify come from its public pages, checked on October 6, 2026.
What you get
- Dify
- A platform to build workflows and agents
- Belowdecks
- Agents installed and monitored by a team
Who builds and maintains it
- Dify
- You; the server too when self-hosted
- Belowdecks
- The Belowdecks team, from diagnostic to follow-up
What starts the work
- Dify
- Schedule, webhook, integrations, in Workflow apps
- Belowdecks
- An email, a schedule or a signal from your software
Your go-ahead before an important action
- Dify
- Human Input node, form link sent by email
- Belowdecks
- Set up at installation to wait for your approval
When information is missing
- Dify
- A Human Input node you place in the workflow
- Belowdecks
- The agent asks your team and waits
Assistant for your customers
- Dify
- Chat bubble or iframe on your site
- Belowdecks
- Assistant on your site; the customer confirms their request
Where data is hosted
- Dify
- Your server, or Dify Cloud
- Belowdecks
- Your Belowdecks workspace; region agreed at the diagnostic
AI bill
- Dify
- Hundreds of models, local ones included
- Belowdecks
- Billed in your name by the AI provider
Team and access
- Dify
- One workspace, members and roles; SSO on Enterprise
- Belowdecks
- Group permissions, invitations by email
Updates
- Dify
- Yours to apply with the community edition
- Belowdecks
- Applied by the Belowdecks team
Monitoring the work
- Dify
- Step-by-step logs, analytics dashboard
- Belowdecks
- A result for each task, a monthly report
Pricing structure
- Dify
- Free community edition; Cloud plans
- Belowdecks
- From $449 a month, setup quoted separately
Choosing
The situation where each one fits best
Both options meet real needs. The right choice depends mostly on the time and skills your team has.
Dify fits better if
Someone on your team can run a Docker server and design workflows. You want to host your data yourself, in Canada for example, choose among hundreds of models, local ones included, or start with no software cost.
Belowdecks fits better if
You want to hand over a complete piece of work without designing the workflows or maintaining a server. Important actions wait for your go-ahead, and our team installs, updates and monitors the agents every month.
Common questions about Belowdecks and Dify
Dify has human approval too. What changes with Belowdecks?
In Dify, the Human Input node pauses the workflow, sends a link to a form by email, or shows it in the web app when the workflow was not started by a trigger, and the person’s decision steers the rest of the workflow. You place these nodes where you want them when you design the workflow.
With Belowdecks, we set up the agents at installation to ask someone on your team for their go-ahead before an important action. Depending on the setup, the request comes up in a conversation, during the agent’s work or before it starts, and that person can answer from an email. Before it goes live, each agent is tried on real cases, in a disposable workspace and instructed to send and change nothing, and you read what it would have done.
Can we keep our data in Canada with Dify?
Yes, with the community edition, which you install on the server of your choice, in Canada if you want. You then handle its security, updates and backups. With a local AI model, the processed text does not have to go out to a model provider; with a cloud provider, it goes through that provider.
With Belowdecks, your data is kept in your Belowdecks workspace, hosted in a region agreed at the diagnostic, which may be outside Quebec. The text an agent reads goes through the AI provider, such as Anthropic or OpenAI, on your company’s account, and that provider may process it outside Quebec. Other information also leaves your workspace, such as technical error reports, notification emails, the monthly usage report and the agents’ web browsing; the Security page lists it all. Your privacy impact assessment must take this into account.
What does maintaining a Dify installation involve?
A Docker server with at least 2 CPU cores and 4 GB of memory, applying new releases, and designing each workflow, which you adjust when a process changes. The license forbids removing the logo and copyright notices from the interface.
With Belowdecks, our team applies the updates, automatically receives the errors from your Belowdecks workspace and deals with the issues found in the agents’ work.
How do the costs compare?
Dify’s community edition is free. Dify Cloud offers a free Sandbox plan, then Professional and Team plans billed monthly or yearly. Add the server, the model calls and the time of the person who designs and maintains the workflows.
With Belowdecks, plans start at $449 a month with Crew, which includes 15 million tokens, and the setup is quoted separately. It includes the agents our team designs for you, and the number of agents does not change the price. The AI provider bills you directly for what the model consumes. The Pricing page details the three plans.
Sources
The information about Dify comes from its repository, documentation and pricing, checked on October 6, 2026: GitHub repository, license, triggers, Human Input node, website embedding , logs and pricing. Dify’s features and prices change often, so check them before you decide.
Dify is a LangGenius product. Belowdecks is not affiliated with LangGenius.
First call
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A free 20-minute call to describe the work that takes up your time. We will tell you whether Belowdecks fits, or whether a platform like Dify is enough.