RecipeAgents / n8n nodes / Switch
Node reference · data pulled Oct 26, 2026n8n Switch node: what the data shows
Routes each item to one of many outputs, by rules or by an expression that returns an output number.
What it does
In Rules mode you add one rule per output; in Expression mode a single expression returns the output index. Since late 2023 there's no fixed limit on outputs, and you can choose whether an item goes to the first matching output or to all of them.
Its most distinctive partners are WhatsApp and the Telegram Trigger: chat bots use it to send text, voice and image messages to different handlers.
How often public templates use it
2,069 of the 13,574 public templates on n8n.io (15.2%) contain this node, in the snapshot we took on 2026-10-20. The table splits that by the year each template was published. 2026 runs to October 20.
| Year published | Templates with the node | Share of that year |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 64 of 462 | 13.9% |
| 2025 | 877 of 6,564 | 13.4% |
| 2026 | 1,101 of 5,845 | 18.8% |
The median template using this node has 193 views on n8n.io, against 284 for all templates. Template counts show what people publish, not what runs in production.
What it is used with
The most frequent partners are the nodes that appear most often in the same templates. "Lift" compares that with the whole library: 2× means the partner turns up twice as often next to this node as in an average template.
| Most frequent partner | Share of its templates | Lift |
|---|---|---|
| Edit Fields (Set) | 69.7% | 1.25× |
| Code | 64.0% | 1.08× |
| If | 54.5% | 1.08× |
| HTTP Request | 54.5% | 1.06× |
| AI Agent | 39.4% | 1.26× |
| Google Sheets | 36.9% | 1.03× |
Strong pairings (in at least 5% of its templates, lift 1.5× or more): 12. The top ones:
| Strong partner | Share of its templates | Lift |
|---|---|---|
| WhatsApp Business Cloud | 5.7% | 2.83× |
| Telegram Trigger | 15.3% | 2.51× |
| Postgres | 6.3% | 2.51× |
| Data Table | 7.3% | 1.92× |
| Extract from File | 10.9% | 1.82× |
| Google Gemini | 5.5% | 1.80× |
| Execute Workflow Trigger | 7.4% | 1.75× |
| Gmail Trigger | 6.7% | 1.71× |
Most viewed public templates that use it: Building your first whatsapp chatbot (541,254 views); Ai powered whatsapp chatbot for text voice images and pdf with rag (258,703 views); Telegram ai chatbot (234,547 views).
Versions and changes
Node versions from the npm packages n8n-nodes-base and @n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain, version 2.44.4. New workflows get the default version; workflows built earlier keep the version they were built with until you replace the node.
| Node | Versions | Default | Credential types | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switch | 1, 2, 3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5 | 3.5 | none needed | – |
Source on GitHub: packages/nodes-base/nodes/Switch: 59 commits since the repository was reorganised on 2021-11-17, last on 2026-10-13.
Recent fixes and features
- 2025-09-12: fix( Switch Node): Disable expressions for Number of Outputs in v3.3 (PR #19075)
- 2024-01-24: fix(Switch Node): Fix issue preventing some regex patterns from working (PR #8422)
- 2024-01-04: feat(Switch Node): Overhaul (PR #7855)
- 2023-10-31: fix(Switch Node): Allow sortable Switch rules (PR #7555)
- 2023-10-25: feat(Switch Node): Add support for infinite Switch outputs (PR #7499)
Merged dates from GitHub. A fix only helps once your n8n instance runs a release that includes it, so check your version.
Known problems
- Unmatched items vanish. The default fallback is None, which silently ignores items that match no rule. Add an extra output to catch them. Source: n8n docs
- Only the first match. By default an item goes to the first matching output; turn on sending to all matching outputs if you need more. Source: n8n docs
- Regex patterns. Some regex patterns didn't work until a January 2024 fix. Source: n8n PR #8422
- Number of outputs. Expressions are no longer allowed for Number of Outputs from v3.3 (September 2025). Source: n8n PR #19075
Forum trouble signal: not measured. The n8n community forum's terms forbid automated access, so we don't count forum threads.
Our recipes that use it
None of our 25 recipes uses this node yet. Browse all of them on the free n8n templates page.
Official docs and sources
Usage, pairings, AI share and views: our count of 13,574 public n8n.io templates (snapshot 2026-10-20). Versions: npm packages, version 2.44.4. Changes: n8n's GitHub repository. Docs read and data pulled Oct 26, 2026. We describe each node in our own words; the docs are the authority on settings.
Related nodes
- Merge2,616 templates · score 55.1
- Loop Over Items2,319 templates · score 54.0
- Wait2,398 templates · score 51.2
- If6,849 templates · score 49.6
- All 22 nodesSortable table with the scoring method
Questions
- How many n8n templates use the Switch node?
- 2,069 of the 13,574 public templates on n8n.io (15.2%), in our snapshot of 2026-10-20.
- What is the Switch node most often used with?
- Edit Fields (Set), which appears in 69.7% of its templates. The most distinctive partner is WhatsApp Business Cloud (lift 2.8×).
- How do I route Telegram messages by type in n8n?
- A Switch after the Telegram Trigger, with one rule per message type (text, voice, photo), is a common pattern in public templates.
- Why are some items missing after my Switch?
- They matched no rule and the fallback is set to None. Set it to an extra output.