Activepieces vs n8n
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Activepieces and n8n.
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Verdict: n8n wins
n8n scores 4.3/5, edging out Activepieces at 4.0/5. Technical teams and engineers who want code-level control and the option to self-host automation as core infrastructure.
Activepieces Open-source Zapier alternative | n8n Workflow automation that gives you control | |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.0 (1 review) | 4.3 (1 review) |
| Pricing Model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting Price | From $16/mo | Free tier available |
| Best For | Cost-conscious teams and security-sensitive orgs that want Zapier-style workflows with true open-source licensing and self-hosting. | Technical teams and engineers who want code-level control and the option to self-host automation as core infrastructure. |
| Free Tier | ||
| API Access | ||
| Team Features | ||
| Open Source | ||
| Tags | open sourcefree tier | open sourcefree tierapi access |
| Visit Activepieces → | Visit n8n → |
Activepieces
Pros
- + MIT-licensed and self-hostable on every tier — the only truly open-source platform in this batch (community edition on GitHub)
- + Pricing is flat and predictable: Plus is $20/mo flat for 10,000 credits with $0.007/credit overage at time of writing (activepieces.com/pricing)
- + Docker self-host came up in under fifteen minutes in my test, and flows imported cleanly between cloud and self-hosted
- + Bring-your-own AI keys on Plus means model spend goes to your provider unmarked-up
- + Same piece code runs cloud or self-hosted, so community connector fixes apply everywhere (760+ integrations claimed)
Cons
- - Connector depth trails Zapier badly in the long tail — two niche apps I needed had no piece and no ready HTTP template
- - Free plan resets credits daily and pauses work when exhausted; unusable for anything production-grade
- - Feature parity between self-hosted community and cloud is incomplete — one agent feature I wanted was cloud-only at time of writing
- - Advanced governance (audit logs, SCIM, secret managers, custom RBAC) sits behind custom Ultimate pricing
- - Small team with modest funding (~$1.55M reported) — rapid shipping means UI and docs drift out of sync in places
n8n
Pros
- + Unlimited steps per execution: my 20-node nightly sync counted as one execution, so complexity stops driving cost (n8n.io/pricing)
- + Code nodes (JS/Python) with npm and env-var access meant I finished every prototype without leaving the platform
- + Self-hostable with no licence fee under the Sustainable Use License; full run snapshots and re-run-from-failed-node debugging
- + AI agent nodes (LLM connectors, vector stores, agents calling workflows as tools) are the deepest of any general automation platform I tested
- + Strong company trajectory: $180M Series C (Accel, Oct 2025) and a SAP strategic investment at ~$5.2B in May 2026
Cons
- - Not open source — the Sustainable Use License (fair-code) forbids offering n8n as a hosted service and fails OSI procurement checks
- - Assumes engineering literacy: JSON paths, expressions, and async data structures stumped every ops-only user I watched try it
- - Self-hosting carries real ops cost — queue mode, worker scaling and upgrades took me hours that a managed platform absorbs
- - Documentation is thin at the edges; AI node options and queue-mode config sent me to community forum threads
- - Business cloud tier is self-hosted-only at time of writing (cloud waitlisted), leaving a gap between Pro's 10K executions and Enterprise
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, Activepieces or n8n?▼
n8n scores higher at 4.3/5 vs 4.0/5 for Activepieces, making it the better-rated option in our comparison.
What is the difference between Activepieces and n8n?▼
Activepieces: Activepieces is an open-source, no-code automation tool (a Zapier alternative) for connecting apps and building AI agents. You can self-host it; cloud plan is free, then from $16/mo. n8n: n8n is a workflow automation platform that combines AI capabilities with business process automation, giving technical teams a visual builder with the option to add code when needed.
Is Activepieces or n8n more affordable?▼
Activepieces starts at €16/mo, n8n starts at €0/mo. Check the comparison table above for current pricing.
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