Alternatives / n8n

Open-source alternatives to n8n

5 genuinely open-source alternatives with 119.8K combined GitHub stars. The most starred is Flowise AI, with 53.3K stars.

Why look for a n8n alternative?

n8n's fair-code license caps self-hosted use once you scale past a single instance or resell it, and its cloud plans charge per workflow execution — a cost that climbs fast for teams running many automations. People look for alternatives when they need a fully permissive open-source license, a different execution model, or to avoid per-execution pricing entirely.

Flowise AI

Visual drag-and-drop builder for AI agents and LLM pipelines.

Apache-2.0 alternative to Langflow with chatflow and agentflow paradigms, embeddable chatbot widgets, and API endpoints — closer to an AI pipeline builder than a general Zapier-style tool.

53.3K24.5KApache-2.0Self-hosted

Pricing: Free and open source, self-hosted; also offers a hosted cloud option.

Purpose-built for AI agent and LLM pipelines
Large, active community (50K+ stars)
Not a general business-automation replacement for n8n
Less useful if you don't need AI/LLM workflows

View on GitHub

Kestra

YAML-based orchestration — 1400+ plugins for data, AI, and infrastructure workflows.

Kestra is an open-source, event-driven orchestration platform for data, AI, and infrastructure workflows, built around declarative YAML rather than a visual-only builder. Apache-2.0 licensed with a self-hosted core.

27.3K2.6KApache-2.0Self-hosted

Pricing: Open-source core free and self-hosted; paid Enterprise Edition adds governance and RBAC.

1400+ plugins for data and infrastructure workflows
Declarative YAML scales well for complex pipelines
Steeper learning curve than visual builders
Less suited to simple no-code automations

View on GitHub

ActivePieces

AI-first workflow automation — MIT-licensed, hundreds of pieces, built-in MCP support.

ActivePieces is an open-source automation platform for building no-code workflows and AI agents. The Community Edition is MIT-licensed and self-hostable via Docker; enterprise features (SSO, advanced permissions) sit behind a separate paid tier.

24.5K3.9KMIT (Community Edition)Self-hosted

Pricing: Community Edition free and self-hosted; Cloud and enterprise features (SSO, advanced permissions) are paid.

MIT license with no fair-code restrictions
Hundreds of pre-built integrations
Smaller plugin ecosystem than n8n
AI-specific features are newer and less mature

View on GitHub Read our full review →

Automatisch

Minimal self-hosted Zapier alternative — AGPL-3.0, simple trigger-action workflows.

Automatisch is an open-source, self-hosted workflow automation tool positioned as a lightweight Zapier alternative. The Community Edition is AGPL-3.0 licensed, with enterprise-only features under a separate license.

13.9K1.1KAGPL-3.0 (Community Edition)Self-hosted

Pricing: Community Edition free and self-hosted; paid Cloud and enterprise tiers available.

Simple, focused trigger-action model
Lightweight self-hosting footprint
Far fewer integrations than n8n
AGPL-3.0 requires sharing modifications if you distribute it

View on GitHub

ByteChef

Open-source API orchestration — 200+ components, Java/JS/Python/Ruby code editor.

ByteChef is an open-source, low-code platform for API orchestration, workflow automation, and AI agent integration. The core platform is Apache-2.0 licensed, with enterprise-only features under a separate license.

900155Apache-2.0 (Community Edition)Self-hosted

Pricing: Community Edition free and self-hosted; enterprise features under a separate commercial license.

Built-in code editor (Java/JS/Python/Ruby) for custom logic
200+ components
Much smaller community than n8n
Younger project with less battle-testing

View on GitHub

Compare n8n alternatives

Tool	Stars	License	Self-hosted	Pricing
Flowise AI	53.3K	Apache-2.0	Yes	Free and open source, self-hosted; also offers a hosted cloud option.
Kestra	27.3K	Apache-2.0	Yes	Open-source core free and self-hosted; paid Enterprise Edition adds governance and RBAC.
ActivePieces	24.5K	MIT (Community Edition)	Yes	Community Edition free and self-hosted; Cloud and enterprise features (SSO, advanced permissions) are paid.
Automatisch	13.9K	AGPL-3.0 (Community Edition)	Yes	Community Edition free and self-hosted; paid Cloud and enterprise tiers available.
ByteChef	900	Apache-2.0 (Community Edition)	Yes	Community Edition free and self-hosted; enterprise features under a separate commercial license.

Which one should you choose?

Want n8n's visual builder without licensing limits

MIT-licensed Community Edition with a similar drag-and-drop UX and hundreds of pre-built pieces.

ActivePieces

Building AI agent or LLM pipelines

Purpose-built for chatflows and LLM pipelines rather than general business automation.

Flowise AI

Orchestrating data or infrastructure pipelines

Declarative YAML and 1400+ plugins suit scheduled data/infra workflows better than a visual canvas.

Kestra

Just need simple trigger-action automations

Lightest-weight option if you don't need n8n's full visual complexity.

Automatisch

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