Activepieces

What is Activepieces?

Activepieces is an open source workflow automation tool that connects your apps and automates tasks on a visual, no-code canvas. You build flows from a library of 280+ pre-built “pieces” (integrations), drop into a code step when you need it, and self-host the whole thing under a permissive MIT license.

What is Activepieces best for?

Teams that want a clean, approachable Zapier alternative they can self-host without per-task billing — especially ones building AI agents, since every piece doubles as an MCP tool. The constrained, modern interface lets non-developers ship a first workflow in 10–20 minutes, while the TypeScript piece framework keeps it extensible for engineers.

What can Activepieces do?

• Connect 280+ apps through pre-built pieces, ~60% of them community-contributed
• Build no-code flows with branches, loops, auto-retries, and an HTTP step for any REST API
• Add custom logic with TypeScript/JavaScript code steps that can install NPM packages
• Run AI agents — pieces double as MCP servers for Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf
• Draft flows from a plain-English prompt with the built-in AI Copilot
• Add human-in-the-loop steps: approvals, delays, and chat or form interfaces
• White-label and embed automation inside your own SaaS with the embed SDK
• Self-host with Docker or Kubernetes, or use the managed cloud

Is Activepieces free?

Yes — the Activepieces core is MIT-licensed and free to self-host with no task limits, so you only pay for your own server (a $5–$20/mo VPS is typical). The managed cloud adds a free tier (1,000 tasks/month, 2 active flows) and paid plans from $25/mo (Plus) for unlimited tasks. A few enterprise features live in a separately licensed package (see below).

Where does Activepieces fall short?

• The piece catalog is smaller than rivals — ~280 integrations versus n8n’s 400+ — so niche or long-tail app connectors may be missing.
• Code steps run TypeScript/JavaScript only; there’s no native Python step the way n8n offers one.
• Enterprise features (SSO, audit logs, advanced projects/RBAC) sit in the commercially licensed packages/ee and aren’t free even when you self-host.
• It’s a younger project (~22k GitHub stars vs n8n’s 180k+), so there are fewer community templates and troubleshooting threads to lean on.

What does Activepieces replace?

Activepieces is a self-hosted alternative to Zapier (and Make). It does the same connect-your-apps-and-automate job, but you run it on your own infrastructure under an MIT license and aren’t billed per task — its paid cloud plans bill on active flows, not task volume.

FAQ

Is Activepieces open source? Yes — its core is genuinely open source under the permissive MIT license, so you can self-host, modify, and even embed it commercially. Only the enterprise add-ons in the packages/ee folder need a commercial license.

Can I self-host Activepieces for free? Yes. The MIT core is free to self-host via Docker or Kubernetes with no task limits; you only pay for the server. Enterprise features like SSO are the exception.

Is Activepieces a good Zapier alternative? For teams that want predictable pricing and data ownership, yes — unlimited tasks and self-hosting beat per-task billing. Zapier still wins on sheer integration count and zero-setup convenience.

How is Activepieces different from n8n? Both are self-hostable Zapier alternatives, but Activepieces’ core is MIT-licensed where n8n’s is source-available, with a simpler interface and an MCP-first AI approach — at the cost of a smaller integration catalog.