Activepieces vs n8n
Activepieces and n8n side by side: what each one is, what it costs to start, and whether you can try it free. Everything below comes from the vendors' own sites and other public sources, not from hands-on testing.
At a glance
| Activepieces | n8n | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Autonomous Agents | Autonomous Agents |
| Starting price | Free; paid plans from $20/mo (checked October 2026) | From €20/mo (checked October 2026) |
| Free tier | Yes | Not listed |
| Profile | Read profile | Read profile |
Prices are in US dollars unless shown otherwise. Confirm the current price on the vendor's site before you buy.
Key differences
Activepieces lists a free tier and n8n does not.
Pricing is not directly comparable from the numbers we hold (Activepieces: Free; paid plans from $20/mo; n8n: From €20/mo), so check each vendor's pricing page.
Both are in our Autonomous Agents category.
About each tool
Activepieces
Open-source workflow automation and AI agent platform, cloud or self-hosted. Free includes 1,000 credits; Plus is $20 a month (annual price not listed).
Who it is for
It suits individuals and teams who want to connect apps and build automations or AI agents, and who want the option to self-host. Its pricing page also lists an Embed plan for agencies and software companies that want a white-label flow builder inside their own product.
Strengths
- The pricing page says the Free plan needs no card and has no time limit, and that flows are unlimited on every plan; agents and chat, tables, MCPs and API and SDK are listed on all plans.
- The license page says the core is MIT-licensed, and the pricing page says every plan can run in the cloud or on-prem, with a free Community Edition for self-hosting.
- The pricing page says a run costs 1 credit regardless of step count; with your own AI provider keys (Plus and up), each AI step costs 1 credit and model costs go on your provider bill.
- The GitHub page says it has 200+ pieces (integrations), about 60% community-contributed, available as MCP servers for tools such as Claude Desktop, Cursor or Windsurf; any API can be reached through the HTTP piece or a webhook, per the pricing FAQ.
- The pricing FAQ says data is encrypted in transit and at rest, can be hosted in the EU cloud (Frankfurt), another region on request, or on your own servers, and that a DPA, penetration test summary and sub-processor list are available on request.
- The pricing page says you can cancel, change plans or add seats at any time; upgrades and added seats apply immediately and are prorated, and downgrades apply at the end of the billing period.
Limitations
- Free has 1,000 credits and up to 5 users, and runs wait for the next refresh once credits are used. Plus ($20) and Team ($200) keep running and charge $0.007 per extra credit; bring-your-own AI keys start at Plus.
- Enterprise features under the commercial license need an Activepieces license, even when self-hosted, per the license page.
- Vendor pages disagree: the pricing table shows the Free credit reset as daily while the plan card and FAQ say monthly, and an older vendor blog lists different plans (Plus $25, Business $150, 200 AI credits). The pricing page does not address refunds, and annual prices are not listed despite 'Save 2 months'.
n8n
Workflow automation and AI-agent platform. Self-host the Community Edition or use n8n Cloud from €20/mo billed annually; billing counts workflow executions.
Who it is for
Teams and individuals who want to automate tasks across apps and build AI-agent workflows, and who either want a hosted service or can run their own instance. Higher tiers add admin roles, SSO and Git version control for larger organisations.
Strengths
- Cloud billing counts whole workflow executions; n8n says the number of steps in a run does not change the count
- All plans list unlimited users and workflows, and every integration
- Cloud plans include agents, MCP and AI nodes
- A standard self-hosted version is available on GitHub, with documentation at docs.n8n.io
- A free cloud trial is offered (the pricing page says no credit card is needed)
Limitations
- Starter cloud is capped at 2.5K executions a month, 5 concurrent executions and 5 minutes per execution
- Pro cloud is capped at 10K executions a month; admin roles start at Pro
- The Sustainable Use License limits use to internal business or non-commercial purposes; it is not an OSI-approved open-source licence
- SSO/LDAP, multiple environments, queue mode and Git version control are listed under Business
