Activepieces vs n8n

Activepieces

• Teams that want open-source automation they can host themselves
• Small teams that prefer a flat price to per-seat billing
• Building AI agents alongside trigger-and-action flows

n8n

• Technical teams that want to host their automation on their own servers
• Developers who mix visual workflows with JavaScript or Python
• Building AI agents where every step can be inspected

Activepieces

• The Free cloud plan covers a single user and 1,000 credits a month; runs beyond the quota do not go through until credits refresh.
• AI steps cost 2, 10 or 20 credits depending on the model. Connecting your own AI keys, on Plus and above, brings each AI step down to 1 credit.
• The self-hosted Community edition leaves out Agents and Chat and MCPs. SSO starts on Team, and SCIM and audit logs need Ultimate.
• Activepieces says its SOC 2 program is still in progress and that it does not yet hold the certification.

n8n

• n8n Cloud has no free plan; the free option is self-hosting the Community Edition, which you run and maintain yourself.
• The Community Edition leaves out SSO, projects, environments, Git version control and workflow sharing.
• The Business plan is self-hosted only and starts at €667 a month, billed annually.
• The pricing page showed prices in euros when checked; no US dollar price list was found on n8n's site.

Activepieces

Flow builder

A visual builder with branching, retries, waitpoints, subflows, error handling and human approvals. TypeScript can be written inline for a step that needs code.

AI agents and chat

An agent takes a task described in plain words and chooses tools from connected apps and MCP servers, with approval gates on the steps you pick. Chat drafts flows from a description.

Pieces

The integration directory lists 762 pieces, all open source under the MIT license. An HTTP piece reaches any REST or GraphQL API that does not have a piece yet.

Tables and knowledge base

Tables hold data that every flow and agent can read and write, and a knowledge base makes your documents searchable by agents.

MCP server

Tools built in Activepieces can be served over MCP, so assistants such as Claude and Cursor can run them. MCPs are part of the cloud plans, not the Community edition.

Cloud, self-hosted or air-gapped

Activepieces Cloud runs in Frankfurt. The same software can be installed on your own infrastructure with Docker or Kubernetes, including with no outbound network.

n8n

Visual builder with code steps

Workflows are built on a canvas, and JavaScript or Python can be written anywhere in them. Single steps can be re-run and earlier data replayed while debugging.

AI agents

Agents are assembled from AI nodes on the same canvas, with each step of their reasoning open to inspection and the option to require human approval.

Self-hosting

n8n can run on your own infrastructure with Docker, including air-gapped setups. The Community Edition is free; Business and Enterprise add SSO, environments and Git version control.

Execution-based pricing

One run of a whole workflow counts as a single execution, however many steps it has. Going over the plan quota does not stop workflows, but overage charges may apply.

Integrations and custom APIs

The homepage cites 500+ integrations, including Google Sheets, Slack and OpenAI, and other services can be reached through custom API connections.

Shared projects

Shared projects group workflows for a team: 1 on Starter, 3 on Pro, 6 on Business and unlimited on Enterprise. Pro adds admin roles and workflow history.

Activepieces

• Free$0

  Activepieces Cloud for one user: 1,000 credits a month, unlimited flows, and agents, chat, tables, MCP and API access. No card needed.

• Community$0

  Self-hosted open-source edition: credits are not metered and users are unlimited, but Agents and Chat and MCPs are not included.

• Plus$16

  flat per month, billed yearly ($20 billed monthly)

  10,000 credits a month, then $0.007 per credit. Up to 5 users, and you can connect your own AI provider keys.

• Team$166

  flat per month, billed yearly ($200 billed monthly)

  50,000 credits a month, 25 users, unlimited projects, SSO, standard roles, global connections and email support.

• UltimateCustom

  Yearly credit pool sized to the customer, dedicated workers, execution priority, SCIM, custom roles, Git Sync, audit logs and dedicated support.

• EmbedFrom $36k

  per year

  White-label flow builder, AI agents and the integration library placed inside your own product through one SDK. Sold through sales.

n8n

• Community Edition€0

  Self-hosted from GitHub. Almost the complete feature set, without SSO, projects, environments, Git version control or workflow sharing.

• Starter€20

  per month, billed annually, for 2,500 executions

  Hosted by n8n. Unlimited steps per workflow, 1 shared project, 5 concurrent executions, and agents, MCP and AI nodes.

• Pro€50

  per month, billed annually, for 10,000 executions

  Hosted by n8n. 3 shared projects, up to 50 concurrent executions, 7 days of insights, admin roles and workflow history.

• Business€667

  per month, billed annually, for 40,000 executions

  Self-hosted only. 6 shared projects, SSO with SAML and LDAP, multiple environments, Git version control, queue mode and 30 days of insights.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Hosted or self-hosted. Custom executions, unlimited shared projects, 200+ concurrent executions, external secret store, log streaming and SLA support.

Activepieces

• Annual discount

  Save 2 months with annual billing

  The pricing page's Annual option is labeled as saving 2 months: Plus is $16 a month billed yearly instead of $20, and Team is $166 instead of $200.

n8n

• Annual discount

  Save 17% with annual billing

  n8n's pricing page shows a 17% saving when a plan is billed annually instead of monthly. The prices listed here are the annual rates.

• Startups

  Start-up Plan: 50% off Business

  Companies with fewer than 20 employees can check whether they qualify for the Start-up Plan, which takes 50% off the Business plan.