Activepieces vs n8n
n8n scores 8.7 to Activepieces's 7.8 among the workflow automation tools we rate, and is the better pick for 2 of the 4 kinds of buyer below.
n8n wins, 8.7 to 7.8
n8n agents can supervise and hand off tasks to other AI Agent Tool nodes, and n8n ships a dedicated Evaluations feature to test agent output against test cases; Activepieces agents work alone and Activepieces has no agent evaluation tool. Both self-host and default to EU hosting. Activepieces costs $20 a month on its cheapest paid plan against n8n's $25.92 a month, and keeps 30 days of run history against n8n's 7. Activepieces also adds email support alongside community, where n8n offers community only.
Pick Activepieces if you want longer run history and email support included.
Pick n8n if you need agents that hand off tasks and get evaluated.
Best for
Who each one suits, decided on the criteria that matter to that buyer and the checked facts where the two differ.
- Cost of 1,000 five-step runs a month: $20 against $25.92
- Monthly price, cheapest paid plan: $20 against $25.92
- App connectors: 2174 apps against 764 apps
- But Activepieces leads on run history kept on the cheapest plan: 30 days against 7 days
- Agents that work together: n8n yes, Activepieces no
- Test and evaluate agents: n8n yes, Activepieces no
- What agents can learn from: Files, website, notion, google_drive, database against Files, databases
- Ways to reach support: Email, community against Community
How they score
Both are scored the same way, against the other workflow automation tools we rate, from facts on each vendor's own pages. Activepieces leads on 4 of 7 criteria.
Where they differ
Every point where the two vendors' published facts disagree, with a link to where each fact was read. "Not published" means the vendor does not say either way.
Published by only one of them
Where they match (9)
Pricing, plan by plan
Every plan each vendor publishes, monthly and yearly where both are offered.
Activepieces
n8n
Pros and cons
From each tool's full review, written from the same checked facts.
Activepieces
- Unlimited automation runs are included at no extra charge regardless of plan, making it cost-effective for high-volume teams.
- MIT-licensed open-source platform allows full self-hosting on Docker, Helm, or any cloud provider for maximum data control.
- 764 integrations cover a wide range of use cases with four trigger types including webhooks, scheduling, app events, and manual triggers.
- The AI agent builder includes a Human Approval step, making it suitable for workflows involving money or sensitive customer data.
- The drag-and-drop workflow builder works for non-technical users while still allowing developers to write custom logic steps.
- A pre-built agent library organized by team function lowers the barrier for teams that don't want to build automations from scratch.
- Strong community trust with 23,000+ GitHub stars and active Discord and forum communities supporting real-world use cases.
- Relatively young platform founded in 2022, which may raise concerns about long-term stability and enterprise maturity.
- Self-hosting adds infrastructure overhead that smaller teams or non-technical users may find difficult to manage.
- The AI agent builder is newer and less battle-tested compared to the core workflow automation features.
- Teams in non-regulated industries may not fully benefit from the self-hosting advantage that drives much of the platform's appeal.
- The breadth of features may create a steeper learning curve for teams looking for a simple plug-and-play automation tool.
- Community-dependent support model may not satisfy teams that require dedicated enterprise-level customer service.
n8n
- The self-hosted community edition is genuinely free with no workflow limits, which is rare among automation platforms.
- Code nodes allow JavaScript or Python to be inserted anywhere in a workflow, so developers never feel constrained by visual node limitations.
- Full infrastructure flexibility — runs on Docker, on-prem, or cloud depending on team preference.
- The visual canvas shows every step of a workflow with execution tracing, giving technical users clear visibility into what happened and why.
- A 200,000+ strong community actively solves real problems, often filling the gap when official support is slow.
- Cloud plans start at just €24/month, making the paid tier accessible compared to competitors that charge significantly more.
- Built without dumbing down the interface, making it a genuinely powerful tool for technical and DevOps teams.
- Non-technical users tend to bounce off the platform quickly due to its complexity and technical design philosophy.
- The interface is not designed to hide complexity, which creates a steep learning curve for teams without developer resources.
- Support tickets can be slow, pushing users to rely on the community forum rather than official channels.
- The tool is not competing with beginner-friendly platforms like Zapier, so teams expecting that experience will be disappointed.
- Self-hosting requires infrastructure management overhead that smaller or less technical teams may not be equipped to handle.
Activepieces vs n8n: common questions
Which is better, Activepieces or n8n?
n8n scores 8.7 and Activepieces 7.8 out of 10 among the workflow automation tools we rate. n8n is ahead on aI agents and apps it connects to. Activepieces is ahead on pricing, reliability and control, hosting and security and support.
Is Activepieces or n8n cheaper?
Activepieces's cheapest paid plan is $20/mo and n8n's is €24/mo — Starter. Compare what each plan includes below before going on price alone.
Do Activepieces and n8n have a free plan?
Yes, both do.
What can n8n do that Activepieces cannot?
On the facts both vendors publish: agents that work together and test and evaluate agents.
