n8n

n8n (node to node) is a fair-code-licensed workflow automation platform that pairs a visual, node-based editor with inline JavaScript and Python. Founded in 2019 and based in Berlin, n8n is the leading open-source alternative to Zapier and Make for technical teams that want automation without per-task pricing, vendor lock-in, or data-residency constraints. With more than 198,000 GitHub stars and a community of 200,000-plus members, it is a platform of choice for developers, DevOps teams, and data engineers building production automation. Fair-code means the source is public and self-hostable, with commercial use above a threshold requiring a paid enterprise license. n8n ships 400+ native integration nodes spanning CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho), databases (Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, Airtable), communication (Slack, Teams, Gmail, Outlook), project tools (GitHub, GitLab, Jira, Linear, Notion), and the major cloud platforms. Its AI subsystem adds 70+ LangChain-based nodes: an AI Agent node that can call any other n8n node as a tool, vector-store nodes (Pinecone, Qdrant, Chroma, Supabase), and LLM nodes for OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, and local Ollama models. n8n is both an MCP server and an MCP client: the MCP Server Trigger node exposes workflows to external AI agents, and the MCP Client Tool node lets workflows call external MCP servers. The HTTP Request node covers any remaining REST API. Pricing runs on two tracks. Self-hosted is free under the fair-code license, with unlimited workflows and executions, deployable via Docker, npm, or cloud marketplaces. n8n Cloud is execution-based and priced in euros, billed annually. Starter is EUR 20 per month (2,500 executions), Pro is EUR 50 per month (10,000 executions), and Business is EUR 667 per month (40,000 executions, aimed at companies under 100 employees needing collaboration and scale). Enterprise is contact-sales and adds 200-plus concurrent executions, unlimited logs, SSO, RBAC, and audit logging. Because n8n counts a full multi-step workflow as a single execution, its cloud tiers are typically far cheaper per workflow than per-task automation tools. n8n is not the right fit for non-technical teams that want drag-and-drop automation without code: Zapier and Make offer lower learning curves and larger one-click integration libraries. Teams needing thousands of pre-built connectors without any API configuration will find Zapier's library much larger, roughly an order of magnitude more native integrations, though n8n's HTTP node closes most gaps for developers. Organizations without staff to maintain self-hosted infrastructure should use n8n Cloud or a fully managed alternative. n8n's capabilities include visual workflow building, the AI Agent node for autonomous tool calls across all integration nodes, MCP server and client, inline JavaScript and Python, vector-store nodes for RAG, and Git-based version control for Enterprise. As of Q3 2026 the cloud ladder is Starter, Pro, Business, and Enterprise, priced in euros with self-hosting free, and the AI Workflow Builder generates workflows from natural language. Self-hosted deployments keep all data in customer infrastructure, and n8n's privacy policy states it does not use customer data to train AI or ML models. n8n Cloud is certified under SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and SOC 3, is GDPR compliant, and supports HIPAA. Not affiliated.