n8n

n8n is a node-based workflow automation tool that combines 400+ integrations with code steps and AI agent nodes, and technical teams adopt it as a self-hostable alternative to Zapier and Make. The Community Edition is free to self-host under n8n's Sustainable Use License, which is source-available fair-code rather than OSI open source.

What the free plan gives you

The docs describe Community as "almost the complete feature set of n8n". You get unlimited workflows, unlimited executions, unlimited users, all integrations, webhooks, credentials management, queue mode for scaling workers, and execution logs. Registering the instance with an email unlocks folders, debug in editor and custom execution data at no cost. The only bill is your own server, typically a small VPS running Docker.

Where the free plan stops

Enterprise features are licence-gated: projects with role-based access control, SAML and LDAP SSO, environments, Git-based version control, external secrets, custom variables and log streaming. You also may not resell n8n as a hosted service without a commercial licence. If you would rather not host, n8n Cloud starts at €20 a month billed annually for 2,500 executions and 5 concurrent runs; Pro is €50 a month for 10,000 executions.

Who it suits

A developer or ops team happy to run a container gets effectively unlimited automation for free, and that is the setup most self-hosters use in production. Teams that need SSO, separate staging and production environments, or audit-friendly RBAC will need Business or Enterprise; non-technical users who want zero maintenance should look at Cloud Starter.