Activepieces vs n8n
Pick n8n for most self-hosted automation: the more mature product, the larger node library, and a single container on the 1 GB our n8n page lists (n8n publishes no minimum) — as long as you run it for your own business or yourself, which is what its Sustainable Use License permits. Pick Activepieces when the license has to be OSI open source (its Community Edition is MIT) or when MCP servers for AI tooling are the point of the build (its AI agents themselves are a paid-layer feature), and accept a fast-moving pre-1.0 project whose production shape is a four-service compose stack with a documented 2 vCPU / 4 GB minimum. Both sell SSO, audit logs and Git-backed environments rather than giving them away.
Side by side
Activepieces and n8n are the two visual, connector-driven automation builders in this hub — the ones that look and feel like Zapier once you open them. Both are TypeScript/Node.js applications — Activepieces wants PostgreSQL and Redis beside it in production, n8n runs on SQLite and needs Redis only in queue mode — and both draw the same line between a free core and a paid ring of team features. They differ on the license, on how much of a project each one is, and on what the smallest honest install looks like.
The license is the headline
Activepieces' Community Edition is MIT-licensed — the most permissive license in common use, and OSI open source without qualification. Its README is explicit that enterprise features are under a separate commercial license, so the repository is open-core rather than wholly open, but the core you self-host is yours to use, modify and redistribute.
n8n ships under its own Sustainable Use License. The text permits use and
modification "only for your own internal business purposes or for
non-commercial or personal use", and forbids distributing the software to
others except free of charge for non-commercial purposes. It is
source-available "fair-code", not OSI open source. For an internal automation
server — which is what almost everyone self-hosting n8n runs — that changes
nothing day to day. It matters if you want to offer n8n to clients, embed it
in a product, or need the software to be open source on paper. n8n also
carries .ee. files that need an Enterprise license, the same open-core
shape as Activepieces.
What the free edition holds back
The two projects gate remarkably similar things. n8n's Community edition lacks SSO (SAML, LDAP), projects, workflow and credential sharing, Git version control, environments, external secrets, log streaming, custom variables, external binary storage and multi-main mode; registering the free edition with an email unlocks folders, debug-in-editor and custom execution data. Activepieces' paid tiers add SSO and SCIM, custom RBAC, audit logs, Git sync and releases, multiple projects, private pieces, secret managers, event streaming and branding.
Read that as: one person or a small team automating their own systems gets the whole product from either. Once you need per-team access control, an audit trail or a promotion pipeline, both send you to a price list.
Maturity and breadth
n8n is the more mature product — years of stable major releases, a very large node library, a busy community and, on this site, a verified install and a deploy guide. Activepieces is still pre-1.0: releases are frequent and the project moves fast, which is exactly what you want from an active project and exactly what makes upgrades worth reading the notes for. Its distinguishing bet is AI: MCP servers ship in the open core, while its AI agents and Chat sit on the paid layer — the pricing page names "running Agents and Chat" as something paying adds. n8n approaches AI as nodes inside ordinary workflows.
The smallest install
n8n runs as one container, storing its data in SQLite unless you give it
Postgres; the 1 GB on our n8n page is this site's figure — n8n publishes
no minimum. Activepieces has two shapes.
The docs' "hobbyist" install is also one container — an embedded PGLite
database and an in-memory queue — but upstream states it cannot scale, cannot
be moved to the paid edition, and that "moving off it means starting over". The recommended production shape
is a four-service compose stack (app, worker, Postgres, Redis) with a
documented minimum of 2 vCPU and 4 GB RAM, plus two secrets you must
generate: AP_ENCRYPTION_KEY and AP_JWT_SECRET. That 4 GB is the figure
on Activepieces' page here; the single-container shape will run on less, but
the project publishes no number for it and neither do we.
Pick Activepieces if…
- The core has to be OSI open source — MIT is as clean as it gets.
- MCP servers in the open core are the point of the automation (its AI agents themselves are paid-layer).
- You are happy with a fast-moving pre-1.0 project and will read release notes before upgrading.
Pick n8n if…
- You want the larger, more mature node ecosystem and the biggest community to search when something breaks.
- A single-container install with SQLite is the right size for you.
- The Sustainable Use License's internal-use-only terms are no obstacle because the server is for your own business or yourself.
The honest trade-off
n8n wins this one for most self-hosters on maturity, footprint and ecosystem: it is the bigger product, it runs in one container on a smaller box, and the license restriction only bites if you are redistributing it or hosting it for others. Activepieces is the answer when the license question is the question — MIT versus source-available — and when MCP servers are what you are building around. Neither gives you SSO, audit logs or Git-backed environments for free; both sell them.
Common questions
Activepieces vs n8n — which should I self-host?
n8n for most people: it is the more mature product with the larger node library and runs as one container on the 1 GB our n8n page lists; n8n itself publishes no minimum. Activepieces when the license must be OSI open source (its Community Edition is MIT) or when you want MCP servers in the open core (note that Activepieces' own AI agents and Chat are paid-layer features) — and you are comfortable with a pre-1.0 project whose production install is a four-service compose stack.
Is n8n open source?
Not by the OSI definition. n8n uses its own Sustainable Use License, which permits use and modification for your own internal business purposes or non-commercial and personal use, but not distributing the software to others except free of charge for non-commercial purposes. Files marked .ee. additionally need an Enterprise license. Activepieces' Community Edition, by contrast, is MIT.
Do both gate features behind a paid tier?
Yes, and the lists are similar. n8n's Community edition lacks SSO (SAML/LDAP), projects, workflow and credential sharing, Git version control, environments, external secrets and log streaming. Activepieces' paid editions add SSO and SCIM, custom RBAC, audit logs, Git sync, multiple projects, private pieces and secret managers. A single person or small team automating their own systems gets the whole product from either.
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Other comparisons with these apps
Two browser flow editors on Node.js that do different jobs — event and device plumbing under Apache-2.0 vs. SaaS-to-SaaS automation under a source-available license.
A code-first developer platform with an AGPL core and a seat cap vs. a no-code integration tool with no seat cap and a source-available license.
The multi-database web client from DBeaver vs. the PostgreSQL-only admin tool.