n8n
Source-available workflow automation you can self-host, with AI nodes.
n8n connects APIs into visual workflows and, unlike most no-code automation, can be self-hosted for free on a small VPS. That makes it the pragmatic choice for automations touching data you would rather not send through a third party.
Its AI agent nodes make it a reasonable place to build a retrieval or triage pipeline without writing a service, though real production loads still want code.
What it's genuinely good at
- Self-hostable at effectively zero marginal cost
- Code nodes let you drop into JavaScript when the UI runs out
- Strong AI and vector-store nodes
- Hundreds of prebuilt integrations
Where it falls apart
- Self-hosting means you own the uptime
- Debugging long workflows is tedious
- Cloud pricing by execution surprises people
Alternatives to n8n
Who should use n8n
- Internal automations over private data
- Solo builders wiring APIs without a backend
- Prototyping AI agent pipelines
What it costs
Self-hosted community edition free; cloud plans from roughly €20/month billed by workflow executions.
Frequently asked
Is n8n really free?
The community edition is free to self-host under a fair-code licence; the managed cloud is paid.
Can it replace a backend?
For internal glue, often yes. For user-facing latency-sensitive paths, write the service.