Why it matters
- 55,000+ GitHub stars and 100,000+ teams — one of the most widely deployed self-hosted automation tools.
- Native AI nodes bring LLM agents directly into automation workflows — no separate AI platform needed.
- Fair-code license means self-hosters get full features with no per-execution fees — a key cost advantage over Zapier/Make.
- 400+ integrations cover the entire modern SaaS stack: Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce, Google, GitHub, databases, APIs.
Key capabilities
- Visual workflow builder: Drag-and-drop node editor for connecting 400+ app integrations.
- AI Agent nodes: Built-in nodes for LLM calls, tool-using agents, vector search, and embeddings.
- Code execution: Write JavaScript or Python directly in workflow nodes for complex transformations.
- 400+ integrations: Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce, Gmail, GitHub, PostgreSQL, MySQL, HTTP webhook, and hundreds more.
- Self-hosted: Run on your own Docker/Kubernetes — full feature parity with the cloud version.
- Webhook triggers: Trigger workflows from any HTTP request — ideal for real-time event processing.
- Error handling and retry: Built-in error workflows, retry logic, and execution history.
- Scheduled workflows: Cron-based scheduling for periodic automation.
Technical notes
- License: Fair-code (Commons Clause + Apache 2.0 core); commercial use allowed for self-hosted teams
- Deployment: Docker (
docker run -it --rm -p 5678:5678 n8nio/n8n); Kubernetes; n8n Cloud - Tech stack: Node.js backend; Vue.js frontend
- AI node support: OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, HuggingFace, Google Vertex, AWS Bedrock
- Pricing (cloud): Starter $24/mo; Pro $60/mo; Enterprise custom; self-hosted is free
- Database: PostgreSQL (recommended production); SQLite (default)
- Founded: 2019 by Jan Oberhauser; Berlin-based
Ideal for
- Engineering and ops teams who need flexible, code-capable workflow automation without Zapier's per-task pricing.
- Organizations building AI-augmented automation — sales enrichment, customer support routing, data pipelines with LLM processing.
- Teams who want self-hosted automation for data privacy compliance without sacrificing integration breadth.
Not ideal for
- Complete non-technical users without JavaScript/logic knowledge — Zapier or Make (Integromat) are simpler.
- Visual-first chatbot building — Voiceflow or Botpress are more purpose-built.
- Mission-critical workflows requiring enterprise SLAs without dedicated n8n Cloud Enterprise contract.