Watch: Open-source flexibility comes with operator...
Tool Automation open-source active Below 8
Activepieces
Activepieces is an MIT-licensed Zapier...
7.5/10 Useful
Active
Free self-host / $5 per active flow (cloud)
Best plan
Free self-host / $5 per active flow (cloud)
Risk: Open-source flexibility comes with operator...
Editorial · no paid placements
Should you use it?
Activepieces is an MIT-licensed Zapier alternative. Self-host free with unlimited runs, or use cloud Standard (10 flows free, then $5 per active flow per month). The June 25, 2026 check found 754 catalog pieces, 754 MCP listings, unlimited MCP servers on Standard, and active June releases through 0.85.4. Pick it for cost, privacy, and MCP-heavy workflow control; skip if a required connector or self-host operation plan is missing.
- Buy if Teams leaving Zapier on cost
- Pick Free self-host / $5 per active flow (cloud)
- Skip if Non-technical users wanting zero infra
Plan guidance
What to buy
10 active flows free, then $5/active flow/mo
Open-source flexibility comes with operator...
Current pricing source: Activepieces pricing
Fit
Use it for this, skip it for that
Best for
- Teams leaving Zapier on cost
- Privacy-sensitive automations kept on-prem
- AI agent workflows with MCP tool servers
- Developer teams comfortable with Docker
Avoid if
- Non-technical users wanting zero infra
- Workflows needing 1000+ third-party connectors
- Heavy enterprise SSO/audit requirements without an annual contract
- Watch out
- Open-source flexibility comes with operator responsibility: teams need to own hosting, connector maintenance, secrets, and workflow reliability if they self-host.
Recent changes
Only what affects the decision
- Standard
June 25 recheck: pricing page still lists unlimited runs, AI agents, unlimited MCP servers, unlimited tables, and community support; pieces and MCP pages still showed 754 listings
Activepieces pricing - Self-hosted
Verified unchanged. MIT license, unlimited runs
Activepieces pricing - Standard
Per-flow pricing replaces per-task metering; 10 flows included free
Activepieces pricing
Alternatives
Best swaps
Microsoft Agent Framework
Build comparison Microsoft's open-source agentic AI engine, merging Semantic Kernel and AutoGen, now sitting beside the Work IQ, Foundry, Copilot
Free (open source) · 9/10 LangfuseOpen-source LLM engineering platform for observability, prompt management, evals, datasets, and OpenTelemetry tracing. ClickHous
$0 free / $29 Core / $199 Pro / $2,499 Enterprise · 8.8/10 LangGraphLangChain's low-level orchestration runtime for long-running, stateful AI agents. MIT-licensed Python and JavaScript libraries;
$0 library / $39 Plus / usage-based deployment · 8.8/10Activepieces comparisons
See all →Activepieces vs n8n
Activepieces vs n8n, verified June 27, 2026: choose Activepieces for MIT self-hosting, simple per-active-flow pricing, and MCP-first control; choose n8n for deeper workflow operations, code nodes, AI Agent nodes, and execution-based cloud.
Activepieces vs Zapier
Activepieces vs Zapier, verified June 27, 2026: choose Activepieces for MIT self-hosting, active-flow pricing, and MCP-first control; choose Zapier for 9,000+ apps, 30,000+ MCP actions, and non-technical rollout.
Proof and score math Verified Jun 25
Proof
Why this recommendation is trusted
Evidence Activepieces GitHub repository
- Source
- Registered source
- Freshness
- Current
- Confidence
- High confidence
- Verified
- Review
- Volatility
- Volatile
High-volatility evidence needs frequent review.
Editorial score
Unweighted average of 4 axes · confidence high
- Utility 8/10
How much real work it can do for a competent operator, end to end.
- Value 9/10
What you get for the dollar relative to the closest alternative.
- Moat 6/10
How hard it would be for a competitor to replicate the underlying advantage.
- Longevity 7/10
How likely the product is to still be best-in-class 24 months out.
Verified facts
- Best For Best for teams that want open-source workflow automation with AI agents, MCP-style integrations, and self-hosting options.
- Pricing Anchor Activepieces combines a free self-host path with cloud pricing; check the current flow, task, user, and enterprise limits before standardizing.
- Watch Out For Open-source flexibility comes with operator responsibility: teams need to own hosting, connector maintenance, secrets, and workflow reliability if they self-host.
- Api Available Docs cover Docker, Docker Compose, Kubernetes, cloud, API, flow-building, and MCP server concepts for teams using Activepieces beyond the hosted UI.
- Enterprise Controls Enterprise fit depends on self-hosting, governance, connector coverage, audit logs, SSO, custom RBAC, and support, not just the headline cloud price.
- Open Source Or Local The project is open source and self-hostable, which is the main reason to compare it against Zapier, Make, and closed automation suites.
Full review notes Long-form details, FAQ, and source history
Open-source no-code automation platform from Activepieces Inc. Positioned as a Zapier alternative, with the Community Edition core under MIT license on GitHub. Activepieces now markets MCP tools docs expose flow reading, validation, building, branching, table, run, and setup-guide actions for AI agents.
Two deployment paths: self-host free on your own infrastructure, or use the cloud Standard plan (10 flows free, then $5 per active flow per month).
System Verdict
Pick Activepieces if cost or data residency ruled out Zapier. Self-hosted is genuinely free with unlimited runs. Cloud Standard starts free for 10 active flows and scales at $5 per flow, not per task, which avoids the step-multiplier trap that makes Zapier expensive.
The MCP integration is the real 2026 upgrade. Pieces contributed to the catalog can become MCP tools for Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf, and the docs now show MCP tools for reading, validating, editing, testing, and publishing flows. Treat that as workflow-control power, not just connector count.
Skip it if the connector catalog gaps your stack. Zapier still wins on raw breadth. Skip too if the team has no Docker comfort, no Postgres admin, and no appetite for version upgrades. Make is the better managed pick there.
Who pays which tier: solo self-host for hobbyists and privacy-first teams, cloud Standard free for small teams under 10 flows, cloud Standard paid ($5/flow) for production teams, Ultimate annual contract for SSO, audit logs, custom RBAC, and Git sync.
Key Facts
| License | Community Edition core is MIT; enterprise and cloud-edition features use a commercial license |
| Cloud Standard | 10 active flows free, then $5 per active flow per month |
| Connectors (“pieces”) | Live catalog showed 754 pieces on 2026-06-25; site navigation says 700+ integrations |
| MCP servers | Pricing includes unlimited MCP servers; the public MCP page showed 754 MCP listings on 2026-06-25 |
| AI actions | Native pieces and platform AI routes include OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, Mistral AI, vector stores, and agent workflows |
| Self-host stack | Docker fastest path with PGLite; Docker Compose with PostgreSQL and Redis |
| Code steps | JavaScript (Node-based) |
| Enterprise deploy | Ultimate annual contract (SSO, audit logs, custom RBAC, Git sync, piece access controls, dedicated support) |
Every data point above was verified against vendor documentation on 2026-06-25. See Sources.
What changed since the last refresh
The page was last written on 2026-06-12. Since then, GitHub releases show four relevant updates:
- 0.85.4, June 17: added sign-up/sign-in funnel instrumentation, friendlier output-schema labels, an isolate sandbox file-cap fix, OAuth handshake support for subpath-hosted MCP instances, AI-ready metadata batches, and more workflow reliability work.
- 0.85.3, June 14: fixed a locked-down PostgreSQL pgvector migration crash-loop risk and a Bun isolated-linker sqlite3 build issue. That matters for self-hosted buyers because deployment reliability is part of the product, not a footnote.
- 0.85.2, June 9: added data manipulation triggers. That deepens Activepieces as an internal data-workflow builder, not just an app-to-app router.
- 0.85.0, June 4: added Mistral AI as a platform AI provider, formulas and data manipulation functions in the flow builder, platform-admin success-rate and queue-depth health metrics, better AI chat reliability, tool-calling UX work, MCP-created flow labeling, and new pieces including Slite, Raindrop, AddEvent, and more.
The buyer implication is sharper now: Activepieces is moving toward an AI-assisted workflow control plane. It still competes with Zapier and Make on automation, but the June release stream makes admin observability, flow-building ergonomics, and MCP-mediated agent editing more central to the decision.
What it actually is
A visual workflow builder with drag-and-drop triggers, actions, branches, loops, formulas, data manipulation functions, and JavaScript code steps. Self-hosted can start with a single Docker container using PGLite or use Docker Compose with PostgreSQL and Redis. Cloud handles hosting and metering.
The 2026 positioning shift is AI agents and MCP. Activepieces now exposes flow-management MCP tools such as listing flows, reading flow structure, validating flows, building flows, adding steps, managing branches, testing runs, and working with tables. This makes Activepieces a two-way bridge: flows call LLMs, and LLMs can inspect or change supported flows.
The moats are thin. Code is MIT-licensed, so any competitor can fork. Differentiation rests on community contribution velocity, the MCP-first catalog, and the simplicity of the per-flow pricing model.
When to pick Activepieces
- Cost is the dealbreaker. Zapier’s step-based metering is punishing on multi-action flows. Activepieces charges per active flow, not per execution.
- Data cannot leave on-prem. Self-hosted deployment keeps every webhook, payload, and log on infrastructure the team controls.
- The agent stack uses MCP. Activepieces exposes many pieces and flow-management actions as MCP tools; Claude Desktop or Cursor can invoke supported tools without custom connector code.
- The team has Docker and Postgres comfort. Self-host setup runs in 20 minutes. Updates, backups, and scaling are the team’s job.
- Workflows need AI actions inline. Native pieces and platform AI routes for OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, Mistral AI, vector stores, and agent workflows remove boilerplate provider SDK calls.
When to pick something else
- Broadest connector catalog: Zapier remains the safer pick when app coverage matters more than self-hosting, per-flow pricing, or MCP.
- Managed cloud with deep node library: n8n offers a similar open-source story plus cloud. Self-host n8n if the team prefers Node-flavored workflows over drag-and-drop.
- Visual workflow builder with generous free tier: Make remains the best pick for non-technical users who will never self-host.
- Enterprise controls without a custom Activepieces contract: Zapier Enterprise or Workato may be cleaner if SSO, audit, SCIM, and procurement paperwork matter more than open-source control.
- Coding the agent logic directly: LangGraph or the MCP SDK. Activepieces is a GUI-first product.
Pricing
Pricing via activepieces.com/pricing:
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted (Community) | Free | MIT-licensed core, self-hosting, Docker/Docker Compose/Kubernetes install paths |
| Cloud Standard | Free for 10 active flows, $5 per additional flow/mo | Unlimited runs, AI agents, unlimited tables, email support |
| Cloud Ultimate | Custom annual contract | SSO, audit logs, custom RBAC, piece access controls, global connections, Git sync, dedicated support |
| Embed | From $30,000/yr | Embedded builder and agents, JS SDK, custom templates, white-label |
Prices verified 2026-06-25 via activepieces.com/pricing. Pricing is currently per active flow on Standard; the current GitHub releases page showed 0.85.4 shipping on June 17, 2026.
Against the alternatives
| Activepieces | Zapier | n8n | Make | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| License | MIT open-source | Proprietary | Sustainable-Use (fair-code) | Proprietary |
| Self-host | Yes, free, unlimited | No | Yes, free | No |
| Connector count | 754 pieces shown on the live catalog | Larger SaaS app catalog | Broad technical node catalog | Broad visual app catalog |
| Native MCP | Yes, broad built-in MCP coverage | Not the main buying reason | Not the main buying reason | Not the main buying reason |
| Pricing model | Per active flow | Per task | Per execution | Per operation |
| Entry cloud price | Free for 10 active flows | Paid hosted plans | Paid hosted plans | Free tier plus paid plans |
| Best viewed as | MCP-first automation | Breadth champion | Coder-friendly OSS | Polished visual builder |
Failure modes
- Connector gaps. Niche SaaS apps common on Zapier may be missing. Workaround is custom HTTP pieces or community contributions, both of which cost time.
- Self-host operations load. Postgres backups, Redis uptime, Docker updates, and TLS renewal are the operator’s problem. Cloud Standard exists for teams that do not want that.
- Per-flow pricing surprises. A flow that triggers 10,000 times per month costs the same $5 as one that fires twice. That is usually a win, but low-volume test flows still count against the active-flow total.
- Community piece quality varies. Official pieces are maintained; community contributions can go stale when upstream APIs change.
- MCP exposure needs review. MCP is powerful enough to inspect, validate, edit, test, and publish supported flows. Teams should separate tool scopes by project and avoid giving external agents broad write paths by default.
- Enterprise controls require a contract. SSO, audit logs, custom RBAC, Git sync, piece access controls, and dedicated support live behind the Ultimate annual plan. No self-serve path to those features.
- JavaScript-only code steps. Python, Ruby, Go, or Bash custom logic has to run as an external HTTP endpoint that the flow calls.
Methodology
This page was produced by the aipedia.wiki editorial pipeline, an automated system that ingests vendor documentation, verifies pricing and product details against primary sources, and generates the editorial analysis shown. No individual human wrote this review. Scoring follows the four-dimension rubric at /about/scoring/ (Utility x Value x Moat x Longevity, unweighted average). Last verified 2026-06-25 against activepieces.com/pricing, the Activepieces GitHub repository, the Activepieces pieces catalog, the MCP page, MCP tools docs, install docs, and the current releases page.
FAQ
Is self-hosting truly free? The Community Edition core is MIT-licensed and self-hostable. The operator pays for infrastructure and owns deployment, updates, database, queue, and security work.
How is cloud pricing structured in 2026? Cloud Standard is free for the first 10 active flows, then $5 per active flow per month. Runs are unlimited. This replaces the earlier per-task model.
Does Activepieces support MCP? Yes, but do not read it as “every catalog piece is guaranteed.” On June 25, 2026, the pricing page included unlimited MCP servers, the MCP page showed 754 MCP listings, and the docs listed MCP tools for flow discovery, editing, validation, testing, and publishing.
Activepieces vs Zapier in 2026? Activepieces wins on cost, self-host option, and MCP-driven workflow control. Zapier wins when connector breadth and hands-off SaaS reliability matter more than infrastructure control. See Activepieces vs Zapier for the full buyer fork.
Which AI providers ship as native pieces? OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, Mistral AI, vector-store, and agent pieces are all represented. Use the live piece catalog for exact model availability because provider model lists change faster than the workflow platform.
Sources
- Activepieces pricing: plan structure, per-flow cost (verified 2026-06-25)
- Activepieces GitHub: MIT license, codebase, MCP positioning (verified 2026-06-25)
- Activepieces self-hosting docs: Docker Compose, Postgres, Redis setup (verified 2026-06-25)
- Activepieces MCP page: public MCP count and setup flow (verified 2026-06-25)
- Activepieces MCP tools docs: flow discovery, editing, validation, testing, and table tools exposed through MCP (verified 2026-06-25)
- Activepieces pieces catalog: live piece count and integration categories (verified 2026-06-25)
- Pricing-model blog post: 2026 shift from per-task to per-flow billing
Related
- Category: AI Automation
- Comparisons: Activepieces vs n8n · Activepieces vs Zapier
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According to aipedia.wiki Editorial at aipedia.wiki (https://aipedia.wiki/tools/activepieces/) aipedia.wiki Editorial. (2026). Activepieces: Editorial Review. aipedia.wiki. Retrieved July 2, 2026, from https://aipedia.wiki/tools/activepieces/ aipedia.wiki Editorial. "Activepieces: Editorial Review." aipedia.wiki, 2026, https://aipedia.wiki/tools/activepieces/. Accessed July 2, 2026. aipedia.wiki Editorial. 2026. "Activepieces: Editorial Review." aipedia.wiki. https://aipedia.wiki/tools/activepieces/. @misc{activepieces-editorial-review-2026,
author = {{aipedia.wiki Editorial}},
title = {Activepieces: Editorial Review},
year = {2026},
publisher = {aipedia.wiki},
url = {https://aipedia.wiki/tools/activepieces/},
note = {Accessed: 2026-07-02}
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