Quick answer
The hosted n8n alternatives that need no server are Zapier, Make, Activepieces Cloud, IFTTT and Power Automate. By published allowance, Activepieces' free plan covers up to 1,000 runs a month, Make Core ($9 a month) up to 2,500 runs of a three-action workflow, and Activepieces Plus ($20 a month) 10,000 runs.
Key takeaways
- Rule: n8n makes sense only if someone on your team can maintain a server or you pay for n8n Cloud. Otherwise pick a hosted tool by monthly volume.
- By published allowance, as of October 2026: up to 1,000 runs a month, Activepieces' free plan; up to 2,500 runs of a three-action workflow, Make Core at $9 a month billed annually; up to 10,000 runs, Activepieces Plus at $20 a month.
- The same 3-action workflow gets 750 ÷ 3 = 250 runs on Zapier's 750-task plan and 2,500 runs on n8n Cloud Starter, because n8n counts the whole run as one execution.
- n8n's free Community Edition is self-hosted, and n8n's own install guide recommends self-hosting for expert users. n8n Cloud has a free trial of 14 days, not a free plan.
What are the best n8n alternatives if you do not want to run a server?
The hosted n8n alternatives are Zapier, Make, Activepieces Cloud, IFTTT and Power Automate, and the right one depends on how many times a month your automations run. Going by each vendor's published allowance as of October 2026: Activepieces' free plan for up to 1,000 runs a month, Make Core for up to 2,500 runs of a three-action workflow, and Activepieces Plus for up to 10,000.
Start with one rule. n8n makes sense only if someone on your team can maintain a server, or you pay for n8n Cloud. If neither is true, pick a hosted tool by monthly volume.
Think of a food truck. Self-hosted n8n is buying the truck: no rent, but you fix the engine. A hosted tool is a stall in a food hall.
To choose, you need two numbers per automation: runs per month, and actions per run after the trigger. Not sure what to automate yet? The practical guide to AI automation for small business covers that first.
How do the hosted options compare on pricing unit and free tier?
They differ most in what they count: Zapier counts actions, Make counts module runs, Activepieces and n8n count whole runs, IFTTT counts automations and Power Automate counts users. Every cell comes from the vendor's own page, checked on October 5, 2026.
| Tool | What it bills | Free tier | Entry paid plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| n8n Cloud | Execution: a single run of the whole workflow | No free plan. Free trial of 14 days, limited to 1,000 executions | Starter: €20 a month, billed annually, for 2,500 executions |
| Zapier | Task: each successful action | 100 tasks per month, two-step Zaps | Professional: from $19.99/month billed annually, for 750 tasks |
| Make | Credit: by default 1 credit per operation, and an operation is a single module run | Free: up to 1,000 credits a month | Core: $9 a month for 10,000 credits (see the note) |
| Activepieces Cloud | Credit: a run is one credit however many steps it has; AI steps cost more | 1,000 credits a month; its pricing page says "Daily" in one place and "every month" in another | Plus: $20 a month, billed monthly, for 10,000 credits and up to 5 users |
| IFTTT | Number of Applets (automations) on the plan | 2 Applets, "unlimited Applet runs" | Pro: $2.99 / month, $35.88 billed annually, for 20 Applets |
| Power Automate | Per user | Comes with Microsoft 365 license plans, standard connectors only | Premium: $15.00 per user per month, paid yearly |
Note: Make's $9 is the price with "Pay annually" selected; paying monthly costs more. n8n's page showed its Cloud prices in euros when checked; the other five showed dollars. See also the Zapier vs Make comparison.
Which alternative fits your monthly volume?
Pick the plan whose allowance covers your runs per month after you convert it into that vendor's unit. Compare runs, not plan names.
Take one workflow as the yardstick: a web form triggers it, then it adds a contact, sends an email and posts a team message. That is 3 actions per run.
| Plan | Published allowance | Runs of the 3-action workflow it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Zapier Free | 100 tasks per month, two-step Zaps | None as built: it has four steps (a trigger and 3 actions), and the Free plan lists two-step Zaps |
| Zapier Professional | 750 tasks | 750 ÷ 3 = 250 |
| Make Free | Up to 1,000 credits a month | At most 1,000 ÷ 4 = 250; a run uses at least 4 credits (1 trigger module, 3 action modules) |
| Activepieces Free | 1,000 credits a month | 1,000, with no AI steps |
| n8n Cloud Starter | 2,500 executions | 2,500 |
| Make Core | 10,000 credits a month | At most 10,000 ÷ 4 = 2,500 |
| Activepieces Plus | 10,000 credits a month | 10,000, with no AI steps |
| n8n Cloud Pro, €50 a month billed annually | 10K executions | 10,000 |
| IFTTT | A number of Applets | No run count published. Free lists "Unlimited Applet runs"; "Multi-action Applets" are listed on Pro and Pro+ |
| Power Automate | Actions per user per day, trigger included: 6,000 with Microsoft 365, 40,000 with Premium | 4 actions per run: 6,000 ÷ 4 = 1,500 runs a day, or 40,000 ÷ 4 = 10,000 |
The run counts are our arithmetic on the published allowances. Read the table as a decision list:
- One or two simple automations, any volume: IFTTT. Its free plan lists 2 Applets with unlimited Applet runs. Multi-action Applets are listed from Pro.
- Up to 100 runs a month of a trigger plus one action: Zapier Free. It lists 100 tasks and two-step Zaps.
- Up to 1,000 multi-step runs a month: Activepieces Free. A run is one credit however many steps it has, as long as none is an AI step. Make Free covers at most 250 runs of the yardstick workflow.
- Between 1,000 and 2,500 runs a month: Make Core or Activepieces Plus. Make Core has the lower listed price, $9 a month billed annually, and covers at most 2,500 runs of the yardstick. Every extra module per run shrinks that number. If your workflows are longer, Activepieces Plus at $20 a month covers 10,000 runs whatever the step count.
- Between 2,500 and 10,000 runs a month: Activepieces Plus. Past 10,000, extra credits are $0.007 each.
- Everything lives in Microsoft 365: Power Automate. Start with the version your license already includes before you pay for anything else.
Zapier Professional lands low because it bills each action. It still fits short workflows: a one-action Zap gets all 750 runs.
Which one is easiest if you are not technical?
No vendor publishes a difficulty score, so go by who each one says its product is for, then test it yourself. Their own descriptions sort the six into three groups.
| The vendor's own label | Tools | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| No-code | Zapier ("Visual no-code editor"), Make ("No-code visual workflow builder"), IFTTT ("Simple no-code integrations") | Built for people who do not write code. IFTTT's free plan also lists "DIY or use published Applets", so you can switch on one somebody else built |
| Low-code | Power Automate ("Easily build low-code automation") | Microsoft's word is low-code, not no-code, so test it before you commit |
| Technical teams | n8n ("AI agents and workflows for technical teams") | Plan on a technical person building and fixing workflows, even on n8n Cloud |
Activepieces' pricing page says neither "no-code" nor "low-code". Its Free plan lists "Chat to automation".
The test that counts is your own. Build one real workflow on the free plan or trial. If you cannot get it working yourself, that tool is too technical for your team.
Do you need an alternative, or just n8n Cloud?
If you like n8n and only want to stop running a server, n8n Cloud solves that without switching tools.
The free version is the self-hosted one. n8n's pricing page lists a Community Edition on GitHub, and its docs call it free with almost the complete feature set. The cost moves from a subscription to upkeep. n8n's install guide is direct about who that suits: "n8n recommends self-hosting for expert users. Mistakes can lead to data loss, security issues, and downtime."
So the rule has three branches:
- Someone on your team already maintains servers. Self-hosted n8n is a fair choice.
- Nobody does, but you want n8n's builder. Pay for n8n Cloud, from €20 a month billed annually. Your workflows move over as files: n8n's docs say you can export your workflows as JSON files and import them.
- Nobody does, and n8n felt too technical. Choose from the decision list by volume.
When do these hosted tools not fit?
A hosted tool is the wrong pick when its counting rule, its data location or its limits collide with how your workflow actually behaves.
- AI steps change the math on Activepieces. A step on a fast model is 2 credits, a smart model is 10 and a frontier model is 20. The run counts above only hold for workflows with no AI steps.
- Make bills the check itself. A trigger module that runs once to check for new data is 1 operation, so a scenario that checks often spends credits on checking.
- IFTTT's free plan stops at two Applets. Pro+ is $8.99 / month, $107.88 billed annually, with unlimited Applets.
- Power Automate's included version stops at standard connectors. Microsoft says users on Microsoft 365 license plans "can only access standard connectors". Premium connectors need the paid Premium license.
- Data may sit in Europe. n8n says hosted-plan data is stored in the EU, on servers in Frankfurt, Germany. Activepieces names its EU cloud in Frankfurt, with another region on request. If a contract requires US storage, ask first.
FAQ
Is there a free version of n8n?
Yes, but only the one you host yourself. n8n's pricing page says a standard, self-hosted Community Edition is available on GitHub, and its docs describe it as free with almost the complete feature set. n8n Cloud has no free plan: it has a free trial of 14 days limited to 1,000 executions, then paid plans from €20 a month billed annually, as of October 2026.
What happens when I use up a free plan’s monthly allowance?
Your automations wait until the allowance resets or you upgrade. Activepieces says flows on its Free plan stay switched on but runs past the quota do not go through until credits refresh; it gives 1,000 credits a month, and its pricing page says 'Daily' in one place and 'every month' in another. Zapier says that on a plan without pay-per-task billing it will hold any new Zap runs until your billing cycle resets. Make says that if you run out of credits before the next billing cycle starts, you can upgrade your subscription.
Can I move my existing n8n workflows to one of these tools?
To n8n Cloud, yes. n8n saves workflows in JSON format, and its docs say you can export your workflows as JSON files or import JSON files into your n8n library. For any of the other five tools, our advice is to plan on rebuilding each workflow step by step and reconnecting every account; we have not checked what each one can import.
Which n8n alternative is open source and also hosted?
Activepieces. Its pricing page lists every plan as 'Cloud or on-prem' and describes its integrations, called pieces, as open source TypeScript. The hosted Free plan lists 1,000 credits a month and the Plus plan lists 10,000 credits for $20 a month, billed monthly, as of October 2026.
What to do this week
Write down your two numbers for the one automation you want most: runs per month and actions per run. Find your line in the decision list.
Then build that single workflow on the free plan or trial before you pay. Once it works, the one-weekend automation stack plan shows what to add next.