Primary-source desk review · September 3, 2026
Zapier vs. Activepieces vs. n8n: count the run, the operator, and the exit.
The three products do not sell the same unit or the same ownership model. Price one representative workflow, break it on purpose, then reconstruct it somewhere clean.
The short answer
- Zapier: the managed default when breadth and low operational burden justify task-based billing.
- Activepieces: the actual open-source lane here; its core is MIT licensed, while team and governance capabilities require edition checks.
- n8n: self-hostable and source-available, but its Sustainable Use License has commercial-use restrictions and is not an OSI open-source license.
This is a dated documentation review, not hands-on connector testing or a universal winner.
Compare the billing unit before the sticker price
A five-action workflow can consume five Zapier tasks but one n8n execution or one base Activepieces flow-run credit. Retries, branches, AI actions, and overages can change the result, so model your own run log.
| Platform | Billing unit | Displayed entry point | Control and exit boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zapier | Successful task; some steps use multiple tasks | Free: 100 tasks/month. Professional: from $19.99/month billed annually. | Managed service. Team or Enterprise can export and import workflow JSON; credentials still need reconnection. |
| Activepieces | One credit for one full flow run; AI actions use additional credits | Free: 100 credits/day. Plus: $16/month billed annually with 10,000 credits/month. | MIT-licensed core can be self-hosted. Team, governance, release, and secret-manager features have edition boundaries. |
| n8n | One execution for one full workflow run | Cloud Starter: €20/month billed annually for 2,500 executions; Pro: €50 for 10,000. | Self-hostable Community Edition is source-available under the Sustainable Use License, not OSI open source. |
Displayed annual-billing prices and allowances were reviewed September 3, 2026. They exclude taxes, overages, infrastructure, migration, support, and operator labor; verify the linked pricing pages before buying.
Choose the operating model
Open source is a license claim, not a visual style
Activepieces documents its core under MIT and its enterprise features under a commercial license. Its production Docker Compose shape includes an app, worker, PostgreSQL, and Redis; the database and encryption key both belong in the backup plan.
n8n explicitly calls itself fair-code and source-available. Its Sustainable Use License permits internal business use and consulting, but restricts commercial products or services whose value substantially derives from n8n. If that boundary matters, review the terms or obtain a separate agreement.
Self-hosting either platform transfers upgrades, vulnerability response, database recovery, queues, webhook reachability, credentials, monitoring, and on-call ownership to someone you can name.
Run one failure-and-exit test
- Inventory the trigger, every side effect, monthly and peak runs, credentials, rate limits, schedules, and acceptable delay or duplication.
- Build a representative workflow with a branch, a retry-sensitive write, and the real authentication pattern using test accounts.
- Expire a credential, return HTTP 429, duplicate a webhook, and fail a middle step after an earlier write.
- Confirm alerts reach a named owner and retries do not create duplicate business records.
- Export the workflow, inspect it for secrets, import it into a clean account or instance, and reconnect credentials.
- Recreate schedules, variables, webhooks, roles, and monitoring; reconcile the final state and record the repair labor.
An archive is not a migration. The destination has to run.
Current primary sources
Use the test on your workflow
The free pullable kit includes the inventory, failure drills, clean-instance exit test, and one verifier. The optional $39 report applies the same ownership and open-source checks to your broader stack.
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