n8n

Self-hostable visual automation

Free tier + paidAutomation & background jobsn8n.io

What it is

Node-based visual workflow builder with 400+ integrations plus a full JavaScript and Python code node. Ships an AI Agent node, LangChain-style chains, an MCP Client Tool node, and an MCP Server Trigger that turns any workflow into an MCP server. Self-host free on your own box.

Why it earns a slot

The escape hatch when Zapier gets expensive or too rigid: you are billed per workflow execution rather than per step, you can drop into code whenever the visual nodes run out, and self-hosting costs nothing.

Know before you commit

Licence is the Sustainable Use License (fair-code), not OSI open source: internal business use is fine, but reselling n8n as a service needs a commercial licence. Cloud bills per execution, and one execution can contain hundreds of nodes.

Getting started

docker run -it --rm -p 5678:5678 -v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n

Field notes

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Field check

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Pricing snapshot

Self-hosted Community edition free. Cloud Starter EUR 20/mo for 2,500 executions; Pro EUR 50/mo for 10,000; Business EUR 667/mo for 40,000.

Snapshots move fast — verify at checkout, and post a field note if it changed.

Drop into your Lovable chat

Evaluate n8n (https://n8n.io) for this project, then use it only if it fits what we are already building.
Context: Self-hostable visual automation. Node-based visual workflow builder with 400+ integrations plus a full JavaScript and Python code node. Ships an AI Agent node, LangChain-style chains, an MCP Client Tool node, and an MCP Server Trigger that turns any workflow into an MCP server. Self-host free on your own box.
Reviewer notes (general, not written for this codebase): The escape hatch when Zapier gets expensive or too rigid: you are billed per workflow execution rather than per step, you can drop into code whenever the visual nodes run out, and self-hosting costs nothing.
Watch out for: Licence is the Sustainable Use License (fair-code), not OSI open source: internal business use is fine, but reselling n8n as a service needs a commercial licence. Cloud bills per execution, and one execution can contain hundreds of nodes.
Pricing: Self-hosted Community edition free. Cloud Starter EUR 20/mo for 2,500 executions; Pro EUR 50/mo for 10,000; Business EUR 667/mo for 40,000.
Setup: docker run -it --rm -p 5678:5678 -v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
Rules: treat the notes above as background only. Do not assume a theme, style, layout or feature that is not already in this project — inspect the existing code first and ask me before changing visual direction.

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Neighbourhood

How n8n sits against the rest of the atlas — swaps, companions and the tools builders actually save alongside it.

Instead of thispg-boss Activepieces BullMQ Cloudflare Queues + Cron Triggers Defer Gumloop Hatchet Inngest

Named in the wiringZapier LangChain

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Activepieces

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BullMQ

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Redis-backed Node.js job queue

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Cloudflare Queues + Cron Triggers

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Defer

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