Open-source alternatives to Zapier

Zapier is a clever bit of kit, and if you've got a handful of small automations it's cheap. The Professional plan starts at $19.99 a month on an annual bill for 750 tasks. The trouble is that it charges per task, so the better your automations work, the more you pay. At 50,000 tasks a month you're on $289 a month, which is nearly $3,500 a year.

Do the sums before you get excited, though. If you're on the small plan, Zapier is almost certainly cheaper than your time. Moving makes sense when the task bill has started to hurt.

A quick word on n8n, as it's the name you'll hear most. It's under its own Sustainable Use License, which limits how you can use it, so it isn't open source. That's why it's not on this page.

Activepieces

Activepieces is the closest thing to an open-source Zapier. You build flows visually: something happens in one app, and steps happen in others.

• A big library of connections. Its catalogue lists 772 integrations, including Xero, QuickBooks, Shopify, HubSpot and Google Sheets. That's a useful list for a UK small business.
• Friendly to non-developers. You work in a visual builder rather than in code.
• A sensible licence. The core is MIT. Only the enterprise folders sit under a commercial licence.
• A hosted version too. Free gives you 1,000 credits a day, and Plus is $20 a month for 10,000. A run costs one credit however many steps it has (AI steps cost more).

For self-hosting, the recommended route is Docker Compose with PostgreSQL and Redis. There's a simpler single-container setup, but the docs warn it can't scale and moving off it means starting over, so I wouldn't use it for anything you depend on.

The free Community Edition is what Activepieces calls the automation core. Paid plans add access control, change tracking, separation between teams and customers, and safer release management. A small team may not miss those, but they're worth knowing about.

Node-RED

Node-RED is a different animal. It's a visual programming tool, looked after under the OpenJS Foundation.

• Very flexible. You wire boxes together on a canvas to connect systems, devices and APIs.
• A big community library, with about 6,340 nodes and 3,150 example flows. I'd expect the quality to vary, as with anything community-built.
• Free, with no paid tier to worry about.
• Simple to install. It needs a supported version of Node.js (18 or newer for Node-RED 4, with 24 recommended), or you can run it through Docker.

It isn't Zapier, though. Don't expect the same catalogue of business apps with a simple login step. You'll often be working with an API directly, and that's a developer's job.

Security needs care too. The docs are blunt: out of the box the editor isn't secured, and anyone who can reach its address can change your flows. Set that up before you do anything else.

The UK angle

Zapier hosts customer data on AWS servers in the US, and doesn't offer EU-only storage. It's certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, including the UK Extension. That's a perfectly normal setup, and fine for most small firms.

Automation is one area where it's worth a little thought, as these tools see the data passing through them: names, emails, invoices. Self-hosting means that stays on your own server, which helps if you're moving anything sensitive between systems.

The other thing is the keys. An automation tool holds the logins to your accounts software, your CRM and your shop. Wherever it runs, treat it like the keys to the building.

Honest drawbacks

• Far fewer connections. Zapier lists over 10,000 apps. Activepieces lists 772. Check your own apps first.
• When an automation breaks, it's your problem. You'll want alerts for failed runs.
• Connections need maintaining. Apps change their APIs, and a fix may take time to appear.
• Node-RED takes a developer. It's not one to hand to your office manager.
• Hidden server cost. Volume means a bigger server, plus someone's time keeping it up.

Which one?

My pick is Activepieces. It's the closest to what you're used to in Zapier, and it has connections for the tools UK small businesses commonly use. The main drawback is the much smaller app list, so check yours are covered before you start.

Node-RED is the realistic alternative if you've got a developer and want something highly flexible.

Need it built or customised?

If an off-the-shelf connector won't do, the team at Dev Partners can build a proper integration between your systems.

Sources

• Zapier pricing
• Zapier app directory
• Zapier data privacy
• Activepieces on GitHub
• Activepieces pricing
• Activepieces integrations
• Activepieces install overview
• Activepieces single-container Docker setup
• Node-RED on GitHub
• Node-RED: running locally
• Node-RED: supported Node versions
• Node-RED: securing the editor
• Node-RED library
• n8n licence