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The 10 Best n8n Alternatives in 2025

Flo Crivello
CEO
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Written by
Flo Crivello
Lindy Drope
Founding GTM at Lindy
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Reviewed by
Lindy Drope
Last updated:
February 19, 2025
Expert Verified

If you’re seeking an n8n alternative, go with Lindy.ai for superior performance, Node-RED for crafting conditional responses, and Huginn if you’re a developer familiar with GitHub. 

The 10 best n8n alternatives: TL;DR

Below is a table summarizing the key details for each n8n alternative:

Platform Best For Open-Source? AI-Powered?
Lindy.ai: Best overall automation tool
Node-RED A free option for techies
Huginn Great for developers who love GitHub
Directus Intelligent content management
Zapier For non-technical users
Gumloop Simple workflows
Make Precise data management
Latenode Ultra-customizable low-code automation
Pipedream For developers
Airbyte Automating data pipelines

What is n8n?

As a workflow automation platform, n8n connects applications, services, and APIs, so you can automate complex tasks without writing code. Just use the drag-and-drop interface to create detailed workflows — you can add various triggers to start the workflow then string together operations across apps. 

The platform offers integrations with over 400 platforms, facilitating data transfers between them. Because it’s open-source, developers and techies can modify n8n’s core code to suit their needs better, run it on their own servers (on-prem), and optimize it with other programmers. 

Why look for a n8n alternative?

While n8n is an excellent open-source automation tool for developers, it’s not for everyone. Here are some reasons why folks might seek out other options:

  • Steep learning curve: While n8n is a powerful tool with extensive capabilities, it’s complex and takes some time to learn, especially when configuring nodes to create workflows. And if you want to leverage n8n’s open-sourced capabilities fully, you’ll need to have some experience with coding. 
  • Sluggish setup time: To entirely create and deploy your n8n workflows, you’ll need to leverage networking methods, API integrations, and open-source tools like Docker. Even if you’re a techie, working with several tools in tandem can cause impediments. 
  • Security risks: Being open-sourced allows techies to configure n8n’s source code to meet their needs, but this comes at a cost. The code's openness allows hackers and other malicious actors to breach your data, infect your operating system, or worse.  

#1 Lindy.AI: The best overall automation tool

Lindy.ai is a workflow automation platform that allows you to create and deploy intelligent AI agents, called “Lindies.” These assistants bolster your productivity by handling several tasks, all with minimal intervention.

Features

  • Create a Lindy for scheduling meetings across various platforms. It automatically analyzes participant availability and offers optimal time slots, freeing up valuable hours and eliminating the back-and-forth chaos of email scheduling.  
  • If you have a sales team, use Lindy to automate your sales processes. For instance, use Lindy to pull information about leads from the web to inform your sales reps before calls. 
  • Lindy integrates with suites like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 to sync all your relevant data in real time across devices. As a bonus, Lindy can also respond to any notifications you get for you, saving you loads of time.

Ideal users

Lindy is ideal for sales, customer support, and content creation teams. However, with new integrations and models being added, there are a lot of use cases across industries. 

Pricing

Lindy offers a free plan and a Pro plan starting at $49.99/month.

The bottom line

Lindy stands out because it uniquely combines natural language processing models with deep app integration, allowing non-techie users to create specialized AI agents a bit easier than most tools. 

#2 Node-RED: A free option for techies

Attention all techies, programmers, and other computer aficionados: Node-RED is an open-source flow-based development tool that allows you to visually program event-driven applications — it’s built on Node.js and was originally developed by IBM’s Emerging Technology Services team. 

Features

  • Use the intuitive drag-and-drop interface to create and deploy workflows. This reduces the need for complex coding, enabling you to build powerful integrations, automation routines, and real-time data flows rapidly.
  • Node-RED boasts an extensive library of pre-built nodes for everything from IoT device management to complex API orchestrations. These help integrate popular services like MQTT and HTTP or connect to hardware devices such as Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards. 

Ideal users

While the platform features a simple drag-and-drop interface, it primarily appeals to developers with coding experience especially JavaScript programmers. The tool can create automations for all kinds of businesses, from scrappy startups to established enterprises

Pricing

Node-RED is an open-source tool under the OpenJS Foundation, so it’s free for personal or commercial use. You’ll only pay for hosting and services beyond the base offering.

The bottom line

While Node-RED is a powerful and free automation tool, non-techies will struggle with it.  

#3 Huginn: Great for developers who love GitHub 

If you’re a major techie and just can’t get enough of all the tools and programs available on GitHub, Huginn might be right up your alley. 

Features

  • Huginn allows you to create AI tools that detect events from diverse sources such as RSS feeds, APIs, or scraped web content. These tools filter and act upon that data to automate tasks like automatically sending email alerts or storing insights in databases. 
  • If you opt to self-host, you retain full control over your data. This means you can implement encryption for sensitive credentials, set up secure communication channels, and enforce strict access controls to minimize external risks.

Ideal users

Huginn is ideal for tech-savvy folks who are familiar with GitHub working in organizations of all sizes. And developers familiar with Ruby on Rails will find the platform extra inviting, as this is the coding language used to develop Huginn. 

Pricing

While Huginn is free to use and distribute under the MIT License, you must cover your own hosting, whether on-prem or through a cloud provider, and any associated infrastructure expenses. 

The bottom line

While Huginn delivers a powerful automation platform that is highly customizable and grounded in a thriving open-source community, it’s pretty much limited to developers, especially those familiar with Ruby on Rails. 

#4 Directus: For intelligent content management

Directus is a versatile open-source data platform for handling and managing all sorts of content. Its user-friendly interface and robust API layer allow you to connect any SQL database to a strong and intuitive CMS (content management system). 

Features

  • One of Directus’s standout features is its ability to transform any SQL database into a REST API, giving you immediate access to content without requiring repetitive backend code. This detects and synchronizes schema changes, ensuring frontends pull data from the same structure.
  • Directus provides a polished and intuitive user interface that streamlines data management and collaboration, all in real time. This allows everyone on your team to work together without stepping on each other’s toes. 
  • You’ll be able to grant role-based permissions and define granular access levels for different users, ensuring sensitive information remains protected. 

Ideal users

Directus appeals to individual developers, small startups, and larger agencies and enterprises that need a flexible, headless CMS for complex data sets. It blends a code-first approach with an approachable user interface, ensuring tech-savvy teams can quickly customize their data environment while less technical users can manage content effortlessly. 

Pricing

Start using Directus for $15/month, which provides up to 5,000 database entries and 50,000 API requests. The $99/month version is a solid platform for techies and non-techies, as it allows for up to 5 seats, with 75,000 database entries and 250,000 API requests. 

The bottom line

While Directus is an excellent tool for combining and managing enormous amounts of data, you’ll need a few tech-savvy team members, preferably with SQL and API experience, to fully leverage its benefits.

#5 Zapier: For non-technical users

Zapier is a no-code automation platform that connects apps and services to streamline workflows. It allows you to trigger specific functions, like sending a group SMS message once a chart has been updated. 

Features

  • One of Zapier’s most substantial assets is its extensive app integration ecosystem, which allows users to connect over 6,000 different applications to automate workflows effortlessly.
  • Zapier features a simple drag-and-drop editor that allows even the most staunch technophobes to automate processes. This simplifies workflow creation, allowing you to complete tasks quickly. 
  • You’ll also get several pre-built templates to start your automations on the right foot. Select triggers and actions from a simple menu without worrying about complex API-based integrations.

Ideal users

Zapier is ideal for businesses of all sizes that rely on multiple SaaS applications and need a simple, technical-free way to connect them, transfer data, or execute tasks. 

Pricing

Zapier pricing depends on how many tasks you automate per month. Plans start at $19.99/month, letting you automate up to 750 multi-step tasks. 

The bottom line

While Zapier integrates with 1,000s of third-party apps, executing a high volume of monthly workflows can quickly get costly.  

#6 Gumloop: For simple workflows

Gumloop is a no-code automation platform that lets you create AI-driven workflows, streamline complex tasks, or integrate applications through an intuitive drag-and-drop interface. 

Features

  • Gumloop's drag-and-drop interface simplifies the creation of complex workflows by designing automation sequences and connecting modular components known as nodes. This makes the platform accessible to nearly anyone.
  • The platform offers extensive integrations with popular platforms like Slack, Salesforce, Google, and more. You can connect with these apps and automate tasks, like setting up a workflow that triggers an alert in Slack when a new record is added in Airtable. 

Ideal users

Gumloop is well-suited for non-technical teams of all sizes, especially those involved in marketing, sales, and customer service. You can use it to set up triggers between apps once tasks have been executed to alert other team members. 

Pricing

Start using Gumloop for $97/month and run up to 5 different workflows simultaneously. If you have a team, try the plan for $297/month, which lets you run the same number of simultaneous workflows but allows up to 10 different users. 

The bottom line

Gumloop is a superb option to create triggers and automations between tools for non-technical users, yet its pricing structure might be an issue for businesses on a budget. 

#7 Make: For precise data management 

Make is a visual automation platform designed to help streamline workflows by building complex automation sequences called scenarios.

Features

  • One of Make’s key advantages is its strong data manipulation capabilities. These let you transform, filter, and enrich data as it flows between applications, enabling you to narrow down the precise information you need while reducing chaff. 
  • Unlike competitors, which only support basic field mappings, Make offers built-in functions, aggregators, and formula-based transformations. These allow you to modify data on the fly and adjust to any unexpected situations that come your way.

Ideal users

Make is ideal for businesses of all sizes that need an automation platform that goes beyond data automations and allows you to sift through and pinpoint the required info. 

Pricing

Make is priced by ops, or actions that each workflow or automation executes, which starts at $10.59/month for up to 10,000 ops. 

The bottom line

Make is a great choice for teams that require granular data harvesting and involved automations. While it is indeed a no-code tool, Make comes with a learning curve, which can take some time to overcome.

#8 Latenode: For ultra-customizable low-code automation

Latenode is a low-code automation platform that combines simple no-code tools with technical elements. It enables the creation of highly customized workflows by connecting various APIs, apps, and databases.

Features

  • Latenode offers all the perks of a no-code tool, like a drag-and-drop editor and premade templates, but it also gives you more control over your API calls and data processing, which are typical low-code features. 
  • If you’re a developer, listen up: You can inject your own JavaScript commands into your workflows. This allows for greater customization, allowing you to create unique functions and executions through your own tailor-made scripts.
  • Latenode also provides a handy AI copilot, which can help you create code, improve automations, and suggest other workflow enhancements. 

Ideal users

Latenode works for all types of businesses and professions — IT teams, analytics, sales reps and more — to utilize Latenode to custom-automate many day-to-day tasks. 

Pricing

For $17/month, you’ll be able to run up to 10,000 scenarios and leverage some of Latenode’s AI features. 

The bottom line

Latenode offers enough power to custom-make complex automations for your specific use cases, but this all comes at a cost — you’ll need to have a little bit of technical knowledge and JavaScript experience to fully understand the platform. 

#9 Pipedream: For developers

While some N8N alternatives are low-code/no-code hybrid platforms, Pipedream is a low-code/pro-code hybrid platform. You’ll be able to connect premade databases and APIs to custom-made JavaScript, Python, Go, or Bash code commands.  

Features

  • Pipedream provides a serverless execution environment so you can run code instantly without worrying about infrastructure management while writing custom scripts directly within workflows, allowing you to get more out of a backend.
  • You’ll also get advanced pre-deployment features like integrated logging, debugging, and real-time execution to quickly test and refine your scripts and ensure seamless deployment across different applications and services.

Ideal users

Because it relies so heavily on coding languages, you’ll need to be fluent in a few programming languages to use Pipedream. 

Pricing

Pipedream pricing starts at $45/month, and allows for up to 5 different accounts and lets you run up to 10 workflows at a time.  

The bottom line

Pipedream is a powerful automation platform that blends serverless execution, API integrations, and real-time event processing into a single workflow engine — but if you aren’t a programmer, you won’t be able to use it. 

#10 Airbyte: For automating data pipelines   

Airbyte is an open-source data integration platform that enables businesses to move and synchronize data between various sources and destinations without writing extensive custom scripts.

Features

  • The tool features a mammoth library of 300+ pre-built connectors for databases, SaaS applications, and cloud storage platforms. These allow for data extraction and loading across diverse environments, letting you consolidate disparate data sources.
  • You’ll also get incremental data synchronization, which optimizes pipeline performance by transferring only new or updated records instead of complete datasets. Say goodbye to gluttonous bandwidth consumption, high storage costs, and long processing times. 
  • Got your own servers? Airbyte allows you to self-host, giving you full control over your security, scalability, and deployment. 

Ideal users

Airbyte is ideal for data engineers, analysts, and IT departments needing automated data integration without complex setup requirements. Any business, from startup to enterprise, dealing with multiple data sources can leverage Airbyte’s extensive connector library and incremental sync capabilities to centralize data. 

Pricing

Airbyte doesn’t publish their pricing, so you’ll have to contact their sales department for more info. 

The bottom line

Airbyte is a powerful, flexible data integration platform that caters to a broad range of business and technical users. You’ll need to be a techie or have a few on your team if you want to use its extensive library of connectors, incremental sync capabilities, and self-hosted or managed deployment options.

Lindy: Our favorite n8n alternative

Unlike n8n, which has a steep learning curve, Lindy uses AI-driven automation to simplify complex tasks — and you won’t need to be a developer to use it.

Lindy will be your trustworthy assistant, handling emails, scheduling meetings, managing customer support, and more. 

With Lindy taking care of your busy work, you can focus on hustling or working on your next project. And learning Lindy is simple — just check out the Lindy Academy

Ready to see how Lindy can execute more of your tasks? Try Lindy today for free

About the editorial team
Flo Crivello
Founder and CEO of Lindy

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Education: Master of Arts/Science, Supinfo International University

Previous Experience: Founded Teamflow, a virtual office, and prior to that used to work as a PM at Uber, where he joined in 2015.

Lindy Drope
Founding GTM at Lindy

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Education: Master of Arts/Science, Supinfo International University

Previous Experience: Founded Teamflow, a virtual office, and prior to that used to work as a PM at Uber, where he joined in 2015.

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