Best Self Hosted Alternatives to n8n Cloud

Budibase is an open-source low-code platform for building and deploying internal business applications and automating workflows. It connects to common databases and APIs or can be used to create apps from scratch, with built-in user management and secure deployment options.

Key Features

• Visual app builder for single-page internal apps (forms, admin panels, portals, approval flows)
• Data connectivity to popular databases and REST APIs
• Automation engine for workflow steps, integrations, and webhook-driven processes
• Pre-built UI components and templates for responsive apps
• Role-based access control and user/group management for app distribution
• Extensibility via JavaScript and plugins, plus a public API for interoperability
• Multiple deployment options including Docker and Kubernetes

Use Cases

• Building internal CRUD tools like ticketing, inventory, and operations dashboards
• Creating secure customer/supplier portals and approval workflows
• Automating routine IT and business processes across connected systems

Limitations and Considerations

• Feature set and enterprise controls can vary by edition and deployment; evaluate required auth, auditing, and governance needs upfront

Budibase is well-suited for teams that want to ship internal tools quickly while retaining flexibility through integrations and extensibility. It provides a practical path to reduce engineering time spent on routine business applications and workflow automation.

Activepieces is an automation platform for building and running workflows that connect apps, APIs, and internal systems. It combines a no-code builder with developer-friendly extensibility, including a TypeScript “pieces” framework and AI-oriented capabilities.

Key Features

• Visual workflow builder with branching, loops, and retries
• Webhook triggers and a generic HTTP step for integrating any REST API
• Code steps with JavaScript and support for installing npm packages
• Extensible “pieces” integration framework written in TypeScript
• Flow versioning and the ability to restore previous versions
• Templates, branding options, and controls over which integrations appear in the builder
• Built-in interfaces for human input/approval patterns (for example, forms or chat-style inputs)
• AI features to assist with code generation and AI-first automation patterns, including MCP-focused tooling

Use Cases

• Automate business processes across teams (sales, finance, HR, marketing)
• Build reliable API-driven workflows for internal tools using webhooks and HTTP requests
• Create custom integrations as reusable “pieces” and standardize automations across an organization

Activepieces is a strong fit for teams that want a Zapier-style automation experience with the flexibility to build and maintain custom integrations in TypeScript, while also supporting AI-assisted automation workflows.

Automatisch is a workflow automation tool (an open-source alternative to Zapier) that lets you connect different apps and services to automate business processes. It is designed for teams that want no-code automation while keeping control of where data is stored.

Key Features

• No-code/low-code builder for creating multi-step workflows
• Connectors to integrate multiple third-party services in a single automation
• Self-hosted deployment to keep automation data within your own environment
• Web-based UI for managing workflows, connections, and execution
• Community Edition (AGPL) with an optional Enterprise Edition for commercial features

Use Cases

• Automate routine business processes like notifications, data sync, and approvals
• Build internal integrations between chat tools, CRMs, and other SaaS systems
• Run compliance-sensitive automations where data residency and privacy matter

Limitations and Considerations

• Some functionality may differ between Community Edition and Enterprise Edition due to licensing

Automatisch is a strong fit for organizations that need flexible, app-to-app automation without relying on proprietary automation clouds. It combines a web UI with self-hosting to support privacy-focused, customizable workflows.

µTask is a lightweight automation engine for cloud workflows. It models business processes in YAML and executes them with a PostgreSQL backend. It emphasizes simplicity, security through encryption, and extensibility via Go-based plugins.

Key Features

• Requires only a PostgreSQL database to operate
• All data is encrypted and visible only to authorized users
• Workflow definitions are expressed in declarative YAML
• Extensible: developers can implement custom actions in Go
• Asynchronous execution with an auditable, encrypted state trail

Use Cases

• Kubernetes ingress TLS certificate provisioning workflow
• New team member bootstrap and onboarding automation
• Payments API asynchronous processing with risk checks and human-in-the-loop

Conclusion µTask offers a practical YAML-driven automation engine for cloud workflows, with PostgreSQL persistence and a pluggable Go-based action layer. It provides a Docker-based quickstart and a graphical dashboard to monitor tasks.

Source: µTask README on GitHub

AutoKitteh is a developer platform for workflow automation and orchestration, focused on durable execution for long-running and reliable workflows. It provides an API-first runtime to deploy, trigger, run, and manage code-based automations with built-in integrations.

Key Features

• Durable execution with automatic recovery for long-running workflows
• Code-based workflows (primarily Python; also supports Starlark)
• API-first platform with gRPC and HTTP interfaces
• Triggers via webhooks and schedulers
• Built-in integrations (e.g., Slack, GitHub, Gmail, Google Calendar, Twilio, and LLM providers)
• Operational tooling for management, monitoring, and debugging via Web UI, CLI, and a VS Code extension

Use Cases

• Automating internal business processes and backend workflows
• DevOps/FinOps/MLOps automation with resilient, auditable executions
• Building and operating AI-assisted automations and agents using existing integrations

Limitations and Considerations

• JavaScript support is listed as coming soon, so language support may be incomplete depending on your needs

AutoKitteh fits teams that want the flexibility of writing automation logic in code while still getting a managed workflow runtime with durability, triggers, integrations, and operational controls. It is especially suitable for critical workflows where reliability and recoverability matter.