Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Pipedream

n8n is a workflow automation platform for technical teams that combines a visual workflow builder with the ability to add custom code. It supports hundreds of integrations and can also be used to build AI-powered automations and agent-style workflows.

Key Features

• Visual, node-based workflow editor with triggers, actions, and branching logic
• Code steps for custom logic (JavaScript and Python) and extensibility via custom nodes
• Large integration ecosystem (hundreds of connectors) plus reusable workflow templates
• Webhooks and API-based automation for event-driven workflows
• AI-native tooling to build AI agent workflows and connect to your own data/models
• Enterprise-oriented capabilities such as RBAC, audit logs, and SSO options (deployment dependent)

Use Cases

• Automate business processes across SaaS tools (CRM updates, ticket routing, notifications)
• Build internal integrations and data sync pipelines between systems using APIs and webhooks
• Orchestrate AI-assisted workflows such as enrichment, summarization, and agent-driven tasks

Limitations and Considerations

• Licensed under a fair-code model (source-available), which may restrict certain commercial use cases
• Some advanced enterprise features depend on the chosen edition and deployment setup

n8n is a strong fit for teams that want low-code speed without giving up the control and flexibility of writing code. It works well for both simple automations and more complex, integration-heavy workflows.

Huginn is an open-source system for building agents that monitor the web, collect and process events, and take automated actions on your behalf. Agents produce and consume events which propagate through directed graphs so you can chain monitoring, filtering, and actions into complex workflows. (github.com)

Key Features

• Agent-based architecture: many built-in agent types (HTTP/RSS/IMAP/Twitter/Slack/WebHook/etc.) that create, filter, and act on events. (github.com)
• Event graph and scheduling: chain agents into directed graphs and schedule periodic or real-time checks. (github.com)
• Extensibility: write additional Agents as Ruby gems (huginn_agent) and add them via environment configuration. (github.com)
• Multiple deployment options: official container images and multi-container/docker-compose examples for quick deployment. (hub.docker.com)
• Data/back-end flexibility: supports MySQL or PostgreSQL for storage and can use Redis for background job processing when configured. (github.com)

Use Cases

• News and web-monitoring: scrape feeds and sites, alert on changes, or send digest emails when conditions match. (github.com)
• Social and API automation: track mentions, post updates, or transform incoming webhook data into downstream actions. (github.com)
• Data collection and ETL-style workflows: aggregate multiple sources into a database or automated reports via chained agents. (github.com)

Limitations and Considerations

• Operational complexity: Huginn is feature-rich but requires managing dependencies (Ruby, DB, optional Redis) and self-hosted infrastructure for production reliability. (github.com)
• Configuration surface: many integrations and agent options mean an initial configuration and learning curve to assemble reliable event graphs. (github.com)

Huginn provides a powerful, code-friendly alternative to hosted workflow tools by keeping data and logic under the operator's control. It is widely used in the self-hosting community, distributed via official container images, and extended through agent gems for custom integrations. (hub.docker.com)

ToolJet is an open-source, AI-native low-code platform for building and deploying internal tools such as dashboards, admin panels, and business applications. It provides a visual builder with deep integrations so teams can ship operational apps faster while keeping control of data and infrastructure.

Key Features

• Visual app builder with responsive UI components (tables, forms, charts, lists, and more)
• Multi-page apps and real-time collaborative editing
• Built-in ToolJet Database (a no-code database built on PostgreSQL)
• Integrations with many data sources, including databases, REST APIs, SaaS tools, and object storage
• Workflow automation with triggers (schedules, webhooks, and in-app events) and visual logic (conditions, loops)
• Extensibility via custom connectors/plugins and a CLI
• Security capabilities such as encryption, granular access control, and optional SSO support (availability varies by edition)

Use Cases

• Building internal admin panels and operational dashboards over existing databases
• Creating CRUD apps and lightweight business tools (approvals, inventory, request tracking)
• Automating multi-step internal workflows that call APIs and transform data

ToolJet fits organizations that want a self-managed, extensible internal tools platform with a visual UI builder, integrated data connections, and workflow automation. It is commonly deployed with containers and scales from small teams to larger enterprise environments.

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.

Kestra is an open-source, event-driven orchestration platform for building, scheduling and operating workflows using a declarative YAML model. It provides an API-first experience and a web UI that keep workflows as code while enabling visual inspection, iterative testing and execution.

Key Features

• Declarative YAML workflows with inputs, variables, subflows, conditional branching, retries, timeouts and backfills
• Event-driven and scheduled triggers (webhooks, message buses, file events, CRON/advanced schedules) with millisecond latency support
• Rich plugin ecosystem and task runners to run code in any language (Python, Node.js, R, Go, shell, custom containers) and connect to databases, cloud services and message brokers
• Built-in web UI with code editor (syntax highlight, autocompletion, topology/DAG view), execution logs, dashboards and a Playground mode for iterative task testing
• API-first design, Git/version-control integration and Terraform provider for Infrastructure-as-Code and CI/CD workflows
• Scalable, fault-tolerant architecture with workers, executors and support for containerized and Kubernetes deployments

Use Cases

• Data pipeline orchestration: scheduled ETL/ELT, batch and streaming data workflows, integration with databases and cloud storage
• ML/AI and model pipelines: orchestrate preprocessing, training, validation and deployment steps across compute runners
• Infrastructure and business automation: orchestrate provisioning, service orchestration, webhooks and event-driven automation across teams

Limitations and Considerations

• Advanced governance features (SSO, RBAC, multi-tenant enterprise controls) are provided in commercial/Enterprise offerings rather than the core open-source distribution
• Frontend editing capabilities (interactive drag-and-drop flow editing) are evolving; some UI graph editing features are currently limited and under active development
• Plugin coverage varies by integration; teams building uncommon integrations may need to implement or maintain custom plugins

Kestra combines an Everything-as-Code approach with a feature-rich UI and extensible plugin model to unify orchestration across data, infra and application workflows. It is designed for teams that need both developer-grade reproducibility and operational observability in workflow automation.

Node-RED is a flow-based, low-code development tool that provides a browser-based editor and a lightweight Node.js runtime for building event-driven applications. It enables wiring together devices, APIs and services using a visual palette of nodes and deploys flows as JSON.

Key Features

• Browser-based drag-and-drop flow editor with reusable library, tabs and a built-in JavaScript function editor.
• Lightweight runtime built on Node.js with non-blocking event-driven architecture for edge and cloud deployments.
• Extensible palette model: thousands of community-contributed nodes for protocols, services and hardware.
• Deploy flows to the runtime with a single click; flows are stored and shared as JSON for portability.
• Admin and runtime APIs (including HTTP Admin APIs) and editor/runtime separation for embedding and automation.
• Support for common IoT and web protocols (MQTT, HTTP, WebSocket) and dashboard UI options for visualization.
• Multiple installation and delivery options including npm, Docker and platform integrations.
• Modern editor tooling (monaco editor used for function code editing) and integration points for custom nodes.

Use Cases

• Home automation and smart-home orchestration: connect sensors, hubs and cloud services into automated flows.
• Industrial and edge IoT: collect, transform and route telemetry from devices (MQTT, OPC-UA, serial, etc.).
• Integration and orchestration: prototype API connectors, webhook handlers, ETL-style transformations and real-time pipelines.

Limitations and Considerations

• Not designed as a drop-in horizontally-distributed clustered compute engine: horizontal scaling and HA require external orchestration or third-party offerings and careful design of shared state.
• Exposing the editor/admin interface without proper authentication and hardening poses security risks; secure adminAuth and network controls are required for public-facing instances.
• For extremely high-throughput, low-latency or transactional workloads, a purpose-built, strongly clustered platform may be more appropriate than the single-process runtime model.

Node-RED is a practical, widely adopted open-source platform for quickly building event-driven automations and integrations using visual flows. Its large node ecosystem and lightweight Node.js runtime make it well suited to DIY, edge and many production integration scenarios, while enterprise-grade scaling or exposure needs should be planned and secured.

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.

Windmill is an open-source developer platform for building internal tools, APIs, background jobs, and workflows by turning scripts into reusable building blocks. It provides auto-generated UIs, webhooks, and scheduling so teams can ship operational automation and apps quickly while keeping execution and access control on their own infrastructure.

Key Features

• Turn scripts into APIs, webhooks, scheduled jobs, and shareable auto-generated UIs
• Low-code workflow editor to compose scripts into multi-step flows
• App builder for creating richer internal UIs on top of scripts and workflows
• Multi-language script support (notably Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash, SQL, and GraphQL)
• Built-in secrets/variables management with workspace-level encryption for stored credentials
• Sandboxed execution using nsjail for stronger isolation in multi-tenant deployments
• Git-based development workflows via CLI and repository synchronization
• PostgreSQL-backed job orchestration with stateless API and scalable workers

Use Cases

• Building internal tools (admin panels, ops dashboards, backoffice utilities)
• Automating operational workflows (scheduled maintenance tasks, data syncs, incident runbooks)
• Exposing controlled internal APIs and webhooks backed by scripts

Limitations and Considerations

• Some distribution binaries/images may include non-open components; fully open-source builds come from compiling the repository sources
• Community Edition includes limits on certain enterprise features (for example, SSO user limits)

Windmill fits teams that want a script-first approach to internal tooling and automation with a fast workflow engine and a built-in UI layer. It combines developer-friendly coding with low-code composition to scale from quick scripts to production-grade orchestrated 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.

OliveTin is a self-hosted web application that exposes predefined shell commands through a responsive Single Page UI and an API. It uses a simple YAML configuration to define actions, dashboards and entities so administrators can make complex or dangerous commands safe and repeatable.

Key Features

• YAML-based configuration-as-code for actions, entities and dashboards, with live-reloadable options
• Responsive, touch-friendly Single Page App UI (light/dark modes) designed for tablets and mobile
• Action system: parameterised commands, timeouts, scheduled (cron) executions and execution logs
• Security model with multiple authentication options (local users, OAuth2, JWT, trusted headers) and ACL-based authorization per-action
• Multiple integration points: REST API / webhook endpoints and URL-based triggers for automation and streamdeck/QR integrations
• Container images, packages and Helm chart available for easy deployment; small resource footprint (Go backend)
• Accessibility-focused frontend and configurable UI theming and custom JS support

Use Cases

• Provide non-technical users (family, junior admins) one-click buttons to restart services or run maintenance scripts
• Trigger complex or long-running server operations from mobile devices or dashboards without giving shell access
• Integrate server commands into automation flows via webhooks, API calls or scheduled tasks (cron)

Limitations and Considerations

• Actions and dashboards are primarily defined in YAML configuration files; adding or editing actions requires editing config files (configuration-as-code), which may be less convenient for non-technical administrators
• Because OliveTin executes arbitrary shell commands, correct security configuration is essential; misconfigured authentication/ACLs can expose powerful operations
• Accounting/auditing for action executions is provided via logs but the documentation notes this area is less mature and may require additional operational procedures

OliveTin is intended for administrators who want a simple, auditable way to expose repeatable server operations without granting interactive shell access. It emphasizes safety, minimal resource usage and flexible integration via API and configuration.

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.

FlowFuse is a low-code industrial application platform built on Node-RED that helps teams connect devices, move and model data, and operate applications at scale. It combines visual flow-based programming with an LLM-powered copilot and tools for remote deployment, collaboration, and governance.

Key Features

• Node-RED native: uses Node-RED as the core visual low-code environment for wiring hardware, APIs, and protocols into flows
• LLM-powered copilot (FlowFuse Expert): generates and refines flows, transformations, dashboards and queries using Model Context Protocol (MCP)
• Collaborative development: multi-developer editing, versioning and AI-assisted code generation for team workflows
• Remote deployment & edge management: create standardized snapshots and deploy/manage Node-RED instances and edge agents across sites
• AI-assisted data transformation: generate SQL, JavaScript, and mapping logic from natural language to normalize and model operational data
• Interactive dashboards: build real-time KPIs and visualizations with AI-generated UI components
• CI/CD and DevOps integration: pipelines and environment promotion support for development, test, and production workflows
• Enterprise security & governance: role-based access controls, audit trails, monitoring and centralized management for industrial deployments

Use Cases

• Industrial IoT integration: unify data from PLCs, sensors and machines and normalize across sites for centralized analytics
• Rapid app and dashboard creation: let OT and IT teams co-create transformations, dashboards and automations using natural language prompts
• Fleet-wide deployments: standardize Node-RED snapshots and push updates to remote edge devices across multiple facilities

Limitations and Considerations

• Some advanced capabilities (hosted FlowFuse Cloud, enterprise-grade features and professional support) are offered commercially and may require licensing
• Running at industrial scale requires appropriate edge agents, orchestration and infrastructure; resource needs and operational complexity can increase with fleet size
• The platform builds on Node-RED; complex flows or bespoke integrations may still require experienced developers and operational testing

FlowFuse is suited for organizations that need to bridge IT and OT with a low-code, AI-accelerated workflow platform. It emphasizes rapid prototyping, centralized deployment, and governance for industrial-scale automation and monitoring.

github-ntfy (ntfy_alerts) is a lightweight notifier that watches GitHub repositories and Docker Hub images for new releases and forwards release events to notification endpoints. It is implemented in Rust for performance and can run as a standalone binary or inside a Docker container.

Key Features

• Monitors GitHub releases and Docker Hub image updates and detects new releases
• Sends notifications to ntfy and Gotify, and supports Discord and Slack webhooks
• Implemented in Rust (v2 rewrite) to reduce resource usage and improve performance
• Configurable via environment variables; supports a Docker image (published image and container examples provided)
• Supports GitHub authentication via token; requires repo, read:org and read:user permissions when using authenticated queries
• Provides a CLI/binary for manual runs and supports running as a long-lived container

Use Cases

• Send automated release notifications from GitHub repositories to team channels and notification systems
• Track Docker Hub image updates and notify operators when new images are published
• Integrate release alerts into lightweight alerting pipelines or home-lab notification stacks

Limitations and Considerations

• Configuration is primarily environment-variable driven; no web-based onboarding or management UI is provided
• Notification targets are limited to the supported backends (ntfy, Gotify, Discord, Slack); additional integrations are listed as TODO
• Requires a GitHub token with specific scopes for repository and organization access when authenticated monitoring is used

github-ntfy is suited for users who need a simple, efficient bridge from release sources to notification endpoints. It favors a minimal operational footprint and predictable behavior over a full-featured management interface.

RapidForge is a single-binary web server that turns scripts into production-ready internal tools, APIs, webhooks and scheduled jobs. It provides a web UI and visual page builder so teams can expose CLI tools and scripts as endpoints or pages without framework boilerplate.

Key Features

• Convert Bash or Lua scripts into HTTP endpoints and webhooks with environment-variable injection for request data
• Built-in cron-style scheduler with execution history, audit logs and job management
• Visual drag-and-drop page and form builder that maps form fields to script variables
• Embedded Lua VM for in-script logic and compatibility with existing shell tooling
• Secure credential storage and first-class OAuth flows; credentials auto-injected into scripts
• Single-binary deployment model with minimal runtime dependencies and straightforward Docker packaging
• Web UI for creating endpoints, scheduling jobs, managing logs and configuring auth

Use Cases

• Expose internal CLI tasks or monitoring scripts as authenticated HTTP APIs or webhooks
• Schedule backups, data exports or maintenance tasks and review execution history in the UI
• Build simple internal admin pages and forms that drive shell scripts or integrations

Limitations and Considerations

• Some features (key-value store) rely on a local SQLite runtime; administrators must ensure sqlite3 or equivalent is available when using packaged installers
• Project is lightweight and focused on internal tooling; it may lack enterprise-grade integrations or scaling features found in larger workflow platforms

RapidForge is best suited for teams that want to rapidly expose existing scripts as services or build small internal tools without adopting a full application stack. Its single-binary approach simplifies deployment and reduces operational overhead while providing built-in auth, scheduling and auditability.

CTFreak is an on-premises IT task scheduler designed to centralize scripts and operational jobs in one place, replacing scattered cron jobs and ad-hoc runbooks. It provides a fast, mobile-first web UI to execute tasks locally or remotely across heterogeneous environments.

Key Features

• Remote executions on multiple nodes via SSH and WinRM, without installing agents
• Task types for commands, Bash scripts, PowerShell scripts, Ansible playbooks, SQL scripts, and HTTP requests
• Workflow engine to chain tasks sequentially or concurrently, including nested workflows
• Team-based organization, centralized execution history, and consolidated logs
• Notifications and alerting integrations (e.g., email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Telegram, Mattermost)
• Issue tracking integrations (e.g., GitHub, Jira, Linear, YouTrack)
• SSO support via OpenID Connect
• REST API plus incoming webhooks for automation and integrations
• Lightweight resource usage and simple deployment

Use Cases

• Sysadmin/DevOps job orchestration: maintenance, updates, and operational scripts across fleets
• Data engineering operations: run long or concurrent imports and calculations on distributed servers
• Self-service operations for business users: safely trigger pre-defined IT tasks via a web UI

Limitations and Considerations

• Some advanced capabilities and higher limits (e.g., unlimited tasks, broader notifier quotas) depend on the chosen edition

CTFreak fits teams that want a straightforward, lightweight alternative to heavier runbook automation platforms while keeping strong visibility into job history and failures. It is especially useful in mixed Windows/Linux environments thanks to SSH and WinRM support.