Best Self Hosted Alternatives to StackStrom

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.

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.

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.