n8n alternatives

3 other automation options, compared on the facts that decide a subscription: price, free tier, and what each one is actually for.

AutomationVerified 1 Nov

Why people look

Usually one of three reasons: the price stopped making sense, the free tier disappeared, or the tool does one thing well and everything else badly. All three are visible in the table below without reading a review.

Side by side

Option	Pricing	Free tier	Best for
n8n	Open source, self-hosted free; cloud from about $24/mo	Yes	The self-hostable automation tool for people who can read code.
Dify	Open source; cloud free tier, paid from about $59/mo	Yes	Self-hostable platform for building LLM apps without a backend team.
Make	Free tier; paid from about $9/mo	Yes	Visual automation with real branching, cheaper than the alternative.
Zapier	Free tier; paid plans from about $20/mo	Yes	The connective tissue between apps, now with AI steps.

How to choose

Start from the constraint, not the feature list. If you need a free tier to evaluate, that removes half the table immediately. If you are replacing a subscription you already pay for, compare the entry price rather than the enterprise tier you will never buy. Everything below is checked weekly and dated.