Side-by-side comparison · Automation & Workflows
Activepieces vs Composio vs n8n
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Small teams who like how Zapier works but want to own their automations or avoid per-task pricing.
Pick it if: People who already use Claude or ChatGPT every day and want it to act in their business apps, plus developers building agents that need app access.
Pick it if: Teams that want full control of their data and automations, or anyone building AI agents on a budget who doesn't mind getting a bit technical.
Overview
| Attribute | Activepieces | Composio | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | A Zapier-style automation builder that's open source and charges per run, not per step. | Plug Claude or ChatGPT into 1,500+ apps so it can send the email, not just draft it. | Build automations and AI agents on a visual canvas, then host them yourself for free. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $20/mo flat | $29/mo | €20/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Activepieces | Composio | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.5Winner |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 3.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Activepieces | Composio | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | No | No |
| Desktop app | No | No | No |
| Browser extension | No | No | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | Yes | No | Yes |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | No | Yes |
| Understands images | – | – | Yes |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | Yes | No | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | No | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | No | – |
| Capabilities score | 10/ 17 | 6/ 17 | 10/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Activepieces | Composio | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Small teams getting started, or anyone who will self-host. | HobbyOur pick Free Individuals connecting their own assistant to their own apps. | Community Edition Free (self-hosted) Anyone comfortable running software on a server. |
PlusOur pick $20/mo flat A small business running automations every day. | Pro $29/mo Teams, or products with real users calling tools. | StarterOur pick €20/mo billed yearly A small business that wants n8n hosted for them. | |
Team $200/mo flat A larger team that needs SSO and roles. | Enterprise Custom Companies with security reviews and high volume. | Pro €50/mo billed yearly Teams running several business-critical workflows. | |
Ultimate Custom Companies with heavy volume or strict security needs. | Business €667/mo billed yearly Larger teams that need SSO and version control, self-hosted. | ||
Enterprise Custom Companies that need an SLA and dedicated support. | |||
| Which plan to pick | The Free plan is unusually generous, so start there. Move to Plus when you want monthly credits instead of a daily cap and the option to use your own AI keys. Self-host only if someone on the team is happy running a server. | If you are connecting your own Claude or ChatGPT to your own apps, Hobby is all you need. Move to Pro when a team or a product of yours starts using it, so usage keeps running past the free cap instead of pausing until next month. | If you have anyone technical on hand, self-host the Community Edition on a small server and pay nothing. Otherwise Starter on the cloud is the right place to begin, and 2,500 executions covers a lot when each run of a long workflow counts as one. |
Key features
| Attribute | Activepieces | Composio | n8n |
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Pros and cons
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Activepieces | Composio | n8n |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Activepieces, Composio or n8n?
n8n scores highest overall in our ratings (Activepieces 4.0/5, Composio 4.2/5 and n8n 4.5/5). Activepieces is best for zapier-style automations on a budget and Giving AI assistants access to your apps. Composio is best for Letting Claude act in Gmail, Slack and your CRM and one connector instead of dozens of MCP servers. n8n is best for AI agents that act on email or chat and self-hosted automation.
Which is cheaper, Activepieces, Composio or n8n?
Activepieces: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo flat. Composio: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $29/mo. n8n: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at €20/mo.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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