Skip to content

Side-by-side comparison ยท Automation & Workflows

Activepieces vs Dify

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Activepieces

4.0

From $20/mo flat

Best overall

Dify

4.1

From $59/mo per workspace

Comparing 2 tools. Add one more if you like.

At a glance

Easiest to use

Pick it if: Small teams who like how Zapier works but want to own their automations or avoid per-task pricing.

Dify4.1
Best overall

Pick it if: Small businesses and agencies that want a custom AI chatbot or agent trained on their own documents, without hiring a developer to build it from scratch.

Overview

AttributeActivepiecesDify
In one lineA Zapier-style automation builder that's open source and charges per run, not per step.Build AI chatbots, agents and workflows on a visual canvas, hosted or on your own server.
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starting price$20/mo flat$59/mo per workspace
Free plan Yes Yes
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeActivepiecesDify
Overall rating4.04.1Winner
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.0
3.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
3.5
4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.0
4.0
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
4.5
4.5
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeActivepiecesDify
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes
Mobile app No No
Desktop app No No
Browser extension No No
API access Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted Yes Yes
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes Yes
Understands imagesโ€“ Yes
Makes images No No
Makes video No No
Writes code Yesโ€“
Runs agents or automations Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style Noโ€“
Works in many languages Yes Yes
Capabilities score10/ 1710/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeActivepiecesDify
Plans

Free

Free

Small teams getting started, or anyone who will self-host.

Community Edition

Free (self-hosted)

Anyone comfortable running it on their own server.

PlusOur pick

$20/mo flat

A small business running automations every day.

Sandbox

Free

Trying Dify Cloud before you pay.

Team

$200/mo flat

A larger team that needs SSO and roles.

ProfessionalOur pick

$59/mo per workspace, or $590/yr

A small business running a few AI apps for real.

Ultimate

Custom

Companies with heavy volume or strict security needs.

Team

$159/mo per workspace, or $1,590/yr

Bigger teams with lots of apps and users.

Enterprise

Custom

Companies that need a private deployment with support.

Which plan to pickThe 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.Build your first bot on the free Sandbox. Move to Professional when it goes live, and plug in your own Claude or OpenAI API key so you don't run out of message credits. Self-host only if you or someone on your team is happy looking after a server. Prices exclude tax.

Key features

AttributeActivepiecesDify
Standout features
  • Zapier-style builder
  • Flat per-run pricing
  • Self-host or cloud
  • MCP for AI assistants
  • Agents and Tables
  • Bring your own AI keys
  • Visual workflow studio
  • Knowledge base
  • Any model
  • Share and embed
  • MCP and plugins
  • Triggers and logs

Pros and cons

AttributeActivepiecesDify
Pros
  • Easiest open-source automation tool to learn
  • Flat pricing, with one credit per run however long the flow
  • Generous free plan and free self-hosting
  • MCP makes every connected app available to Claude
  • Open source, so you can inspect or extend it
  • Open source and free to run on your own server
  • Works with almost any AI model, including Claude
  • Knowledge base makes it easy to build bots that know your business
  • Every app gets a chat page, website widget and API
  • Can publish workflows as MCP servers for Claude
Cons
  • Far fewer apps than Zapier, and some pieces are thin
  • Smaller community and fewer templates than n8n
  • No canvas, so complex branching is harder to follow
  • AI steps cost extra credits on top of the run
  • Takes some learning before your first useful bot
  • The free cloud plan is too small for real use
  • Message credits run out fast without your own API key
  • Self-hosting means looking after updates, backups and security yourself

Who each one is for

AttributeActivepiecesDify
Best for
  • Zapier-style automations on a budget
  • Giving AI assistants access to your apps
  • Long multi-step workflows
  • Self-hosted automation for teams
  • A chatbot that answers from your own documents
  • Internal AI assistants for staff
  • AI workflows you can host yourself
  • Agencies building AI bots for clients
You'll find it used by
  • Small teams
  • Ops teams
  • Developers
  • Agencies
  • Small businesses
  • Agencies
  • Ops teams
  • Developers
  • Large companies

Questions people ask

Which is better, Activepieces or Dify?

Dify scores highest overall in our ratings (Activepieces 4.0/5 and Dify 4.1/5). Activepieces is best for zapier-style automations on a budget and Giving AI assistants access to your apps. Dify is best for A chatbot that answers from your own documents and Internal AI assistants for staff.

Which is cheaper, Activepieces or Dify?

Activepieces: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo flat. Dify: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $59/mo per workspace.

Which is easier to use, Activepieces or Dify?

Activepieces rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Small teams who like how Zapier works but want to own their automations or avoid per-task pricing.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

Swap in another tool

More tools from Automation & Workflows in the library.