Side-by-side comparison · Automation & Workflows
Manus vs n8n vs Activepieces
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
Manus
3.7Pick it if: People who want to hand off whole tasks and don't want to build the automation themselves.
n8n
4.5Pick 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.
Activepieces
4.0Pick it if: Small teams who like how Zapier works but want to own their automations or avoid per-task pricing.
Overview
| Attribute | Manus | n8n | Activepieces |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | A general-purpose agent that takes a goal and works through it in its own browser. | Build automations and AI agents on a visual canvas, then host them yourself for free. | A Zapier-style automation builder that's open source and charges per run, not per step. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Open source | Open source |
| Starting price | From $20/mo | €20/mo | $20/mo flat |
| 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 | Manus | n8n | Activepieces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 3.7 | 4.5Winner | 4.0 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow much it can do, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.0 | 5.0 | 3.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.0 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Manus | n8n | Activepieces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | No | No |
| Desktop app | Yes | No | No |
| Browser extension | Yes | 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 | No | Yes | Yes |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | Yes | – |
| Makes images | Yes | No | No |
| Makes video | Yes | No | No |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | No | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | – | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 15/ 17 | 10/ 17 | 10/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Manus | n8n | Activepieces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Quick questions and seeing what it can do. | Community Edition Free (self-hosted) Anyone comfortable running software on a server. | Free Free Small teams getting started, or anyone who will self-host. |
ProOur pick From $20/mo, less with yearly billing Anyone who wants to hand off real research and build jobs. | StarterOur pick €20/mo billed yearly A small business that wants n8n hosted for them. | PlusOur pick $20/mo flat A small business running automations every day. | |
Pro (higher tier) From $40/mo, less with yearly billing Heavier users and anyone publishing websites with it. | Pro €50/mo billed yearly Teams running several business-critical workflows. | Team $200/mo flat A larger team that needs SSO and roles. | |
Team From $20/seat/mo Teams that want shared credits and admin controls. | Business €667/mo billed yearly Larger teams that need SSO and version control, self-hosted. | Ultimate Custom Companies with heavy volume or strict security needs. | |
Enterprise Custom Large organisations. | Enterprise Custom Companies that need an SLA and dedicated support. | ||
| Which plan to pick | Try the Free plan for a week to get a feel for how many credits a real task uses, then move to the $20 Pro tier. Only go higher if you run out most months or you want it to publish websites for you. | 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. | 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. |
Key features
| Attribute | Manus | n8n | Activepieces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standout features |
|
|
|
Pros and cons
| Attribute | Manus | n8n | Activepieces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pros |
|
|
|
| Cons |
|
|
|
Who each one is for
| Attribute | Manus | n8n | Activepieces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for |
|
|
|
| You'll find it used by |
|
|
|
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability. The "Visit" buttons may use affiliate links, which never affect a score.
Swap in another tool
More automation & workflows tools from the library.
