n8n Alternatives for AI Workflows in 2026

n8n became the default for developers who want AI agents inside a visual workflow builder. Teams rarely leave it over a missing node. They leave over the Sustainable Use License, which limits use to "your own internal business purposes," or over a hosted plan that stores data in Frankfurt and bills in euros.

On October 15, 2026, we priced one AI lead-routing workflow at 10,000 runs a month on n8n Cloud and six alternatives. Counting the model, the hosted bills run from $129.17 on Dify Cloud to $489 on Zapier's default AI tier, and n8n lands at $135.98. One shortlisted vendor is already gone: Relay.app shut down in September 2026 and deleted every account, workflow and run history.

What n8n Restricts, and What It Does Not

n8n is a fair-code workflow platform with an AI Agent node, MCP server and client nodes, and JavaScript or Python code steps. It had 207,446 GitHub stars on October 15, 2026, the day it released 2.43.6.

The Sustainable Use License, which replaced Apache 2.0 with Commons Clause on March 17, 2022, allows use "only for your own internal business purposes or for non-commercial or personal use." n8n's FAQ draws the line at letting your customers connect their accounts and build workflows: that needs a separate commercial agreement. Your company's own automations are fine.

n8n Cloud bills one execution per run, however many steps it has: Starter is €20 a month billed annually for 2,500 executions and Pro €50 for 10,000. Business, €667 a month, is self-hosted only. Hosted data sits in Frankfurt, a problem when a contract requires US data residency. If none of that bites, self-hosting n8n, like Activepieces, Windmill or Dify, costs nothing but the server.

What 10,000 AI Workflow Runs Cost on Each Platform

The worked example is a demo-request form on a US B2B SaaS site. Each submission hits a webhook, the workflow enriches the company over HTTP, Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores the lead and drafts a reply (about 2,000 tokens in, 400 out), then the workflow creates a CRM record and posts to Slack: five steps, one of them AI, 10,000 times a month. We dropped Pipedream, which now sells Connect for agents you build, and Lindy, now a Slack-based AI teammate billed per seat. This script prices the rest:

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// Monthly cost of one AI lead-routing workflow on n8n Cloud and six alternatives, in USD.
// Plan prices from each vendor's pricing page, checked October 15, 2026; annual billing where offered,
// except Activepieces Plus at its $20 monthly price (its yearly plan shows $16 a month).
const RUNS = 10_000 // webhook -> enrich via HTTP -> Claude scores and drafts -> CRM record -> Slack post
const eurToUsd = (eur) => Math.round((eur * 11195) / 100) / 100 // ECB rate 1.1195, October 14, 2026

// The AI step on your own Anthropic key: Claude Sonnet 5.5 at $2 / $10 per million tokens
const MODEL_PER_RUN = (2_000 * 2 + 400 * 10) / 1e6 // 2,000 tokens in, 400 out
const MODEL = RUNS * MODEL_PER_RUN

const tier = (tiers, need) => tiers.find(([units]) => units >= need)[1]

// Zapier Professional: trigger free, 3 app actions at 1 task, AI step 1 task (own key) or 5 (Premium default)
const zapier = [[750, 19.99], [2_000, 49], [5_000, 89], [10_000, 129], [20_000, 189], [50_000, 289], [100_000, 489]]
// Make Core at US prices: every module run is 1 credit, the webhook trigger included
const makeCore = [[10_000, 12], [20_000, 21], [40_000, 38], [80_000, 72], [150_000, 129]]
// Gumloop Pro: credits at $0.005, tokens at list price, 1 credit per tool call, 1-credit compute minimum, 8% fee (16% on your key)
const gumList = 3 + 1 + MODEL_PER_RUN / 0.005 // 3 tool calls + 1 compute credit + Claude tokens
const gumloop = (perRun) => 37 + Math.max(0, RUNS * perRun - 20_000) * 0.005

const rows = [
  // [platform, billed units per month, platform fee, model billed by]
  ["n8n Cloud Pro", RUNS + " executions", eurToUsd(50), "your key"],
  ["Zapier, AI step on your key", RUNS * 4 + " tasks", tier(zapier, RUNS * 4), "your key"],
  ["Zapier, default Premium AI", RUNS * 8 + " tasks", tier(zapier, RUNS * 8), "included"],
  ["Make Core", RUNS * 5 + " credits", tier(makeCore, RUNS * 5), "your key"],
  ["Activepieces Plus", RUNS * 2 + " credits", 20 + (RUNS * 2 - 10_000) * 0.007, "your key"],
  ["Windmill Cloud Team", RUNS * 8 + " executions", Math.ceil((RUNS * 8) / 10_000) * 10, "your key"], // 3 fast steps + a 5 s model call
  ["Dify Cloud Professional", RUNS + " trigger events", 590 / 12, "your key"],
  ["Gumloop Pro", Math.round(RUNS * gumList * 1.08) + " credits", gumloop(gumList * 1.08), "included"],
  ["Gumloop Pro, your key", Math.round(RUNS * (4 + gumList * 0.16)) + " credits", gumloop(4 + gumList * 0.16), "your key"],
  ["Self-hosted n8n, Activepieces, Windmill, Dify", "unmetered", 0, "your key"],
]

const usd = (n) => "$" + n.toLocaleString("en-US", { minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2 })
const units = (s) => s.replace(/^\d+/, (n) => Number(n).toLocaleString("en-US"))
console.log(`${RUNS.toLocaleString("en-US")} runs a month; Claude on your own key adds ${usd(MODEL)}\n`)
console.log("platform".padEnd(47) + "billed units".padEnd(23) + "model".padEnd(10) + "fee".padStart(9) + "total".padStart(10))
for (const [name, billed, fee, model] of rows) {
  const total = fee + (model === "your key" ? MODEL : 0)
  console.log(name.padEnd(47) + units(billed).padEnd(23) + model.padEnd(10) + usd(fee).padStart(9) + usd(total).padStart(10))
}

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10,000 runs a month; Claude on your own key adds $80.00

platform                                       billed units           model           fee     total
n8n Cloud Pro                                  10,000 executions      your key     $55.98   $135.98
Zapier, AI step on your key                    40,000 tasks           your key    $289.00   $369.00
Zapier, default Premium AI                     80,000 tasks           included    $489.00   $489.00
Make Core                                      50,000 credits         your key     $72.00   $152.00
Activepieces Plus                              20,000 credits         your key     $90.00   $170.00
Windmill Cloud Team                            80,000 executions      your key     $80.00   $160.00
Dify Cloud Professional                        10,000 trigger events  your key     $49.17   $129.17
Gumloop Pro                                    60,480 credits         included    $239.40   $239.40
Gumloop Pro, your key                          48,960 credits         your key    $181.80   $261.80
Self-hosted n8n, Activepieces, Windmill, Dify  unmetered              your key      $0.00    $80.00

Dify and n8n count once per run, so the AI step costs them nothing extra and they come out cheapest. Three caveats apply. n8n sits exactly on Pro's 10,000-execution tier, and the next one is 50,000 executions for €1,450 a year. Windmill's line assumes a 5-second model call. Gumloop's is a floor, since an agent usually calls the model more than once.

Activepieces: One Credit per Run, MIT at the Core

Activepieces is the closest open-source match to n8n: a visual flow builder plus agents, tables and MCP servers, with an MIT-licensed Community Edition.

The meter is the main draw. A run is 1 credit however many steps it has, and AI steps add 2, 10 or 20 credits by model class, or 1 on your own key from Plus up. The 760-plus integrations are open-source TypeScript. MIT also lets you ship the Community Edition inside your product, which is exactly the case n8n's license blocks.

US data residency is not the default. The cloud runs in Frankfurt, with other regions on request, and the pricing page says its SOC 2 program is still in progress. SSO starts on the $200 Team plan.

Pricing: Free 1,000 credits/month · Plus $20/month for 10,000 credits, then $0.007 per credit · Team $200 for 50,000 · License: MIT Community Edition, 25,059 stars, 0.92.3 released October 12, 2026.

Zapier: Billed per Action, Multiplied for AI

Zapier connects 9,000-plus apps, and its Zaps, AI steps, code steps and MCP server all draw from one task pool.

Check the AI step before you build anything. A new AI by Zapier step on a paid plan defaults to the Premium tier at 5 tasks a run, per Zapier's help center, updated October 1, 2026. Standard models and your own key cost 1. That default alone moved our workload up to the 100,000-task tier.

The rest of the meter is kinder. Triggers, Filters, Paths and Formatter steps use no tasks, so a Zap pays only for steps that act, and no catalog here is wider. You cannot self-host it.

Pricing: Free 100 tasks/month · Professional from $19.99/month for 750 tasks, $289 for 50,000 · Team from $69 · billed annually · License: proprietary.

Windmill: Your Scripts Are the Steps

Windmill turns Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash and SQL scripts into webhooks, flows and internal UIs. Its AI agents run on 12 model providers or your own OpenAI-compatible endpoint, with your scripts and MCP servers as tools.

Self-hosted, Windmill is free with unlimited executions, sized at one worker per vCPU with 1 to 2 GB of RAM. Retries, approvals and parallel branches come built in. Flows can live in git as code.

The cloud meter is harder on slow steps. On Windmill Cloud an execution is a job under one second, and each extra second counts as another, so waiting on a model costs money. The license has a wrinkle too: the source is AGPLv3, but the published Community Edition images include proprietary code you may not resell or run as a managed service.

Pricing: Cloud Free 1,000 executions/month · Team $10 per developer seat a month, 10,000 executions each, 10 seats maximum · Self-hosted free, Enterprise from $120/month · License: AGPLv3 source, 18,190 stars, v1.835.0 released October 14, 2026.

Make: Credits per Module, Priced by Country

Make is a visual scenario builder with 3,000-plus apps, Make AI Agents and an MCP server.

Unlike Zapier, Make bills the trigger: the webhook counts as a module. After that it gets cheap. Each module run costs 1 credit, routers and error handlers cost nothing, and a Claude or OpenAI module on your own connection is also 1 credit. At $72 a month for 80,000 credits, Make Core cost a quarter of Zapier's $289 fee for the same five steps.

There is no self-hosted edition, and the price depends on where you are. On October 15, 2026, the pricing service behind Make's page returned Core at $12 a month for 10,000 credits in the US and $9 in Germany. India got a single Make Plan at $16.

Pricing: Free 1,000 credits/month with a 15-minute minimum interval · Core $12/month for 10,000 credits, $72 for 80,000 · Pro from $21 · Teams from $38 · US prices, billed annually · License: proprietary.

Dify: A Flat Workspace Fee, Built for LLM Apps

Dify is an LLM application platform with a visual workflow studio, agents and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines, whose workflows start from plugin, schedule or webhook triggers.

Dify Cloud caps trigger events, not steps, and Professional's $590 a year allows 20,000 a month. Self-hosting needs 2 CPU cores and 4 GiB of RAM and starts with docker compose up -d. The repository has 158,538 stars and shipped v1.17.1 on September 10, 2026.

The license is the fine print. The Dify Open Source License adds conditions to Apache 2.0: no multi-tenant service without written permission, and no removing the frontend logo. Professional allows 3 team members. Check the Marketplace for your CRM before you commit.

Pricing: Sandbox free with 200 message credits · Professional $590/year per workspace · Team $1,590/year · License: Dify Open Source License (modified Apache 2.0).

Gumloop: Token Cost Plus an 8 Percent Fee

Gumloop has moved from workflows to agents: its pricing page labels workflows "Legacy," and agents are built from connectors, skills and 35-plus models.

Agents that pick their own steps suit fuzzy work, like researching an account before updating the CRM. Pricing is a pass-through. Tokens and tool calls bill at list price in $0.005 credits, compute at 5 credits per active minute (1-credit minimum per run), plus an 8 percent fee. Pro includes 20,000 credits with unlimited seats.

Bringing your own key backfires. The fee rises to 16 percent of the full list cost, so our workload cost $261.80 with a key and $239.40 without. Pro allows 5 concurrent workflow runs, and agents stop at zero credits unless pay as you go is on.

Pricing: Pro from $37/month for 20,000 credits, then $0.005 per credit · Enterprise custom · License: proprietary.

Side by Side

Totals include the $80 Claude bill where you bring your own key; Zapier's upper figure and Gumloop's include the model.

How to Leave n8n Without Rebuilding Twice

1. Export first. On self-hosted n8n, n8n export:workflow --backup --output=backups/latest/ writes one JSON file per workflow. Treat the files as your spec.
2. Count runs, steps and seconds. n8n's Insights dashboard shows production executions; multiply by each platform's unit.
3. Price the AI step twice. Compare platform credits with your own key; the answer flips between Zapier and Gumloop.
4. Read the license against your business model. If customers will connect their own accounts, n8n needs a commercial agreement and Dify needs permission for multi-tenant use. MIT Activepieces needs neither.
5. Decide where the data lives. n8n Cloud and Activepieces Cloud run in Frankfurt; self-hosting in us-east-1 keeps it in the US.
6. Move one webhook at a time. Run old and new side by side for a week, compare outputs, then switch.

Which One Should You Actually Use?

Leaving because of the license: Activepieces. Its cloud bills per run like n8n, and the MIT Community Edition can ship inside your product.

Mostly Code nodes: Windmill, self-hosted on a VM in us-east-1.

AI-heavy flows around documents and RAG: Dify Cloud Professional, the cheapest hosted bill here at $129.17 a month.

Non-developers own the automations: Make Core on a budget, or Zapier for the widest catalog, with AI steps on Standard or your own key.

Research-style tasks, not fixed pipelines: Gumloop agents, budgeting from the $239.40 floor.

Staying on n8n: fine for internal automations; self-hosted, the execution meter disappears.

Conclusion

The meters split three ways: per run (n8n, Activepieces, Dify), per step or second (Zapier, Make, Windmill) and per token (Gumloop). For AI workflows, a flat per-run meter (Dify, n8n) wins if you bring your own key; Activepieces charges an extra credit for the AI step. Relay.app's shutdown is the other lesson: a hosted-only platform can take your workflows with it, so keep an export you could rebuild from.

Related DevToolLab Tools

• JSON Diff - compare two n8n workflow exports to see which nodes changed before you rebuild them.
• Webhook Signature Verifier - check a webhook's HMAC still verifies after you repoint it.
• LLM Token Cost Calculator - swap our 2,000-in, 400-out guess for your real prompt.
• .env File Diff Checker - compare Dify's .env.example with your .env after each upgrade.

Related Guides

• n8n vs Zapier vs Make - the three-way comparison, if you are choosing rather than leaving.
• Best Workflow Orchestration Tools - Temporal, Inngest and Trigger.dev for durable workflows in code.
• Best AI Agent Frameworks - libraries for when an agent outgrows a visual builder.
• What Is a Webhook? - how the trigger behind every workflow above works.