head to head
Zapier vs ActivePieces
ActivePieces is the open source alternative to Zapier — no-code workflow automation between apps. Here is the honest comparison.
Yes — ActivePieces is a viable free replacement for Zapier. ActivePieces is open source under its own open-source terms, written in TypeScript, with 24,522 GitHub stars, 4,201 forks and 573 open issues; it was last pushed 7 hours ago. Zapier costs from $29, while self-hosting ActivePieces carries no licence fee — the trade is your operational time instead of a subscription. 3 other open source Zapier alternatives are tracked here, led by n8n at 204,887 stars. ActivePieces ranks #2 of 4 tracked open source Zapier alternatives by stars. The tracked set, by adoption: n8n (204,887 stars), Windmill (17,957 stars), Automatisch (13,970 stars). Replacement criteria on this page: 4 reasons to move to ActivePieces and 3 reasons to stay on Zapier.
choose ActivePieces if
- Your Zapier bill is growing with seats or usage
- You need your data in a format and server you control
- Your compliance posture requires auditing the code that touches sensitive data
- You have (or can rent) a server and basic Docker comfort
stick with Zapier if
- You need the polished onboarding and support SLAs of a commercial vendor
- Your team has zero capacity to operate software, even self-hosted-simple
- You depend on a Zapier integration ecosystem that the OSS alternatives have not replicated
Side by side
| ActivePieces (open source) | Zapier | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (self-hosted) | $29.99-$103.50/month |
| License | Custom / other | Proprietary |
| Source code | Public, auditable | Closed |
| Self-hosting | Yes — activepieces/activepieces | Cloud only |
| Data ownership | Your server, your format | Vendor's cloud |
| Community | ★ 25K · ⑂ 4.2K | — |
| Built with | TypeScript | — |
Why people look for a Zapier alternative
About ActivePieces
ActivePieces is an open source, TypeScript based no code automation platform for building AI workflows and exposing integrations as MCP servers, aimed at both technical and non technical users who want Zapier style automation while keeping control of their own data.
read the full ActivePieces overview →
Other open source alternatives to Zapier
last updated nightly · ranking method: github stars, live-tracked
Frequently asked questions
Is ActivePieces a good replacement for Zapier?
ActivePieces is an open source alternative to Zapier (No-code workflow automation between apps). It is written in TypeScript and licensed under its own terms, with 24,522 GitHub stars.
Is ActivePieces free compared to Zapier?
Yes. ActivePieces is open source — there is no licence fee, and you can self-host it. Zapier is typically a paid subscription, so the trade-off is licence cost against the operational work of running it yourself.
How do I migrate from Zapier to ActivePieces?
Migration effort depends on the data formats involved. Check ActivePieces's documentation for import options, and compare the feature table above to confirm the capabilities you depend on are covered before switching.