LaunchpadHQ
All comparisons

Free Zapier alternatives: automation without the task bill

Zapier connects apps so one thing can trigger another, and it bills by the task. Each plan includes a monthly task allowance, and going over it costs more per task than the plan's base rate.

These alternatives do the same job with different pricing, and each has a free way in. One of them is only free if you host it yourself, and that is labelled plainly below.

As of Oct 25, 2026: the oldest check date among the prices and free plans on this page.

The tool you are replacing

Zapier

Free plan
Free: 100 tasks/mo, unlimited two-step Zaps, 15-minute update time
Usage limits
Free: 100 tasks/mo, two-step Zaps only; Professional: from 750 tasks/mo; Team: from 2,000 tasks/mo; Enterprise: custom
Pricing
Free $0 (100 tasks/mo); Professional from $19.99/mo billed annually ($29.99 monthly, 750 tasks); Team from $69/mo billed annually ($103.50 monthly, 2,000 tasks, 25 users); Enterprise custom

Make (Integromat)

Free plan
Free: 1,000 credits/mo (credits are Make's billing unit)
Usage limits
Free: 1,000 credits/mo; paid plan credit allowances not confirmed
Pricing
Free $0 (1,000 credits/mo); paid plans Core, Pro, Teams and Enterprise. Paid prices did not render on the official page, so none are quoted

Pick this if you want a hosted tool with a visual builder and are happy to learn how it charges credits for each step.

Activepieces

Free plan
Free forever, no card: 1,000 credits, unlimited flows, up to 5 users. The official page lists the Free reset as daily in its comparison table but monthly in its FAQ
Usage limits
Cloud Free: 1,000 credits (runs past the quota wait for the reset); Plus: 10,000 credits/mo; Team: 50,000 credits/mo; Ultimate: yearly pool; self-hosted Community Edition is free
Pricing
Free $0 (1,000 credits); Plus $20/mo flat (10,000 credits/mo, then $0.007/credit); Team $200/mo flat (50,000 credits/mo, 25 users); Ultimate custom; Embed from $36k/year

Pick this if you want a simple hosted builder with an open-source core you could move to your own server later.

n8n

Free option is self-hosted: the Community Edition is software you install and run yourself, on your own server. The cloud plans are paid.

Free plan
Free only if you run it yourself: the self-hosted Community edition is free with almost the full feature set. n8n Cloud has no free plan, only a trial with no card required.
Pricing
Community (self-hosted): Free (You host and maintain it yourself); Starter (Cloud): €20/month (Billed annually; 2.5K workflow executions); Pro (Cloud): €50/month (Billed annually; 10K workflow executions); Business (self-hosted): €667/month (Billed annually; 40K workflow executions); Enterprise: Custom (Hosted by n8n or self-hosted)

Pick this only if you are comfortable running software on your own server, or you are willing to pay for the hosted cloud plan.

What you hit first on the free plans

  • Free plans cap how many tasks or credits you get each month, and the way each tool counts a single step differs.
  • Zapier's free plan checks for new trigger data less often than its paid plans, so an automation may not fire right away.
  • Self-hosting avoids per-task bills, but you install, configure, secure and update the software yourself.

Questions

Is self-hosting really free?
The software is free to run as a Community Edition, but you supply the server and keep it configured, secure and updated yourself. If that sounds like a chore, choose a hosted plan.

Sources