Repos / n8n
Alternativesn8n
For anyone who wants to automate business processes or personal projects with visual workflows and a bit of code, without building integrations from scratch.
What it does.
- build workflows on a visual canvas and add JavaScript or Python code when needed
- connect more than 1500 integrations and start from templates
- build AI workflows and agents with models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google or other open ones
- self-host it on your server or use its paid cloud
Systems: Docker (the README's route); on Windows, the documentation guide recommends WSL. The documentation recommends installing with Docker Compose.
What you need.
- Docker Engine and Docker Compose v2. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
- RAM, minimum: 4 GB Deployment example Docker Compose guide with the AI assistant's isolated environment (it uses Docker-in-Docker, which needs more headroom than a regular container). Figure from one specific installation (with extra services included), not a minimum for the program. Not a general n8n minimum: the page does not say whether it applies without that environment or with another install method. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
- CPU, minimum: 2 cores Deployment example Same scenario: the Docker Compose guide with the AI assistant's isolated environment. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
- On Windows, the guide recommends WSL and keeping the project folder inside the WSL file system. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
The n8n docs do not publish general hardware requirements. Their only figure (4 GB of RAM and 2 vCPU) comes from the Docker Compose guide that includes an isolated environment (sandbox) for the AI assistant, and the page does not say whether it applies without that environment or with other install methods. We show it on its guide page as a deployment example, but we do not use it as a minimum for the program.
How to install.
Create a volume for your data:
docker volume create n8n_dataStart n8n:
docker run -it --rm --name n8n -p 5678:5678 -v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8nOpen the editor at http://localhost:5678. For production, the current documentation recommends its Docker Compose guide.
Commands taken from the official documentation. Read them before you run them: it is your machine.
Permissions and data.
- Telemetry on self-hosted instances is on by default; turn it off with N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_ENABLED=false.
- The workflows you connect send data to the services you link (for example, AI models or third-party apps).
Limits and warnings.
- It is not open source per the OSI: the license allows use for your internal business or personal non-commercial use, not every use.
- You cannot host it as a service for your customers to create workflows, or let outside users configure their own from your product.
- You cannot fork it to launch your own automation product or strip the branding to resell it.
- Files with ".ee." in the name or folder require an Enterprise license.
- The documentation's Docker page marks "docker run" as outdated and recommends Docker Compose.
Real cost and cloud.
- The self-hosted community edition is free if you or your organization create or modify the workflows.
- You provide the server and its maintenance; n8n Cloud is a paid subscription with its own terms, and Enterprise licenses exist.
- If you connect cloud models or apps, the data in those steps travels to those services.
License.
Sustainable Use License 1.0 Source-available, not open source per the OSI
Sustainable Use License 1.0 plus an Enterprise license: "fair-code", with the source visible but not open source per the OSI.
Not open source by the OSI definition: it allows internal or personal non-commercial use. Files marked .ee. require an Enterprise license.
This is a summary to orient you, not legal advice. For commercial use, read the original LICENSE file.
Where all of this comes from.
Checked against the official documentation on October 29, 2026; this is not a lab test. Nothing was installed or measured to write this guide. If something has changed, the project's documentation is the authority.