Instead of IFTTT and Zapier

Connect two services with a trigger and an action.

Swap it

n8n is the best of these for most people: a visual editor, hundreds of integrations and a community that shares workflows. Node-RED is better if you like wires.

You lose: The catalogue of pre-built applets for consumer services.

Start here

n8n

Sustainable Usean eveningactive

Excellent, and the licence is fair-code rather than fully open. Read it before you build a business on it.

github.com/n8n-io/n8n n8n.io

A compose file, a domain and a reverse proxy.

Also worth a look

Node-REDApache-2.0an eveningactive
Wiring, not forms. Superb for hardware and home automation.
github.com/node-red/node-red nodered.org
HuginnMITa weekendactive
Agents and events. Powerful, and it shows its age.
github.com/huginn/huginn
WindmillAGPL-3.0a weekendactive
Scripts as workflows, for developers. Steeper than n8n.
github.com/windmill-labs/windmill windmill.dev

Facts checked 8 November 2026. Licences, activity and archive status come from each project's own repository; the verdict and the cost lines are the desk's.