Zapier's Free plan allows 100 tasks per month with two-step Zaps only, and webhooks plus multi-step logic require the Professional plan, where each successful action step counts as a task. A webhook-triggered Zap with four action steps firing 200 times a month consumes 800 tasks, already past the 750-task Professional base tier. Every tool in this roundup exposes its own webhook endpoint (n8n's Webhook node, Activepieces' Catch Webhook trigger, Windmill's per-script webhook URLs, Node-RED's http-in node) that you can place behind your own reverse proxy and TLS termination. Step count and run frequency are then bounded by your worker CPU and database throughput rather than a task meter.
| Name | Main Category | Sub-Category | Target Alternative | Free Tier Summary | Self-Hostable? | Short Description | Primary Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Huginn | Workflow Automation & Internal Tools | Agent-Based Event Automation | Zapier / IFTTT | 100% Free - Self-Hosted (MIT). No paid tier or hosted edition; actively maintained with regular release tags. | Yes - Docker | Ruby agent system where agents emit and consume events along a directed graph, with agents that send and receive webhooks and run JavaScript on the server. Strong for web monitoring and scraping pipelines that poll every minute. | |
Activepieces | Workflow Automation & Internal Tools | No-Code Workflow Automation | Zapier / Make | 100% Free - Self-Hosted (MIT Community Edition). No task metering; SSO, audit logs, projects and Git Sync require a paid Enterprise license. | Yes - Docker | TypeScript no-code flow builder with webhook triggers, loops, branches, auto-retries and 280+ community-extensible pieces. Runs from a single Docker image, making it the closest like-for-like replacement for the Zapier editor. | |
Node-RED | Workflow Automation & Internal Tools | Flow-Based Webhook Engine | Zapier / IFTTT | 100% Free - Self-Hosted (Apache 2.0, OpenJS Foundation project). | Yes - Docker | Flow-based editor where http-in and http-response nodes turn any flow into a webhook endpoint or REST API. Starts with one docker run on port 1880 and extends through a large library of community nodes. | |
Windmill | Workflow Automation & Internal Tools | Code-First Workflow Engine | Zapier / Pipedream / Retool Workflows | Free - Self-Hosted (AGPLv3 source). The Community Edition build includes proprietary code and limits SSO to 10 users; re-exposing Windmill to your own users requires AGPLv3 compliance or a commercial license. | Yes - Docker | Turns scripts into webhooks, cron-triggered jobs and multi-step flows with auto-generated UIs. Self-hosts with docker compose on Postgres, or on Kubernetes via official Helm charts. | |
Automatisch | Workflow Automation & Internal Tools | Trigger-Action Automation | Zapier | 100% Free - Self-Hosted (AGPL-3.0 Community Edition). Files marked .ee. fall under a separate paid Enterprise license. | Yes - Docker | Lightweight Zapier-style trigger-and-action builder with a webhook trigger and built-in connectors for services like GitHub, Slack and PostgreSQL. Deploys with Docker Compose and keeps every execution log on your own database. | |
n8n | Workflow Automation & Internal Tools | Node-Based Workflow Automation | Zapier / Make | Free - Self-Hosted (Sustainable Use License, source-available rather than OSI open source). No execution caps; SSO (SAML/LDAP) and shared projects require a paid license, and reselling n8n itself is restricted. | Yes - Docker | Node-based workflow editor with a Webhook trigger node, code nodes and 400+ integrations. Queue mode with multiple worker processes runs on the community edition, so it scales horizontally without a per-execution fee. |
Loom's free plan stops at 25 videos and 5-minute recordings. Self-host Cap, SendRec, Clips or PeerTube and record without per-creator limits.
Miro's free tier allows three editable boards, then bills per member. Five self-hosted canvases for diagrams, sprint sketches, and live brainstorms.
Basecamp only runs as SaaS. These five open-source tools rebuild its message boards, to-dos, chat, and file storage on servers you control.
Slack's Free plan hides messages after 90 days. These five self-hosted chat servers keep full history on your own Postgres, MongoDB, or Rust binary.
Timeline and Gantt views sit behind Asana Starter and monday.com Standard. Run dependency-aware schedules on four self-hosted tools instead.
Trello's Free plan caps boards at 10 and automation at 250 runs a month. These five self-hosted kanban boards enforce neither limit.
Compare XWiki, BookStack, Wiki.js, Docmost, and DokuWiki for page hierarchies, space-level permissions, and directory login to replace Confluence.
Notion bills every member and locks SSO behind Business. Compare Docmost, Outline, BookStack, Colanode, and Wiki.js with no seat caps.
Linear is cloud-only with a 250-issue free cap and per-seat billing. Compare five self-hosted trackers with cycles, Kanban boards, and GitHub sync.
Atlassian is retiring Jira Data Center by March 2029. These 5 open-source sprint trackers run on your own Docker or Linux host.
Hotjar stops recording once its daily session cap is hit. These five self-hosted tools store every session replay in infrastructure you run.
Compute MRR, churn, and LTV from your own Stripe, Lago, or Kill Bill data with five open-source tools that replace Baremetrics and ProfitWell.