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Best n8n Alternatives for Enterprise (2026 Comparison)

8 workflow automation platforms ranked by pricing, flexibility, and enterprise-readiness — with a full comparison table and our honest recommendation

18 min read

Updated Feb 2026

Quick Answer: Top 3 n8n Alternatives for Enterprise

Workato — Best for large enterprises that need 1,000+ pre-built connectors, SOC 2 compliance, and a dedicated customer-success team. Premium pricing ($10k+/year).
Make (Integromat) — Best value SaaS option with a visual builder that rivals n8n's, 1,500+ integrations, and pricing 60-70% lower than Zapier at scale.
Power Automate — Best for Microsoft-first shops already paying for M365 E3/E5 — bundled licensing makes it effectively free for basic flows.

However, for most enterprises we still recommend n8n — read our full analysis below.

Executive Summary

n8n has quickly become the go-to open-source workflow automation platform for engineering-led teams. But is it the right tool for every enterprise? We evaluated 8 alternatives across pricing, scalability, security, integration breadth, and developer experience.

Our finding: None of the alternatives match n8n's combination of self-hosting, unlimited executions, code extensibility, and cost-effectiveness. But specific use cases — particularly Microsoft-heavy environments, pure data pipelines, or no-code citizen-developer programs — may justify a different choice.

Why Enterprises Evaluate n8n Alternatives

Before diving into the list, it helps to understand why teams look beyond n8n. The reasons typically fall into a few categories:

Vendor lock-in concerns: Some procurement teams prefer a fully managed SaaS over self-hosting open-source software, even when the economics favor the latter.
Integration breadth: n8n has 400+ integrations — impressive, but Zapier has 7,000+ and Workato has 1,000+. Teams relying on niche SaaS apps may find gaps.
Citizen-developer adoption: Tools like Power Automate and Zapier target business users, not engineers. If your goal is empowering non-technical staff, the UX trade-off matters.
Compliance requirements: Some regulated industries require SOC 2 Type II attestation from the vendor itself, which n8n Cloud is still maturing toward.
Existing ecosystem: If you're 100% Microsoft or 100% Google Workspace, a native tool may reduce friction.

With that context, let's rank the eight most credible alternatives.

1. Zapier — Largest Integration Library

Zapier is the household name in workflow automation. With 7,000+ app integrations — more than any other platform — it's the tool most non-technical teams reach for first. Its "Zap" builder uses a simple trigger → action paradigm that requires zero coding.

Pricing

Zapier uses task-based pricing. The free tier offers 100 tasks/month (single-step Zaps). Paid plans start at $29.99/month (750 tasks). The Team plan is $103.50/month (2,000 tasks), and Company plans start at $148.50/month with advanced admin features, SAML SSO, and custom retention.

Pros

7,000+ integrations — unmatched breadth
Zero infrastructure to manage
Excellent for non-technical users
Tables, Interfaces, and Chatbots add-ons
Mature enterprise features (SSO, audit logs)

Cons

Task-based pricing scales poorly ($3k+/mo at volume)
No self-hosting option — data stays on Zapier servers
Limited branching and error-handling logic
Custom code support is basic (JavaScript/Python snippets)
No native AI/LLM workflow nodes

Best for: Non-technical teams that need maximum app coverage and zero maintenance. Poor fit for high-volume enterprise workflows due to per-task costs.

2. Make (Integromat) — Best Visual Builder Among SaaS Options

Make (formerly Integromat) is the closest SaaS equivalent to n8n's visual workflow builder. It supports complex branching, iterators, routers, and data transformations natively — something Zapier struggles with. With 1,500+ integrations and an operation-based pricing model, it's often 60-70% cheaper than Zapier at the same volume.

Pricing

Free tier includes 1,000 operations/month. Core plan starts at $10.59/month (10,000 ops). Pro is $18.82/month (10,000 ops + priority execution). Teams plan at $34.12/month adds team management, and Enterprise pricing is custom.

Pros

Visual builder with routers, iterators, and aggregators
1,500+ integrations, plus custom HTTP modules
Significantly cheaper than Zapier at scale
Built-in data stores and error handling
Execution history with detailed logs

Cons

No self-hosting option
Steeper learning curve than Zapier
Operation-based pricing still scales linearly with volume
Enterprise SSO only on custom plans
Limited native AI/ML capabilities

Best for: Technical teams that want a powerful visual builder without self-hosting. The best value among pure SaaS automation platforms.

3. Microsoft Power Automate — Best for Microsoft-First Enterprises

Power Automate is Microsoft's workflow automation tool, deeply embedded in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. If your organization runs on Teams, SharePoint, Dynamics 365, and Azure, Power Automate is the path of least resistance. It's included in most M365 E3/E5 licenses, making basic flows effectively free.

Pricing

Included with M365 E3/E5 (standard connectors only). Premium connectors require Power Automate Premium at $15/user/month. Process Mining is $150/user/month. Hosted RPA (desktop flows) adds additional per-bot pricing.

Pros

Deep Microsoft 365 integration (Teams, SharePoint, Dynamics)
Bundled with existing M365 licenses
Desktop flows (RPA) for legacy system automation
AI Builder for document processing and predictions
Enterprise governance via Azure AD and DLP policies

Cons

Per-user pricing becomes expensive for large teams
Non-Microsoft integrations are limited and clunky
Complex flows are difficult to debug
No self-hosting — Azure-dependent
Vendor lock-in to Microsoft ecosystem

Best for: Microsoft-first organizations already paying for M365 E3/E5 that primarily need to automate internal Microsoft workflows. Poor fit for multi-cloud or developer-centric automation.

4. Tray.io — Enterprise iPaaS for RevOps Teams

Tray.io positions itself as a general-purpose integration platform (iPaaS) for business operations teams, particularly RevOps, Marketing Ops, and Customer Success. It offers a drag-and-drop builder, a universal connector for any API, and a "Merlin AI" assistant that helps build workflows from natural language prompts.

Pricing

Tray.io does not publish pricing publicly. Industry reports suggest plans start around $600-$700/month for the Pro tier, with Enterprise pricing scaling to $2,000-$5,000+/month depending on connector count and workflow volume.

Pros

Universal Connector for any REST/GraphQL/SOAP API
Merlin AI for natural-language workflow creation
Strong governance: RBAC, audit logs, SSO
Embedded integration for SaaS products (Tray Embedded)
Good for non-developer ops teams

Cons

Expensive — $600+/month minimum
No self-hosting option
Opaque pricing requires sales calls
Execution speed can lag on complex workflows
Smaller community than n8n or Zapier

Best for: Mid-market to enterprise RevOps teams that need sophisticated integrations between CRM, marketing, and support tools with strong governance. Overkill for technical teams that can self-host n8n.

5. Workato — Most Powerful Enterprise iPaaS

Workato is consistently rated the #1 enterprise iPaaS by Gartner and Forrester. It combines a no-code builder (called "Recipes") with enterprise-grade features: SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA compliance, 1,000+ connectors, and a dedicated customer-success team. It's the platform Fortune 500 companies choose when they need full governance.

Pricing

Workato uses workspace-based pricing, typically starting at $10,000+/year. Enterprise contracts range from $50,000 to $200,000+/year depending on recipe count, connector needs, and support tier. All plans require a sales conversation.

Pros

1,000+ pre-built connectors with deep field mapping
SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, GDPR certified
Enterprise governance (RBAC, environments, approval flows)
Workbot for Slack/Teams enables conversational automation
Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader for iPaaS

Cons

Very expensive — $10k+/year entry point
No self-hosting, no open-source version
Limited custom code support vs. n8n
Long sales cycles and opaque pricing
Complex recipes are difficult for non-technical users

Best for: Large enterprises (500+ employees) with compliance mandates, large budgets, and a need for a proven iPaaS with vendor support. Cost-prohibitive for startups and mid-market.

6. Temporal — Code-First Durable Workflow Engine

Temporal is fundamentally different from n8n. It's a code-first workflow engine for developers building long-running, durable workflows in Go, Java, TypeScript, Python, or .NET. There is no visual builder. Instead, you define workflows in code, and Temporal guarantees execution even through failures, restarts, and deployments.

Pricing

Temporal is open-source (MIT license) for self-hosting. Temporal Cloud pricing starts at $200/month (includes 40M actions) and scales based on action volume and storage. Enterprise support contracts are custom-priced.

Pros

Durable execution — survives crashes, deployments, restarts
Supports Go, Java, TypeScript, Python, .NET
Ideal for microservice orchestration
Open-source (MIT) with managed cloud option
Proven at massive scale (Uber, Netflix, Stripe)

Cons

No visual builder — code only
Not designed for business-user automation
No pre-built app integrations
Steep learning curve for the programming model
Self-hosting requires significant infrastructure expertise

Best for: Engineering teams building durable, long-running microservice orchestrations (e.g., payment flows, order management, saga patterns). Not a substitute for n8n's business automation use cases.

7. Apache Airflow — Data Pipeline Standard

Apache Airflow is the de facto standard for orchestrating data pipelines (ETL/ELT). Originally developed at Airbnb, it uses Python-defined DAGs (Directed Acyclic Graphs) to schedule and monitor complex data workflows. It's open-source, highly extensible, and supported by managed services from AWS (MWAA), Google Cloud (Cloud Composer), and Astronomer.

Pricing

Airflow itself is free (Apache 2.0 license). Managed services vary: AWS MWAA starts at ~$350/month, Google Cloud Composer at ~$300/month, and Astronomer at $0 (open-source) to $499+/month for the managed platform.

Pros

Industry standard for data orchestration
Massive ecosystem of operators (AWS, GCP, Snowflake, dbt)
Python-native — familiar to data teams
Multiple managed hosting options
Proven at extreme scale (petabyte data pipelines)

Cons

Not designed for event-driven or real-time workflows
DAGs are code-only — no visual builder for business users
Heavy resource footprint (scheduler, webserver, workers, database)
No native SaaS app integrations (Slack, HubSpot, etc.)
Complex self-hosting and upgrades

Best for: Data engineering teams orchestrating batch ETL/ELT pipelines. Not a general-purpose business automation tool — use n8n for that and Airflow for data pipelines.

8. IFTTT — Simplest Consumer-Grade Automation

IFTTT ("If This Then That") is the original trigger-action automation tool. It's designed for simple, single-trigger automations: "If new email attachment, save to Google Drive." IFTTT recently added multi-step "queries" and "filter code," but it remains best suited for personal and small-business automations rather than enterprise workflows.

Pricing

Free plan includes 2 Applets. IFTTT Pro is $3.49/month (20 Applets, multi-step, filter code). IFTTT Pro+ is $14.99/month (unlimited Applets, faster polling, multiple accounts). Enterprise pricing for the "IFTTT Connect" platform is custom.

Pros

Extremely simple — anyone can use it
900+ app integrations (IoT focus)
Strong IoT/smart-home connections
Cheapest paid plan on the market ($3.49/mo)
IFTTT Connect for embedding in SaaS products

Cons

Very limited workflow logic (basic filter only)
No enterprise governance features
Polling-based triggers (15-min delay on free tier)
No self-hosting, limited data control
Not suitable for complex enterprise workflows

Best for: Personal productivity and simple two-step automations. Not a serious enterprise contender — included here for completeness since it appears in "n8n alternatives" searches.

Full Comparison Table: n8n vs All Alternatives

The table below compares all 8 alternatives alongside n8n across the dimensions that matter most for enterprise adoption.

Platform	Type	Starting Price	Integrations	Self-Host	Visual Builder	Custom Code	AI Nodes	Best For
n8n	Open-Source	Free (self-host)	400+	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Full (JS/Python)	✅ Native	Engineering-led teams
Zapier	SaaS	$29.99/mo	7,000+	❌ No	✅ Yes	⚠️ Snippets	⚠️ Limited	Non-technical teams
Make	SaaS	$10.59/mo	1,500+	❌ No	✅ Yes	⚠️ Limited	⚠️ Limited	Visual-first teams
Power Automate	SaaS (MS)	$15/user/mo	1,000+	❌ No	✅ Yes	⚠️ Expressions	✅ AI Builder	Microsoft shops
Tray.io	iPaaS	~$600/mo	600+	❌ No	✅ Yes	⚠️ Limited	✅ Merlin AI	RevOps teams
Workato	iPaaS	~$10k/yr	1,000+	❌ No	✅ Yes	⚠️ Ruby formulas	⚠️ Limited	Fortune 500
Temporal	Open-Source	Free (self-host)	None (code)	✅ Yes	❌ No	✅ Full (multi-lang)	❌ No	Microservice orchestration
Airflow	Open-Source	Free (self-host)	Operators only	✅ Yes	❌ No	✅ Full (Python)	❌ No	Data pipelines
IFTTT	SaaS	$3.49/mo	900+	❌ No	✅ Basic	⚠️ Filter only	❌ No	Personal / IoT

Why n8n Still Wins for Most Enterprises

After evaluating every major alternative, our recommendation remains clear: n8n is the best overall workflow automation platform for engineering-driven enterprises. Here's why:

1. True Self-Hosting = Total Data Control

n8n is the only platform on this list that combines a visual workflow builder with genuine self-hosting capability. Your data never leaves your infrastructure. For enterprises handling PII, financial data, or healthcare records, this alone is often the deciding factor. Zapier, Make, Tray.io, and Workato all process data on third-party servers.

2. Unlimited Executions at Fixed Cost

Every SaaS alternative charges per task, operation, or user. At enterprise scale — 100,000+ workflow executions per month — these costs compound dramatically. Zapier at 100k tasks costs $1,000+/month. n8n self-hosted costs whatever your server costs ($50-200/month on typical cloud infrastructure) regardless of volume.

3. Native AI and LLM Nodes

n8n ships with native nodes for OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Ollama (local LLMs), vector stores (Pinecone, Qdrant), and AI agents. No other visual automation platform offers this depth of AI integration out of the box. As enterprises increasingly embed AI into operational workflows, this becomes a critical differentiator.

4. Full Code Extensibility

n8n lets you write JavaScript or Python directly inside workflow nodes, create custom nodes, and import npm packages. This bridges the gap between no-code visual building and full programming — a combination no SaaS competitor matches. Zapier offers code snippets; Make offers limited functions; n8n offers full programmatic control.

5. Fair-Code Licensing and Community

n8n's Sustainable Use License gives you access to the full source code, the ability to self-host, and the right to modify for internal use. The community has contributed 400+ integrations and growing. You're not locked into a vendor's roadmap — if you need a connector, you can build it yourself or hire someone to build it.

The Bottom Line

If you have an engineering or DevOps team that can manage a self-hosted deployment, n8n delivers more capability per dollar than any alternative on this list. The only scenarios where we recommend looking elsewhere are: (a) you're a 100% Microsoft shop that needs Power Automate desktop RPA, (b) you need 5,000+ niche SaaS connectors that only Zapier has, or (c) you're building durable microservice orchestrations (use Temporal).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best n8n alternative for enterprise in 2026?

For most enterprises, Workato is the strongest n8n alternative if budget is not a constraint — it offers 1,000+ connectors, enterprise SSO, and SOC 2 compliance. However, n8n itself remains the best overall value because it combines self-hosting, unlimited workflows, full source-code access, and AI-native nodes at a fraction of the cost.

Is Zapier better than n8n for enterprise?

Zapier has a larger app directory (7,000+ integrations) and requires zero infrastructure management. However, for enterprise use it becomes expensive quickly — task-based pricing at scale can exceed $3,000/month. n8n offers unlimited executions on self-hosted plans, making it significantly more cost-effective for high-volume workflows.

Can Power Automate replace n8n?

Power Automate is an excellent choice if your enterprise is already invested in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. It offers deep integration with Teams, SharePoint, and Dynamics 365. However, it falls short on non-Microsoft integrations, custom code flexibility, and self-hosting — areas where n8n excels.

What is the cheapest n8n alternative?

IFTTT Pro is the cheapest option at $3.49/month, but it's limited to simple two-step automations. For enterprise-grade features, n8n Community Edition (free, self-hosted) and Apache Airflow (free, open-source) are the most cost-effective. Make (Integromat) offers the best value among paid SaaS options, starting at $10.59/month.

Should I use Temporal or Apache Airflow instead of n8n?

Temporal and Airflow serve different purposes. Temporal is a code-first workflow engine for developers building durable, long-running microservice orchestrations — it's not a visual automation tool. Apache Airflow is designed for data pipeline orchestration (ETL/ELT), not general business automation. If you need a visual workflow builder for cross-team business automation, n8n is the better choice.

Need Help Deploying n8n for Your Enterprise?

HostingX provides fully managed n8n deployments — self-hosted on your cloud, production-hardened, with HA clustering, SSO integration, and 24/7 monitoring. We handle the infrastructure so your team focuses on building workflows.

Explore Managed n8n →Schedule a Free Consultation

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