Tools · Issue #12 ·
n8n, the automation builder where you can watch your AI agent work, step by step
In one line: n8n is a visual workflow builder for automations and AI agents, with 500+ native integrations, every step laid out on a canvas you can open and inspect, and a free Community edition you can run on your own computer or server.
What it is
n8n is where you wire apps and AI together. You drag nodes onto a canvas: a trigger (a schedule, a webhook, a new form entry, an incoming message), then the steps that follow, like looking something up in a database, calling any API over HTTP, asking an AI model to decide or summarize, or posting to Slack. It has 500+ native integrations, an AI Agent node that can use other tools, MCP support in both directions, and human approval steps, so an agent can ask you in Slack before it, say, issues a refund. The pitch on its homepage is "agents and workflows you can follow": every run is logged, you can open any step to see exactly what went in and came out, and you can re-run just the step that broke. When the visual nodes aren't enough, you drop into JavaScript or Python. You can use n8n's hosted cloud, or self-host it with Docker or npm and keep your data on your own machines.
Who it's for
People who keep thinking "this should just happen automatically": ops and IT folks, marketers, founders, solo builders and developers who want AI in a real process, not just in a chat window. It's more technical than Zapier-style tools. You'll be happier if you're comfortable with ideas like webhooks, JSON and API keys. If you want an AI agent you can actually audit, with every decision visible in the run log, n8n is built for exactly that.
Try this today
If you have Node.js installed (n8n needs a version between 20.19 and 24.x), open a terminal and run npx n8n, then go to http://localhost:5678. That's the free self-hosted version running on your laptop, no account or card needed. (Prefer not to touch a terminal? Start the 14-day n8n Cloud trial at n8n.io; no credit card required.) Build one small thing: a Schedule Trigger that fires every morning, an HTTP Request node that pulls a feed or API you already check by hand, an AI Agent node that summarizes it (self-hosted, you bring your own model API key), and a Slack or Gmail node that sends you the result. Click run, then open each step and look at its input and output. That's the part that makes n8n click.
The catch
Free means self-hosting. n8n Cloud has no free plan, only a 14-day trial capped at 1,000 executions, and if you don't upgrade by the end, n8n deletes your instance (you get 90 days to download your workflows). Running it yourself is free, but you're the one keeping a server up, updating it, and making it reachable from the internet so webhooks from other apps can land. n8n says npm installs are deprecated from n8n 3.0, and its built-in AI Assistant isn't available on npm installs, so Docker is the longer-term route. n8n's code is on GitHub, but it isn't open source in the strict sense: the free Community edition runs under n8n's Sustainable Use License, which is fine for your own business, personal projects and client work you build yourself, but doesn't let you host n8n as a service where your customers build their own workflows. On Cloud you pay by executions (one full run of a workflow, however many steps), and each AI agent chat turn counts as one, so a busy chatbot burns through Starter's 2,500 a month quickly. Starter also caps each run at 5 minutes and 5 at a time. AI model use on Cloud without your own keys is paid from a separate prepaid balance (Gateway credits), and Assistant credits don't roll over.
Pricing
Community edition (self-hosted): free, with almost the full feature set according to n8n's docs; you pay for your own hosting and AI model usage. n8n Cloud is listed in euros on n8n's pricing page, and every plan includes unlimited users, unlimited workflows and every integration. Starter: €20 a month billed annually (€240 a year), or €24 month to month, for 2,500 executions a month, 5 concurrent executions, 1 shared project and 1,600 Assistant credits. Pro: from €50 a month billed annually (€600 a year), or €60 monthly, for 10,000 executions, 20 concurrent executions and 4,000 Assistant credits; a 50,000-execution Pro tier is €1,450 a year or €145 monthly, with 50 concurrent executions and 9,600 Assistant credits. Business: €667 a month billed annually (€8,000 a year), or €800 monthly, self-hosted only, for 40,000 executions, SSO, Git version control and multiple environments; companies under 20 employees can apply for 50% off it. Enterprise is custom. We didn't see US dollar prices on the page when we checked.
Pricing checked on n8n.io/pricing and docs.n8n.io (free trial, npm install and Community license pages) on Oct 26, 2026.