Activepieces

What Activepieces does

Activepieces is a no-code automation tool that its README describes as an open source replacement for Zapier. A flow starts with a trigger, such as a new row in Google Sheets, an incoming email or a webhook, and then runs a sequence of actions in other apps. Branches, loops, retries, HTTP calls and code steps cover the cases where a straight line of steps is not enough, and every flow is versioned so that edits can be tested before they are published.

Integrations are called “pieces”. Each piece is a TypeScript package published to npm, and the project says much of the catalog comes from community contributors. The documentation lists several hundred apps, including Slack, Gmail, HubSpot, Salesforce, Notion, Stripe and OpenAI. Recent versions add AI agents that can use those pieces as tools, built-in tables for storing data between runs, approval steps that pause a flow until a person responds, and an MCP server so that assistants such as Claude or Cursor can call the same integrations.

Security and data handling

Connection credentials are encrypted with a key you set at install time. Flow code runs in a separate engine process, and the operator picks how strongly it is isolated. The documentation recommends V8 isolation (SANDBOX_CODE_ONLY), which is what Activepieces Cloud uses and which does not need a privileged container. A stricter process-level mode allows arbitrary npm packages but requires the worker to run privileged. The example environment file ships with the unsandboxed mode, so check this setting before you let other people build flows.

Product analytics are switched on by default. You can turn them off with an environment variable on first start or later in the admin settings. Licensed instances also send a daily summary of the deployment’s shape, which has its own switch.

Self-hosting Activepieces

The recommended setup is Docker Compose with PostgreSQL and Redis, installed by a script or by hand. The documentation asks for Docker Compose v2 and at least 2 vCPU and 4 GB of RAM. A single-container “hobby” install with an embedded database also exists. It needs only Docker but cannot scale and cannot move to the paid edition later. Webhooks and app triggers need a public URL, so a laptop install needs a tunnel.

The license split matters here. Code outside the ee directories is MIT. The recommended Compose install sets the Enterprise edition and runs it on the free plan, while leaving that setting out gives you the Community edition built from the MIT code alone. Projects and multi-tenancy, SSO, custom roles, SCIM, audit logs, secret managers, Git sync, worker groups, embedding and custom branding are paid features under the commercial license.

Hosted version

Activepieces Cloud is run by the developers, and the documentation says you can start on it for free. It uses the same sandboxing mode the documentation recommends for multi-tenant self-hosted installs.

Limitations

The catalog is large for an open source project but smaller than Zapier’s or Make’s, so check that the apps you depend on have pieces with the triggers you need. Team governance features are paid. Telemetry is on until you switch it off, and getting sandboxing right on a self-hosted server is up to you.

Who it suits

Activepieces fits teams that want a Zapier-style builder that non-developers can use, running on their own servers or on a hosted plan they can later leave. Developers can add missing integrations in TypeScript. For a comparison with the other options, see the workflow automation guide or the Zapier alternatives.