n8n
Free node based Workflow Automation Tool. Easily automate tasks across different services.
High commit volume, frequent releases and growing activity.
Commit activity more than 98% of tracked projects; popularity in the top 1%. How this is calculated.
Commits, last 11 months
| Stars | 206k |
|---|---|
| Latest release | stable · 25 Sept 2026 |
| Repo updated | 28 Sept 2026 |
| Licence | Apache-2.0Commons-Clause |
| Built with | Nodejs |
Is n8n actively maintained?
n8n is under active development: 7986 commits landed over the last 11 months, averaging roughly 1148 commits a month in the most recent quarter.
Activity is accelerating: the last quarter carried 65% more commits than the one before it.
The most recent tagged release, stable, shipped within the last month — a current, installable version exists today.
Among the 32 automation projects we track, n8n currently has the highest health score.
What n8n actually does
n8n is a node-based workflow automation tool that lets you connect different services and APIs to handle repetitive tasks. It provides a visual interface for constructing multi-step sequences of triggers and actions without writing traditional scripts from scratch.
Best fit: It suits developers and system administrators who want to self-host their automation infrastructure and manage custom data pipelines between disparate web services.
Worth knowing: The licensing model combines Apache-2.0 with the Commons-Clause, which restricts selling the software as a paid service to third parties. Operational overhead includes managing workflow state and handling potential queue bottlenecks as execution volume grows.
Deployment notes
As a Node.js application, it typically requires a persistent database backend like PostgreSQL or SQLite, along with a reverse proxy to handle TLS termination.
Links
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