Is Activepieces worth it in 2026?
What the $20 Plus plan buys in runs, why one credit covers a whole flow, how the pricing changed three times since 2025, and when self-hosting the free core beats any cloud plan.
The quick answer
Activepieces Plus is worth $20 a month for solo operators who run dozens of multi-step flows and find Zapier’s per-step task pricing expensive. Plus includes 10,000 credits a month, and one credit pays for a whole flow run however many steps it has, with extra runs at $0.007. AI steps cost more unless you bring your own key. The open-source core is free to self-host. Expect the pricing model to keep moving: it changed three times since mid-2025.
Short answer: yes, if you run many multi-step automations. Activepieces Plus costs $20 a month, flat, for up to five users and 10,000 credits, and a credit is one full flow run regardless of steps. Zapier counts every successful action step as a task, so a three-step Zap uses three tasks per run where Activepieces uses one credit.
The catch is pricing stability. Dated archive snapshots show three pricing models in about 15 months: per task, then per active flow, now per credit. Below: the plans, what 50 flows cost now and under the old model, how Zapier and n8n compare, what users say, and when self-hosting the free MIT-licensed core is the better deal.
Activepieces cloud plans, US prices as of October 29, 2026
Prices billed monthly and flat per workspace, not per user. Annual billing advertises two months free; the annual total is shown at checkout.
| Feature | Free | Plus | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price, billed monthly | $0 | $20/month | $200/month |
| Credits (1 credit = 1 flow run) | 1,000 a month | 10,000 a month | 50,000 a month |
| When credits run out | Runs wait for the refresh | $0.007 per extra credit | $0.007 per extra credit |
| Users and projects | Up to 5 users | Up to 5 users | 25 users, unlimited projects |
| Bring your own AI keys | No | Yes | Yes |
| Support | Community | Community | Email, plus SSO and roles |
What you get
- ✓One credit per run: multi-step flows cost the same as one-step flows.
- ✓Flat pricing: Plus is $20 a month for up to five users, not per seat.
- ✓Cheap overage: extra runs cost $0.007 each on Plus and Team.
- ✓Open-source core: MIT-licensed and free to self-host with Docker.
The trade-offs
- ✕Unstable pricing: three different models since June 2025.
- ✕AI steps cost extra: up to 20 credits a step unless you bring your own key.
- ✕Free plan stalls: runs past 1,000 credits wait for the refresh.
- ✕No SOC 2 yet: the vendor says its program is still in progress.
- ✕Team is a big jump: SSO and roles start at $200 a month.
Worth it if…
- →Solo operators and freelancers running dozens of multi-step flows.
- →Small teams of up to five who want flat pricing instead of per-seat bills.
- →Builders who can self-host Docker and want an MIT-licensed core.
Skip it if…
- →You need SOC 2 certification for vendor approval today.
- →Your flows are AI-heavy and you will not manage your own model keys.
- →You need a long-term fixed price and dislike plan changes at renewal.
What does Activepieces cost in 2026?
As of October 29, 2026, the Activepieces pricing page lists Free at $0 with 1,000 credits a month, Plus at $20 flat per month with 10,000 credits, and Team at $200 flat per month with 50,000 credits, 25 users, SSO and email support. Every plan includes unlimited flows, Agents, Tables and MCP access, and runs on Activepieces’ cloud or your own servers. Ultimate, with yearly credit pools, SCIM, audit logs and Git sync, is quote-only.
The credit rules are what make the price. A run is one credit however many steps it has. AI is the exception: per the pricing FAQ, an AI step costs 2 credits on a fast model, 10 on a smart model and 20 on a frontier model, and agent actions cost 1 each. On Plus and above you can connect your own AI provider keys, which drops every AI step to 1 credit and moves the model cost to your provider bill.
Running out works differently by plan. On Free, flows stay on but runs past the quota wait for the credit refresh. On Plus and Team they keep running at $0.007 per extra credit, so 5,000 extra runs cost $35 by our arithmetic. Upgrades and seats are prorated immediately; downgrades apply at the end of the billing period.
What do 50 flows cost on Activepieces, Zapier and n8n?
Our arithmetic for a solo operator with 50 flows of three action steps, each running 100 times a month, which is 5,000 runs. On Activepieces Plus that is 5,000 credits, inside the 10,000 included: $20 a month. If the same flows ran 300 times a month, 15,000 credits, the bill would be $20 plus 5,000 extra credits at $0.007, or $55.
On Zapier, the task usage guide counts each successful action step as one task, while triggers and filters are free. The same 5,000 runs of three actions use 15,000 tasks. Zapier’s pricing page lists Professional “starting from $19.99” a month, with a task slider whose tiers include 10K and 20K tasks a month; the price rises with the tier, so check the one you need there. Our Zapier review covers those tiers.
n8n’s cloud pricing counts whole workflow executions, like Activepieces: Starter is $20 a month billed annually for 2,500 executions and Pro is $50 a month billed annually for 10,000. The 5,000-run workload needs n8n Pro at $50, against $20 on Activepieces Plus. See our n8n review.
How has Activepieces’ pricing changed?
Three models in about 15 months. The June 14, 2025 snapshot charged by task: 1,000 free tasks a month, then $1 per 1,000 extra tasks, with Ultimate from $1,200 a month. The December 4, 2025 and May 4, 2026 snapshots show a different deal: unlimited runs, 10 free active flows, then $5 per active flow per month.
Under that per-flow model, the 50-flow setup above would have cost 40 paid flows at $5, or $200 a month by our arithmetic. Today the same flows fit in Plus at $20, as long as runs stay under 10,000. The trade-off reversed: heavy runners of a few flows paid less before, and owners of many light flows pay less now.
The credit model appears in the September 1, 2026 snapshot, which showed Plus at $16 a month and Team at $166 a month on yearly billing, and a Free plan of 100 credits a day. Today’s page shows the monthly prices of $20 and $200 and moves Free to 1,000 credits a month. Budget for another change before a long commitment.
What do users say about Activepieces?
The open-source project is popular with developers. The Activepieces GitHub repository had 25,269 stars and 4,404 forks on October 29, 2026. Its Launch HN as an open-source Zapier alternative on February 9, 2023 drew 231 points and 62 comments.
Pricing trust comes up in automation threads. On October 2, 2025, a Hacker News commenter recommended it with “Try activepieces, they never did any bait and switch.” For the 50-flow example the newest model is the cheapest of the three, but the changes since then mean the plan you buy may not be the plan you renew.
Not everyone stays. One commenter wrote on October 12, 2025: “We’ve tried N8N, zapier, windmill, activepieces, flowfuse, crosser and can’t for the life of me get off node-red.” Activepieces’ own FAQ notes that its SOC 2 program is still in progress, which matters for teams with compliance reviews.
Is self-hosting the cheaper answer?
The core is free. Per the license page, Activepieces’ core is released under the MIT license, while enterprise features need a paid license key. The install guide recommends Docker Compose with PostgreSQL and Redis, offers a one-line install script, and lists one-click hosts such as PikaPods from $2.9 a month.
Self-hosting suits you if you can run Docker, apply updates and keep backups. The pricing FAQ is candid about what you give up: access controls, change history, separate team projects and Agents and Chat come with the paid layer. A solo operator with simple flows and some server skills can run Community Edition for the price of a small host; a team that needs SSO should compare self-hosting effort with Team at $200.
Academy data: of the five automation prompt packs in our library, none names Activepieces; Claude automation prompts help plan the flows before you build them in any tool.
The verdict
Activepieces Plus is worth $20 a month for anyone whose automations have several steps: counting a whole run as one credit makes 5,000 runs a month cost $20, where n8n’s cloud needs its $50 Pro plan and Zapier counts three tasks per run. If you can run Docker, the free MIT core is cheaper still.
Skip it, or stay monthly, if pricing stability matters more than price: the model has changed three times since 2025, and the Free plan’s refresh pause makes it a test bed, not a production tier. If Activepieces holds the credit model and earns SOC 2, the case for teams gets much stronger.
Better alternatives?
If it is not the right fit, these are worth a look.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Activepieces cost in 2026?▾
As of October 29, 2026, Free is $0 with 1,000 credits a month, Plus is $20 a month flat with 10,000 credits, and Team is $200 a month with 50,000 credits. Extra credits cost $0.007.
What counts as a credit in Activepieces?▾
One full flow run is one credit, however many steps it has. AI steps cost 2, 10 or 20 credits by model tier, or 1 credit if you connect your own AI key on Plus or Team.
Is Activepieces free to self-host?▾
Yes. The core is MIT-licensed and installs with Docker Compose, PostgreSQL and Redis. Enterprise features such as SSO and audit logs need a paid license key.
Is Activepieces cheaper than Zapier?▾
For multi-step flows, usually. Zapier counts each successful action step as a task, while Activepieces counts a whole run as one credit, so a three-step flow uses three Zapier tasks per run.
Does Activepieces change its pricing often?▾
It has. Archive snapshots show per-task pricing in June 2025, $5 per active flow from late 2025 to May 2026, and credit-based plans since September 2026.