n8n vs Activepieces vs Windmill

None of the three charges a license fee for its free self-hosted edition, so the cheapest option depends on what you need beyond the community tier and on who runs it. n8n's Community edition is free to self-host, but the n8n pricing page lists its Business plan at 667 euros per month billed annually, self-hosted only, and that plan includes SSO, Git environments and log streaming. Activepieces' Community Edition is MIT licensed, and its pricing page starts SSO at the Team plan at 200 US dollars a month for up to 25 users. Windmill's Community Edition is free with unlimited executions but is capped at 3 workspaces, 50 users and 4 groups, and its Enterprise Edition starts at 120 US dollars a month. Your actual cost is infrastructure, PostgreSQL, Redis where it applies, and the staff hours spent on patching and upgrades. Ask each vendor for current pricing before comparing totals.

Yes in all three cases, at least for the features most security teams ask for first. n8n places SSO and LDAP in its Business and Enterprise plans, and its SAML single sign-on documentation includes setup guides for Okta Workforce Identity and Azure AD. Activepieces starts SSO at its Team plan, and its pricing page lists audit logs only for its highest tier, so confirm the audit requirement before assuming the Team plan covers it. Windmill's Enterprise Edition adds SAML, SCIM and audit logs, and its free Community Edition does not list them. Ask each vendor whether the feature supports your identity provider, whether it applies to every user type, and where audit records are stored and how long they are kept. Those details are not settled by the pricing pages alone, so verify them in a trial deployment before you commit.

Non-developers can build simple flows in n8n and Activepieces, while Windmill is built around scripts that developers write. n8n's canvas connects apps visually and advertises more than 1,500 integrations, and builders can add custom JavaScript or Python where a node is missing. Activepieces builds flows from pieces, with more than 280 listed in its repository, about 60 percent contributed by the community, and it adds AI agent and MCP capabilities. Windmill scripts can be written in Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash, SQL and other languages, then composed into flows or low-code apps, so whoever writes the logic needs coding skills. Test with the people who will maintain the flows, not only the evaluator. Time how long a non-developer takes to build a representative workflow, including error handling and credential setup, and note each point where they need a developer.

No supplied source gives a pilot duration for any of these platforms, so the answer depends on scope and should come from a written plan. The main drivers are the number of workflows and integrations, whether credentials and identity providers must connect to your directory, and whether the target is a single instance or a queue setup with several workers. n8n queue mode adds Redis, worker processes and a shared encryption key, and multi-main high availability is limited to Enterprise self-hosted deployments. Activepieces recommends Docker Compose with PostgreSQL and Redis and offers a Helm chart for Kubernetes, while Windmill supports Docker Compose or Helm with external PostgreSQL, which changes how much infrastructure the pilot must stand up. Ask any implementation partner, including DeployOpen, for a fixed-scope proposal that lists deliverables, environments and acceptance tests before work begins.

A team with container and database experience can run any of the three, but each platform has operating components that need a named owner. n8n in queue mode needs a main instance, Redis, PostgreSQL and worker processes, and every worker must share the main instance's encryption key, which protects stored credentials and therefore needs careful handling. Activepieces recommends Docker Compose with PostgreSQL and Redis, with a Helm chart for Kubernetes. Windmill runs stateless API servers and workers that pull jobs from a PostgreSQL queue, and its README suggests one worker per vCPU with 1 to 2 GB of RAM. Ongoing work includes upgrades, backups, patching, credential rotation and on-call coverage. DeployOpen can plan, implement, harden, back up, upgrade and document these systems inside your own infrastructure under a fixed scope, and it offers retainers for ongoing support. Ask your own staff how many hours each month the platform will need.

Switching cost depends on how much logic is locked into each tool's own format, and the supplied sources do not describe export formats, so confirm them with each vendor before you commit. Flows built in the n8n and Activepieces canvases usually need rebuilding in another tool unless an export is available. Windmill's logic lives in scripts written in ordinary languages such as Python or TypeScript, which can make the business logic easier to move, although its flows and apps still need rebuilding. Licensing also shapes a move. n8n's Sustainable Use License limits use to internal business, non-commercial or personal purposes, and Windmill's prebuilt Community Edition images include proprietary code that is free for internal use, while managed services or resale require a commercial license. Keep a written inventory of workflows, credentials and integrations from the first day of the pilot.

None of these platforms produces an audit report, attestation or certification by itself, and DeployOpen does not issue them either. An independent auditor or certification body assesses your environment, while the platform, its configuration and its logs become evidence you assemble. Check which logs each edition produces, whether audit logs are available in your tier, and where they are stored. n8n places log streaming in its Business and Enterprise plans, while Windmill's Enterprise Edition adds audit logs and external secret backends such as Vault and AWS Secrets Manager. Activepieces lists audit logs only for its highest tier. Ask your auditor which control evidence they expect, then confirm with each vendor that the edition you choose can produce it. DeployOpen can prepare systems, controls and evidence for an assessment, under a written scope.