n8n
Free node based Workflow Automation Tool. Easily automate tasks across different services.
Best self-hosted Automation software in 2026
Automation software designed to reduce human intervention in processes.
We track 32 open-source, self-hosted Automation apps. 25 of them had commits in the last 90 days, 22 can run with Docker, and the most common licenses are MIT (9), Apache-2.0 (7), AGPL-3.0 (6). The most-used languages are Python, Go, Nodejs. Below are the top picks by GitHub stars, followed by every app ranked by stars weighted by maintenance health.
Alternatives to ZapierAlternatives to IFTTTAlternatives to MakeAlternatives to Power AutomateAlternatives to PushoverAlternatives to Customer.ioAlternatives to n8n
Top 5 by GitHub stars
| # | App | Stars | Health | Last activity | License | Language | Docker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | n8n | 210.4k | Active | 2026-11-10 | Apache-2.0, Commons-Clause | Nodejs | – |
| 2 | Huginn | 50.5k | Active | 2026-11-09 | MIT | Ruby | – |
| 3 | Apache Airflow | 47.5k | Active | 2026-11-10 | Apache-2.0 | Python, Docker | ✓ |
| 4 | changedetection.io | 35.8k | Active | 2026-11-09 | Apache-2.0 | Python, Docker | ✓ |
| 5 | Kestra | 30.2k | Active | 2026-11-09 | Apache-2.0 | Docker | ✓ |
- n8n — Free node based Workflow Automation Tool. Easily automate tasks across different services.
- Huginn — Build agents that monitor and act on your behalf.
- Apache Airflow — Platform to programmatically author, schedule, and monitor workflows.
- changedetection.io — Stay up-to-date with web-site content changes.
- Kestra — Event-driven, language-agnostic platform to create, schedule, and monitor workflows. In code. Coordinate data pipelines and tasks such as ETL and ELT.
Head-to-head comparisons
Huginn vs n8nApache Airflow vs n8nchangedetection.io vs n8nApache Airflow vs Huginnchangedetection.io vs HuginnApache Airflow vs changedetection.io
All 32 self-hosted Automation apps
Ranked by GitHub stars weighted by maintenance health.
Huginn
Build agents that monitor and act on your behalf.
Apache Airflow
Platform to programmatically author, schedule, and monitor workflows.
changedetection.io
Stay up-to-date with web-site content changes.
Kestra
Event-driven, language-agnostic platform to create, schedule, and monitor workflows. In code. Coordinate data pipelines and tasks such as ETL and ELT.
Activepieces
No-code business automation tool like Zapier or Tray. For example, you can send a Slack notification for each new Trello card.
Leon
Personal assistant who can live on your server.
Gotenberg
Developer-friendly API to interact with powerful tools like Chromium and LibreOffice for converting numerous document formats (HTML, Markdown, Word, Excel, etc.) into PDF files, and more.
Healthchecks
Listen for pings and sends alerts when pings are late.
StackStorm
StackStorm (aka IFTTT for Ops) is event-driven automation for auto-remediation, security responses, troubleshooting, deployments, and more. Includes rules engine, workflow, 160 integration packs with 6000+ actions and ChatOps.
Cronicle
Simple, distributed task scheduler and runner with a web based UI.
Dagu
Powerful Cron alternative with a Web UI. It allows you to define dependencies between commands as a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) in a declarative YAML format.
pyLoad
Lightweight, customizable and remotely manageable downloader for 1-click-hosting sites like rapidshare.com or uploaded.to.
OliveTin
Web interface for running Linux shell commands.
Dittofeed
Omni-channel customer engagement and messaging automation platform (alternative to Braze, Customer.io, Iterable).
Matchering
Automated music mastering (alternative to LANDR, eMastered and MajorDecibel).
Automatisch
Business automation tool that lets you connect different services like Twitter, Slack, and more to automate your business processes (alternative to Zapier).
Fredy
Searches for new apartments, houses, and flats in Germany on platforms like ImmoScout24, Immowelt, and others, and instantly delivers the results to you via Slack, Telegram, and more.
Cronmaster
Cronjob management UI with human readable syntax, live logging and log history for your cronjobs.
ChiefOnboarding
Employee onboarding platform that allows you to provision user accounts and create sequences with todo items, resources, text/email/Slack messages, and more! Available as a web portal and Slack bot.
Discount Bandit
Track pricing, stock status of products across multiple stores such as Amazon, Ebay, Walmart, etc.
gocron
Task scheduler that allows users to specify recurring jobs via a simple YAML configuration file.
LazyLibrarian
Follow authors and grab metadata for all your digital reading needs. It uses a combination of Goodreads, Librarything and optionally GoogleBooks as sources for author info and book info.
flowctl
Self-service workflow execution platform with approvals, remote execution and scheduling.
µTask
Automation engine that models and executes business processes declared in yaml.
HomeButler
Installs and manages a curated catalog of applications via Docker Compose, maps containers and exposed ports, verifies backups restore, and reports what changed since the last run with CLI, JSON, web and MCP interfaces.
BookBounty
Retrieve missing Readarr books from Library Genesis.
HandBrake Web
Use one or more instances of HandBrake video transcoder on a headless device via a web interface.
Kibitzr
Lightweight personal web assistant with powerful integrations.
Mylar3
Automated Comic Book (cbr/cbz) downloader program for use with NZB and torrents.
Ctfreak
IT task scheduler with mobile-friendly web UI to schedule concurrent, remote and chained execution of Bash / Powershell / SQL scripts, Webhooks, and more.
CxReports
Reporting and PDF document generation with a user-friendly WYSIWYG template editor, API, automated email delivery, and robust security features.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best self-hosted Automation software in 2026?
By GitHub stars, the most popular self-hosted Automation apps are n8n (210,442 stars), Huginn (50,534 stars), Apache Airflow (47,474 stars). Popularity is only one signal: also check maintenance health, license and whether it fits your setup.
How many self-hosted Automation apps are actively maintained?
25 of the 32 apps listed had commits in the last 90 days and 5 more in the last 12 months; for 2 we have no repository activity data.
Which self-hosted Automation apps can I run with Docker?
22 of the 32 apps can run with Docker; 5 publish an image on Docker Hub, including Apache Airflow, changedetection.io, Activepieces, ChiefOnboarding and Discount Bandit.
Which licenses do self-hosted Automation apps use?
The most common licenses in this category are MIT (9 apps), Apache-2.0 (7 apps), AGPL-3.0 (6 apps).
How much does it cost to self-host Automation software?
The software itself is free to download. Based on our rough hardware estimates, the cheapest suitable VPS plan starts at about $3.5/month (median $5/month across apps in this category). Several light apps can share one server.
Related categories
Figures from GitHub and Docker Hub as of 2026-11-15; hosting costs are rough estimates.