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Open source alternatives to Zapier

Zapier starts at $19.99 (pricing). Here are 3 self-hostable options – free to run on your own server.

n8n

★ 207.3kSustainable Use License (fair-code)
self-host: easy

n8n-io/n8n

activepieces

★ 25.0kMIT (+ separate enterprise/EE license for some dirs)
self-host: easy

activepieces/activepieces

windmill

★ 18.2kApache-2.0 (+ separate enterprise/EE license for some dirs)
self-host: easy

windmill-labs/windmill

Build it yourself with AI

Partly: single-purpose scripts easy; general workflow engine use OSS.

Paste this prompt into Cursor, Claude Code, Codex or any coding agent to build a minimal self-hosted Zapier clone, deployable with Docker on a VPS.

You are a senior full-stack engineer. Build a minimal, self-hosted clone of Zapier (automation) that I can run on my own VPS. Keep it small, production-sane, and easy to maintain.

## Goal
Replace my paid Zapier subscription for a single person or small team. MVP only — no billing, no enterprise features.

## Core features (build exactly these)
1. workflows = trigger + ordered actions
2. triggers: webhook, schedule (cron), RSS
3. actions: HTTP request, send email, Slack webhook, LLM call
4. run history with per-step logs and retries
5. encrypted credential storage

## Stack
- Next.js (App Router, TypeScript) + Tailwind + shadcn/ui
- PostgreSQL with Drizzle ORM (migrations checked in)
- Auth: Better Auth (email + password, optional GitHub OAuth); every query scoped to the signed-in user/workspace
- Background jobs (if needed): pg-boss on the same Postgres
- File storage (if needed): S3-compatible (MinIO container)

## Data model (start here, extend only if required)
User, Workflow, Step, Credential, Run, StepLog
Use UUID primary keys, createdAt/updatedAt on every table, and foreign keys with sensible ON DELETE behavior.

## Deliverables
1. Working app with the features above and a clean, minimal UI
2. docker-compose.yml with app, postgres, minio and Caddy (automatic HTTPS) — `docker compose up -d` must be all I run
3. .env.example documenting every variable; no secrets in code
4. Seed script with demo data
5. README: local dev, deploy on a fresh Ubuntu VPS (install Docker, set DNS A record, compose up), backups (pg_dump cron), and updating

## Rules
- Build in small steps; after each feature, run typecheck and the app, and fix errors before moving on
- Validate all input with zod; rate-limit public endpoints
- Write a few Playwright smoke tests for the main flow
- Ask me before adding any dependency beyond the stack above

For reference (study the approach, don't copy code): https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n, https://github.com/activepieces/activepieces, https://github.com/windmill-labs/windmill

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