n8n Has a Free Workflow Automation Platform — Here's How to Use It

#automation #workflow #nocode #selfhosted

Zapier costs $20/month for 750 tasks. Make.com limits operations. n8n gives you unlimited workflow automation — self-hosted, open-source, with 400+ integrations.

What Is n8n?

n8n is a workflow automation platform. Connect APIs, transform data, and build complex automations using a visual editor or code — all self-hosted and free.

Quick Start

docker run -it --rm --name n8n \
  -p 5678:5678 \
  -v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n \
  n8nio/n8n

Visit http://localhost:5678 and start building workflows.

Example: Scrape → Transform → Notify

HTTP Request → Fetch data from API
Code Node → Transform/filter data with JavaScript
IF Node → Check conditions
Slack → Send notification
Google Sheets → Save results

All configured visually — drag, drop, connect.

Code Node (JavaScript/Python)

// Run custom JavaScript in any workflow
const items = $input.all();

return items.map(item => ({
  json: {
    title: item.json.title.toUpperCase(),
    url: item.json.url,
    score: item.json.score * 100,
  }
}));

400+ Integrations

Slack, Discord, Gmail, Google Sheets, Notion, Airtable, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, AWS S3, GitHub, Jira, Trello, HubSpot, Salesforce, Stripe, Shopify, WordPress, Telegram, Twitter, and hundreds more.

Triggers

Webhook — receive HTTP requests
Cron — scheduled execution
Email — when email received
Database — on record change
File — on file change
App triggers — Slack message, GitHub push, etc.

Why n8n

Feature	n8n	Zapier	Make.com
Cost (self-host)	Free	$20+/month	$9+/month
Executions	Unlimited	750/month	1000/month
Code nodes	Yes (JS/Python)	Limited	Limited
Self-hosted	Yes	No	No
Open source	Yes	No	No
Integrations	400+	5000+	1000+