an open source alternative to Zapier

Interest over time From data

Hacker News stories mentioning workflow automation self-hosted (topic read as “Zapier alternative”), by year — 36 in total, currently rising.

1. 1 2021
2. 1 2022
3. 4 2023
4. 2 2024
5. 9 2025
6. 19 2026

This counts discussion on Hacker News, not global search demand. For developer tooling the two move together; for a local service business they do not.

Who is already building this From data

• Automatisch is the clearest live competitor: an open-source Zapier alternative with 13,923 stars and a recent push on 2026-02-11.

  • github automatisch/automatisch 2021-09-30

• Activepieces is another live open-source Zapier alternative, and its launch on Hacker News got 231 points and 62 comments.

  • hackernews Launch HN: Activepieces (YC S22) – Open-Source Zapier Alternative 2023-02-09

• Trigger.dev entered the same conversation as a developer-first open-source Zapier alternative and its first Show HN drew 745 points and 190 comments.

  • hackernews Show HN: We built a developer-first open-source Zapier alternative 2023-02-01

• Flot is a much smaller open-source Make alternative with 30 stars, and it looks stale with its last push on 2025-04-28.

  • github FlotHQ/flot 2024-08-26

• Flowra is a tiny self-hostable workflow automation engine with 4 stars and a very recent push on 2026-06-25, but it is still just an early project.

  • github adam-eques/flowra 2026-06-25

• Zapier itself is still a major ecosystem force: its developer packages show 205,964 monthly downloads for @zapier/zapier-sdk-core, 718,682 for @zapier/zapier-durable, 474,176 for zapier-platform-schema, 271,641 for zapier-platform-cli, and 483,656 for zapier-platform-core.

  • registries npm: @zapier/zapier-sdk-core 2026-07-30
  • registries npm: @zapier/zapier-durable 2026-07-31
  • registries npm: zapier-platform-schema 2026-07-30
  • registries npm: zapier-platform-cli 2026-07-30
  • registries npm: zapier-platform-core 2026-07-30

What people actually say From data

• "We found current workflow" — Trigger.dev’s founders were explicit that they built from a real pain point, even if the excerpt cuts off before the full complaint.

  • hackernews Show HN: We built a developer-first open-source Zapier alternative 2023-02-01

• "For the past few months we’ve been building Trigger.dev" — the project was framed as a response to existing workflow automation pain for developers.

  • hackernews Show HN: We built a developer-first open-source Zapier alternative 2023-02-01

• "Hey, HN community, We're so excited to share Automatisch with HN finally." — this is a founder launch note, not a complaint, but it shows active builder attention in the space.

  • hackernews Show HN: Automatisch – Open source workflow automation, an alternative to Zapier 2023-01-25

• "I have previously shared how I used n8n to automate and create my infographic in less than 1 minute😁" — a user describing a concrete self-hosted automation workflow.

  • discourse Sharing my self hosting journey with n8n 2023-11-26

• "If you're using platforms like Zapier or Make to automate workflows for yourself or provide it as a service to your clients," — a founder is addressing real operational use, not a theoretical market.

  • hackernews Show HN: Alternative for Zapier/Make to cut the costs significantly 2022-05-30

People asking to be sold to From data

• "I built Aivaro because my brother was spending $30+ per month on Zapier for workflows I could describe in one sentence."

  • hackernews Show HN: Aivaro – Open-source AI alternative to Zapier 2026-03-08

• "Great opportunity if you're a user of Zapier/Make or if you provide services based on these platforms, to cut your costs significantly."

  • hackernews Show HN: Alternative for Zapier/Make to cut the costs significantly 2022-05-30

• "This means you can use DoTenX automations as the back-end of your applications" — a builder is willing to adopt automation as infrastructure, not just personal tooling.

  • hackernews An open source no-code automation and more 2022-06-13

• "I pay $7 a month for a server and I self-host a bunch of services for personal use: - n8n" — self-hosting is already part of the buying decision for some users.

  • hackernews Ask HN: What do you self-host? 2023-02-08

• "No-code business automation tool" — the market is clearly selling on removing code and reducing setup time, which is a willingness-to-adopt signal rather than a rejection.

  • hackernews Launch HN: Activepieces (YC S22) – Open-Source Zapier Alternative 2023-02-09
  • github automatisch/automatisch 2021-09-30

Competitor strength From data

Counted, not judged. Only projects that expose a hard number — stars, downloads, last commit — appear here, so they stop looking identical to each other. Products with no public metrics are discussed above instead of being given a row they cannot fill.

• 2 open source
• 1 container
• 1 slow
• 1 dead
• 7 first-hand complaints
• 15 stated wants
• 2 communities discussing it

Domain names From data

Checked live against the registry, built from the subject of the idea rather than the first words of the sentence. A literal check is a fact; a brandable suggestion would be noise.

• zapierworkflow.com taken
• zapierworkflow.io available
• zapier.com taken
• getzapier.com taken