Activepieces (23,599 Stars) 2026: The Open-Source Zapier Alternative with AI Built In

Activepieces (23,599 stars) is the open-source automation platform that replaces Zapier - with 200+ integrations, AI steps and self-hosting. Here is how to get started.

💡 What You Will Learn

Activepieces (23,599 stars) is the open-source automation platform that replaces Zapier - with 200+ integrations, AI steps and self-hosting. Here is how to get started.

## The short answer **activepieces/activepieces** (23,599 stars, TypeScript) is an open-source automation platform - the self-hostable Zapier alternative. It connects 200+ apps (Slack, Notion, Gmail, CRMs), supports visual flow building, and includes native AI steps (LLM, embeddings, RAG) so you can add intelligence to automations. ## What it offers - **Visual builder**: drag-and-drop flows, no code required - **200+ integrations**: webhooks, triggers, and actions - **AI steps**: text generation, classification, embeddings - **Self-hosted**: run on your server, data stays yours - **Human-in-the-loop**: approval steps in flows ## Quick start ```bash git clone https://github.com/activepieces/activepieces.git cd activepieces # edit .env then: docker compose up # Open http://localhost:8080 ``` Create a flow: 1. Choose a trigger (e.g. New Typeform submission). 2. Add an action (e.g. Create Notion page). 3. Insert an AI step: "Summarize the submission into 3 bullet points". 4. Enable the flow - it runs on every new submission. ## Using AI steps Add a **Text AI** step and connect your OpenAI (or local) key. You can use it to classify leads, generate replies, or extract fields - all inside the visual flow. ## Practical tips - Start with templates in the dashboard - they cover common patterns. - Use pieces versioning to pin integration versions for stability. - Monitor runs in the runs page; retries and logs are built in. ## FAQ **Is it free?** The core is open source (MIT) and self-hostable; cloud hosting is paid. **Can it replace Zapier?** For most workflows yes, especially if you want data ownership or per-execution cost control. **Does it support AI?** Yes - native LLM, embeddings and RAG steps are included.