n8n vs Activepieces

Architecture comparison 2 projects Built from source-audited deep dives

Both are self-hostable workflow automation platforms written in TypeScript. n8n is a pnpm monorepo with a Vue 3 editor whose server runs on SQLite out of the box and moves to PostgreSQL for production; Activepieces is a Bun monorepo with a React editor that runs one image as API and BullMQ workers on PostgreSQL and Redis, and ships every integration as its own npm package.

n8n Activepieces

n8n: TypeScript · NOASSERTION
Activepieces: TypeScript · NOASSERTION
Updated: 2026-09-26

Which one should you pick?

Pick n8n if…

You want a single container that works with no other services: SQLite is the default database
Your team works in Vue 3
You want an embeddable chat widget that ships separately from the editor

Pick Activepieces if…

You want to scale execution by adding worker replicas of the same image
You want contributors to publish integrations as separate typed npm packages
Your team works in React
You run untrusted flow code and want a native sandbox on top of V8 isolates

Side by side

Attribute	n8n	Activepieces
Written in	TypeScript Vue JavaScript	TypeScript
License	NOASSERTION	NOASSERTION
Frontend	Vue Vite	React Vite Tailwind CSS TanStack Query Zustand
Backend & APIs	Node.js Express TypeORM	Fastify Node.jsisolated-vmSocket.IO Vercel AI SDK
Data & persistence	SQLite PostgreSQL	PostgreSQL TypeORM Redis BullMQ S3
Infrastructure & deploy	Docker Turborepo pnpm	Docker Kubernetes Sentry PostHog
Key decisions	Monorepo split into workflow, core, cli, and nodes-base packages A newer engine package runs on Express, TypeORM, and Postgres directly SQLite is the zero-config default; Postgres is the production path	Integrations are npm packages ("pieces") built on a typed framework One image, two roles: APP and WORKER Flow code executes in isolates, optionally hardened by a sandbox binary
Audited	77cd72c · 2026-09-17	70790de · 2026-09-17

How they differ

Runtime and editor

n8n is a pnpm workspace split into workflow (schema and expression engine), core (execution), cli (the server) and nodes-base (integrations). The editor is a Vue 3 app built with Vite, with a separate design system and an embeddable chat widget. Activepieces is a Bun workspace: a Fastify API with Zod route schemas, a React editor built on @xyflow/react, and an engine that executes steps in isolated-vm.

Data and scaling

n8n ships a single image that compiles the SQLite addon in, so one container works out of the box; teams that need shared state or several instances move to PostgreSQL. Activepieces runs the same image in two roles, app and worker: executions are queued in BullMQ on Redis and picked up by workers, so capacity grows by adding worker replicas. Run status and logs reach the browser over Socket.IO with a Redis adapter.

Integrations

n8n keeps its integration nodes together in nodes-base. Activepieces publishes each integration (“piece”) to npm on top of a typed framework package, and the server loads them at runtime, which is how outside contributors add connectors.

Architecture diagrams

n8n Open SVG

Activepieces Open SVG

Frequently asked questions

Which databases do n8n and Activepieces use?

n8n defaults to SQLite and uses PostgreSQL for production through its in-house TypeORM fork; its newer execution engine is built and tested against PostgreSQL. Activepieces uses PostgreSQL in production (the compose file runs the pgvector image), can fall back to PGlite or SQLite for trials, and needs Redis for its BullMQ queues, locks and Socket.IO adapter.

How do n8n and Activepieces run user code safely?

Both rely on isolated-vm, whose native addon n8n rebuilds in a dedicated Docker stage. Activepieces adds the isolate sandbox binary for process-level isolation and ships scripts to verify it.

Do n8n and Activepieces support AI agents and MCP?

Yes. n8n builds its LLM and agent nodes on LangChain and has a Model Context Protocol package. Activepieces wraps the Vercel AI SDK with a catalog of model providers and exposes its integrations as MCP servers.

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