If you’ve ever researched web automation, you’ve likely come across Zapier. It’s an extremely popular choice for connecting disconnected apps and services. Some might even call it the default choice. The service lets you set up workflows that do things like send a Slack message when someone fills out a form, all without touching a single line of code. But Zapier has its limits. The entry-level plans have pretty low limits on tasks, and if you’ve got multiple workflows, costs can ramp up pretty quickly. There’s also the fact that all data is processed on the cloud. So, I’ve been looking for an alternative. Turns out there is an open-source solution to achieve much of the same results while running on my own hardware. You might’ve heard of n8n already. Turns out, this open-source automation platform lets me handle all my automation needs for free and is surprisingly flexible.