n8n

n8n is an open-source workflow automation platform that connects the tools, APIs, and AI services your team uses into automated workflows. It sits between all your external systems — databases, SaaS apps, LLMs, and internal APIs — and lets you define exactly what should happen when a trigger fires. Unlike no-code tools that abstract away the technical details, n8n gives you a visual editor for most tasks and full JavaScript or Python access when the visual layer is not enough. The Community Edition is free to self-host with no usage limits, making it a practical choice for developers, data engineers, and technical operations teams who want automation without per-execution pricing.

How n8n works

n8n workflows are built from nodes connected on a visual canvas. Each workflow starts with a trigger — an incoming webhook, a scheduled cron job, a form submission, or an event from an external app — and then passes data through a series of nodes that transform, filter, route, or act on it.

The core model is straightforward:

1. Trigger node: Listens for an event (webhook, schedule, file upload, database change) and starts the workflow.
2. Action nodes: Perform operations — call an API, query a database, send an email, update a record in a SaaS tool, or run code. n8n ships with 400+ pre-built integrations.
3. Logic nodes: Branch on conditions, loop over arrays, merge data from multiple sources, or pause until a condition is met.
4. AI nodes: Connect to an LLM, pass context and tools, and run agent reasoning loops inline with the rest of the workflow.

When you need logic that exceeds what a visual node provides, you add a Code node and write JavaScript or Python. The data structure flowing through the workflow is plain JSON, so you can inspect it at every step during development.

Self-hosting means running n8n as a Docker container (or via npm) on your own infrastructure. The database backend is SQLite by default for development and PostgreSQL for production. For teams that do not want to manage infrastructure, n8n Cloud handles hosting, scaling, and uptime.

What you can build with n8n

• Lead enrichment pipeline: A workflow that fires on every new CRM contact, looks up their company via an enrichment API, scores the lead, and routes it to the right sales sequence — all without manual steps.
• AI support triage system: An agent that reads incoming support tickets, classifies them using an LLM, checks a knowledge base for a matching answer, and either drafts a reply or escalates to a human based on confidence score.
• Data sync between internal systems: A scheduled workflow that pulls records from a legacy database, transforms the data, and writes it to a cloud data warehouse — replacing a fragile spreadsheet export process.
• Content monitoring alert: A workflow that checks competitor websites or RSS feeds on a schedule, detects new posts matching keywords, summarises them with an LLM, and posts a digest to a Slack channel.
• Document processing pipeline: An end-to-end flow that watches a Google Drive folder for new PDFs, extracts text, sends it through a RAG pipeline, and stores the results in a vector database for search.
• Internal approval workflow: A process that receives a request via form, notifies approvers over email or Slack, waits for a response, and then acts on the outcome — creating records, sending confirmations, or triggering downstream steps.