The best workflow automation tools, according to hackers
7 workflow automation tools were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 1 earns the Hacker Approved badge.
Top pick
The most recommended workflow automation tool with the badge. Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Home automation and IoT integrations
People recommend Node-RED as a visual flow-based tool for IoT, home automation and data flows, with many integrations, though critics say it lacks visibility into what happened.
All 7 workflow automation tools, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | n8n | 46 | 27 | 63% | 11 | — | — |
| 2 | Zapier | 15 | 17 | 47% | 6 | — | — |
| 3 | Node-RED | 13 | 3 | 81% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Tied 4 | Sim | 7 | 1 | 88% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 4 | Graph Compose | 7 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| 6 | Microsoft Power Automate | 6 | 15 | 29% | 4 | — | — |
| 7 | Pipedream | 5 | 3 | 63% | 3 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same workflow automation tool in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to workflow automation tools that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.