Automation Workflow stable

Node-RED

Name: Node-RED
Author: OpenJS Foundation

Flow-based programming for IoT and APIs

20.0K stars Since 2020

Website → GitHub

Flow-based programming for IoT and APIs

License

Apache-2.0

Min RAM

256 MB

Min CPUs

1 core

Scaling

single_node

Complexity

intermediate

Performance

medium

Self-hostable

✓

K8s native

Offline

Pricing

fully free

Docs quality

good

Vendor lock-in

none

Use cases

✓ Primary: iot-automation
✓ Primary: home-automation
✓ Primary: api-integration

Anti-patterns / when NOT to use

✕ Not designed for enterprise workflows
✕ Limited error handling
✕ UI less polished for business users

Compare with alternatives

Node-RED vs n8n Compare → Node-RED vs Activepieces Compare →

Replaces / alternatives to

Technical specs

Language

Node.js

API type

REST

Protocols

HTTP

Deployment

dockernpm

Community

GitHub stars 20.0K

Contributors 0

Commit frequency weekly

Plugin ecosystem none

Backing OpenJS Foundation

Funding foundation

Release

Latest version —

Last release —

Since 2020

Best fit

Team size

solosmallmediumenterprise

Industries

general