What is Node-RED used for?

Node-RED is a low-code, flow-based programming tool for event-driven applications, where you wire together devices, APIs and services in a browser-based editor. It is a good fit for IoT and home automation flows, connecting APIs and services without much code, and prototyping event-driven integrations.

Is Node-RED open source?

Yes. Node-RED is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at node-red/node-red and is written mainly in JavaScript.

Yes. Node-RED is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Node-RED?

Yes. Node-RED can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What is Node-RED an alternative to?

Node-RED is an open-source alternative to Microsoft Power Automate, Zapier, Everything and IFTTT. Other open-source alternatives to Microsoft Power Automate include n8n, Activepieces and ByteChef.

Is Node-RED actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Node-RED was on 1 October 2026, and the latest release is 5.0.7, published on 8 September 2026. The project has 24k stars on GitHub.

Node-RED: open-source workflow automation

About Node-RED

Node-RED is a low-code programming tool for event-driven applications built on flow-based, visual programming. Instead of writing everything as code, you connect nodes that represent inputs, processing steps and outputs, which makes it popular for IoT projects, home automation and wiring together APIs and online services. It is a project of the OpenJS Foundation.

Getting started takes a couple of commands: install it globally with npm, start it with the node-red command, and open it in your browser. A large ecosystem sits around it, with a library of custom nodes and integrations, shared flows and node collections, plus documentation, a forum and a Slack community. Developers can also run the latest code from git by cloning the repository, installing dependencies and building it.

Node-RED is written in JavaScript on Node.js and licensed under Apache-2.0. You run it on your own computer, a Raspberry Pi, a server or in a container, so there is no hosted service to depend on. It suits makers, integrators and engineers who want to prototype and automate event-driven logic quickly.

Key features

Flow-based visual programming
Browser-based visual editor
Large library of community nodes
Shareable flows and node collections
Install with npm in one command
Runs on small devices and servers

Good fit for

→IoT and home automation flows
→Connecting APIs and services without much code
→Prototyping event-driven integrations

Built with: JavaScript
Tags: low-code; flow-based-programming; iot; automation; nodejs; event-driven; visual-programming; integrations

Node-RED: questions and answers

What is Node-RED used for?: Node-RED is a low-code, flow-based programming tool for event-driven applications, where you wire together devices, APIs and services in a browser-based editor. It is a good fit for IoT and home automation flows, connecting APIs and services without much code, and prototyping event-driven integrations.
Is Node-RED open source?: Yes. Node-RED is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at node-red/node-red and is written mainly in JavaScript.
Is Node-RED free?: Yes. Node-RED is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Node-RED?: Yes. Node-RED can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What is Node-RED an alternative to?: Node-RED is an open-source alternative to Microsoft Power Automate, Zapier, Everything and IFTTT. Other open-source alternatives to Microsoft Power Automate include n8n, Activepieces and ByteChef.
Is Node-RED actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Node-RED was on 1 October 2026, and the latest release is 5.0.7, published on 8 September 2026. The project has 24k stars on GitHub.