docs/admin-guide/overview.mdx
Most AI tools ask you to choose: let people move fast, or keep control. Activepieces is built so you don't have to.
<Note icon="crown"> Most of these controls are on paid plans. Every plan can run on Cloud or self-hosted. See [plans and pricing](https://www.activepieces.com/pricing). </Note>Everything is designed around one question: can IT hand automation to the business and still answer for it? Who can build, which apps they can reach, where credentials live, what the AI is allowed to do, and what happened afterwards.
That's why regulated industries and governments run Activepieces, often fully self-hosted and network-gapped, on their own infrastructure.
Shadow AI is the current version of shadow IT. People will automate with AI whether or not you provide a way, and the risk isn't the automation, it's not knowing it exists.
Activepieces makes the sanctioned path the easy one:
| Concern | The control |
|---|---|
| Data leaving your network | Self-host it, fully network-gapped |
| Which models see your data | Your own AI keys and providers |
| Credentials in the wrong hands | External secret managers |
| Unreviewed changes reaching production | Project releases and environments |
| No record of what was done | Audit logs and event streaming |