n8n is a workflow and AI agent automation platform that you can run on your own server or use as a cloud service hosted by n8n. It differs from Zapier on four things that change the decision: where your workflows and data run, how each run is billed, how many ready-made app connections you get, and how much technical skill the builder needs.
People search what is n8n at two moments. The first is when a Zapier bill climbs because a lead follow-up flow that costs 5 tasks per lead is now handling hundreds of leads a month. The second is when a developer on the team says "we can build that in n8n" and the marketing lead has no idea what that commits the business to.
Founder Jan Oberhauser says the name stands for "nodemation" and is pronounced n-eight-n.
What n8n is and how a workflow runs
Every n8n workflow is a chain of nodes on a visual canvas, started by a trigger and counted as one execution per run. A trigger node starts the run: a new form entry, a webhook from your website, a row added to a sheet, or a schedule such as every weekday at 9:00. Each node after that does one job, like looking up a contact, skipping existing customers or sending a message to your sales channel.
You connect nodes by dragging lines between boxes, and each run shows you the data that passed through every node. That visibility is what makes debugging bearable.
Two features set n8n apart from simpler tools. The first is code. n8n's GitHub page describes the project as a way to combine visual building with JavaScript, Python and npm packages, and when no ready-made node does the job, a developer can drop a few lines into one node. The second is the HTTP Request node, which n8n's documentation says can query data from any app or service with a REST API. If a tool has an API, n8n can talk to it without a dedicated integration.
One execution is one full run of a workflow, from trigger to last node, whatever the number of steps in between. That single rule decides most of the pricing comparison below.
Where AI agents fit in
Both n8n and Zapier now sell AI agents, and the difference is how much of the agent you can see and stop. n8n's home page calls it "the platform for agents and workflows you can follow," with human-in-the-loop approvals, guardrails, evaluations and a record of every agent run. Zapier pitches agents that act across your apps around the clock, with role-based access, audit trails and AI guardrails at the account level.
For a marketer, the useful question is where a person can step in. In n8n, an AI agent is a node inside a workflow you can open, so you can place an approval between "the model drafted a reply" and "the reply went to a customer." That one approval is what stops an AI follow-up from promising a discount nobody agreed to.
MCP support exists on both sides. It is the open protocol that lets assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT call outside tools. Pick on visibility: how much of the agent's logic you want to read and edit yourself.
n8n vs Zapier at a glance
The prices below come from each vendor's pricing page in October 2026. n8n lists prices in euros and Zapier in US dollars, and both quote their lowest figure on annual billing.
Factor | n8n | Zapier |
|---|---|---|
Hosting | n8n Cloud, or self-hosted with Docker on your own server or private cloud | Zapier's own cloud |
What you pay for | Executions: one full workflow run, any number of steps | Tasks: each successful action step |
Entry paid cloud plan | Starter, 20 euros a month for 2,500 executions | Professional, $19.99 a month for 750 tasks |
Free option | Community Edition, free to self-host | Free plan, 100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps only |
Ready-made integrations | 500+ native integrations, plus an HTTP Request node for REST APIs | 9,000+ apps |
Building style | Visual canvas with optional JavaScript and Python | No-code builder with Copilot, an AI assistant |
Hosting on your server or theirs
Zapier runs every Zap on its own infrastructure, so there's nothing to install and nothing to patch. n8n gives you a choice: use n8n Cloud for the same hands-off setup, or self-host n8n on your own infrastructure, on-premises or in a private cloud, using Docker Compose or a one-line setup script.
Self-hosting is the option Zapier doesn't offer. Customer records, lead data and API keys stay on servers you control, which counts when a client contract or a privacy rule says where personal data may be processed. A clinic sending appointment reminders, or an accountant moving client files between systems, has a stronger case for self-hosting than a shop posting new products to social media.
The trade is ownership. n8n's own guide to choosing between Cloud and self-hosting marks technical knowledge as required for installation and configuration. Once you self-host, the server bill, updates, backups, uptime and security patches belong to you. Budget real hours from a developer or IT partner for that work, rather than assuming free software means free automation.
n8n bills per run, Zapier bills per step
The two price lists can't be compared plan for plan, because they count different things. n8n's pricing page states that an execution is a single run of your entire workflow, no matter how many steps it has or how much data it processes. Zapier counts one task for every successful action step, and triggers, filters, paths and failed steps do not count, according to Zapier's help centre on task usage.
Take a lead follow-up flow for a business that gets 300 enquiries a month from its website form. Each enquiry triggers the flow, which then does five things: adds the lead to the CRM, checks whether the email belongs to an existing customer, posts the lead to the sales channel, sends a welcome email and logs the lead in a sheet.
- On Zapier, the trigger is free and the five actions cost 5 tasks per lead, so 300 leads use 1,500 tasks a month. That is double the 750 tasks in the cheapest Professional tier ($19.99 a month on annual billing, $29.99 month to month), so you would need a bigger tier.
- On n8n Cloud, each lead is one execution, so 300 leads use 300 executions. That fits inside the Starter plan's 2,500 executions at 20 euros a month on annual billing, with room for more than eight times the volume.
The gap shrinks for simple two-step automations, where one Zapier task and one n8n execution cover the same work.
The plan price is not the full cost either. Zapier's free plan gives you 100 tasks a month with two-step Zaps, and n8n Cloud offers a free trial rather than a permanent free plan. Self-hosted n8n Community Edition costs nothing to license, but it moves the cost to a server and to the person who maintains it. A marketing coordinator can build a working Zap in one afternoon, while a developer might spend two days setting up a self-hosted n8n server. The afternoon can cost less than the two days, even when the n8n plan looks cheaper on paper.
How many apps each one connects
On ready-made integrations Zapier wins by a factor of about 18: it connects 9,000+ apps, and n8n lists 500+ native integrations. Say your stack includes a niche booking tool or a regional accounting app. A ready-made Zapier integration is more likely to exist, because the catalogue is that much larger.
n8n closes part of the gap with the HTTP Request node, which can reach any service that offers a REST API. The catch is who sets it up. Reading API documentation, handling authentication and mapping fields is developer work for most marketers.
So the integration count matters most to teams without technical help, and least to teams that have it. A business whose tools are Google Sheets, a CRM, an email platform and an AI model provider will find nodes for all of them on either platform.
Who builds it, and who fixes it when it breaks
Zapier was designed for people who don't write code. You pick a trigger app, pick an action app, map the fields and switch the Zap on, and Copilot, Zapier's AI assistant, helps draft the steps. Ease of use is the main thing the higher task bill buys.
n8n asks more of the builder. The canvas is visual, but expressions, data structures and the option to write JavaScript or Python reward someone comfortable with how data moves between systems. The payoff is control: loops, conditional branches and custom code sit inside one workflow you can read from left to right.
A harder test is who fixes a broken workflow at 8 a.m. on a Monday. In Zapier, the person who built the Zap can open the run history and correct a field mapping. In a self-hosted n8n setup, the failure could sit in a node, the server, the database or an expired certificate, and that needs someone technical on call.
The license detail most comparisons skip
n8n's source code is public on GitHub, where the project has passed 200,000 stars, and comparison articles call it open source. The license is narrower than that label. n8n is fair-code, distributed under its own Sustainable Use License, which grants the right to use, modify and redistribute the software with three limits.
The limit that affects businesses: you may use or modify n8n only for your own internal business purposes, or for non-commercial or personal use. Running n8n to automate your own sales, marketing and operations sits well inside that. Packaging n8n itself and selling access to it as your product falls outside it. If you run an agency and plan to build client automations on n8n, read n8n's license FAQ before you price the work.
Pros and cons of n8n
Where n8n wins. These are the reasons teams move to it:
- Billing per workflow run, so a ten-step flow costs the same per run as a two-step flow.
- Self-hosting for businesses that need data on their own servers.
- JavaScript, Python and the HTTP Request node cover tools with no ready-made node.
- AI agents sit inside visible workflows, with human approval where you want it.
Where n8n costs you. Each of these lands on someone's desk:
- A steeper learning curve for non-technical builders.
- About 500 native integrations against Zapier's 9,000+.
- Self-hosting makes uptime, updates and security your job.
- The Sustainable Use License rules out reselling n8n itself.
Zapier's profile is the mirror image. You get the widest app catalogue and the easiest builder, and you pay for them with a bill that grows with every step and no option to host it yourself.
Which tool fits which team
Pick Zapier if the people building automations are marketers or operations staff without a developer nearby, your flows are short, your volumes are modest and your stack includes less common apps. A five-person agency connecting forms, a CRM and an email tool will be live faster on Zapier and won't miss what n8n adds.
Pick n8n Cloud if you have someone technical, your workflows run many steps or high volumes, or you want AI agents with approval steps you can see. An online store sending 2,000 orders a month through a flow with seven action steps would use 14,000 Zapier tasks, against 2,000 n8n executions that still fit inside the Starter plan.
Pick self-hosted n8n if data has to stay on your own infrastructure and you have, or can hire, someone to run the server.
Running both is a sensible setup too: Zapier for quick, low-volume connections owned by the marketing team, and n8n for the long, multi-step flows a developer maintains. Splitting the work by who owns it, rather than forcing one tool to do everything, keeps each automation with someone who can fix it.
Start by counting the action steps in your three busiest automations and multiplying each by its monthly runs. That one number tells you whether Zapier's task pricing is a rounding error or your largest automation cost. If you want help planning lead follow-ups and CRM workflows before you choose, email Techno Mantraa at info@technomantraa.com for a quote.
Frequently asked questions
The self-hosted Community Edition of n8n is free to use under the Sustainable Use License, but you pay for the server and the time to maintain it. n8n Cloud is paid and starts with the Starter plan at 20 euros a month on annual billing for 2,500 workflow executions.
n8n is the better fit for technical teams, multi-step or high-volume workflows and businesses that need to self-host. Zapier is the better fit for non-technical teams that want 9,000+ ready-made app integrations and the quickest setup.
No. You can build most n8n workflows on the visual canvas without code, and JavaScript or Python only comes in for custom logic. Self-hosting n8n does need technical knowledge to install and configure.
Yes. n8n lets you build AI agents as steps inside a workflow, with human-in-the-loop approvals, guardrails and a record of every agent run you can inspect.
n8n charges per execution, which is one full run of a workflow regardless of how many steps it has. Zapier charges per task, which is each successful action step, so a flow with five action steps uses five tasks per run on Zapier and one execution on n8n.