Choose Zapier if your team isn't technical and wants a managed cloud service. Choose n8n if you have technical people and want more control, including the option of self-hosting. The choice is mostly about who will maintain it. Compare the cost on your real workflow, because the two count usage differently.
How do they compare?
Both are good tools that connect apps into automated workflows. Features and plans change often, so check the current pages. These are the structural differences, as described in each company's own documentation.
| Zapier | n8n | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Cloud-based and fully managed | n8n Cloud or self-hosted |
| Usage is counted in | Tasks: generally one per successful action step | Executions: one per workflow run, however many steps |
| Who runs it | Zapier | n8n on Cloud, your team when self-hosted |
| Licence point | Check the terms of your plan | Sustainable Use License on the self-hosted code |
| AI | AI steps and Zapier Agents | AI Agent node with your own model and tools |
How does the cost difference work?
Don't compare price pages. Compare your workflow. Zapier's help pages give the example of a Zap with two action steps: ten runs use 20 tasks. Triggers, filters and several other built-in steps don't count. On n8n's pricing, those ten runs would be ten executions, whatever the number of steps.
That makes long workflows relatively more favourable under execution counting. Short ones with few actions narrow the gap. To compare fairly, work out for one real workflow:
- How many times it runs per month
- How many counted action steps it has
- What that means on each current price list
- What any AI model or external service adds on top
AI steps can have their own rates. Zapier says AI by Zapier depends on the model tier, and Zapier Agents use a separate quota. Check this for your plan. Read more about running costs in automation.
Is self-hosting n8n free?
The licence fee can be, the work isn't. n8n's docs say self-hosting requires technical knowledge of servers, containers, scaling and security, and that mistakes can lead to data loss, security issues and downtime. They recommend n8n Cloud to people without that experience. We think that's the right advice.
The licence allows use for your own internal business purposes, and limits distributing it to others. If you want to build n8n into something you sell, read the terms first. The free Community edition also leaves out some features, such as SSO and sharing workflows, which matters as your team grows.
How do you decide?
| Your situation | Lean towards |
|---|---|
| Nobody technical will maintain it | Zapier |
| Marketing or operations will build their own flows | Zapier |
| You have a developer who likes owning this | n8n |
| Data must stay on infrastructure you control | n8n, self-hosted |
| Long workflows with many steps per run | n8n, after comparing |
| An app or action you need exists on only one | That one |
Check that last row before anything else. A listed integration may not include the exact action you need, so look it up for each of your apps. Then build one real workflow on each with a trial. An afternoon of that tells you more than this page can.
When is neither the right choice?
When the workflow is business-critical, needs complex logic and data storage, or involves AI actions with approvals, logging and rights per user. A tool can do a lot here, but somebody must own it either way. We're not neutral on this, since we build custom automations: an Automation Sprint starts from €2,950 and a Business Agent from €7,950, excluding VAT. If either tool does the job, use the tool. First, make sure you need an automation or an agent.
