n8n vs Zapier
Both are automation tools. Here is what separates them.
What n8n is
n8n is a workflow automation tool. You build a process as a chain of connected nodes that pass data between applications, and you can either run it on n8n's cloud or host it yourself under a fair-code licence. The node library covers more than 500 integrations, and an HTTP request node handles anything outside that list, including importing a curl command directly to build the request. Data transformation nodes provide merge, loop, filter, switch, if, deduplicate, aggregate and split operations. Where the visual editor runs out, the Code node runs JavaScript and Python, self-hosted instances can pull in npm packages, and expressions are written in JavaScript using the Tournament templating language. The AI nodes are built on LangChain and can call local LLMs as well as hosted models. More than 10,000 workflow templates are published as starting points. Debugging happens inside the editor rather than through logs after the fact. There are inline logs for each line of output, the ability to load a previous execution's data back into the editor, data pinning so a node returns the same result across repeated tests, and single step execution. Self-hosting is free through the Community Edition. Deployment is by Docker or Kubernetes, including inside air-gapped private networks, and queue mode lets a self-hosted deployment reach up to 220 workflow executions per second. Self-hosted instances ping the n8n licence server daily to report execution usage. Cloud plans are separated by execution volume rather than by seats, because every plan includes unlimited users and unlimited workflows. Billed annually, Starter costs 20 EUR per month and covers 2,500 executions with unlimited steps each, one shared project and five concurrent executions. Pro costs 50 EUR per month for 10,000 executions, three shared projects and twenty concurrent executions, and adds admin roles, global variables, workflow history and execution search. Business costs 667 EUR per month for 40,000 executions and six shared projects, and adds SSO through SAML and LDAP, 30 day insights, multiple environments and Git based version control. Enterprise is quoted individually. Paying annually rather than monthly saves 17 percent, and Starter and Pro instances are hosted in Frankfurt, Germany. The enterprise tier is aimed at teams with compliance obligations. It covers identity provider user provisioning, enforced two-factor authentication, custom project roles, external secrets read from HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager or Azure Key Vault, and workflow logs streamed to observability or SIEM stacks by direct integration or webhook. Source control follows a Git push and pull pattern between development and production environments. n8n is SOC 2 audited and undergoes regular external penetration testing.
What Zapier is
Zapier is an automation service that connects separate apps so an event in one triggers actions in another. Those workflows are called Zaps, and they sit alongside Tables, Forms, Chatbots, Agents and Canvas in the product line. The app directory lists more than 10,000 connected apps, and Agents can be grounded on uploaded FAQs, docs and public links. Billing runs on tasks, and what counts as a task is narrower than it first looks. Trigger steps never consume tasks, even though polling can run many thousands of checks a month. Filter and Paths steps, failed or halted actions, and Formatter, Delay, Looping, Digest, Storage and Zapier Manager steps also consume none. Some features cost more than one: Zapier MCP consumes 2 tasks for each successful tool call, and Lead Router consumes 5 for each lead routed successfully. The free plan includes 100 tasks a month, limits a Zap to two steps and checks for new data every 15 minutes. Professional shortens that check to 2 minutes, and Team and Enterprise to 1 minute. Other limits move with the plan in the same way: Tables hold 2,500 records on Free, 100,000 on Professional and 500,000 on Team, Agents allow 400 activities a month on Free and 1,500 on Professional and Team, and Code by Zapier gets 1 second of runtime on Free, 30 seconds on Professional and Team and 2 minutes on Enterprise. Paid pricing is tiered by task volume rather than sold as a flat seat price. Professional covers one user and, billed annually, costs 19.99 USD a month for 750 tasks, 49.00 USD for 2,000 tasks and 129.00 USD for 10,000 tasks; the monthly-billed equivalents are 29.99, 73.50 and 193.50 USD. Team covers 25 users at 69.00 USD a month for 2,000 tasks or 169.00 USD for 10,000, billed annually. Annual billing costs 33% less than monthly, and non-profits receive a further 15% discount, which does not apply to pay-per-task billing. Professional comes with a 14-day free trial. On the security side, Zapier is hosted on Amazon Web Services in the United States, encrypts data at rest with AES-256 and web application traffic with TLS 1.2 or above, holds SOC 2 Type II and SOC 3 certifications, and maintains GDPR and CCPA compliance. Accounts support two-factor authentication, and SAML single sign-on, SCIM provisioning and domain capture are available.
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