n8n vs Zapier

Pick up to 4 tools and see their free plans, entry prices, platforms and limits in one table. Every fact comes from each vendor's own pages, checked 23 September 2026.

Written head to head: Zapier vs n8n, with when to choose each side.

Compared on	n8n Free plan · from $20/mo Visit Remove	Zapier Free plan · from $19.99/mo Visit Remove
What it is	Workflow automation and AI agent builder you can self-host or use in the cloud	No-code tool that connects web apps and runs automated, AI-assisted workflows
Free plan	Self-hosted Community Edition only: free to run on your own server under n8n's Sustainable Use License; there is no free tier on n8n Cloud	100 tasks per month; two-step Zaps only; unlimited Zaps, Tables and Forms
Cheapest paid plan	$20/mo billed annually (Starter)n8n pricing	$19.99/mo billed annually (Professional)Zapier pricing
What it covers	2,500 workflow executions/month, hosted by n8n.	For 750 tasks/month; price rises with the task tier.
Free trial	Free trial of n8n Cloud with Pro-level features, capped at 1,000 executions, no credit card required; 14-day free trial of the self-hosted Business plan (credit card required)	14-day free trial of the Professional plan for new accounts, no credit card required
Platforms	Web, Self-hosted, API	Web
Integrations (vendor's figure)	500+ integrations	9,000+ apps
Open source	Yes, self-hostable	No
Good for	Building an AI agent that answers questions from internal documents Automating lead enrichment and CRM updates with custom logic Running automations on a company's own server to keep data in-house	Sending new web-form leads into a CRM and a Slack channel Copying email attachments to cloud storage automatically Adding new orders or calendar events to a shared spreadsheet
Watch out for	No free tier on n8n Cloud; free use means self-hosting the Community Edition SSO, Git-based version control and multiple environments require the Business or Enterprise plan Cloud plans cap monthly executions (2,500 on Starter, 10,000 on Pro) and concurrent executions	Free plan allows only two-step Zaps and 100 tasks a month Every Zap step, AI step, code run and connector call draws from one shared monthly task allowance Multi-step Zaps, premium apps and webhooks require a paid plan
Made by	n8n	Zapier, Inc.

Entry prices are the cheapest paid plan, as each vendor publishes it; “What it covers” says what that price is per (a user, a channel, a brand, a number of contacts). The sources are listed on each tool's page.

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