Zapier vs n8n vs Microsoft Power Automate

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 · Zapier vs Microsoft Power Automate, with when to choose each side.

Compared on	Zapier Free plan · from $19.99/mo Visit Remove	n8n Free plan · from $20/mo Visit Remove	Microsoft Power Automate Free trial · from $15/user/mo Visit Remove
What it is	No-code tool that connects web apps and runs automated, AI-assisted workflows	Workflow automation and AI agent builder you can self-host or use in the cloud	Microsoft tool for cloud workflows, desktop RPA and process mining
Free plan	100 tasks per month; two-step Zaps only; unlimited Zaps, Tables and Forms	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	No
Cheapest paid plan	$19.99/mo billed annually (Professional)Zapier pricing	$20/mo billed annually (Starter)n8n pricing	$15/user/mo billed annually (Power Automate Premium)Microsoft Power Automate pricing
What it covers	For 750 tasks/month; price rises with the task tier.	2,500 workflow executions/month, hosted by n8n.	Paid yearly; includes cloud flows, attended desktop flows and process/task mining (50 MB).
Free trial	14-day free trial of the Professional plan for new accounts, no credit card required	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)	30-day free trial covering UI-based cloud flows and standard connectors
Platforms	Web	Web, Self-hosted, API	Web, Windows
Integrations (vendor's figure)	9,000+ apps	500+ integrations	1,400+ connectors
Open source	No	Yes, self-hostable	No
Good for	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	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	Routing approval requests and documents in SharePoint and Teams Copying data from invoices or legacy desktop apps into Excel or an ERP system Automating repetitive data entry on a Windows PC
Watch out for	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	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	The free trial covers only UI-based cloud flows and standard connectors Unattended desktop automation needs the per-bot Process or Hosted Process plan Power Automate for desktop runs only on Windows (not on ARM processors); Windows Home editions cannot trigger desktop flows from the cloud
Made by	Zapier, Inc.	n8n	Microsoft Corporation

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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