n8n vs Zapier
## what it does
tl;dr: Zapier if nobody will run a server and you need the 9,000+ app catalog. n8n if you want a canvas you can drop JS/Python into, pay per full workflow run (not per step), or self-host the Community Edition. GitHub n8n-io/n8n is 204,576 stars this fetch.
Quick verdict
- Pick Zapier for non-technical speed, 9,000+ connectors, and zero ops. Free = 100 tasks/mo and two-step Zaps. Professional 750-task tier is $19.99/mo (monthly) / $29.99 shown as the annual-column pair on zapier.com/pricing this session.
- Pick n8n Cloud if you want hosted n8n and execution-based billing. Starter 20€/mo billed annually, Pro 50€/mo billed annually on n8n.io/pricing — unlimited users and integrations; you pay when a workflow finishes, not per node.
- Pick n8n Community Edition if you can Docker it. License fee is $0; you pay the VPS. n8n homepage: 204.3k GitHub stars; API count this session is 204,576.
Head-to-head
| Dimension | n8n | Zapier |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Fair-code workflow + AI-agent canvas, JS/Python nodes | No-code automation SaaS |
| Self-host | Yes — Community Edition on GitHub | No |
| Cloud data | Hosted plans: EU, Frankfurt (pricing FAQ this fetch) | Zapier cloud |
| Billing unit | One execution = one full workflow run | One task ≈ one successful step (and MCP/programmatic calls) |
| App catalog | 500+ nodes on n8n.io this fetch; HTTP/code for the rest | 9,000+ apps on zapier.com/pricing this fetch |
| Code | JS/Python nodes first-class | Code by Zapier with per-plan runtime caps (Free: 1s/step) |
| MCP | n8n lists MCP client/server in GitHub topics | Zapier MCP is a billed product on the pricing page |
| Source | Visible on GitHub (Sustainable Use / “Other” license, not OSI-pure) | Closed SaaS |
Price snapshots (2026-09-16)
n8n Cloud (annual prices quoted on the page)
| Plan | Price | Notes from n8n.io/pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | 20€/mo billed annually | 1 shared project, 5 concurrent, 2,300 AI credits/mo |
| Pro | 50€/mo billed annually | 3 projects, 20 concurrent, up to 13,700 AI credits |
| Business | 667€/mo billed annually | SSO/SAML/LDAP, Git version control, environments |
| Enterprise | Custom | SLA, secret store, 200+ concurrent |
| Community | $0 software | Self-host; you run Docker |
Overage called out for Business: 4,000 EUR per extra bucket of 300,000 executions.
Zapier self-serve (USD, zapier.com/pricing)
| Tasks / mo | Professional monthly | Professional annual-column | Team monthly | Team annual-column |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | Free plan | Free plan | — | — |
| 750 | $19.99 | $29.99 | — | — |
| 2,000 | $49.00 | $73.50 | $69.00 | $103.50 |
| 10,000 | $129.00 | $193.50 | $169.00 | $253.50 |
Free: 100 tasks/mo, two-step Zaps, unlimited Zaps/Tables/Forms. Paid plans can pay-per-task after the allowance. 14-day Professional trial, no card.
When the meter bites
A 20-step Zap that runs once is 20 Zapier tasks. The same graph on n8n Cloud is 1 execution. That is the whole argument at volume. It is also why Zapier is cheaper for a two-step “new row → Slack” until the step count or frequency climbs.
Self-hosted n8n does not meter executions. You still own updates, backups, TLS, and the box. Do not self-host to save $20/mo if nobody will keep it up.
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