Comparison

n8n vs Zapier

Last updated:

n

n8n

Orchestration
Series B $$
vs
Z

Zapier

Orchestration
Series E $$
Analyst verdict

n8n wins on cost and flexibility for dev-adjacent GTM teams willing to self-host; Zapier wins on integration breadth and zero-setup accessibility — but at a price premium that becomes indefensible above 5,000 tasks per month.

At a glance

n8n · entry price
$20/mo (Starter, cloud-hosted, 2,500 workflow executions); $0 self-hosted
Zapier · entry price
$19.99/mo (Starter, 750 tasks/mo); $799/mo (Company plan)
n8n · raised
~€70M (estimated total, including €60M Series B 2025)
Zapier · raised
~$1.4B (estimated; includes $140M 2021 round at $5B valuation)

Head-to-head by dimension

n8n
Dimension
Zapier
Pricing transparency
A: n8n's self-hosted community edition is free with unlimited executions — the only hard cost is server infrastructure, which runs $10–$50/month on a VPS for most GTM automation workloads. Zapier's pricing is published but punishing: the $299/month Professional plan caps at 2,000 tasks, and a realistic GTM automation stack (CRM sync, enrichment triggers, Slack alerts) easily exceeds 10,000 tasks per month, pushing all-in costs above $600–$800/month. Make sits between the two at approximately $16–$99/month for most mid-market use cases.
ICP fit for SMB
B: Zapier's zero-configuration onboarding — connect two apps, pick a trigger, pick an action, done — is the fastest path to a working automation for a non-technical operator. SMB teams without a developer or RevOps engineer should start with Zapier or Make rather than n8n, where the self-hosting requirement adds infrastructure overhead that eliminates the cost advantage for small-volume use cases.
ICP fit for enterprise
A: n8n's self-hosted enterprise tier offers SSO, audit logs, air-gapped deployment, and unlimited workflow executions — the features enterprise security teams require that Zapier's cloud-only architecture cannot match. Make's enterprise tier is credible but lacks the on-premise deployment option that regulated industries and security-sensitive enterprises increasingly require.
Data quality / product depth
A: n8n's code node — accepting JavaScript or Python inline — and its HTTP Request node with full header and authentication control make it the only platform in the category where complex data transformation, conditional branching, and custom API calls can be handled without leaving the workflow editor. Make's iterator and aggregator nodes are the next-best option for non-coders; Zapier's data transformation capabilities remain the most limited of the three.
Integration breadth
B: Zapier's 7,000+ app integrations are the category benchmark — no other automation platform comes close on raw connector count. n8n has approximately 400 native integrations but the HTTP Request node covers any REST API without a native connector, reducing the practical gap for technical users. Make sits at roughly 1,500 native integrations with a similar HTTP module fallback.
AI-native features
A: n8n's LangChain integration, native AI agent node, and direct OpenAI/Anthropic API connectors make it the most capable platform for building AI-powered GTM workflows — prospect research agents, AI-enriched CRM updates, and LLM-scored lead routing all run natively without external Python scripts. Zapier's AI features (Zapier AI, launched 2024) are more constrained; Make's AI integrations are comparable to Zapier's but lag n8n's depth.
Time to value
B: Zapier's first automation can be live in under 10 minutes for a non-technical user — the UI is the most guided of the three platforms. n8n's self-hosted setup requires VPS provisioning, Docker configuration, and SSL setup before the first workflow can run, adding 2–4 hours of setup time even for experienced developers. Make lands between the two: cloud-hosted with a visual interface that takes 20–30 minutes to produce a working multi-step scenario.
Total cost of ownership
A: A GTM automation stack running 50,000 tasks per month costs approximately $15–$30/month on n8n self-hosted (VPS infrastructure only), $150–$200/month on Make, and $1,200–$1,600/month on Zapier at equivalent task volume. For teams that have crossed 10,000 tasks per month on Zapier, the migration ROI to n8n or Make is typically recovered within the first billing cycle.
Vendor risk / ecosystem
A: n8n's open-source core eliminates vendor lock-in — the workflow definitions are portable and the codebase is forkable if the company changes pricing or is acquired. Zapier and Make are proprietary SaaS platforms where pricing changes are unilateral; Zapier in particular has raised prices twice since 2022, and community sentiment around pricing trust is negative in the GTM automation practitioner community.

Reference data

Dimension n8n Zapier
Pricing tier $$ $$
Entry price $20/mo (Starter, cloud-hosted, 2,500 workflow executions); $0 self-hosted $19.99/mo (Starter, 750 tasks/mo); $799/mo (Company plan)
Funding stage Series B Series E
Total raised ~€70M (estimated total, including €60M Series B 2025) ~$1.4B (estimated; includes $140M 2021 round at $5B valuation)
Valuation N/A (not publicly disclosed) ~$5B (2021 round)
Target segment GTM engineers, RevOps operators, and technical teams who need Zapier-class workflow automation with developer-grade control, self-hosting options, and complex data transformation capabilities Non-technical business operators, marketing and sales teams, and SMB organizations who need to automate workflows across SaaS tools without engineering resources
Founded 2019 2011

When to choose which

Choose n8n if…

– Your team has a developer or dev-adjacent RevOps engineer who can handle Docker-based self-hosting and JavaScript logic in workflow nodes — n8n’s TCO advantage is decisive once this condition is met.
– You are building AI agent workflows — prospect research, LLM-scored lead routing, or AI-enriched CRM updates — and need LangChain and native LLM API nodes rather than Zapier’s constrained AI feature set.
– Your current Zapier bill exceeds $200/month and task volume is growing — the migration to n8n pays back within 60 days at this threshold.
– You need on-premise or air-gapped deployment for security or compliance reasons — n8n is the only platform in this comparison that supports it.

Choose Zapier if…

– Your automation owner is a non-technical operator and self-hosting infrastructure is not viable — Zapier’s zero-setup, cloud-hosted model is the rational default despite its pricing premium.
– You need integrations with niche enterprise apps (specific HRIS, finance, or industry-specific platforms) that are only available in Zapier’s 7,000-connector catalog and not in n8n’s 400-connector library.
– Your task volume is under 5,000 per month and the cost difference between the two platforms is immaterial relative to the time cost of migration and re-training.
– You are in a Zapier-standardized organization where your team’s existing Zap library represents months of institutional knowledge — the switching cost of migrating to n8n exceeds the pricing savings at current scale.

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