n8n vs Zapier
A 2026 side-by-side comparison of n8n and Zapier — pricing, key features, platforms, API access, and the trade-offs of each, based on data collected from their official sites.
Tagline
Fair-code workflow automation with native AI nodes
Automate work across 7,000+ apps with AI
Pricing
Freemium
Freemium
Rating
0.0 (0)
0.0 (0)
Platforms
WebSelf-hostedCloud
WebChrome
API
Yes
Yes
Open source
Yes
No
Description
n8n is a source-available automation platform with 400+ integrations and LangChain-powered AI nodes.
Zapier connects your apps and adds AI actions, agents, and chatbots to any workflow.
Key features
- Cited synthesis
- Custom source allow-lists
- Team workspaces
- Evals
- Guardrails
- Self-hostable
Pros
- Self-hostable and source-available
- 400+ integrations
- Native LangChain and AI nodes
- Visual workflow builder
- JavaScript and Python code nodes
- Fair-code license
- Active open community
- Powerful branching and error handling
- 7,000+ app integrations
- No-code interface
- Built-in AI actions
- Multi-step workflows
- Huge template library
- Team collaboration
- Highly reliable execution
- Extensive documentation
Cons
- Steeper learning curve than Zapier
- Self-hosting takes ops effort
- Community edition has feature limits
- Debugging complex flows is hard
- UI less polished than paid rivals
- Docs gaps in advanced features
- Enterprise features gated
- Slower than raw code at scale
- Task-based pricing gets expensive
- Slower than coded alternatives
- Limited advanced logic
- Debugging can be painful
- Many triggers are polling only
- Free tier restrictive
- Enterprise features gated
- Overkill for simple tasks
Pricing plans
- Starter—
- • Unlimited users
- • Unlimited workflows
- • Every integration
- • Forum support
- Pro—
- • Everything in Starter plan
- • Unlimited users
- • Unlimited workflows
- • Every integration
- Business—
- • Everything in Pro plan
- • For companies with < 100 employees
- • Custom nodes available in self-hosted
- • Custom actions when workflow fails
- Enterprise—
- • Everything in Business plan
- • Custom number of workflow executions
- • For strict compliance and governance needs
- • Dedicated support
- Start-up Plan—
- • 50% off the Business plan
- • All features from the Business plan
- • Forum support
- • Available for self-hosted deployments
- Community Edition—
- • Standard self-hosted version
- • Available on GitHub
- Free to buildUSD0
- • Gain access to Zapier Partner Program benefits
- • Tap into millions of existing users
- • Instantly connect your product to 9,000+ popular apps
Which one should you pick?
- Choose n8n if you need Cited synthesis.
- Choose Zapier if you need Evals.
- On budget: n8n is freemium, Zapier is freemium.