n8n vs Zapier
These are opposite ends of the same spectrum, and for most businesses the comparison is the wrong one. Zapier optimises for convenience: no infrastructure, the largest connector library, and a build you can finish before lunch. n8n optimises for control: self-hosting, unlimited executions at fixed cost, real code inside nodes, and workflows in version control.
If you are weighing these two directly, you are usually deciding whether you have — and want — someone to run infrastructure. If the answer is no, the real comparison is Make vs Zapier. If yes, and volume is high, n8n wins decisively on cost.
The comparison
| Zapier | n8n | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Fully managed, no choice | Self-host, or their cloud |
| Pricing unit | Per task (action step) | Per execution (whole run), or free self-hosted |
| Cost at high volume | Highest in the market | Lowest, by a wide margin, if self-hosted |
| Connector library | Largest | Smaller; more custom HTTP work |
| Code inside workflows | Limited | First-class JavaScript and Python nodes |
| Version control | None meaningful | Workflows are JSON; live in Git |
| Data residency | Their infrastructure | Yours, entirely, if self-hosted |
| Who maintains it | Zapier | You |
| Time to first workflow | Minutes | Hours to days, including setup |
The only three reasons to choose n8n over Zapier
Be honest about whether one of these applies. If none do, n8n is a worse choice for you regardless of its technical merits.
- Volume makes per-task pricing painful. Above roughly 100,000 operations a month, self-hosted n8n saves thousands a year. This is the clearest case and it is purely arithmetic.
- Data cannot leave your infrastructure. Healthcare, financial services, EU data residency. Not a preference but a condition, and self-hosting is the only route to it.
- Your logic genuinely needs code. If transformations involve real programming rather than field mapping, n8n's code nodes are far more comfortable than working around a visual tool's limits.
A fourth, softer reason: engineering teams that want workflows reviewed and versioned like any other code. Legitimate, but only if that discipline actually exists in your team.
The cost of self-hosting, honestly
The infrastructure is cheap — $10 to $40 a month for a small instance. That is not the cost.
The cost is ownership: patching, backups, version upgrades, monitoring the monitor, and being the person who fixes it at 9pm when the container will not start. It is not difficult work, and it is not zero. If it consumes an afternoon a month of someone senior, that is $3,000 to $6,000 a year in time — which erases the saving at anything under very high volume.
n8n Cloud gives you execution-based pricing without the server. You lose data residency and the ability to run truly unlimited executions cheaply, but you keep the pricing model that makes complex workflows affordable. For teams drawn to n8n for cost reasons but with nobody to own infrastructure, this is usually the right answer and it rarely gets considered.
When Zapier is straightforwardly better
- Nobody owns infrastructure. Decisive on its own.
- Volume is modest. Under a few thousand tasks a month, the cost difference does not justify anything.
- You need obscure connectors. Zapier's library reaches long-tail SaaS that n8n does not.
- Non-technical staff must maintain it. This matters more than teams expect. A workflow only an engineer can change becomes a bottleneck.
What we would actually recommend
For most businesses between 20 and 200 people: neither. Make sits between them and is usually the better fit — no infrastructure, a strong connector library, comfortable with complex logic, and cost that only becomes a factor at genuine scale.
Choose Zapier when the work is simple. Choose n8n when volume, residency or code requirements make it necessary. Choose Make for the large middle, which is where most businesses actually live.
Deciding between platforms?
A strategy sprint models all three against your real volumes over three years. Or ask on a free call.