n8n vs Zapier
Short answer
Zapier bills per task, so cost rises with every step you run. Self-hosted n8n bills nothing per run — you pay only for the server. Below roughly 2,000 tasks a month Zapier is usually cheaper and simpler. Above that, n8n almost always wins on cost.
Last reviewed
| n8n | Zapier | |
|---|---|---|
| What you are billed for | One execution per workflow run, however many steps it contains. Self-hosted: nothing per run. | One task per step that acts. A 6-step Zap costs 6 tasks each time it runs. |
| Cost as volume grows | Flat. A server handling 1,000 runs a month handles 100,000 for the same price. | Linear. Ten times the volume costs roughly ten times as much. |
| Where it runs | Your own server via Docker, or n8n Cloud if you would rather not host. | Zapier's infrastructure only. No self-hosting option. |
| Who owns the workflows | You. Self-hosted workflows and their data stay on your infrastructure. | Zapier holds the workflows and the data that passes through them. |
| App coverage | Around 400 built-in nodes, plus an HTTP node that reaches any REST API. | Several thousand pre-built app integrations — the widest catalogue available. |
| Branching, loops and code | Native. Conditional branches, loops, and JavaScript or Python steps in the editor. | Paths and code steps exist but are limited, and sit on higher tiers. |
| Who can build in it | Comfortable for a developer. A non-technical user will need help with the first build. | Genuinely non-technical. This is what Zapier is best at. |
| Ongoing maintenance | Self-hosting means you own updates, backups and uptime — or someone does it for you. | None. Fully managed. |
| Licence | Fair-code (Sustainable Use Licence). Source available; commercial resale restricted. | Closed-source commercial SaaS. |
The billing difference is the whole decision
Zapier counts tasks. A task is one step that does something, so a workflow that receives a form, looks up a customer, writes a row, and sends an email costs four tasks every single time it runs. Run it 500 times a month and that is 2,000 tasks.
n8n counts executions. The same four-step workflow is one execution. Self-host it and there is no per-run charge at all — the only cost is the server it runs on, which does not care whether it processed a hundred workflows this month or a hundred thousand.
This is why the answer depends on volume rather than preference. At low volume the difference is a few dollars and Zapier saves you the setup. At high volume the two models diverge sharply, and that is the point where moving pays for itself.
Where Zapier is the better choice
If nobody on your team writes code and no one wants to own a server, Zapier is the right answer. Its catalogue is far larger, the editor is genuinely usable by anyone, and there is nothing to maintain. We tell clients this regularly.
It is also the better choice when the integration you need is obscure. Zapier has thousands of pre-built connectors; n8n covers the common ones and reaches the rest through raw HTTP requests, which is more work.
Where n8n is the better choice
High volume is the clearest case. So is anything where the logic branches, loops, or needs a few lines of real code — n8n handles those in the editor, where Zapier pushes you toward its higher tiers or out into a separate service.
The other case is data you would rather not hand over. Self-hosted n8n keeps customer records, documents and credentials on infrastructure you control, which matters if you are handling health, financial or legal data.
What self-hosting actually costs you
A small virtual server runs n8n comfortably for most workloads, and that is the entire recurring bill. What it costs instead is attention: updates, backups, monitoring, and being the person who notices when it stops.
That is the honest trade. Zapier charges money to remove that work; self-hosting converts a per-task bill into a maintenance responsibility. Whether that is a saving depends on whether anyone has time to hold it.
Our position, stated plainly
We build on self-hosted n8n for most clients, because the projects we take on tend to run at volumes where per-task billing gets expensive, and because clients keep the workflows afterwards rather than renting them.
That is a preference formed by the work we do, not a claim that n8n is better in general. If your volume is low and nobody wants to run a server, use Zapier — you will spend less and finish sooner.
Common questions
- Is n8n actually cheaper than Zapier?
- Above roughly 2,000 tasks a month, usually yes, because self-hosted n8n has no per-run charge. Below that the server cost and maintenance time often exceed what Zapier would bill. Volume decides it, not the platform.
- Can you move existing Zaps into n8n?
- There is no automatic import, so workflows are rebuilt rather than converted. In practice that is fast, because the logic is already worked out and documented in the Zap. Rebuilding is usually a day or two of work.
- Can a non-technical person use n8n?
- They can run and monitor it comfortably. Building the first workflow is harder than in Zapier and normally needs a developer. After that, editing an existing workflow is well within reach of a non-technical user.
- What about n8n Cloud instead of self-hosting?
- It removes the maintenance work and still bills per execution rather than per task, so it keeps most of the cost advantage on multi-step workflows. You give up holding your own data, which is the other reason to choose n8n.
- Is n8n open source?
- Its source is available under the Sustainable Use Licence, which n8n calls fair-code. You can read, run and modify it, including commercially inside your own business, but you cannot resell it as a competing hosted product.
- Can you use both n8n and Zapier?
- Yes, and plenty of teams do. Zapier covers the obscure integrations its catalogue already has, while n8n carries the high-volume or complex workflows. The two connect over webhooks without difficulty.