n8n vs Zapier: Which One to Pick, With the Same Workflow Priced on Both
n8n vs Zapier: one workflow priced on both, plus Make and when to skip both. Prices checked Nov 10, 2026, including Zapier's Dec 1 billing change.
Quick answer: Pick Zapier if you're not technical, your apps need ready-made connectors and your workflows are short. Pick n8n if your workflows run often or have many steps, because it charges per run instead of per step, or if you must host it yourself. If the job needs a fresh judgement every time, use an AI agent instead.
Questions this page answers
- What's the actual difference between n8n and Zapier?
- What does the same workflow cost on each, at 500, 2,500 and 5,000 runs a month?
- Which is better for AI steps and agents, and how does each one bill for them?
- Is n8n too hard if you're not a developer?
- Where does Make fit in?
We checked every price on this page on November 10, 2026, on Zapier's and n8n's own pricing pages.
What's the difference between n8n and Zapier?
Zapier is a hosted, no-code tool that charges for every action a workflow takes. n8n is a more technical tool you can run on your own server, and it charges once per whole run, however many steps that run has.
| Zapier | n8n | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | People who aren't technical and want it working today | Technical teams who want control over the logic |
| What you pay for | Tasks: one per action a workflow completes | Executions: one per full run of a workflow |
| Price to start (billed monthly) | Professional $29.99 a month for 750 tasks | Starter $24 a month for 2,500 executions |
| Free option | Free plan: 100 tasks a month, two-step workflows only | No free cloud plan. The Community Edition is free if you run it on your own server |
| Apps | 9,000+ ready-made connectors, by Zapier's count | 1,000+ built-in integrations on n8n's comparison page (its directory lists 2,629), plus a node that calls any app with an API |
| Where it runs | Zapier's cloud only | n8n's cloud (data stored in Frankfurt) or your own server |
| AI agents | Zapier Agents, a separate product with its own quota | AI Agent node inside any workflow, on every plan |
| People on one plan | 1 on Professional, 25 on Team | Unlimited on every plan |
Prices are monthly billing. Zapier's yearly billing saves 33% (its Professional plan starts at $19.99 a month that way). n8n's annual billing brings Starter to $20.
How much do n8n and Zapier cost for the same workflow?
For anything past a few hundred runs a month, n8n's cloud plan costs less. The reason is the meter: a four-action run uses four Zapier tasks, but only one n8n execution.
Take one workflow. A customer places an order. Then the workflow creates an invoice, adds a row to a spreadsheet, posts in your team's Slack and emails the customer. On Zapier the trigger is free and each of the four actions is a task. On n8n the whole thing is one execution.
| Orders a month | Zapier tasks used | Zapier Professional | n8n executions used | n8n Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | 2,000 | $73.50/mo ($49 billed yearly) | 500 | Starter $24/mo ($20 annually) |
| 2,500 | 10,000 | $193.50/mo ($129 yearly) | 2,500 | Starter $24/mo ($20), right at its limit |
| 5,000 | 20,000 | $283.50/mo ($189 yearly) | 5,000 | Pro $60/mo ($50 annually) |
| 500, plus one AI step* | 3,500 | $133.50/mo ($89 yearly) | 500 | Starter $24/mo, plus your AI provider's bill |
*The AI step writes a personal thank-you line on one of Zapier's "Advanced" models, which costs 3 tasks per use. All figures are list prices on each company's pricing page on November 10, 2026.
Use the Zapier cost calculator to compare your own runs, steps and AI usage with n8n.
The example leaves three things out, and each can matter:
- Some Zapier steps are free. Filters, Paths (branches), Formatter and Delay steps use no tasks. Neither do triggers, or Zapier checking for new data.
- n8n's cheapest plan has limits. On Starter, a single run can't last more than 5 minutes, and only 5 runs can happen at once. Pro raises those to 40 minutes and up to 50.
- AI on n8n isn't free. n8n doesn't bill per AI step, but the AI company whose model you connect still charges you for it.
If you go over your Zapier limit, Zapier keeps your workflows running by default. Extra tasks cost "a higher per-task rate", up to three times your plan's task limit. After that, it holds new runs until the month resets. n8n's full plan list, with its limits, is on n8n's pricing page.
And n8n's free option? The software is free if you run it on your own server. The full answer is in n8n alternatives, sorted by why you're leaving.
Coming December 1, 2026: Zapier's newer "Next Gen Zaps" and its developer kit start using tasks, with at least one task per completed run. Zapier says most existing (Classic) Zaps aren't affected. Details: Zapier's December 1 billing change.
Which is better for AI automations and agents?
n8n gives you more control over AI inside a workflow and doesn't bill per AI step. Zapier is quicker to set up. On Zapier, though, every AI step costs 1, 3 or 5 tasks depending on the model, and every tool the AI uses costs the same again.
Here is how Zapier prices AI, from Zapier's task usage rates:
| Zapier model tier | Tasks per AI step | Tasks per tool the AI uses |
|---|---|---|
| Standard (fast, simple jobs) | 1 | Can't use tools |
| Your own model account | 1 | 1 |
| Advanced | 3 | 3 |
| Premium | 5 | 5 |
That's no longer the "one prompt in, one answer out" step some comparisons still describe. A Zapier AI step can now choose tools at runtime, so it decides for itself which apps to look things up in or act on.
Each of those tool calls is billed separately, so a Premium-model step that uses three tools costs 20 tasks (5 + 3 × 5).
Zapier also sells Zapier Agents, a separate product for assistants that act on their own. It doesn't use tasks.
Instead it has its own quota of "activities" (an action it takes, a web page it browses, or a lookup in documents you've attached). The free tier gets 400 activities a month. Agents Pro gets 1,500 for $400 billed yearly, or about $33 a month.
Plug Zapier into an AI chat app through Zapier MCP, as in connecting Claude to your apps, and each action it takes costs 2 tasks.
n8n includes its AI pieces on every plan:
- an AI Agent step that can sit anywhere in a workflow
- tools for connecting AI chat apps (the MCP server and client)
- a human-approval step before the AI takes an action
n8n adds no per-step charge for AI; the model itself is billed by whoever provides it. For a wider look at agent tools, see our pick of the best AI agent builders.
Is n8n harder to use than Zapier?
Yes. Zapier is a list of steps you fill in from top to bottom, with no code anywhere. n8n is a canvas of connected boxes. It rewards knowing what an API is (the way one app lets another talk to it), and n8n itself says it's "designed for technical teams".
The difficulty depends on which n8n you choose:
- n8n Cloud means n8n runs it for you. You still build on the canvas, but there's no server to look after.
- Self-hosting means running n8n on a computer you rent or own. The software is free, but the server, updates, backups and fixing it at 2 a.m. are on you.
- The license. n8n calls it "fair-code", not open source. Using it for your own business, or building workflows for clients, is fine. Letting your own customers build workflows on n8n inside your product needs a commercial deal with n8n.
Zapier has no self-hosted version at all. If your data has to stay on your own machines, that settles it.
Where does Make fit in n8n vs Zapier vs Make?
Make sits between the two. It has a visual canvas like n8n's, it's hosted like Zapier, and it bills in credits: one for each step (Make calls them modules) that runs. It connects 3,500+ apps and has a free plan with 1,000 credits a month (checked November 9, 2026).
Because Make also counts per step, our order workflow is billed per step, the same shape as Zapier's bill rather than n8n's. Pick Make over Zapier when you want a visual canvas with branches but would rather not learn n8n.
So should you pick n8n or Zapier?
Neither wins outright. It depends on who builds the workflow and how often it runs.
Reach for Zapier when:
- you're not technical and want it working this afternoon
- one of your apps has no API you could reach yourself, but Zapier has a connector for it
- your workflows are short and run a few hundred times a month or less
- a free plan for simple two-step jobs is enough to start
Reach for n8n when:
- workflows have many steps or run thousands of times a month
- your data has to stay on your own server, or in n8n's EU cloud
- you need code, loops or complex branching
- many people need access, since every n8n plan has unlimited users and Zapier Team stops at 25
Moving from Zapier to n8n is a rebuild, not an import. It pays off fastest when your workflows have several actions each, because that's where the two meters drift furthest apart.
When should you use neither?
Use neither when the work needs a decision each time, not the same steps. Both tools are built for "when this happens, do exactly that". They struggle with "read this and work out what to do".
A judgement job looks like three requests that build on each other:
- "Check my inbox every morning…"
- "…flag what actually needs me…"
- "…and draft the replies."
You can wire that into Zapier or n8n with an AI step. But you'd still be designing every branch by hand, and paying per step on Zapier.
An AI agent takes the job as a plain description and works it out each run. Here's how to keep an agent running around the clock. If you're already on n8n and leaving it, see n8n alternatives, sorted by why you're leaving.
This is where Bento fits. You describe the outcome in plain words — the weekly report sent, the inbox sorted, the leads researched — and Bento's agent gets it done, browsing the web, running on a schedule and working in Gmail, Slack, Notion and thousands more apps. There are no steps to build.
Bento always picks the best AI for the job. The same plan makes the posts and videos too, and your whole team shares it at no extra cost per person. On the homepage's list of bills it replaces, Zapier automations is one line.
Plans are $20, $50 or $200 a month, with a 7-day free trial. Bento's message counts are an estimate, not a cap, and big jobs use more.
It isn't the right tool for everything. There's no visual workflow editor, you can't host it yourself, and for thousands of identical runs a day, Zapier or n8n is the better buy. See Bento's plans.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is n8n better than Zapier?
For technical teams and workflows that run often or have many steps, usually yes, because n8n charges per run and Zapier per action. For people who aren't technical, or who need one of Zapier's 9,000+ ready-made connectors, Zapier is the better start.
Is Zapier free?
Zapier has a free plan with 100 tasks a month. It only allows two-step workflows (one trigger, one action) and checks for new data every 15 minutes. Multi-step workflows start on Professional, at $29.99 a month billed monthly.
Can I move my Zaps to n8n?
We didn't find an official Zapier-to-n8n importer, so plan to rebuild each Zap by hand in n8n's editor. It's a good moment to merge several small Zaps into one n8n workflow, since n8n doesn't charge for the extra steps.
Does Zapier charge for checking for new data?
No. Zapier never charges a task for a trigger or for checking an app for new data, even every two minutes. You only pay when an action succeeds. Failed steps don't count either.
Is n8n open source?
No. n8n uses its own "fair-code" license and says it doesn't call itself open source. The free Community Edition is fine for your own business and for client work. Building it into a product your customers use needs a commercial agreement.
