IFTTT vs n8n Comparison 2026
IFTTT connects one trigger to one action for consumer services and smart devices, free for a small applet allowance or $2.99 a month for Pro. n8n is a workflow tool whose source is public: run it free on your own server, or pay from $20 a month billed annually for the hosted version, with a code node and AI agent nodes that IFTTT has no equivalent of. One is built to be simple and cheap; the other is built to be self-hosted and extended with real code.
One trigger, one action, and it costs almost nothing
Automation you can host on your own server
At a glance
- IFTTT starts cheaper, at $2.99.
- Only IFTTT has a free tier.
Side by side
IFTTT | n8n | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $2.99 | From $20 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | Free trial, then paid |
| Free tier (they differ) | Yes | No |
| Billing | Not stated | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes |
IFTTT
One trigger, one action, and it costs almost nothing
IFTTT connects one service's event to another service's action and stops there, which is either the limitation or the point. It reaches consumer things the business automation tools ignore, including smart home devices, phone settings and a long tail of small apps. For a creator it covers the small jobs: a new video posts itself somewhere, a saved item lands in a note, a schedule flips a light before a stream. The free plan allows a couple of applets and the paid tier costs less than a coffee a month.
n8n
Automation you can host on your own server
n8n is a workflow automation tool whose source is public and which you may run on your own machine, which matters when the data passing through is a subscriber list or a client's files. Nodes cover the usual services and a code node covers everything else, so a workflow does not stop dead at the first thing nobody built an integration for. Cloud plans are billed by workflow executions rather than by task, so a long chain costs the same as a short one. Self-hosting is free under its own licence.
Why people weigh these two
- n8n instead of IFTTT
- n8n runs on your own server from $20, for automations you would rather not hand to a hosted service.
- IFTTT instead of n8n
- IFTTT covers one trigger and one action for almost nothing, from $3 with a free tier.
Which one should you pick
Pick IFTTT for a small, consumer-shaped connection where the setup should take a minute: a smart bulb, a phone setting, a saved item landing in a note. Pro is $2.99 a month, cheap enough that the automation platform is never the expensive part of the stack.
Pick n8n when the data passing through matters, such as a subscriber list or a client's files, and self-hosting under its own licence is worth the setup. Cloud pricing starts at $20 a month billed annually, or self-hosting is free, and a code node covers anything IFTTT's fixed one-trigger-one-action model cannot reach. This is not built for a five-minute consumer automation; that is what IFTTT is for.
Common questions
- Can n8n be used for free?
- Yes, by self-hosting the community edition under its own licence, at no cost. The hosted cloud version starts at $20 a month billed annually instead. IFTTT is also free at entry, capped to a small number of applets, with paid plans from $2.99 a month.
- Which one can I run on my own server?
- n8n, and that is close to the point of it: the source is public and self-hosting is free. IFTTT is a hosted service only, with no option to run it yourself.
- Does IFTTT support custom code inside a workflow?
- No. IFTTT applets are strictly one trigger to one action, with no code step available. n8n includes a code node that runs JavaScript or Python inside a workflow, so a missing integration is a workaround rather than a dead end.
- How is each one billed once past the free tier?
- IFTTT charges a flat rate per plan, $2.99 or $8.99 a month. n8n's cloud plans are billed by workflow executions rather than by individual step, so a long automation costs the same as a short one, and self-hosting avoids that meter entirely.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.