n8n vs Zapier Comparison 2026
Both cover project management and dm & comment automation. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
At a glance
- n8n starts cheaper, at $20.
- Only Zapier has a free tier.
Side by side
n8n | Zapier | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $20 | From $29.99 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free trial, then paid | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier (they differ) | No | Yes |
| Billing | Not stated | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | None | None |
| Runs on |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
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.
Zapier
Wire the tools together without writing code
Zapier connects one app's event to another app's action, which is how most creator plumbing gets built: a new YouTube upload posts itself to Discord, a form submission opens a task, a purchase adds someone to a list. It matters most when the tools you already pay for do not talk to each other and the alternative is doing it by hand every week. Pricing counts tasks rather than seats, so cost follows how much actually runs.
Our note
Count the tasks a workflow will actually consume before picking a tier, because a busy trigger can burn a month's allowance in a week. Start on the free plan and let the first thing you hit tell you which limit matters.
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.