Zapier vs n8n: What Three Real Workflows Cost on Each
Last updated October 25, 2026 · 7 min read
n8n is the cheaper tool for nearly every multi-step workflow a small team builds, and the gap widens with every person you add. Zapier is the better tool when the person building the automation has never read an API doc, or when one of your apps is obscure enough that only Zapier has a connector for it. Those are the usual conclusions, and they hold.
What the articles ranking for this comparison skip is that the bill depends on the shape of the workflow as much as on volume. Zapier charges per action step and ignores triggers. n8n charges per run and ignores steps. Pick the wrong tool for a workflow’s shape and you can pay double for the same automation, in either direction, so below we price three real workflows on both.
Prices come from zapier.com/pricing and n8n.io/pricing as of October 25, 2026, and the counting rules from Zapier’s help center and n8n’s docs. n8n lists its cloud plans in euros. Zapier lists in dollars.
Pricing in October 2026
| Feature | Zapier | n8n |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 100 tasks/mo, two-step Zaps, 1 user | Self-hosted Community Edition, no license fee |
| Entry paid plan | Pro, from $19.99/mo annually for 750 tasks | Starter, €20/mo annually (€24 monthly) for 2,500 executions |
| Next tier | Pro at 2,000 tasks: $49/mo annually | Pro, €50/mo annually (€60 monthly) for 10,000 executions |
| Team plan | Team, from $69/mo annually for 2,000 tasks, up to 25 users | Unlimited users on every cloud plan |
| Monthly billing | 50% more than the annual price at every tier | €24 Starter, €60 Pro |
| Going over | Pay-per-task at 1.25x base rate (annual) or 2.5x (monthly) | No overage rate listed on the pricing page |
| Self-hosted paid plan | None | Business, €667/mo annually, 40,000 executions |
| Max run length | Not listed on the pricing page | 5 minutes on Starter, 40 on Pro |
Zapier Pro is a one-user plan. That single row changes most comparisons, because the moment a second person needs to edit Zaps you are on Team, and Team starts where Pro’s 2,000-task tier is already $49.
How Each One Counts
Zapier counts a task every time an action step succeeds. Triggers are free. So are Filter and Paths steps, Formatter, Delay, Looping, Digest and Storage, and any action that errors out. A sub-Zap’s actions do count.
n8n counts one execution per workflow run, whether the workflow has two nodes or forty. The trigger is what decides whether a run happened. A Schedule Trigger counts every time it fires, even when the workflow finds nothing to do. A polling trigger, like the Google Drive one, counts only when it finds new data. A webhook counts once per request. Sub-workflow runs, error-workflow runs and manual test runs from the editor don’t count at all, which means a big n8n workflow split into sub-workflows still bills as one execution.
Opposite rules. Same automation, very different bills.
Three Workflows, Priced
All three use annual billing. Assume one builder unless we say otherwise.
| Feature | Zapier | n8n Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lead routing: 400 form leads/mo, 4 actions each | 1,600 tasks, Pro 2,000 tier: $49/mo | 400 executions, Starter: €20/mo |
| Same workflow, four people editing | Team 2,000 tier: $69/mo | Starter: €20/mo |
| 2. Webhook alerts: 3,000 events/mo, 150 pass a filter, 2 actions | 300 tasks, Pro 750 tier: $19.99/mo | 3,000 executions, Pro: €50/mo |
| 3. API check on a 5-minute schedule, 30-day month | Depends on actions taken, the check itself is free | 8,640 executions, Pro: €50/mo |
Lead routing is the workflow most teams build first: a form fills, the lead gets enriched, lands in the CRM, pings a Slack channel, and gets logged to a sheet. Four actions, so every lead costs four Zapier tasks and one n8n execution. For one builder that is $49 against €20. For a team of four it is $69 against the same €20, and every step you bolt on later widens it.
Webhook alerts flip it. Say your billing system posts every event to a webhook, 3,000 a month, and you only care about the 150 that are failed payments. On Zapier the trigger and the filter are free, so you pay for 300 tasks. On n8n every inbound request is an execution, filtered or not, which pushes you past Starter’s 2,500 and onto Pro. The fix on n8n is to subscribe the webhook to fewer event types at the source if the sending app allows it. If it doesn’t, Zapier is the cheaper home for this one.
The 5-minute schedule is where n8n bills surprise people. A Schedule Trigger firing every five minutes runs 8,640 times in a 30-day month before it has done a single useful thing, more than three Starter plans’ worth. Tighten it to every minute and you hit 43,200, which is past Pro’s 10,000 and past the 40,000 on self-hosted Business. If a polling trigger node exists for the app you’re watching, use it instead, since empty polls are free.
The rule of thumb that falls out of this: n8n wins when runs are rare and steps are many, Zapier wins when runs are frequent and mostly filtered out. Count both numbers for your three busiest workflows before you look at a pricing page.
Self-Hosting n8n Is Free, With Conditions
Zapier has no self-hosted option. n8n’s Community Edition is free to run on your own server with no execution cap, and for a technical team that already runs a VPS or a Kubernetes cluster it is the cheapest setup on this page.
It leaves things out. n8n’s docs list the gaps: SSO through SAML or LDAP, Git-based version control, environments, external secrets, log streaming, and projects with workflow and credential sharing. A solo operator won’t miss most of that. A company with an auditor will miss SSO on the first day, and the self-hosted plan that adds it is Business at €667 a month.
Then there is the license. n8n ships under its Sustainable Use License, which permits use for your own internal business purposes. Building a product where your customers connect their own accounts and build workflows on your n8n instance is outside it, and n8n’s docs send those cases to license@n8n.io. Agencies and SaaS founders should read the license before they write the first workflow.
Who Builds the Workflows
Zapier’s builder is a straight line of steps and its app directory is far larger than n8n’s node library, so a marketer can wire a niche tool to a CRM in an afternoon without help. n8n expects you to be comfortable with JSON and JavaScript expressions, and it covers missing connectors with an HTTP Request node and a Code node. That is a feature for an ops engineer and a wall for everyone else.
If you are moving off a CRM and need somewhere to rebuild its automations, our Attio vs HubSpot comparison covers which workflows don’t survive the move. For the third option most teams also consider, Make, see the Zapier vs Make vs n8n comparison.
Zapier: Strengths and Weaknesses
✓Pros
- ✓Triggers, filters and Formatter steps never use tasks
- ✓Largest app directory of the two, by a wide margin
- ✓A non-technical person can build and fix Zaps
✗Cons
- ✗Pro is one user; teams start at $69 a month
- ✗Every action step is billed, so long workflows get expensive fast
- ✗Overage costs 2.5x base rate on monthly billing
- ✗No self-hosting
n8n: Strengths and Weaknesses
✓Pros
- ✓One execution per run, however many steps
- ✓Unlimited users on every cloud plan
- ✓Sub-workflow and error-workflow runs are free
- ✓Free self-hosted Community Edition with no execution cap
- ✓Code and HTTP nodes reach any API
✗Cons
- ✗Schedule triggers count every run, useful or not
- ✗Community Edition lacks SSO and Git version control
- ✗License blocks offering it to your customers
- ✗Steeper learning curve for non-developers
The Verdict
For a team of two or more building multi-step workflows, n8n Cloud Starter at €20 a month is the better buy, and it isn’t close. Choose Zapier if the people building automations aren’t technical, if you depend on a connector n8n lacks, or if your heaviest workflow is a busy trigger that you filter down to a trickle. Self-host n8n only if someone on the team already runs servers and nobody needs SSO yet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is n8n cheaper than Zapier?
For most multi-step workflows, yes. n8n bills one execution per workflow run no matter how many steps it has, while Zapier bills one task per successful action step. A 4-step workflow running 400 times a month needs 1,600 Zapier tasks ($49 a month on Pro, billed annually) and 400 n8n executions (€20 a month on Starter, billed annually). Zapier can come out cheaper when a busy trigger is mostly filtered out, because Zapier does not bill for triggers or Filter steps.
Does a Zapier trigger use a task?
No. Zapier's help center says trigger steps, Filter and Paths steps, Formatter, Delay, and Looping steps, and actions that error or halt do not count as tasks. Only successful action steps do.
What counts as an execution in n8n?
One run of a whole workflow. A Schedule Trigger counts every time it fires, even if nothing happens. A polling trigger counts only when it finds new data. A webhook counts once per inbound request that starts the workflow. Manual test runs, sub-workflow runs, and error-workflow runs do not count.
Is self-hosted n8n really free?
The Community Edition costs nothing to license, but it leaves out SSO, Git-based version control, environments, external secrets, log streaming, and workflow sharing. It runs under n8n's Sustainable Use License, which allows internal business use but not offering n8n to your customers so they can connect their own accounts and build workflows. The self-hosted Business plan with those features is €667 a month, billed annually.
Related Comparisons
- Zapier vs Make vs n8n: adds Make’s operation-based pricing to the comparison
- Attio vs HubSpot: which CRM workflows have to be rebuilt after a migration
- HubSpot vs Pipedrive vs Close CRM: the CRMs most lead-routing workflows end in
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