n8n or Zapier? Pick by who runs it.
n8n runs wherever you put it and rewards a developer. Zapier hosts everything and asks for no code. Cedric is a third answer, for work nobody should have to build. Checked on n8n.io and zapier.com, 25 September 2026.
- Pick n8n if you have someone technical and want control. The Community edition is free to self-host, any step can run JavaScript or Python, and you pay per run.
- Pick Zapier if nobody on the team writes code. It lists 9,000+ apps, and a two-step Zap on the free plan is a gentle first automation.
- The meters matter more than the sticker prices. n8n counts one execution per run, whatever the steps. Zapier counts every successful action.
- Cedric fits work that changes each run. You ask in Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Telegram or the browser, he plans the steps, and nothing goes out until a person says yes.
What n8n and Zapier are
n8n's headline is "AI agents and workflows you can see and control", followed by "Build visually, go deep with code, connect to anything". You build on a canvas of nodes, and any node can hold JavaScript or Python. Each step shows its input and output beside its settings. The homepage counts over 500 integrations, plus custom API connections for the rest, and says n8n is for technical teams.
Hosting is the part people search for. n8n runs on n8n Cloud, hosted in Frankfurt, or on your own servers with Docker, on-premise and air-gapped if needed. The source is on GitHub, where it has over 205,000 stars.
The license is the Sustainable Use License, which n8n calls fair-code. You may use and modify n8n for free inside your own business, for personal projects and for non-commercial work. Hosting it as a service where your clients build their own workflows needs n8n's commercial license.
Zapier takes the opposite bet and runs everything for you, so you never hold its code. Its homepage title reads "Automate AI Workflows, Agents, and Apps", beside 9,000+ apps and 3 million+ businesses. A Zap needs no code at all, just a trigger and actions with filters and paths between them. For internal data, Enterprise lists advanced deployment options and the homepage names VPC peering.
Side by side
n8n from n8n.io and its pricing page, Zapier from zapier.com and its pricing page, all read 25 September 2026. Cedric's column is from the Cedric features page.
| n8n | Zapier | Cedric | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What starts a run | A trigger, schedule or webhook | The trigger that heads a Zap | A chat request, or a schedule set in a sentence |
| Building it | Nodes on a canvas, code where you want | A trigger and actions, no code | Connect tools once, then describe the result |
| Built for | Technical teams, in n8n's own words | Non-coders at ease in an editor | Whoever has the job, in plain words |
| Where it runs | n8n Cloud or self-hosted, even air-gapped | Zapier's cloud; VPC peering reaches internal data | Hosted by Cedric, used from chat |
| Integrations | 500+, plus any API | 9,000+ | 3,200+; 15 ship with a playbook |
| Billing unit | One execution per full run | One task per successful action | Credits from one team balance |
| Users | Unlimited on every plan | 25 on Team, unlimited on Enterprise | Everyone in the channel |
| Judgment calls | Rules and AI steps the builder designs | Rules and AI fields you configure | Made each run, shown to you |
| Before anything goes out | Approval steps, where you add them | What the Zap does, as built | A person's yes on each send, change, spend |
Read 25 September 2026. n8n Starter is 20 EUR a month billed annually or 24 EUR monthly for 2,500 executions. Pro is 50 EUR (60 EUR) for 10,000, and Business 667 EUR (800 EUR) for 40,000, self-hosted only. Enterprise is on request. Zapier's free tier holds 100 tasks. Its Professional plan opens at $19.99 billed yearly or $29.99 monthly, and Team at $69 or $103.50.
n8n or Zapier: how to choose
Start with who will build and maintain it. A developer will find n8n roomy, with code when a node falls short, any API, and workflows in Git on the Business plan. An operations lead or a marketer who avoids code will find Zapier kinder. The app they need is also likelier to be on its list.
Then ask where the data may live. If a security review says customer data stays on your servers, or on a network with no internet, n8n can go there. Zapier reaches internal systems from its own cloud, through options such as VPC peering.
Then price your longest workflow. Take a trigger and six actions that runs 2,000 times a month. On n8n that is 2,000 executions, inside Starter's 2,500. On Zapier it is about 12,000 tasks, one per action, with the trigger and any filter free.
Self-hosting still costs hours. n8n's own docs say it needs setup, technical skill and someone to manage the servers. A self-hosted Business or Enterprise license key also pings n8n's license server daily. Count that time before calling the Community edition free.
One message
The weekly report, asked for once
Devin Wallace9:14 AM
@Cedric write this week's numbers for #leadership: revenue from Stripe, pipeline from HubSpot, the tracker from Sheets. Say why anything moved, and do it every Monday at 9.
CedricAPP9:15 AM
MRR is CHF 48,200, up 3.1% on two annual upgrades. New pipeline is CHF 212k, up 18%, mostly from two new deals. Churn is one account, flat, and they told us in August. One deal slipped 12 days on an unanswered quote.
In n8n
n8n handles this shape well: a schedule trigger, calls to billing, the CRM and the sheet, a code node for the deltas, an AI step for the wording. Someone edits it when a field or a question changes.
In Zapier
A scheduled Zap can pull the same figures every Monday, at a task per action. The reason behind each number, and answers to follow-up questions, are more steps to design.
In Cedric
Devin asked once and chose the schedule. Follow-ups in the thread get answers from live data, with the accounts behind the number.
What a workflow would need spelled out
The schedule is the easy part, and n8n and Zapier both run a Monday job reliably. The work is in the reply. Cedric picked the movements worth a line and found the reason for each, down to a quote nobody answered. A workflow reports only the reasons its builder thought to fetch.
When someone asks a question nobody predicted, Cedric answers from live data. In a workflow, a new question means someone edits the workflow. Even the standing schedule was Devin's call, and "just this once" means nothing repeats.
Three meters, three different questions
n8n bills executions, "a single run of your entire workflow", whatever the steps or data. Long, branching workflows stay cheap, and the bill is easy to predict. A daily schedule is about 30 executions a month, and a five-minute trigger about 8,600. On Business, going over brings an invoice instead of a stop, at 4,000 EUR per extra 300,000 executions.
Zapier draws tasks from one pool per account, and each successful action spends one. Checking for new data is free, and so are built-in tools such as Filter, Formatter, Paths, Delay and Looping. AI steps, code and connector calls can take more than one task. At the limit, Zaps keep running at a higher pay-per-task rate, unless you chose to let them pause.
Cedric bills credits from one balance the team shares. There are no seats, so a tenth person asking adds nothing. New workspaces get 100,000 free credits with no card. Starter is $19 a month for 40,000 credits, Max starts at $99, and top-up credits never expire.
The three meters count different things. n8n and Zapier count how often a design runs, and Cedric counts the work he did. For a fixed pipeline at volume, a workflow tool will cost less. Cedric's full ladder is on the pricing page.
Where n8n or Zapier is the better choice
If your data must stay on your own servers, choose n8n. It runs on-premise and air-gapped, which often settles a regulated team's question before price comes up.
If developers will own the automations, choose n8n. Code in any node, custom nodes when self-hosted, Git version control and separate environments on paid plans are what engineers expect.
If the builders are not technical, or the app is unusual, choose Zapier. Its 9,000+ apps cover the long tail, and one trigger with one action is as gentle as automation gets.
For records copied between systems at volume, with nobody in the loop, a workflow tool is the right home. n8n's per-run meter and Zapier's free triggers keep it cheap, and Cedric can take the jobs that start with a question.
FAQ
For a technical team that wants self-hosting, code in any step and a per-run meter, yes. For a team without coders that needs a long app list, Zapier fits better. Both build multi-step workflows with branches, code and AI steps.
The Community edition is, if you host it yourself and stay within the Sustainable Use License. You still pay for the server and the hours. SSO, Git version control, environments and shared projects need a paid plan. n8n Cloud starts at 20 EUR a month billed annually, with a trial that needs no card.
Yes, with no time limit. It covers 100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps and 15-minute polling. New accounts also get 14 days of Professional without a card, checked 25 September 2026.
Zapier's pricing page lists no self-hosted edition. It is a hosted platform, and for internal data its Enterprise plan lists advanced deployment options, with VPC peering named on the homepage. If self-hosting is a requirement, n8n is the one of the two that offers it.
Yes, n8n is in Cedric's catalog. Connect it with an API key from your own instance, and Cedric can list, create and run workflows, switch them on or off, and review past executions. Creating or changing a workflow waits for a person's yes. See connecting your tools.
Zapier is one. For Make, Activepieces, Power Automate, Workato and Gumloop as well, see the n8n alternatives, sorted by the reason people leave.
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