n8n vs Zapier: When to Choose Each for Business Automation

n8n vs Zapier: When to Choose Each for Business Automation

Zapier is easier to start with. n8n is cheaper to scale. That's the short answer. But the right choice depends on three things: your budget, your workflow complexity, and whether you have someone technical on your team.

We've set up automation for dozens of clients at Etere Studio, and we've used both tools extensively. Here's what we've learned about when each one makes sense.

The Pricing Reality

Zapier's pricing looks simple until you start counting tasks. Their free tier gives you 100 tasks per month with single-step automations only. The Starter plan ($19.99/month) bumps you to 750 tasks and multi-step workflows. Professional ($49/month) gets you 2,000 tasks.

Sounds reasonable. Until you realize a single workflow that runs hourly consumes 720 tasks per month just existing. Add a few more automations and you're looking at the Team plan ($69/month for 2,000 shared tasks) or higher.

n8n flips this model. Self-hosted n8n is free. Unlimited workflows, unlimited executions. You pay for the server (around $5-20/month on a basic VPS) and your time setting it up. Their cloud version starts at $20/month for 2,500 executions, scaling more generously than Zapier.

For a client running 15 automations with moderate volume, we calculated the difference: $299/month on Zapier vs $24/month on n8n cloud. Same functionality.

When Zapier Wins

Zapier is genuinely better for simple, low-volume workflows where you value your time over monthly costs.

Take a basic example: new form submission → Slack notification → add row to Google Sheet. On Zapier, this takes about 4 minutes to set up. You pick your apps from the menu, map the fields, done. No testing environment needed, no deployment, no server to maintain.

Zapier also wins when you need obscure app integrations. They have 6,000+ apps in their directory. n8n has around 400 native integrations (though you can hit any API with their HTTP node).

If you're a solo founder automating a handful of things and you don't want to think about infrastructure, Zapier makes sense. The premium you pay is essentially for convenience and time savings.

When n8n Wins

n8n pulls ahead the moment your workflows get complicated or your volume increases.

Here's a real scenario we built recently: an e-commerce client needed to sync orders from Shopify to their ERP, but only orders over $500, split by region, with different field mappings for each region, retry logic for API failures, and Slack alerts when something breaks.

In Zapier, this would require multiple separate Zaps with Paths (a premium feature), and you'd still struggle with proper error handling. In n8n, it's one workflow with branching logic, a single view of the entire process, and built-in error handling nodes.

The visual difference matters too. n8n shows your entire workflow as a flowchart. You can see branches, loops, and error paths at a glance. Zapier's linear step-by-step view works for simple chains but becomes confusing with conditional logic.

Custom API work is where n8n really shines. Need to hit an internal API, transform JSON, loop through results, and batch-insert into a database? n8n handles this natively. On Zapier, you'd need Webhooks by Zapier (premium), Code by Zapier (limited), and probably still hit walls.

Decision matrix comparing n8n and Zapier across budget, complexity, technical resources, and setup time

The Decision Matrix

After running both tools across many projects, here's how we think about the choice:

Choose Zapier when:

  • Workflows connect 2-3 apps in a straight line
  • Monthly task volume stays under 2,000
  • You need an integration n8n doesn't have natively
  • No one on your team wants to touch a server
  • Speed of setup matters more than monthly cost

Choose n8n when:

  • Workflows have conditional branches or loops
  • You're processing high volumes (5,000+ executions/month)
  • You need custom API integrations
  • You have someone technical available (even part-time)
  • Long-term cost matters more than initial setup time

Our Bias (And Why)

We default to n8n for client projects at Etere Studio. Partly because we have the technical capacity to manage it. But mostly because automation needs tend to grow.

A client starts with "just notify me when X happens." Six months later, they want branching logic, data transformations, and integrations with their custom backend. On Zapier, that growth path gets expensive fast. On n8n, the infrastructure is already there.

The self-hosted option also matters for clients with data sensitivity concerns. Their automation logic and data never leaves their own server. That's a meaningful advantage for certain industries.

That said, we've recommended Zapier to clients who genuinely just need simple automations and don't want to manage anything. The right tool depends on the situation, not ideology.

Evaluating automation tools for your business? We've helped teams make this decision and implement both. Let's talk