Workflow Management · head-to-head
n8n vs Zapier
As of 28 Oct 2026, the panel rates n8n 2.5/5 and Zapier 2.5/5 in Workflow Management. Weighted by what each judge cares about, 5 of the 6 judges pick n8n and 1 picks Zapier. n8n scores higher on 5 of 7 criteria (Hosting options & portability, Process design, forms & approvals, Governance, credentials & audit trail, plus 2 more). Zapier scores higher on 2 of 7 criteria (Connectors, API & on-premise reach and Execution, error handling & monitoring). Provenance — n8n: EU-Made; Zapier: Rest of world, United States. Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: how scores are made.
The short answer
n8n holds the higher mean on hosting and portability (6.5 to Zapier's 3.3), governance and audit (5.8 to 5.5), sovereignty (3.3 to 3.0), pricing transparency (5.5 to 5.3) and process design (4.7 to 4.0); Zapier holds it on integrations and connectors (5.8 to 5.2) and run reliability (6.0 to 5.8). On the leans, 5 of 6 judges pick n8n for run reliability, governance and audit, hosting and portability, sovereignty and pricing transparency; process design goes 4 n8n, 1 Zapier, 1 tie; integrations go 2 n8n, 1 Zapier, 3 ties. So run reliability's mean and leans point opposite ways. Weighted totals favor Zapier for the integrator (5.3 to 0) and n8n for the ops analyst (6.8 to 5.2), head of IT (6.6 to 4.6), data protection officer (6.1 to 4.1) and skeptic (6.4 to 5); the process owner's total is not listed. No overall winner — these splits are the answer.
Choose n8n if
- You need to self-host, run workflows air-gapped, or keep automation under Git version control — hosting and portability leans n8n 5 judges to 1, means 6.5 to 3.3.
- Your governance requirements name SAML SSO, audit logging, or SOC reports in a public trust center — governance and audit leans n8n 5 judges to 1, means 5.8 to 5.5.
- You are buying as head of IT — the weighted total reads 6.6 for n8n versus 4.6 for Zapier.
- Your data protection officer signs off on the purchase — the weighted total reads 6.1 for n8n versus 4.1 for Zapier.
- You need pricing detail published across plans — pricing transparency leans n8n 5 judges to 1, means 5.5 to 5.3, while Zapier's captured pricing publishes the task allowance only for the Free tier's 100 tasks per month, with Professional shown as "Starting from $19.99 /month" and Team as "Starting from $69 /month" without task allowances.
Choose Zapier if
- Your work depends on connector breadth — integrations and connectors means read 5.8 for Zapier versus 5.2, on a 9,000-plus app catalogue with webhooks to any API; note the leans split 2 for n8n, 1 for Zapier, 3 ties.
- You are buying as the integrator — the weighted total reads 5.3 for Zapier versus 0 for n8n.
- Your setup accepts US-default data residency and a US legal entity — Zapier's attributes list legal entity jurisdiction as US and data residency as US default.
- You prioritize the higher run reliability mean (6.0 to 5.8), on documented automatic retries and step-level observability — noting that 5 of 6 judges lean n8n on that criterion.
Read this comparison as one judge. Each weighs the same scores by what they care about.
The bench's picks
Same scores, different priorities: each judge's weighting applied to both products. The split is the finding.
- The Process Owner n8n Zapier picks n8n
- The Integration Engineer n8n Zapier picks Zapier
- The Operations Analyst n8n Zapier picks n8n
- The Head of IT n8n Zapier picks n8n
- The Data Protection Officer n8n Zapier picks n8n
- The Skeptic n8n Zapier picks n8n
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | n8n | Zapier |
|---|---|---|
| Process design, forms & approvals | 2.5 of 5 | 2 of 5 |
| Connectors, API & on-premise reach | 2.5 of 5 | 3 of 5 |
| Execution, error handling & monitoring | 3 of 5 | 3 of 5 |
| Governance, credentials & audit trail | 3 of 5 | 3 of 5 |
| Hosting options & portability | 3.5 of 5 | 1.5 of 5 |
| European sovereignty | 1.5 of 5 | 1.5 of 5 |
| Pricing transparency | 3 of 5 | 2.5 of 5 |
| Criterion | n8n | Zapier | The bench leans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Process design, forms & approvals | n8n, 4 of 6 judges | ||
| Connectors, API & on-premise reach | n8n, 2 of 6 judges | ||
| Execution, error handling & monitoring | n8n, 5 of 6 judges | ||
| Governance, credentials & audit trail | n8n, 5 of 6 judges | ||
| Hosting options & portability | n8n, 5 of 6 judges | ||
| European sovereignty | n8n, 5 of 6 judges | ||
| Pricing transparency | n8n, 5 of 6 judges |
Stars show the bench average per criterion; the lean counts which product each judge scored higher. Open a judge's tab for their reasoning on both sides.
Sovereignty, side by side
| Dimension | n8n | Zapier |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | Incorporated in US |
| Ownership | Not determined | Not determined |
| Data residency | Not determined | Not determined |
| Subprocessors | Not determined | Not determined |
Facts, side by side
Only facts both products carry under the same definition — anything else would not be a fair row.
| Compliance · DPA | yes1 | yes2 |
|---|---|---|
| Legal · Entity | n8n GmbH · Novalisstr. 10, 10115 Berlin, Germany · HRB212509 B3 | Delaware · Zapier, Inc.2 |
| Legal · Governing law | England and Wales · exclusive jurisdiction of courts of England and Wales3 | Wilmington, Delaware · State of Delaware2 |
| Pricing · Invoice payment | yes · yes4 | Team · Enterprise · yes5 |
| Support · Privacy contact | privacy@n8n.io1 | privacy@zapier.com · (877) 381-87436 |
Questions about n8n and Zapier
Which is better, n8n or Zapier?
As of 28 Oct 2026, the panel rates both 2.5/5. Weighted by what each judge cares about, 5 of the 6 judges pick n8n and 1 picks Zapier. Which one fits depends on the criteria that matter to you; the table on this page shows both side by side, and each judge’s reading has its own page. Both were scored by the same AI bench under the same rubric, from public evidence only, as the methodology describes.
Is n8n or Zapier European?
n8n is European (EU-Made). Zapier is not European by provenance (Rest of world, United States). Provenance is read from each company’s own legal pages: who builds it and who owns it.
Do n8n and Zapier have a free plan?
As of 28 Oct 2026, Zapier’s own pages state a free plan; n8n’s pages as captured do not. Each product page links the pricing page it was read from.