n8n vs Zapier Agents
A side-by-side comparison of capabilities, autonomy, integrations, and pricing to help you choose.
Short answer: choose n8n if you want fair-code workflow automation with built-in ai agent nodes, self-hostable (Supervised agent, freemium); choose Zapier Agents if you want ai teammates that do work across thousands of apps using zap actions as tools (Supervised agent, freemium).
| n8n | Zapier Agents | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Fair-code workflow automation with built-in AI agent nodes, self-hostable | AI teammates that do work across thousands of apps using Zap actions as tools |
| Type | platform | product-with-agents |
| Autonomy | Supervised agent | Supervised agent |
| Pricing | freemium · Self-hosted free; Cloud Starter EUR 20/mo | freemium · Agents add-on reportedly from ~$50/mo; core Zapier from $29.99/mo |
| Best for | developers, smb, mid-market, enterprise | smb, mid-market, enterprise |
| Deployment | saas, self-hosted, on-prem, api | saas, api |
| Modalities | text, code, api, email | text, browser, api |
| Models | model-agnostic, gpt, claude, open-source | model-agnostic, gpt, claude |
| Protocols | mcp, function-calling, rest-api | rest-api, function-calling |
| Integrations | OpenAI, Anthropic, Slack, Google Sheets, Postgres, HTTP/REST | Google Drive, Notion, Slack, Asana, HubSpot, Gmail |
| Capabilities | 4 documented | 4 documented |
n8n
- +Genuinely flexible: visual no-code builder plus inline JavaScript/Python and HTTP-to-any-API
- +Self-hostable community edition is free with unlimited executions, giving full data control
- +Strong native AI: agent nodes, MCP support, model-agnostic LLM connections built into workflows
- -Not truly open source: the Sustainable Use License restricts commercial use such as reselling n8n as a service
- -Execution-based cloud pricing can balloon for high-frequency workflows
Zapier Agents
- +Calls Zap actions as tools across thousands of connected apps, reusing Zapier's huge integration ecosystem
- +Plain-language agent building with Copilot and templates makes setup approachable for non-developers
- +Activity dashboard, versioning, and chat give clear oversight and the ability to correct agents mid-task
- -Not fully autonomous: oversight and human correction are built into the workflow by design
- -Agents add-on pricing stacks on top of core Zapier plans, and costs scale with usage
Which should you choose?
n8n is fair-code workflow automation with built-in ai agent nodes, self-hostable, best for developers, smb, mid-market, enterprise. Zapier Agents is ai teammates that do work across thousands of apps using zap actions as tools, best for smb, mid-market, enterprise. The right choice depends on the autonomy level you want, your existing integrations, and your budget, all compared above.