n8n vs Zapier vs Workato: Self-Hosting and Pricing Compared
A findings-based n8n vs Zapier vs Workato comparison of self-hosting, governance, connectors and pricing — Workato excluded for lack of sourced documentation.
Checked against the cited sources on .
n8n vs Zapier vs Workato: why this comparison is narrowed to two platforms
Teams typing n8n vs Zapier vs Workato into a search bar are usually trying to shortlist an automation platform quickly, weighing self-hosting, governance, connector depth and pricing against each other. This article answers that question for two of the three: n8n and Zapier. No official Workato documentation, pricing page or release notes could be sourced within this review's research budget, so Workato is left out of the detailed comparison rather than filled in with secondhand summaries.
In our view, comparing platforms only on evidence we can verify is safer than filling a gap with secondhand summaries, so we are treating this as a two-way comparison rather than guessing at Workato's governance or pricing model.
Self-hosting and deployment model
n8n's documentation states that it can be self-hosted on a team's own infrastructure, on-premises, or in a private cloud. Without a license key, that self-hosted install runs as the free Community edition, and a Business or Enterprise license key unlocks those paid editions on the same install, according to n8n's own documentation.
Zapier works differently. Its own blog states that connecting Zapier to a customer's on-premises services requires the Enterprise plan and hosting that infrastructure on Amazon Web Services via VPC peering. That describes Zapier reaching into a customer's on-premises systems, not Zapier itself running on a team's servers — the platform stays cloud-hosted either way.
- n8n: self-hostable on a team's own infrastructure, on-premises or in a private cloud, even on the free Community edition
- n8n: a Business or Enterprise license key unlocks paid editions on the same self-hosted install
- Zapier: the platform itself remains cloud-hosted on Zapier's infrastructure
- Zapier: reaching a customer's on-premises systems is an Enterprise-only add-on via AWS VPC peering
We'd be cautious about treating self-hosting as a free option: even on the Community edition, a team is taking on the work of running, patching and scaling that server itself, overhead that Zapier's cloud-only model avoids entirely.
n8n's self-hosting option works the way it does because of how the project licenses its code: n8n's CEO, Jan Oberhauser, has explained in an interview on Sequoia Capital's Training Data podcast that the license lets anyone run n8n for free, including in production, but blocks reselling a hosted version of it.
Sources: Host n8n | Deploy | n8n Docs, Can Zapier connect to on-premises services?
Governance controls: SSO, LDAP, RBAC and audit logging
Both platforms gate identity and access controls behind their higher tiers. n8n's documentation restricts SAML single sign-on to the Business and Enterprise plans, and states that LDAP login is available on n8n Cloud Enterprise and on self-hosted Business and Enterprise editions. Configuring SSO through environment variables rather than the UI requires n8n version 2.18.0 or later, per n8n's documentation.
n8n also separates two levels of roles: built-in project roles are available on all n8n Cloud plans and on self-hosted Registered Community, Business and Enterprise editions, while custom instance and project roles are reserved for n8n Cloud Enterprise and self-hosted Enterprise, according to n8n's documentation.
Zapier's own feature comparison table lists SAML single sign-on as included on the Team and Enterprise plans only, restricts user provisioning via SCIM to the Enterprise plan, and sets audit log retention at six months on Team and one year on Enterprise, per Zapier's pricing page.
- SSO (SAML): n8n Business/Enterprise; Zapier Team/Enterprise
- LDAP: n8n Cloud Enterprise and self-hosted Business/Enterprise
- SCIM user provisioning: Zapier Enterprise only
- Custom roles: n8n Cloud Enterprise and self-hosted Enterprise
- Audit log retention: Zapier six months on Team, one year on Enterprise
Sources: Use SAML | Administer | n8n Docs, Connect LDAP | Administer | n8n Docs, Configure SSO | Deploy | n8n Docs, Set permissions and roles (RBAC) | Administer | n8n Docs, Zapier Pricing
Connector depth: named integrations vs. generic connectivity
n8n's own documentation describes its built-in integration library only qualitatively, stating that n8n supplies hundreds of nodes, without giving an exact connector count. Zapier's own app directory states it connects more than 10,237 apps, though a separate Zapier pricing page uses a lower figure of 9,000 or more apps, so which number is current is not clear from the pages themselves.
We think a large named-connector count matters less once a team is comfortable using n8n's generic HTTP Request node or a custom API call, so what looks like a connectivity gap often isn't one in practice.
Sources: Nodes | n8n Docs, Zapier App Directory
Pricing structure: execution-based vs. task-based billing
n8n's Starter cloud plan costs 20€ per month, billed annually, for 2,500 workflow executions with unlimited steps, per n8n's pricing page (state as of October 2026). Its Business plan, required for the SSO and LDAP governance features described above and only available self-hosted, costs 667€ per month billed annually for 40,000 workflow executions, per the same page.
Zapier bills differently. Its Free plan includes 100 tasks per month with unlimited two-step Zaps, per Zapier's pricing page. That is a different billing unit from n8n's per-execution count, though the pages reviewed here do not detail how task consumption works for multi-step Zaps beyond the Free plan's two-step limit. Zapier's Enterprise plan, the tier carrying SSO, SCIM and the longer audit log retention, is not available for self-serve online purchase and requires contacting Zapier Sales for custom pricing, per Zapier's pricing page.
- n8n charges per workflow execution, regardless of how many steps that workflow contains
- Zapier charges per task, with its Free plan allowing only two-step Zaps within a 100-task monthly allowance
Sources: n8n Plans and Pricing - n8n.io, Zapier Pricing
Tradeoffs and open questions
Laid side by side, this n8n vs Zapier vs Workato comparison narrows here to n8n and Zapier, which make opposite default choices on deployment while converging on the same strategy for governance: both platforms put the controls that matter to compliance teams behind their most expensive tier. Both vendors' pricing pages carry no stated publish date in the text reviewed here, so every figure above reflects a snapshot that can change without notice.
| Criterion | n8n | Zapier |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosting | Runs on a team's own infrastructure, on-premises, or private cloud, even on the free Community edition | Stays cloud-hosted; on-premises connectivity is an Enterprise-only add-on via AWS VPC peering |
| SSO (SAML) | Business and Enterprise plans only | Team and Enterprise plans only |
| LDAP | Cloud Enterprise and self-hosted Business/Enterprise | Unknown |
| SCIM | Unknown | Enterprise plan only |
| Audit log retention | Not documented in the pages reviewed | Six months on Team, one year on Enterprise |
| Connector depth | Described only as "hundreds" of built-in nodes; no exact count given | Over 10,237 apps per its directory (a separate page states 9,000+) |
| Entry pricing unit | 20€/month for 2,500 workflow executions (Starter, billed annually) | Free plan: 100 tasks/month, limited to two-step Zaps |
Sources: n8n Plans and Pricing - n8n.io, Zapier Pricing, Use SAML | Administer | n8n Docs, Connect LDAP | Administer | n8n Docs, Host n8n | Deploy | n8n Docs, Can Zapier connect to on-premises services?, Nodes | n8n Docs, Zapier App Directory
Editorial recommendations for an evaluating team
Before anything else, estimate monthly volume in each platform's own billing unit, since n8n bills per workflow execution regardless of step count while Zapier bills per task, meaning the same workload can price very differently on each. Budget for the higher tier, not the entry plan, if SSO, LDAP, SCIM or longer audit retention are compliance requirements rather than nice-to-haves, since both vendors gate those behind Business/Enterprise or Team/Enterprise.
Teams still weighing n8n vs Zapier vs Workato as a full three-way decision should go verify Workato's own documentation and pricing directly, since none of it could be confirmed here. Treat everything above as a checklist to re-verify on each vendor's own site rather than a final answer, since both pricing pages are undated and both vendors can change plan limits at any time.
