Why Agencies Outgrow Zapier
Zapier's free tier gives you 100 tasks/month. Every action in a multi-step Zap counts separately, so a 5-step workflow triggered 500 times uses 2,500 tasks. Agencies running automations for multiple clients burn through task limits fast — and the pricing tier jumps are brutal.
At the Professional plan ($49/month), you get 2,000 tasks. At the Team plan ($299/month), you get 50,000. At 100,000 tasks, you're at $599/month. For a workflow-heavy agency, that's a meaningful line item.
n8n: The Main Alternative
n8n is an open-source workflow automation tool. Self-hosted, it runs on a $12/month VPS with unlimited tasks. No per-task pricing. No tier limits. The workflows you build are yours — no vendor lock-in.
What you gain:
- Unlimited tasks at a fixed infrastructure cost
- Full code execution (JavaScript/Python nodes inside workflows)
- Self-hosted — data stays on your infrastructure
- Custom nodes for APIs with no native integration
- Better for complex, conditional, multi-branch logic
What you lose:
- Zapier has 7,000+ native integrations. n8n has ~400 (covers all major tools)
- n8n requires technical setup — not click-and-go like Zapier
- Self-hosted means you manage updates, backups, uptime
- Less polished UI for non-technical team members
Make (formerly Integromat): The Middle Ground
Make sits between Zapier and n8n. More powerful than Zapier (better data handling, more complex flows), cloud-hosted like Zapier, but priced by "operations" rather than tasks — which works out cheaper at similar volumes.
At 100,000 operations/month, Make costs $99. The same volume on Zapier is $599. Make's visual flow editor is also more powerful — you can build complex branching logic without code.
Best for: agencies that want more power than Zapier but aren't ready to manage self-hosted infrastructure.
When Each Makes Sense
Switch to Make if: You're on Zapier's Team plan or above. You need more complex logic. You want cloud-hosted simplicity at better pricing.
Switch to n8n if: You're spending $200+/month on Zapier. You need unlimited tasks. You have technical capacity for setup. You want full data control.
The Migration Reality
Migrating from Zapier to n8n typically takes 1–2 weeks with a parallel-run phase. Most Zapier workflows translate directly. HTTP/webhook-based integrations are straightforward; OAuth-based ones (Gmail, Slack) require credential setup.
For most agencies we've migrated, the ROI on migration cost (our fee + setup time) is recovered within 60–90 days of Zapier savings.
- Zapier: $599/month
- Make: $99/month
- n8n Cloud (Starter): $20/month
- n8n Self-hosted: ~$12/month (VPS cost)
Thinking About Switching?
We migrate agencies from Zapier to n8n regularly. Fixed price, parallel-run validation, no downtime.
[ Talk to Us About Migration → ]