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Side-by-side comparison · Automation & Workflows

Gumloop vs n8n vs Zapier

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Gumloop

3.9

From From $37/mo

Best overall

n8n

4.5

From €20/mo

Zapier

4.2

From From $19.99/mo

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Pick it if: Marketers, sales teams and researchers who want AI to do the repetitive reading, sorting and summarising.

n8n4.5
Best overallBest value

Pick it if: Teams that want full control of their data and automations, or anyone building AI agents on a budget who doesn't mind getting a bit technical.

Easiest to use

Pick it if: Anyone who's sick of copying data between apps and has never written a line of code.

Overview

AttributeGumloopn8nZapier
In one lineBuild AI agents that research, scrape and enrich data across your work apps.Build automations and AI agents on a visual canvas, then host them yourself for free.When something happens in one app, Zapier does the next step in another. No code needed.
Pricing modelFreemiumOpen sourceFreemium
Starting priceFrom $37/mo€20/moFrom $19.99/mo
Free plan No Yes Yes
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeGumloopn8nZapier
Overall rating3.94.5Winner4.2
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.0
3.5
5.0
FeaturesHow completely it covers the job it's built for, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.0
5.0
4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.0
4.5
4.0
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
3.5
5.0
3.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
4.5
4.5

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeGumloopn8nZapier
Access & platform
Free plan No Yes Yes
Mobile app No No–
Desktop app No No No
Browser extension Yes No Yes
API access Yes Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No Yes No
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes Yes Yes
Understands images Yes Yes–
Makes images– No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code Yes Yes Yes
Runs agents or automations Yes Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style Yes No No
Works in many languages–––
Capabilities score10/ 1710/ 179/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeGumloopn8nZapier
Plans

ProOur pick

From $37/mo

Anyone who wants AI doing the research and data work.

Community Edition

Free (self-hosted)

Anyone comfortable running software on a server.

Free

Free

Testing one or two simple automations.

Enterprise

Custom

Companies that need security controls and a private cloud.

StarterOur pick

€20/mo billed yearly

A small business that wants n8n hosted for them.

ProfessionalOur pick

From $19.99/mo billed yearly, or $29.99/mo

One person running real automations for a business.

Pro

€50/mo billed yearly

Teams running several business-critical workflows.

Team

From $69/mo billed yearly, or $103.50/mo

A team that shares Zaps and app connections.

Business

€667/mo billed yearly

Larger teams that need SSO and version control, self-hosted.

Enterprise

Custom

Large companies with security and compliance needs.

Enterprise

Custom

Companies that need an SLA and dedicated support.

Which plan to pickPro is the only option short of Enterprise, so use the 14-day trial to run one real job end to end and watch the credit meter. If it comes in under 20,000 credits a month, you are set.If you have anyone technical on hand, self-host the Community Edition on a small server and pay nothing. Otherwise Starter on the cloud is the right place to begin, and 2,500 executions covers a lot when each run of a long workflow counts as one.Start on Free to confirm your apps connect, then move to Professional on yearly billing. Buy the smallest task tier and let Zapier tell you when you are close to the limit, because it is easy to overestimate how many tasks you need.

Key features

AttributeGumloopn8nZapier
Standout features
  • Agents from a description
  • Web scraping and browsing
  • 35+ AI models
  • Company Brain
  • Chrome extension
  • MCP and CLI
  • AI agent nodes
  • Self-host for free
  • Code when you need it
  • Per-execution pricing
  • Thousands of templates
  • MCP support
  • 8,000+ app connections
  • Copilot builder
  • Multi-step Zaps with paths
  • Tables, Interfaces and Chatbots
  • Agents
  • Zap history and replay

Pros and cons

AttributeGumloopn8nZapier
Pros
  • Builds a working agent from a plain-English description
  • Strong at scraping, research and enrichment jobs
  • Unlimited seats, so the whole team can use one plan
  • Choice of models and the option to bring your own keys
  • Free to self-host with no execution limits
  • The best tool here for AI agents and multi-step reasoning
  • Per-execution pricing on cloud is kind to long workflows
  • Huge template library and an active community
  • Code steps and the HTTP node mean you are rarely stuck
  • Fastest to learn of any automation tool here
  • Connects to far more apps than anyone else
  • Copilot builds a working Zap from a plain-English description
  • Reliable, with clear run history when something fails
  • Tables, Interfaces and Chatbots cover simple internal tools
Cons
  • No free plan, only a 14-day trial
  • The 8% orchestration fee sits on top of model costs
  • Costs more than Zapier or Make for simple non-AI automations
  • Fewer everyday app connections than the big automation tools
  • Pricing and plan structure have changed several times
  • Steeper learning curve than Zapier or Make, with JSON everywhere
  • Self-hosting is a real job: updates, backups and security are on you
  • No free cloud plan, only a trial
  • The fair-code licence limits reselling it as a service
  • Business plan is self-hosted only and priced for larger companies
  • Per-task pricing gets expensive fast, and every step counts as a task
  • The free plan is too limited to run anything real
  • Zaps run in a straight line, so branching and loops are clumsier than in Make
  • Each extra product (Tables, Interfaces, Chatbots) has its own limits and costs

Who each one is for

AttributeGumloopn8nZapier
Best for
  • Website scraping and research
  • Lead enrichment and scoring
  • Summarising documents in bulk
  • Scheduled reports from your work apps
  • AI agents that act on email or chat
  • Self-hosted automation
  • Unlimited runs on your own server
  • Custom code steps when you need them
  • Sending form submissions to spreadsheets
  • New lead alerts in Slack or email
  • Syncing contacts between tools
  • Connecting niche apps nobody else supports
You'll find it used by
  • Marketers
  • Sales teams
  • Researchers
  • Ops teams
  • Developers
  • Ops teams
  • Agencies
  • Technical founders
  • Marketers
  • Solo founders
  • Ops teams
  • Agencies

Questions people ask

Which is better, Gumloop, n8n or Zapier?

n8n scores highest overall in our ratings (Gumloop 3.9/5, n8n 4.5/5 and Zapier 4.2/5). Gumloop is best for website scraping and research and lead enrichment and scoring. n8n is best for AI agents that act on email or chat and self-hosted automation. Zapier is best for sending form submissions to spreadsheets and new lead alerts in Slack or email.

Which is cheaper, Gumloop, n8n or Zapier?

Gumloop: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at From $37/mo. n8n: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at €20/mo. Zapier: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $19.99/mo.

Which is easier to use, Gumloop, n8n or Zapier?

Zapier rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Anyone who's sick of copying data between apps and has never written a line of code.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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