Side-by-side comparison · Automation & Workflows
n8n vs UiPath 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.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
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.
Pick it if: Operations and IT teams at mid-size and large companies automating high-volume back-office processes.
Pick it if: Anyone who's sick of copying data between apps and has never written a line of code.
Overview
| Attribute | n8n | UiPath | Zapier |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Build automations and AI agents on a visual canvas, then host them yourself for free. | Enterprise automation that runs software robots and AI agents across business apps. | When something happens in one app, Zapier does the next step in another. No code needed. |
| Pricing model | Open source | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | €20/mo | From $25/mo | From $19.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | n8n | UiPath | Zapier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.5Winner | 3.9 | 4.2 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 3.5 | 3.0 | 5.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 5.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | n8n | UiPath | Zapier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | – | – |
| Desktop app | No | Yes | No |
| Browser extension | No | Yes | 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 | Yes | Yes | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | Yes | – |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | – | No |
| Works in many languages | – | – | – |
| Capabilities score | 10/ 17 | 12/ 17 | 9/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | n8n | UiPath | Zapier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Community Edition Free (self-hosted) Anyone comfortable running software on a server. | Community Free Learning and small personal or community projects. | Free Free Testing one or two simple automations. |
StarterOur pick €20/mo billed yearly A small business that wants n8n hosted for them. | Basic From $25/mo Simple personal automations. | 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. | StandardOur pick Custom (60-day free trial) Businesses running automations in production. | 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 organisations with strict security needs. | Enterprise Custom Large companies with security and compliance needs. | |
Enterprise Custom Companies that need an SLA and dedicated support. | |||
| Which plan to pick | 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. | Learn on Community. If you are automating real business processes, Standard is where agents and document extraction open up; use the 60-day trial to prove one process before signing. UiPath says the Basic plan is being reworked. | 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
| Attribute | n8n | UiPath | Zapier |
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Pros and cons
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | n8n | UiPath | Zapier |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, n8n, UiPath or Zapier?
n8n scores highest overall in our ratings (n8n 4.5/5, UiPath 3.9/5 and Zapier 4.2/5). n8n is best for AI agents that act on email or chat and self-hosted automation. UiPath is best for automating old desktop and legacy systems and invoice and document processing at volume. Zapier is best for sending form submissions to spreadsheets and new lead alerts in Slack or email.
Which is cheaper, n8n, UiPath or Zapier?
n8n: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at €20/mo. UiPath: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $25/mo. Zapier: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $19.99/mo.
Which is easier to use, n8n, UiPath 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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