n8n vs Zapier in 2026: Which Automation Tool Should You Actually Use?

n8n and Zapier serve different automation needs: Zapier excels at simplicity, mainstream integrations, and managed reliability for non-technical users, while n8n offers dramatically lower costs at scale (e.g., $60/year vs $3,588/year for 10K+ monthly executions), complex logic with code nodes, full data privacy via self-hosting, and custom API flexibility. The right choice depends on technical skill level, automation volume, and budget constraints.