Zapier vs n8n for New Zealand businesses.

How do Zapier and n8n compare in October 2026?

They count usage differently, and that decides most of the cost. Zapier says a task is any successful action; triggers, filters, paths, formatter, delays and looping do not count. n8n bills one execution per complete workflow run.

Where is each one stronger?

Zapier is stronger on reach and ease. Its pricing page says it offers integrations for more than 9,000 apps, its SDK for developers is free while in beta, and its builder is the most approachable for office staff. Free filter and formatter steps let you drop irrelevant records before any paid step runs. See our Zapier guide.

n8n is stronger on cost per run and control. A 15-step workflow costs the same execution as a two-step one, code steps are first-class, and every plan includes unlimited users and workflows. Self-hosting lets you choose where the instance and its logs live. See our n8n guide.

How do you test Zapier and n8n on the same workflow?

Build one workflow in both: when an invoice is paid in Xero, find the matching HubSpot deal, move it to “Paid”, have an AI step draft a thank-you email, and save it as a Gmail draft for a person to send.

1. Build it and time it. Note how long each takes and whether a non-developer could change it afterwards.
2. Feed it awkward cases. Send a payment with no matching deal, a duplicate payment notification and a part-payment. Look for where each run stops, who is alerted, and whether the duplicate creates two drafts.
3. Hand it over. Ask someone who did not build it to change the email wording and add a Slack alert. Time the change and check that each tool shows what changed and when.

Keep the human send step; our lesson on drafting emails with human review explains why.

What do Zapier and n8n cost over a year?

Worked example: 300 paid invoices a month, prices as listed on 19 October 2026. In Zapier the Xero trigger is free, then find deal (1 task), update deal (1), AI draft on an Advanced model (3) and Gmail draft (1) make 6 tasks a run.

• Zapier: 300 × 6 = 1,800 tasks a month. That is above Professional’s 750-task starting tier; Team starts at 2,000 tasks for US$69 a month on yearly billing, or US$828 a year. A Standard-model AI step cuts it to 4 tasks a run, or 1,200 a month.
• n8n Cloud: 300 executions a month, within Starter’s 2,500, at 20€ a month or 240€ a year, plus a few cents of model usage on your own key.

Self-hosted n8n swaps the subscription for server cost, upgrades and monitoring time. Price that honestly as 12 × (server cost + monthly maintenance hours × hourly cost) before assuming it is cheaper.

Two NZ costs to check:

• Xero’s developer pricing. If your automation connects through a Xero app you register yourself, Xero’s developer plans apply. Starter is free for up to five connections but limited to 1,000 API calls a day per organisation; Core is A$35 a month excluding tax. Xero’s terms also ban using API data to train AI models.
• Currency. Zapier bills in USD and n8n in euros, so the NZD cost moves with exchange rates.

Switching costs are real: neither imports the other’s workflows. Write each one down using our workflow specification lesson so a rebuild takes days, not weeks.

Which should you choose?

Choose Zapier if

• Office staff will build and maintain the automations without a developer.
• You need an app that only Zapier connects to.
• Workflows are short, with free filter and formatter steps doing most of the shaping.
• You want SAML SSO and shared workspaces for up to 25 users on Team.

Choose n8n if

• Workflows run many steps, loops or AI calls per run.
• You have a technical owner who can read and write code steps.
• You want to self-host so execution logs stay in a region you choose.
• You expect volumes to grow faster than your budget.

Where do both fall short?

• Duplicates. Neither stops a duplicate webhook from creating two records unless you check for one. Our guide to retry and failure recovery covers idempotency.
• Unreviewed AI output. An AI step that sends emails directly will eventually send a wrong one. Save drafts and have a person send.
• Overage creep. Zapier’s pay-per-task rate is higher than plan rates and appears only in billing settings. Watch usage monthly.
• An exposed self-hosted instance. A self-hosted n8n server that is never patched is a security risk holding your credentials. Assign an owner before you install it.
• Personal data in logs. Both keep run histories with customer details. Under the Privacy Act 2020, set retention to what you need and record where each tool processes data. Zapier’s hosting region was outside our 19 October 2026 check, so ask Zapier and assume offshore.

For the Xero side of this workflow, see AI and Xero.

Written by the Levy Street team in Wellington. Last updated 19 October 2026.