Originally published on my portfolio blog.
If you've heard of Zapier or Make (formerly Integromat), you already understand the concept behind n8n: connect different apps and make them talk to each other automatically. But n8n has one key difference that matters enormously for growing businesses and dev teams alike: you own it.
- 400+ native integrations out of the box
- €5–15/month server cost, unlimited tasks
- $0 in per-task billing surprises
What exactly is n8n?
n8n (pronounced "n-eight-n") is an open-source workflow automation tool. You install it on your own server, and it runs forever at the cost of the server — typically €5–15/month on a basic VPS. No per-task fees, no escalating pricing tiers, no surprise bills at month end. Full docs live at docs.n8n.io.
Inside n8n, you build workflows with a drag-and-drop visual editor — triggers, actions, conditions, loops, all connected as nodes. A simple example:
When a new lead fills in a contact form → add them to HubSpot CRM → send a personalised welcome email → notify the sales team in Slack → create a follow-up task in Notion.
That entire sequence runs automatically, every time, without anyone touching it.
What can n8n actually automate?
n8n has 400+ native integrations and can connect to any service with a REST API. Common workflows:
- Lead handling: Contact form → CRM entry → assigned to sales rep → welcome email sent → calendar invite created
- Client onboarding: Contract signed → project folder created in Google Drive → onboarding email sequence triggered → client added to Slack channel
- Reporting: Every Monday at 9am → pull last week's sales data → format into a summary → send to management Slack channel
- Invoice processing: Invoice paid → update Airtable → mark project complete → request Google review from client
- Social media: New blog post published → auto-post to LinkedIn and Twitter with custom formatting
n8n vs Zapier: which one should you use?
n8n wins on:
- Flat-rate self-hosted pricing
- Full data ownership & privacy
- Unlimited workflow complexity
- Custom code nodes (JS/Python)
Zapier wins on:
- Zero setup, instant start
- No server to maintain
- Simpler for 1–2 step automations
- Larger pre-built template library
Zapier is excellent for businesses running a handful of simple automations. But its pricing scales with task volume — at 50,000+ tasks/month you're looking at $100–500+/month. n8n on a €10 VPS handles millions of tasks for the same flat cost.
Beyond price, n8n gives you full visibility and control over your data — every automation runs on your own infrastructure. For teams in regulated industries or with strict data policies, that's often a requirement, not a preference.
Is it hard to use?
The visual editor is genuinely intuitive for anyone comfortable with basic software tools. The complexity shows up in the business logic — conditional branches, error handling, data transformation — which is where most teams benefit from having someone build the initial workflows before handing off monitoring and minor edits.
If you're weighing n8n against Zapier or Make for your own stack, I wrote a deeper tool-by-tool comparison covering cost-at-scale and when each one actually wins.
I'm a full-stack developer building WordPress, MERN Stack, and n8n automation projects — portfolio here.