n8n: The $10 Automation Tool Beating $734 Competitors

Imagine paying $734 per month for workflow automation when you could get the same results for $10. That’s not a typo—that’s the reality Delivery Hero discovered when they switched to n8n, saving 200 hours monthly with a single workflow. While Zapier counts every click as a billable “task,” n8n charges per workflow execution, making complex automations up to 1000x cheaper. No wonder this “fair-code” platform just raised €55 million at a €250 million valuation.

The workflow automation market is exploding toward $78.6 billion by 2030, and every business is scrambling to automate everything from social media posts to complex data pipelines. But here’s the plot twist: while competitors lock you into their cloud gardens with eye-watering prices, n8n lets you self-host for the cost of a Netflix subscription. With 66,000 GitHub stars and companies like StepStone achieving 25x faster integrations, the automation revolution has found its unlikely hero in a tool that dares to be both powerful and affordable.

The David vs. Goliath Price War Nobody Expected

Let’s talk turkey about pricing, because that’s where n8n turns the automation industry on its head. Traditional platforms charge per “task” or “operation”—industry speak for “we’ll nickel-and-dime you for every API call.” A typical email-to-CRM workflow with five steps? That’s five billable operations. Process 1,000 emails monthly, and you’re looking at 5,000 operations. Zapier wants $120 for this. n8n? Just €20.

The math gets even more ridiculous at scale. For 100,000 monthly automations, Zapier demands $734 while n8n’s self-hosted option runs on a €10 VPS. That’s not a pricing error—it’s a philosophical difference. n8n bills per workflow execution, not per step. Your 20-step monster workflow costs the same as a simple two-step automation. It’s like paying for the trip, not counting every turn of the wheels.

But here’s where it gets juicy: n8n offers a completely free self-hosted version with no execution limits. Zero. Zilch. Nada. The only catch? You need someone technical enough to run docker-compose up. For companies with even basic DevOps skills, this is like finding a Ferrari with a “FREE” sign that just requires you to change your own oil.

Make (formerly Integromat) tries to compete at $10.59 for 10,000 operations, but their visual-only approach lacks n8n’s secret weapon: full JavaScript and Python support. When your automation needs that one weird API call or custom data transformation, n8n lets you drop into code mode while Zapier users are filing support tickets.

From 2 Days to 30 Minutes: The Integration Speed Revolution

Deda Tech used to spend two days deploying a single Salesforce workflow. With n8n? 30 minutes. This isn’t marketing fluff—it’s what happens when you combine visual workflow building with unlimited code flexibility. Their ITSM team now handles integration requests like a short-order cook during the lunch rush.

The platform currently offers 500+ native integrations, but that number is almost meaningless because of the HTTP Request node—n8n’s Swiss Army knife that connects to literally any API on the internet. Import a curl command, and boom, you’ve got a new integration. No waiting for the platform to officially support that obscure CRM your sales team insists on using.

Here’s what makes technical teams fall in love: n8n can handle 220 workflow executions per second on a single instance. Need more? Spin up queue mode for distributed processing. Musixmatch saved 47 engineering days in just four months by replacing their spaghetti code with n8n workflows. That’s not automation—that’s liberation.

The real kicker? Git-based version control for workflows. Your automation logic lives in code, not some proprietary database. Deploy workflows like you deploy applications. Roll back mistakes. Run different versions in different environments. It’s DevOps for automation, and it’s glorious.

The AI Revolution Nobody Saw Coming

Remember when automation meant moving data from A to B? Those days are as dead as dial-up internet. 75% of n8n workflows now incorporate AI, and that number doubled in just two months. The platform isn’t just riding the AI wave—it’s teaching it to surf.

Take this real-world example: A marketing agency built an n8n workflow that monitors Twitter for brand mentions, analyzes sentiment with Google Cloud NLP, generates personalized responses with GPT-4, and posts them after human approval. What used to require a social media team now runs 24/7 for the cost of API calls.

The platform offers 600+ AI automation templates, from “ChatGPT reviews your merge requests” to “AI classifies support tickets and assigns them to the right team.” But here’s the beautiful part: unlike closed platforms, n8n lets you bring your own AI. Local LLMs, custom models, that weird computer vision API your intern built—if it has an endpoint, n8n can automate it.

Bordr built a $100K+ business helping people relocate to Portugal, powered entirely by n8n workflows. Orders flow from Paperform to Stripe for payment, trigger personalized emails via Postmark, update Airtable records, and generate PDF documents. One person. One platform. Six figures. Try doing that with Zapier’s rigid templates.

Your Wallet Will Thank You (And So Will Your CFO)

Let’s get brutal about ROI. A medium business running 50,000 monthly automations saves €3,360-5,640 annually by choosing n8n over competitors. For enterprises pushing 500,000+ automations, we’re talking €58,800 in annual savings. That’s not cost reduction—that’s a salary for another developer.

But money is just the beginning. SOC 2 compliance, SAML SSO, LDAP integration, and advanced RBAC mean n8n plays nice with enterprise security teams. Air-gapped deployment for paranoid industries? Check. Audit logs streaming to your SIEM? Check. The platform that started as a “Zapier alternative” now powers mission-critical workflows at 3,000+ enterprises.

The community speaks volumes: 200,000 members, 100 million Docker pulls, and 3,337 workflow templates ranging from “sync Spotify playlists” to “automated penetration testing.” When StepStone runs 200+ mission-critical workflows through n8n, you know it’s graduated from “neat tool” to “enterprise infrastructure.”

Here’s the bottom line: n8n offers a rare combination of power, flexibility, and affordability. Self-host for free, pay for cloud convenience, or go enterprise with white-glove support. Your workflows, your choice, your budget. In a world where automation platforms treat customers like ATMs, n8n’s fair-code model feels almost rebellious. The best part? It’s working. €55 million in funding and 5x annual revenue growth suggest the market is ready for automation that doesn’t require a second mortgage.

Ready to slash your automation costs by 90%? The future of workflow automation isn’t about choosing between power and price. It’s about having both. Welcome to the n8n revolution—where your only limit is your imagination, not your credit card.