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Power Automate vs. n8n vs. Zapier

All plans1 min read

Power Automate

Best for

Microsoft enterprise teams

Connectors

1,400+ (standard + premium)

Pricing model

Per user ($15/mo) or per bot ($150/mo)

Desktop RPA

Built in (attended + unattended)

Code support

Expressions and basic scripts

Self hosting

No (cloud only)

AI capabilities

AI Builder + Copilot flow building + MCP server + Copilot Studio agents

Governance

DLP policies, environments, audit logs

n8n

Best for

Technical teams wanting code flexibility

Connectors

400+ (plus HTTP node for any API)

Pricing model

Per execution ($20/mo) or free self hosted

Desktop RPA

Not available

Code support

Full JS/Python with npm packages

Self hosting

Yes (free, unlimited executions)

AI capabilities

LangChain agents, RAG, 70+ AI nodes

Governance

RBAC, Git environments (Enterprise)

Zapier

Best for

Non technical users wanting simplicity

Connectors

8,000+

Pricing model

Per task (each step counts)

Desktop RPA

Not available

Code support

Limited code step

Self hosting

No (cloud only)

AI capabilities

Basic AI actions

Governance

Basic team permissions

Choosing the right platform

Choose Power Automate if your organization runs on Microsoft 365 and you need enterprise governance, compliance controls, or desktop RPA for legacy apps. Choose n8n if you want code flexibility, self hosting, AI agent capabilities, or dramatically lower costs through execution based pricing. Choose Zapier if you need the widest possible integration library and want the simplest, most beginner friendly setup experience.