n8n vs. Zapier vs. Make: Why Open-Source Automation Wins for European Companies
Workflow automation is no longer optional for competitive European businesses. The question is not whether to automate, but which platform to use. For European companies that care about data sovereignty, GDPR compliance, and avoiding vendor lock-in, the answer increasingly points to n8n, and the reasons go beyond ideology.
The Three Contenders
Zapier is the market leader by user count. Founded in 2011, it offers over 7,000 app integrations, a simple trigger-action interface, and reliable execution. It is a US company with data processed on US infrastructure.
Make (formerly Integromat) is the visual workflow builder. Founded in the Czech Republic, it offers a drag-and-drop interface, more complex workflow logic than Zapier, and competitive pricing. While Make is a European company, its cloud infrastructure spans multiple regions and the self-hosted option is limited.
n8n is the open-source alternative. Founded in Berlin, it offers over 400 native integrations, a powerful visual workflow editor, the ability to write custom code within workflows, and, critically, full self-hosting capability. You can run n8n on your own servers, in your own data center, under your own control.
Feature Comparison
Workflow Complexity
Zapier’s linear trigger-action model works well for simple automations: “When I receive an email with an attachment, save it to Google Drive.” But it struggles with branching logic, loops, error handling, and multi-step data transformations.
Make improves on this significantly. Its visual builder supports parallel branches, iterators, routers, and error handlers. Complex workflows that would require multiple Zapier “Zaps” can be built as a single Make scenario.
n8n matches Make’s complexity capabilities and adds the ability to write custom JavaScript or Python code directly within workflow nodes. This is essential for enterprise use cases that require data transformation, API interactions with custom authentication, or integration with internal systems that lack pre-built connectors. You can also create custom nodes, package them, and share them across your organization.
Integration Breadth
Zapier wins on raw numbers with over 7,000 integrations. Make offers approximately 1,500. n8n has over 400 native integrations.
But numbers tell an incomplete story. Most businesses use 10-20 tools actively. The question is whether your specific tools are supported. All three platforms cover the most common business applications (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, databases). Where they differ is in long-tail integrations with niche industry software.
n8n compensates for fewer native integrations with its HTTP Request node (for any API), its ability to run custom code, and its extensible architecture that lets you build custom integrations. For enterprise use cases, this flexibility often matters more than a large library of pre-built connectors.
AI Integration
This is where the landscape has shifted dramatically in the past two years. All three platforms now offer AI capabilities, but the approaches differ:
Zapier offers AI actions through its pre-built integrations with OpenAI, Anthropic, and other providers. These work well for simple tasks but route your data through the provider’s cloud API.
Make offers similar AI integrations with a visual interface for constructing prompts and processing responses.
n8n provides AI integrations with a crucial difference: when self-hosted, you can connect n8n to locally-running AI models. This means your automation workflows can use AI for document processing, classification, summarization, and generation without any data leaving your infrastructure. For European companies handling sensitive data, this is transformative.
Pricing Comparison
Pricing models differ significantly and can create surprises at scale:
Zapier charges per “task” (each action in a workflow execution counts as one task). The free tier includes 100 tasks per month. Professional plans start at approximately USD 20/month for 750 tasks. Enterprise plans are custom-priced. At high volumes, costs escalate quickly. A workflow that runs 50 times a day with 10 steps generates 15,000 tasks per month.
Make charges per “operation” (similar to Zapier’s tasks). The free tier includes 1,000 operations per month. Plans start at approximately USD 9/month for 10,000 operations. Make is generally 50-70% cheaper than Zapier for equivalent usage, making it the budget-conscious cloud option.
n8n offers a cloud-hosted version starting at EUR 20/month with generous execution limits. But the real value proposition is self-hosting: the Community Edition is completely free with no limits on executions, workflows, or users. The Enterprise Edition (for teams needing SSO, LDAP, audit logging, and premium support) is priced per user.
For a medium-sized company running 50+ automated workflows with thousands of daily executions, the annual cost difference can be substantial:
- Zapier: EUR 5,000-15,000+ per year
- Make: EUR 1,000-5,000 per year
- n8n (self-hosted): EUR 0 (community) or EUR 2,000-5,000 (enterprise) plus infrastructure costs of EUR 50-200/month for a capable server
Data Sovereignty: The Decisive Factor
For European companies, this is where the comparison shifts from preference to obligation.
Zapier
Zapier is a US company. Your workflow definitions, execution logs, and all data passing through automations are processed on US infrastructure. Zapier’s security documentation confirms data processing in the United States. While Zapier is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, the long-term stability of this framework is uncertain (as discussed in our article on GDPR-compliant AI).
If your workflows process personal data (customer emails, employee information, order details), using Zapier requires a Transfer Impact Assessment, supplementary technical measures, and acceptance of residual risk from US surveillance laws.
Make
Make’s European roots are an advantage, and it offers EU data residency. However, the company’s cloud infrastructure uses AWS, and the self-hosting option is limited compared to n8n. Make offers more compliance-friendly deployment than Zapier, but you are still dependent on a third-party cloud operator for your automation infrastructure.
n8n
n8n’s self-hosting capability is the differentiator. When you run n8n on your own server, whether on-premises or in a European cloud provider like Hetzner, you have complete control over data residency. No data leaves your infrastructure. No third party has access to your workflows, credentials, or execution logs.
This is not a marginal advantage. It is a fundamental architectural difference. For companies in regulated industries (finance, healthcare, legal) or companies handling sensitive personal data, self-hosted n8n is often the only option that satisfies their compliance requirements without requiring complex legal gymnastics.
Self-Hosting: What It Actually Takes
The concern many businesses have about self-hosting is operational complexity. Here is what self-hosting n8n actually requires:
Infrastructure: A Linux server with 2+ CPU cores and 4+ GB RAM. This costs EUR 20-50/month from providers like Hetzner. For production use, add a managed PostgreSQL database (EUR 15-30/month) and regular backups.
Deployment: n8n provides official Docker images. A basic deployment takes 30 minutes. With Docker Compose, you can define your entire stack (n8n, database, reverse proxy) in a single configuration file.
Maintenance: n8n releases updates regularly. Updating a Docker-based deployment is typically a single command. Database backups should be automated (most managed database services handle this).
Monitoring: Basic health monitoring can be set up with free tools. n8n exposes health check endpoints that integrate with standard monitoring solutions.
For companies with any DevOps capability, this is straightforward. For companies without technical staff, managed n8n hosting from European providers (including Ironum) eliminates the operational overhead while preserving data sovereignty.
Real-World Use Cases
Invoice Processing
A German manufacturing company processes 500+ invoices monthly. Their n8n workflow receives invoices via email, extracts key data using a locally-hosted AI model, validates against their ERP system, routes for approval based on amount thresholds, and posts approved invoices to their accounting software. All data stays on their Hetzner-hosted infrastructure.
Customer Onboarding
A SaaS company automates their customer onboarding flow: CRM update, welcome email sequence, Slack notification to the customer success team, account provisioning in their product, and calendar booking for the kickoff call. Previously distributed across Zapier (EUR 400/month), now running on self-hosted n8n at the cost of a EUR 30/month server.
Compliance Reporting
A financial services firm generates weekly compliance reports by aggregating data from multiple internal systems, running checks against regulatory requirements, formatting reports, and distributing them to relevant stakeholders. The sensitive financial data never leaves their private infrastructure.
When to Choose Each Platform
Choose Zapier if you need maximum integration breadth, your workflows are simple, you process no sensitive or personal data in automations, and you prioritize zero-maintenance over cost and sovereignty.
Choose Make if you need complex visual workflows, want a European-headquartered vendor, process limited personal data, and want a middle ground between simplicity and control.
Choose n8n if you need data sovereignty and GDPR compliance, you want to integrate AI into workflows without sending data to third-party APIs, you process sensitive or personal data, you want to avoid vendor lock-in and usage-based pricing, or you need custom integrations with internal systems.
For European businesses that handle personal data or operate in regulated industries, n8n’s self-hosting capability makes it the clear winner. The combination of open-source transparency, zero vendor lock-in, and complete data sovereignty addresses the specific challenges that European companies face in a way that no closed-source, US-hosted platform can match.
Ironum deploys and manages n8n instances on European infrastructure, integrated with sovereign AI capabilities for intelligent workflow automation. Contact us to learn how automated workflows can transform your operations while maintaining full compliance.