Is Zapier better then n8n?

Questions
1

I want to start learning automation and build a good career in this field, but I’m really confused about where to begin and what to focus on.

That’s why I want to ask the experts for guidance. I feel completely overwhelmed after reading different articles on Google. For example, I’m not even sure which workflow automation tool is the best to start with.

Can anyone guide me in the right direction?

Currently, I’m a SEO and majorly building backlinks.

2

Hi i have the same problem

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3

u are asking on an n8n community. I think the answer will be clear to your title question. :slight_smile:

Just try them all with free trials and see what works for you. People like different things :slight_smile:

4

Check out this comparison page → n8n vs Zapier

My personal opinion though, n8n has a user-friendly interface compared to Zapier. And the amount of learning resources of n8n is huge.

But most importantly, the n8n community is active and helpful :raising_hands:

5

If you’re just starting with automation, the best approach is to break it into two parts:
(1) understanding core concepts and
(2) getting hands-on with a beginner-friendly tool like n8n.

Since you’re coming from SEO and link building, automation can save a huge amount of time in tasks like reporting, scraping structured data, monitoring backlinks, or syncing keywords between platforms.

A simple roadmap:

  • Start with basic building blocks like triggers, nodes, and data mapping.

  • Learn JSON fundamentals — this is extremely useful for every automation tool.

  • Try recreating small workflows you already do manually.

  • As you grow, explore scheduling, conditional logic, and APIs of your daily tools.

Once you’re comfortable with n8n, it’s completely normal to explore how different automation platforms compare. We recently reviewed multiple workflow tools and their strengths, which helped us understand where n8n stands in the market too. That exercise really clarified what to learn first and what to skip.

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6

1000047470

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7

As someone who has been an OG Zapier user,
I can confidently say that n8n is way better, cheaper, extendable, scalable, and open-source..

You can literally automate or integrate anything with n8n very easily, let your imagination run wild with almost any thing.

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8

n8n is not open source :roll_eyes:

9

Hello, I feel it depends. I think that for someone who is just starting out with automating Zapier is probably the better option. Zapier is easy to learn at first and can still be quite powerful. That said I think that n8n does have the advantage when it comes to capabilities. There are huge advantages when it comes to working with files as well as AI agents and tools. The only thing that can be a little confusing in n8n is the fact that n8n can automatically map much of the output variables in nodes which can be helpful but sometimes confusing.

I would say start with Zapier but then start learning n8n, it could really help with your automation needs.

10

I know :sweat_smile: but for regular users, they see the code on GitHub, they assume it’s open source :sweat_smile:
BTW, I only meant that the code is open to view, inspect, self-host..

There should be an onboarding message (like a pop-up) after installing a community version that briefly explains what you can and can’t do with the community version, something like that.

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