Workflow automation that runs next to your systems, holds its credentials under your key and has no per-task bill.
- Replacing
- Zapier, by Zapier Inc.
- With
- n8n, Windmill
- Runs on
- Your servers, or Pilae Cloud in Switzerland and the EU
- Migration
- Included in onboarding, at a fixed price
Why teams leave Zapier
Credentials to everything
An automation platform holds the keys to your CRM, ERP and mail relay. With n8n, they sit in your database, encrypted with a key you hold.
Internal systems stay internal
n8n runs inside your network, so it reaches the ERP or the file share directly. Nothing has to be published to the internet for a workflow to touch it.
No per-task bill
Volume is a question of machine size, not of pricing tier. A workflow that runs every minute costs the same as one that runs once a day.
Zapier vs n8n operated by Pilae
| What is being compared | Zapier | Pilae |
|---|---|---|
| Where workflows run | In the Zapier cloud, operated by Zapier. | On your premises or on dedicated machines in any of 12 Pilae Cloud regions, six of them in Switzerland and the EU. |
| Integrations | Thousands of ready-made app connectors, set up in minutes. | Hundreds of n8n nodes, plus any HTTP API, and JavaScript or Python for the step that does not fit. |
| Reaching internal systems | Connects to apps and APIs reachable from the Zapier cloud. | Runs inside your private network, next to the ERP, database and file share it automates. |
| Credentials | Stored and encrypted by Zapier. | Stored in your Postgres, encrypted with a key you hold and back up separately. |
| Pricing model | Monthly plans metered by tasks. | On request, for the operated platform. No charge per task or per execution. |
| Operation | Fully run by Zapier as a SaaS product. | Queue mode, verified backups, planned upgrades by the Pilae Agent, 60-second probes and engineers on call. |
Self-hosted workflow automation
Zapier is quick to start with, and its catalogue of connectors is hard to match. It also means every workflow runs outside your network and holds credentials to your systems on someone else’s servers.
n8n covers the same ground: triggers, field mappings, branches and code steps, in a visual editor. The difference is where it runs. Pilae deploys it inside your network or on dedicated machines in Switzerland and the EU, so the automation sits next to what it automates. Credentials are held as described on our security page.
Automation that holds up in production
A self-hosted n8n needs work to be reliable: Postgres instead of SQLite, queue mode so one slow workflow cannot stall the rest, an encryption key kept apart from the database, and restores that are tested. We set all of it up during onboarding. The Pilae Agent then plans each upgrade, tests it against a copy of your workflows and applies it in your window after your approval.
Pricing is on request and has no per-task component. Start with an inventory of what you run on Zapier today.
Moving from Zapier to n8n
Count what actually runs
Execution history for the last ninety days, not the list of Zaps. The live list is often shorter than the one in the sidebar.
Rebuild the live ones
Zaps do not import, so each live one is rebuilt in n8n. The same inputs are fired at both systems and the outputs compared.
Re-authorise the integrations
Every connected service gets new credentials against the new host, encrypted with a key held in your vault.
Run in parallel, then stop paying
Both systems stay live until a full cycle has run without error, including the monthly jobs. Then the subscription ends.
The apps that replace Zapier
n8n
Workflow automation your own team writes, running next to the systems it talks to instead of reaching them across the internet.
Replaces Zapier, Make
Windmill
Scripts, workflows and internal tools in Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash or SQL, run by workers on your own machines and operated by Pilae.
Replaces Retool Workflows