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Automation

n8n

My favorite automation tool. More technical than Zapier and Make but the possibilities are endless. Self-hostable for free and total control over your workflows.

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Who's it for?GrowthOps

Review by a Growth Engineer

My verdict: the automation tool for pros.

n8n offers total control and self-hosting for those who want to go beyond the limitations of Zapier/Make. My favorite automation tool, but not for everyone.

It's more technical than Zapier/Make, but the possibilities are endless. It allows you to work properly for cheap (especially self-hosted). Unlike other tools where you sometimes have to 'sweep things under the rug' to save credits, n8n gives you total control. It's the choice of pros.

What I like less: the learning curve is frankly steep. Self-hosting requires serious DevOps skills. The documentation is sometimes lacking for complex cases. And it's clearly not made for complete beginners in automation.

My advice: start with Zapier to learn the concepts, move to Make for power, and migrate to n8n when you want total control or you're doing volume. If you're technical, skip directly to n8n.

Why add it to your stack?

My default choice for automation. Total control and self-hosting make it an unbeatable tool for pros. Unlike other tools where you sometimes have to 'sweep things under the rug' to save credits, n8n gives you total control.

What you can do with it

  • 1Create workflows with custom logic, code, and advanced transformations
  • 2Self-host and pay zero in operations, just the infrastructure
  • 3Create your own nodes to integrate any API
  • 4ETL, data synchronization, enrichment at scale

What it does

  • Self-hostable (free)
  • Open-source
  • Total control over workflows
  • 400+ integrations
  • Custom code possible

How much?

Starting at 0

Self-hosted free, Cloud starting at 20 euros/month.

The detailed verdict

Do I really need this?

For growth engineers and technical ops, it has become indispensable. The choice of pros who want to go all the way without being blocked by artificial limitations.

Does it play nice with my stack?

400+ native integrations, and you can create your own or use HTTP for everything else. However, some connectors are less maintained than others and can break after API updates.

Is it easy to pick up?

The learning curve is frankly steep compared to Make/Zapier. Expect several hours of struggle before becoming productive. But once mastered, it's the most powerful on the market.

Is the UX any good?

The interface is clean and powerful, but clearly developer-oriented. More technical than Make, with sometimes counterintuitive behaviors for beginners. The visual builder is well designed once you understand the logic.

Is it worth it?

Self-hosted = free. Even the cloud is cheaper than Zapier/Make for high volumes. Unbeatable value for money for heavy users.

What I like

  • Developers and growth engineers who want total control
  • Savings at scale with free self-hosting
  • Those who want to work properly without limits

What I like less

  • Complete beginners as the learning curve is steeper
  • Those who want plug-and-play without configuration
  • Non-technical people who lack the skills for self-hosting

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