- Pick it if you are:
- Developers and technical teams; Automation agencies and freelancers
- Top complaint:
- n8n is too hard for non-technical users
- Price:
- Free plan, paid from $24/mo
- Pick it if you are:
- Microsoft 365 organizations; Teams automating approvals and notifications
- Top complaint:
- Power Automate flow not triggering
- Price:
- Free plan
Score Comparison
Signals Comparison
n8n
- n8n is too hard for non-technical users(7/10)
- Self-hosting n8n is more work than expected(6/10)
Microsoft Power Automate
No signals
n8n
- Critical n8n security vulnerabilities on self-hosted instances(9/10)
Microsoft Power Automate
- DLP policy changes silently break flows(7/10)
n8n
- n8n runs out of memory on large data and files(8/10)
Microsoft Power Automate
- Flows are slow or throttled with 429 errors(8/10)
n8n
- n8n webhook not working in production(7/10)
- n8n Cloud executions stuck in 'Queued / Starting soon'(8/10)
- n8n 2.0 update broke existing workflows(7/10)
Microsoft Power Automate
- Flows turn off or get suspended without warning(8/10)
- Power Automate flow not triggering(9/10)
- Excel 'table not found' and Add a row errors(6/10)
- Desktop flows fail unattended(8/10)
n8n
- n8n support is slow and hard to reach(7/10)
Microsoft Power Automate
No signals
n8n
- n8n error messages don't explain what went wrong(6/10)
- Large n8n workflows become hard to manage(5/10)
Microsoft Power Automate
- Error messages are unclear and debugging is hard(7/10)
- Large flows get hard to edit and maintain(6/10)
n8n
- n8n Google OAuth redirect_uri_mismatch errors(6/10)
Microsoft Power Automate
- Non-Microsoft integrations need more work(6/10)
- HTTP trigger URLs changed in the architecture move(6/10)
n8n
- Why is n8n Business so expensive?(6/10)
Microsoft Power Automate
- Power Automate licensing is confusing and hard to predict(8/10)
- Premium connectors need a paid license(8/10)
- Why is Power Automate so expensive for small teams?(7/10)
Pricing Comparison
n8n
Limits: No SSO, Git version control, environments or log streaming; community support only.
Limits: 7-day execution log retention, 1 day of workflow history, 2,500 saved executions.
Limits: 30-day log retention, 5 days of workflow history, no SSO or Git version control.
Limits: Self-hosted only (hosted version on a waitlist); trial requires a credit card.
Microsoft Power Automate
Users: 1 flow owner per license
Limits: Standard connectors only, 15-minute polling on the Free plan (5 minutes on Microsoft 365 plans), Low performance profile with 5,000 apply-to-each items and 5-second minimum postpone interval, no premium connectors, no desktop RPA unattended
Users: 1 user
Limits: Time limited; Microsoft's support docs mention a 90-day per-user trial in places
Users: Per user
Storage: 250 MB Dataverse database and 2 GB file
Limits: Per user, so large audiences get expensive
Users: Per bot
Storage: 50 MB Dataverse database and 200 MB file
Limits: Per bot or per flow pricing is expensive for a single small flow
Users: Per bot
Storage: 50 MB Dataverse database and 200 MB file
Limits: Per bot pricing
Users: Per tenant
Storage: 100 GB data storage
Limits: Add-on to Premium only
Feature Comparison
| Feature | n8n | Microsoft Power Automate |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | ||
| Self-hosting Free Community Edition via Docker or npm | ||
| Automation | ||
| Cloud flows Automated, scheduled and instant flows | ||
| Desktop flows (RPA) Attended with Premium, unattended with Process | ||
| Approvals | ||
| Core | ||
| Visual workflow editor | ||
| Sub-workflows | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Premium connectors Needs Premium or Process license | ||
| Developer | ||
| JavaScript Code node Runs on task runners since 2.0 | ||
| Python Code node Native Python requires external task runners since 2.0 | ||
| AI | ||
| AI agents and MCP Included on all plans | ||
| Copilot in designer New designer | ||
| Triggers | ||
| Webhooks Separate test and production URLs | ||
| Monitoring | ||
| Run history 28-day run history; runs retained 30 days | ||
| Governance | ||
| Data loss prevention policies Admin controlled | ||
| Scaling | ||
| Queue mode with workers Business/Enterprise for licensed use | ||
| Analytics | ||
| Process mining Add-on for Premium | ||
| Collaboration | ||
| Git version control and environments Business and Enterprise only | ||
| Pricing | ||
| Unlimited free tier Free tier is limited to standard connectors | ||
| Security | ||
| SSO / LDAP Business and Enterprise only | ||
| Platform | ||
| Mobile app Web editor only | ||
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