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Migration guide
Migrate from Zapiern8n
Medium1-3 days depending on number of zaps5 steps
Why migrate
Escape Zapier's per-task pricing, get unlimited steps, run automation locally, use code nodes for custom logic.
Step-by-step
- 1
1. Self-host or use n8n cloud
Docker: `docker run -it --rm -p 5678:5678 n8nio/n8n`. Or sign up for n8n cloud.
- 2
2. Inventory your zaps
Make a spreadsheet of every Zapier zap, what it does, frequency, and integrations used.
- 3
3. Rebuild zap by zap
n8n has visual workflow editor like Zapier but more powerful. Most Zapier integrations have a direct n8n node equivalent.
- 4
4. Test each workflow
Run each n8n workflow with test data. Compare to the Zapier zap output.
- 5
5. Switch traffic gradually
Don't cut over all at once. Run n8n + Zapier in parallel for a week, verify n8n is working, then disable Zapier.
Gotchas to watch
- No automatic export from Zapier — every workflow is manually rebuilt.
- Some niche Zapier integrations don't exist in n8n yet. Use HTTP Request nodes as fallback.
- OAuth credentials must be re-authorized for each n8n node.
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