Who each one is for
Zapier is the widest integration catalogue on the market and the fastest way to connect two SaaS tools. n8n is a fair-code automation platform you can self-host, with an AI Agent node and strong developer ergonomics. Harmona is not an integration catalogue; it is a workspace where workflows, agents and Workers share the same data connections and the same approval model.
If your need is "when X happens in app A, do Y in app B", start with Zapier or n8n. If your need is "run the recurring work of a team on our own data, with a person approving what goes out, and give the team a board", Harmona is built for that.
Where Zapier is stronger
- 10,000+ app integrations by Zapier's own count, and the largest library of ready triggers and actions.
- Human in the Loop is a built-in step on Professional, Team and Enterprise plans: request approval, collect data, notify reviewers.
- AI steps inside Zaps, plus a separate Agents product with its own pricing.
Where n8n is stronger
- Self-hosting, including a free Community Edition, and per-execution pricing regardless of step count.
- 2,000+ integrations and full code nodes for developers.
- Human-in-the-loop on AI agent tools: the workflow pauses and a reviewer approves or denies a specific tool call over Slack, Teams, Telegram, Gmail, Outlook and others.
Where Harmona is stronger
- Shared connections and permissions. A knowledge source connected once grounds an agent, feeds a workflow step and refreshes a board tile.
- AI steps with structure. Typed outputs (text, integer, boolean, list) the next step can rely on, a web-search switch you can turn off for internal-only steps, and a Deep analysis mode when every source must be surveyed.
- One inbox. Runs, approvals, notifications and Worker reports in one place, with an expiry on each approval card.
- Personal scope respected. Mail steps in personal scope run with the participant's own account, never a shared mailbox; every read happens with the asking user's rights.
- The Worker on top. The output of a workflow can land as a tile on a team board and be kept fresh.
- Deployment choice including on-premises, and private data redaction on by default.
Side by side
| Harmona | Zapier | n8n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Integrations | Curated: HubSpot, Jira, Zoho Desk, Gmail, Outlook, Google Drive, SharePoint, SAP (SOAP/RFC), your own REST/SOAP APIs; 200+ actions | 10,000+ apps | 2,000+ integrations, code nodes |
| AI steps | Typed outputs, knowledge connections, skills, web-search switch, Fast or Deep | AI by Zapier steps priced by model tier; Zapier Agents add-on | AI Agent node, LLM nodes, MCP support |
| Human approval | Approval step; card in the inbox with expiry; same model in chat and tasks | Human in the Loop step, Professional and above | Human-in-the-loop on agent tools, via chat channels |
| Grounded agents | Yes: databases, documents, tickets, drives, with citations | Zapier Agents and Chatbots with knowledge sources (files, Sheets, Docs, Notion, Airtable) | Vector store nodes, usable as agent tools |
| Persistent team board | Yes, the Worker | Interfaces and Tables for pages, forms and Kanban boards; not a self-refreshing data board | No board product; workflow canvas, forms and chat UI |
| Self-hosting or on-premises | Enterprise: private cloud or on-premises | Cloud service | Yes: Community Edition, Business and Enterprise |
| Pricing basis | Seats plus monthly credits; refreshes free | Tasks per month; Agents billed in activities | Executions per month; self-host free |
| Entry price | Individual from $8/mo billed annually; Business from $80/mo billed annually with 5 seats | Free 100 tasks; Professional from $19.99/mo billed annually | Starter €20/mo billed annually; Community Edition free |
Sources. Accessed 2026-09-18: zapier.com/pricing and the Zapier app directory; help.zapier.com, "Use Human in the Loop to pause Zaps pending human review", "Add your own data to an agent", "Create interactive pages and apps with Zapier Interfaces"; n8n.io/pricing and n8n.io/integrations; docs.n8n.io, "Human-in-the-loop for tools", "RAG in n8n", "MCP Client Tool". Harmona: product pages on harmona.ai.
How to choose
Use Zapier when breadth of apps matters more than depth of data. Use n8n when you want to self-host and your team writes code. Use Harmona when the workflows are the recurring work of a team on the team's own data, when approvals must be uniform, and when the result should live on a board people open every morning. Harmona also connects to your own REST endpoints, so an existing Zapier or n8n setup can keep running beside it.