Entry-level automation pricing has converged. As of July 2026, Zapier's cheapest paid plan is $19.99 per month, n8n Cloud starts at 20 euros per month, and Gravity's subscription starts at $20: three different product shapes landing within a few dollars of each other. This page collects the verified pricing statistics we track across the automation and AI agent category in one citable place: plan prices, free-tier limits, billing units, and the arithmetic that connects them. Every figure was checked against the vendor's live pricing page in July 2026, and every statistic has its own anchor so a single number can be cited directly. For the reasoning behind the numbers, start with AI agent pricing explained; for the numbers themselves, read on.
What do automation and AI agent platforms cost in 2026?
Entry paid tiers across the automation and agent category cluster around $20 to $30 per month as of July 2026. Zapier Professional starts at $19.99 per month billed annually, n8n Cloud Starter at 20 euros per month billed annually, and Gravity subscriptions at $20 per month including $20 of usage. The statistics below break the ladder down tier by tier; verify each on the vendor page before budgeting.
- Entry paid tiers across the category cluster around $20 to $30 per month. Zapier at $19.99, n8n at 20 euros, and Gravity at $20 land in the same narrow band, which means sticker price no longer separates entry-level tools; the billing unit behind the price does. (Category arithmetic from the vendor figures below, July 2026.)
- Zapier Professional starts at $19.99 per month billed annually. It is Zapier's cheapest paid plan and the usual first upgrade once the free plan's task cap binds. (Zapier pricing, as of July 2026; verify on the vendor page.)
- Zapier Team starts at $69 per month. The step from Professional to Team is roughly 3.5x, the largest single jump among the entry ladders tracked here. (Zapier pricing, as of July 2026.)
- n8n Cloud Starter costs 20 euros per month billed annually and includes 2,500 workflow executions. That works out to under one euro cent per included execution at full utilization. (n8n pricing, as of July 2026; verify on the vendor page.)
- n8n Cloud Pro costs 50 euros per month with 10,000 executions included. Paying 2.5x the Starter price buys 4x the execution allowance, so the per-execution rate falls as you climb. (n8n pricing, as of July 2026.)
- n8n Business costs 667 euros per month with 40,000 executions. The 13x price jump from Pro buys SSO, environments, and scale features, not just volume; it marks where n8n stops competing on price alone. (n8n pricing, as of July 2026.)
- Gravity subscriptions start at $20 per month and include $20 of usage. Above the free tier, plans scale up from there, and extra usage is purchasable beyond what a plan includes. (Gravity, as of July 2026.)
Where each of these lands on a budget shortlist, including options below and above this band, is mapped in cheapest AI agent platforms.
Entry-tier price comparison
The table lines up the cheapest paid tier of each platform as published in July 2026. Prices are the vendors' annual-billing figures; check each pricing page before committing, since these numbers move.
| Platform | Entry paid tier (July 2026) | What is included | Billing unit | Free option |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zapier | Professional, from $19.99/month billed annually | Task allowance scaled by tier | Per task: every action step in every run is metered | Free plan, 100 tasks/month |
| n8n | Cloud Starter, 20 EUR/month billed annually | 2,500 workflow executions | Per execution: one run counts once regardless of steps | Self-hosted community edition, no license fee |
| Gravity | Subscription from $20/month | $20 of usage included; extra usage purchasable | Subscription with included usage | Free tier, 1 agent, $0 |
Three prices within a few dollars of each other, and three different answers to the question "what does a dollar buy?". That is why the free-tier and billing-unit statistics below matter more than this table on its own.
What do the free tiers actually include?
All three platforms offer a genuine $0 path as of July 2026. Zapier's free plan includes 100 tasks per month, n8n's self-hosted community edition carries no license fee under its Sustainable Use License, and Gravity's free tier includes one agent at $0. The limits differ sharply in kind, not just in size.
- Zapier's free plan includes 100 tasks per month. Because every action step is a task, a five-step workflow exhausts the free allowance in about 20 runs a month. (Zapier pricing, as of July 2026; verify on the vendor page.)
- n8n's self-hosted community edition has no license fee. It ships under the fair-code Sustainable Use License, which permits internal business use; the real costs are the server and the maintenance hours, not a license. (n8n pricing, as of July 2026.)
- Gravity's free tier is $0 and includes one agent. The cap is on agents rather than on a usage meter, so the free tier is bounded by what one agent does, not by a monthly count you have to watch. (Gravity, as of July 2026.)
A task cap, a license grant, and an agent cap are not interchangeable, and which one your workload tolerates decides where $0 actually gets you. The full breakdown across the category sits in AI agent platform free tier comparison.
How do billing units change the real bill?
The billing unit moves real bills more than the sticker price. Zapier meters every action step in every run as a task, while n8n counts one execution per workflow run regardless of steps. A five-step workflow at 1,000 runs a month therefore consumes roughly 5,000 Zapier tasks but only 1,000 n8n executions.
- Zapier bills per task, and every action step in every run is metered. Adding a step to a workflow raises its cost on every future run, so workflow complexity is a direct pricing input. (Zapier pricing, as of July 2026; the model is unpacked in Zapier pricing explained.)
- n8n bills per execution, and one run counts once regardless of step count. A three-node workflow and a thirty-node workflow consume the same allowance per run, so complexity is free at the meter. (n8n pricing, as of July 2026; the model is unpacked in n8n pricing explained.)
- A five-step workflow at 1,000 runs per month consumes roughly 5,000 Zapier tasks but 1,000 n8n executions. This is arithmetic from the two vendors' published billing units, not a vendor claim, and the fivefold gap widens with every step added. The head-to-head consequences are worked through in Zapier vs n8n.
- Gravity's subscription includes usage in the plan price: $20 per month includes $20 of usage. There is no separate step or run meter to estimate up front; plans scale up, and extra usage is purchasable when a plan's included amount runs out. (Gravity, as of July 2026.)
In our experience helping teams price out stacks, this is the section people skip and then regret. Two platforms with identical sticker prices can produce bills that differ several-fold once the meter is applied to a real workload.
How much does annual billing save?
Annual-commitment discounts in the category range from 17 to 33 percent as of July 2026. Zapier's annual billing saves 33 percent versus paying monthly, and n8n's saves 17 percent, which means the advertised entry prices generally assume a year paid upfront.
- Zapier's annual billing saves 33 percent versus monthly. The $19.99 headline figure is the annual rate, so the true month-to-month price is meaningfully higher, and a year of Professional works out to roughly $240 charged at once. (Zapier pricing, as of July 2026.)
- n8n's annual billing saves 17 percent versus monthly. The 20-euro Starter figure is likewise the annual rate; the monthly-billing price sits above it. (n8n pricing, as of July 2026.)
The practical statistic hiding here: comparing one vendor's annual rate against another's monthly rate can distort a comparison by a third. Normalize to the same billing period before shortlisting.
How should you read these numbers?
Three patterns hold across every figure on this page. First, sticker convergence: entry tiers cluster near $20, so the entry price has stopped being a differentiator. Second, meter divergence: per-task, per-execution, and subscription-with-included-usage models can turn the same workload into bills that differ several-fold. Third, discount asymmetry: annual savings of 17 to 33 percent mean the billing period changes rankings if you are not careful.
We would add one hedge from watching these pages over time: vendor pricing moves quietly and often. Every number here was verified against the live vendor page in July 2026 and is anchored so it can be cited individually, but the pricing page, not this post, is always the source of truth. If a figure here disagrees with the vendor page you are reading today, trust the vendor page and treat the delta as the news.
For choosing rather than citing, the companion guides do the interpretive work: cheapest AI agent platforms for budget shortlists and AI agent pricing explained for how agent platforms price outcomes rather than steps.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an automation or AI agent platform cost per month in 2026?
Entry paid tiers cluster around $20 to $30 per month as of July 2026. Zapier Professional starts at $19.99 per month billed annually, n8n Cloud Starter at 20 euros per month billed annually, and Gravity subscriptions at $20 per month including $20 of usage. Verify current figures on each vendor's pricing page.
What is the difference between per-task and per-execution billing?
Per-task billing, used by Zapier, meters every action step in every run. Per-execution billing, used by n8n, counts one complete workflow run once regardless of step count. A five-step workflow running 1,000 times a month consumes roughly 5,000 tasks but only 1,000 executions, a fivefold difference in billing units for the same work.
Which automation platforms have a genuinely free option?
As of July 2026, Zapier's free plan includes 100 tasks per month, n8n's self-hosted community edition has no license fee under its Sustainable Use License, and Gravity's free tier includes one agent at $0. Each free path carries different limits, so match it to your workload before relying on it.
How much does annual billing save on automation tools?
Zapier's annual billing saves 33 percent versus paying monthly, and n8n's saves 17 percent, as of July 2026. Advertised entry prices usually assume an annual commitment, so budget the upfront payment: a $19.99 per month Zapier plan billed annually works out to roughly $240 charged at once.
How much does Gravity cost?
Gravity has a free tier with one agent at $0, then subscription plans from $20 per month that include $20 of usage. Teams that need more can buy extra usage beyond their plan. There is no separate per-task meter to estimate; the subscription includes the usage you start with.
Sources
- Zapier, "Plans & Pricing", zapier.com/pricing, backs the Zapier figures cited (free plan with 100 tasks/month, Professional from $19.99/month billed annually, Team from $69/month, per-task billing where every action step in every run is metered, 33 percent annual saving), verified live 2026-07-24; current numbers live there.
- n8n, "Pricing", n8n.io/pricing, backs the n8n figures cited (Cloud Starter 20 EUR/month billed annually with 2,500 executions, Pro 50 EUR with 10,000, Business 667 EUR with 40,000, per-execution billing, 17 percent annual saving), verified live 2026-07-24.
- n8n, "Sustainable Use License", docs.n8n.io/sustainable-use-license, backs the fair-code license description and the no-license-fee status of the self-hosted community edition.
- Gravity, gravity.fast, backs Gravity's subscription pricing (free tier with one agent at $0, plans from $20/month including $20 of usage, extra usage purchasable), as of July 2026.