Open-source workflow automation. Much more powerful than Zapier for complex workflows, but requires technical ability. Self-hosting is free and gives full control. The visual workflow builder is excellent. Best for businesses with a technical person who can maintain it. Workflows are JSON — fully portable.
Free/forever
Requires hosting. Docker recommended. Best value in automation.
Job Coverage
EUR 24/mo/month
Low execution limits. Fine for light automation.
EUR 60/mo/month
More practical for real use. Still cheaper than Zapier for equivalent volume.
When a quote is sent from your CRM, n8n waits 2 days then sends a friendly follow-up SMS. If no response after 5 days, it sends an email. Simple workflow, massive impact on conversion.
New Shopify orders automatically create invoices in Xero, match payments, and flag discrepancies. Eliminates the daily reconciliation task.
Record a voice memo, n8n transcribes it, sends to Claude to write a LinkedIn post + email newsletter + blog draft. One input, three outputs.
New client signed in your CRM triggers: welcome email, Slack notification to team, project board created in Monday, Google Drive folder created, onboarding checklist assigned.
7 days after job completion, automatically send a review request via SMS with a direct Google review link. Track responses and follow up once if no review.
Website form submission triggers: AI researches the company, enriches the CRM record with company size/industry/website, scores the lead, and routes to the right salesperson.
Every Monday morning, n8n pulls data from Xero (revenue, outstanding), your CRM (pipeline value, new leads), and Google Analytics (traffic). Sends a formatted summary email to the business owner.
Phone system detects a missed call, n8n sends an immediate SMS: 'Sorry I missed your call — I'm with a client. Can I call you back at [time]?' with a booking link. Prevents lost leads.
When a quote is sent from your CRM, n8n waits 2 days then sends a friendly follow-up SMS. If no response after 5 days, it sends an email. Simple workflow, massive impact on conversion.
New Shopify orders automatically create invoices in Xero, match payments, and flag discrepancies. Eliminates the daily reconciliation task.
Record a voice memo, n8n transcribes it, sends to Claude to write a LinkedIn post + email newsletter + blog draft. One input, three outputs.
New client signed in your CRM triggers: welcome email, Slack notification to team, project board created in Monday, Google Drive folder created, onboarding checklist assigned.
7 days after job completion, automatically send a review request via SMS with a direct Google review link. Track responses and follow up once if no review.
Website form submission triggers: AI researches the company, enriches the CRM record with company size/industry/website, scores the lead, and routes to the right salesperson.
Every Monday morning, n8n pulls data from Xero (revenue, outstanding), your CRM (pipeline value, new leads), and Google Analytics (traffic). Sends a formatted summary email to the business owner.
Phone system detects a missed call, n8n sends an immediate SMS: 'Sorry I missed your call — I'm with a client. Can I call you back at [time]?' with a booking link. Prevents lost leads.
When a quote is sent from your CRM, n8n waits 2 days then sends a friendly follow-up SMS. If no response after 5 days, it sends an email. Simple workflow, massive impact on conversion.
New Shopify orders automatically create invoices in Xero, match payments, and flag discrepancies. Eliminates the daily reconciliation task.
Record a voice memo, n8n transcribes it, sends to Claude to write a LinkedIn post + email newsletter + blog draft. One input, three outputs.
New client signed in your CRM triggers: welcome email, Slack notification to team, project board created in Monday, Google Drive folder created, onboarding checklist assigned.
7 days after job completion, automatically send a review request via SMS with a direct Google review link. Track responses and follow up once if no review.
Website form submission triggers: AI researches the company, enriches the CRM record with company size/industry/website, scores the lead, and routes to the right salesperson.
Every Monday morning, n8n pulls data from Xero (revenue, outstanding), your CRM (pipeline value, new leads), and Google Analytics (traffic). Sends a formatted summary email to the business owner.
Phone system detects a missed call, n8n sends an immediate SMS: 'Sorry I missed your call — I'm with a client. Can I call you back at [time]?' with a booking link. Prevents lost leads.
When a quote is sent from your CRM, n8n waits 2 days then sends a friendly follow-up SMS. If no response after 5 days, it sends an email. Simple workflow, massive impact on conversion.
New Shopify orders automatically create invoices in Xero, match payments, and flag discrepancies. Eliminates the daily reconciliation task.
Record a voice memo, n8n transcribes it, sends to Claude to write a LinkedIn post + email newsletter + blog draft. One input, three outputs.
New client signed in your CRM triggers: welcome email, Slack notification to team, project board created in Monday, Google Drive folder created, onboarding checklist assigned.
7 days after job completion, automatically send a review request via SMS with a direct Google review link. Track responses and follow up once if no review.
Website form submission triggers: AI researches the company, enriches the CRM record with company size/industry/website, scores the lead, and routes to the right salesperson.
Every Monday morning, n8n pulls data from Xero (revenue, outstanding), your CRM (pipeline value, new leads), and Google Analytics (traffic). Sends a formatted summary email to the business owner.
Phone system detects a missed call, n8n sends an immediate SMS: 'Sorry I missed your call — I'm with a client. Can I call you back at [time]?' with a booking link. Prevents lost leads.
When a quote is sent from your CRM, n8n waits 2 days then sends a friendly follow-up SMS. If no response after 5 days, it sends an email. Simple workflow, massive impact on conversion.
New Shopify orders automatically create invoices in Xero, match payments, and flag discrepancies. Eliminates the daily reconciliation task.
Record a voice memo, n8n transcribes it, sends to Claude to write a LinkedIn post + email newsletter + blog draft. One input, three outputs.
New client signed in your CRM triggers: welcome email, Slack notification to team, project board created in Monday, Google Drive folder created, onboarding checklist assigned.
7 days after job completion, automatically send a review request via SMS with a direct Google review link. Track responses and follow up once if no review.
Website form submission triggers: AI researches the company, enriches the CRM record with company size/industry/website, scores the lead, and routes to the right salesperson.
Every Monday morning, n8n pulls data from Xero (revenue, outstanding), your CRM (pipeline value, new leads), and Google Analytics (traffic). Sends a formatted summary email to the business owner.
Phone system detects a missed call, n8n sends an immediate SMS: 'Sorry I missed your call — I'm with a client. Can I call you back at [time]?' with a booking link. Prevents lost leads.
trades | solo business
Challenge
Sarah runs a one-person plumbing business doing $300k/year. She was spending 5+ hours per week on admin: manually sending quotes from a template, forgetting to follow up, re-entering job details from her notebook into Xero for invoicing, and missing calls while on jobs.
Solution
Three n8n workflows: (1) Quote follow-up: after sending a quote via email, n8n sends a follow-up SMS after 2 days. (2) Job completion → invoice: when she marks a job complete in her Google Sheet, n8n creates the Xero invoice and sends it. (3) Missed call responder: sends an immediate SMS with a booking link.
Outcome
Quote conversion up ~25% (from follow-ups she was forgetting). Invoicing happens same-day instead of 'when she gets around to it' — cash flow improved noticeably. Missed call recovery brought in 2-3 extra jobs per month. Total: ~5 hours/week saved, estimated $15-20k additional annual revenue.
Lessons Learned
Start with the automation that saves the most time, not the most technically interesting one. For Sarah, the quote follow-up was the biggest win because it directly generated revenue. Also: Google Sheets as a 'job tracker' works fine for a solo operator — don't over-engineer with a CRM they won't use.
trades | solo business
Challenge
Sarah runs a one-person plumbing business doing $300k/year. She was spending 5+ hours per week on admin: manually sending quotes from a template, forgetting to follow up, re-entering job details from her notebook into Xero for invoicing, and missing calls while on jobs.
Solution
Three n8n workflows: (1) Quote follow-up: after sending a quote via email, n8n sends a follow-up SMS after 2 days. (2) Job completion → invoice: when she marks a job complete in her Google Sheet, n8n creates the Xero invoice and sends it. (3) Missed call responder: sends an immediate SMS with a booking link.
Outcome
Quote conversion up ~25% (from follow-ups she was forgetting). Invoicing happens same-day instead of 'when she gets around to it' — cash flow improved noticeably. Missed call recovery brought in 2-3 extra jobs per month. Total: ~5 hours/week saved, estimated $15-20k additional annual revenue.
Lessons Learned
Start with the automation that saves the most time, not the most technically interesting one. For Sarah, the quote follow-up was the biggest win because it directly generated revenue. Also: Google Sheets as a 'job tracker' works fine for a solo operator — don't over-engineer with a CRM they won't use.
trades | solo business
Challenge
Sarah runs a one-person plumbing business doing $300k/year. She was spending 5+ hours per week on admin: manually sending quotes from a template, forgetting to follow up, re-entering job details from her notebook into Xero for invoicing, and missing calls while on jobs.
Solution
Three n8n workflows: (1) Quote follow-up: after sending a quote via email, n8n sends a follow-up SMS after 2 days. (2) Job completion → invoice: when she marks a job complete in her Google Sheet, n8n creates the Xero invoice and sends it. (3) Missed call responder: sends an immediate SMS with a booking link.
Outcome
Quote conversion up ~25% (from follow-ups she was forgetting). Invoicing happens same-day instead of 'when she gets around to it' — cash flow improved noticeably. Missed call recovery brought in 2-3 extra jobs per month. Total: ~5 hours/week saved, estimated $15-20k additional annual revenue.
Lessons Learned
Start with the automation that saves the most time, not the most technically interesting one. For Sarah, the quote follow-up was the biggest win because it directly generated revenue. Also: Google Sheets as a 'job tracker' works fine for a solo operator — don't over-engineer with a CRM they won't use.
trades | solo business
Challenge
Sarah runs a one-person plumbing business doing $300k/year. She was spending 5+ hours per week on admin: manually sending quotes from a template, forgetting to follow up, re-entering job details from her notebook into Xero for invoicing, and missing calls while on jobs.
Solution
Three n8n workflows: (1) Quote follow-up: after sending a quote via email, n8n sends a follow-up SMS after 2 days. (2) Job completion → invoice: when she marks a job complete in her Google Sheet, n8n creates the Xero invoice and sends it. (3) Missed call responder: sends an immediate SMS with a booking link.
Outcome
Quote conversion up ~25% (from follow-ups she was forgetting). Invoicing happens same-day instead of 'when she gets around to it' — cash flow improved noticeably. Missed call recovery brought in 2-3 extra jobs per month. Total: ~5 hours/week saved, estimated $15-20k additional annual revenue.
Lessons Learned
Start with the automation that saves the most time, not the most technically interesting one. For Sarah, the quote follow-up was the biggest win because it directly generated revenue. Also: Google Sheets as a 'job tracker' works fine for a solo operator — don't over-engineer with a CRM they won't use.
trades | solo business
Challenge
Sarah runs a one-person plumbing business doing $300k/year. She was spending 5+ hours per week on admin: manually sending quotes from a template, forgetting to follow up, re-entering job details from her notebook into Xero for invoicing, and missing calls while on jobs.
Solution
Three n8n workflows: (1) Quote follow-up: after sending a quote via email, n8n sends a follow-up SMS after 2 days. (2) Job completion → invoice: when she marks a job complete in her Google Sheet, n8n creates the Xero invoice and sends it. (3) Missed call responder: sends an immediate SMS with a booking link.
Outcome
Quote conversion up ~25% (from follow-ups she was forgetting). Invoicing happens same-day instead of 'when she gets around to it' — cash flow improved noticeably. Missed call recovery brought in 2-3 extra jobs per month. Total: ~5 hours/week saved, estimated $15-20k additional annual revenue.
Lessons Learned
Start with the automation that saves the most time, not the most technically interesting one. For Sarah, the quote follow-up was the biggest win because it directly generated revenue. Also: Google Sheets as a 'job tracker' works fine for a solo operator — don't over-engineer with a CRM they won't use.
n8n Beginner's Course
n8n · Free
n8n Community Workflows
n8n Community · Free
Leon van Zyl
Leon van Zyl · intermediate · Free
n8n Official Docs
n8n · intermediate · Free
Cole Medin — AI Automation
Cole Medin · advanced · Free
n8n Beginner's Course
n8n · Free
n8n Community Workflows
n8n Community · Free
Leon van Zyl
Leon van Zyl · intermediate · Free
n8n Official Docs
n8n · intermediate · Free
Cole Medin — AI Automation
Cole Medin · advanced · Free
n8n Beginner's Course
n8n · Free
n8n Community Workflows
n8n Community · Free
Leon van Zyl
Leon van Zyl · intermediate · Free
n8n Official Docs
n8n · intermediate · Free
Cole Medin — AI Automation
Cole Medin · advanced · Free
n8n Beginner's Course
n8n · Free
n8n Community Workflows
n8n Community · Free
Leon van Zyl
Leon van Zyl · intermediate · Free
n8n Official Docs
n8n · intermediate · Free
Cole Medin — AI Automation
Cole Medin · advanced · Free
n8n Beginner's Course
n8n · Free
n8n Community Workflows
n8n Community · Free
Leon van Zyl
Leon van Zyl · intermediate · Free
n8n Official Docs
n8n · intermediate · Free
Cole Medin — AI Automation
Cole Medin · advanced · Free