Same workflow. Three tools. Pick your path and build a lead intake pipeline that catches form submissions, enriches data with AI, sends notifications, and logs everything. Step by step, entirely in the browser.
Form comes in → AI enriches it → you get notified → it is logged. All automatic.
n8n (pronounced "n-eight-n") is an open-source workflow automation tool. You connect apps by dragging nodes onto a visual canvas and drawing connections. You can self-host it, write custom code in JavaScript or Python, and never worry about per-task pricing.
Think of each node as a single task: "receive a webhook," "call an API," "send an email." Wire them together and you have an automated workflow that runs 24/7. You can run it entirely on your own machine with Docker -- or use their free cloud plan.
Here is what happens today when someone fills out your contact form -- and what changes when automation takes over.
You check your inbox, read the message, decide if it is worth following up on.
The tool catches the form submission instantly via a webhook trigger.
You Google their name, check LinkedIn, figure out their company and role.
An AI step takes the name and email and returns a short summary of who they are.
You open your email, write a custom message referencing their company and request.
AI drafts a personalized email and the tool sends it through an email action.
You open Google Sheets, find the right tab, type in their info, copy-paste details.
A new row is appended to your spreadsheet with all the data automatically.
Manual: ~28 minutes per lead. Automated: ~8 seconds. At 10 leads per day, you save 4.5 hours daily.
Follow along from signup to a live, running automation. Everything happens in n8n's web UI -- no local setup required.
Use these fake leads to test your workflow end-to-end. Click a lead, copy the curl command, and replace YOUR_WEBHOOK_URL with the URL from n8n. Works with all three tools.
curl -X POST \
YOUR_WEBHOOK_URL \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"name": "Marcus Johnson",
"email": "marcus@techstartup.io",
"company": "TechStartup Inc",
"message": "Interested in your AI consulting services. We are a 15-person startup building developer tools."
}'These are fake leads with made-up email addresses. Do not send real emails to these addresses. When testing the email step, send to your own address.
Add a Slack step after email. Get lead alerts in a dedicated channel so your whole team sees them instantly.
Add a second AI step that scores the lead 1-10 based on company size and message intent. Route hot leads differently.
Connect HubSpot, Pipedrive, or Notion. Auto-create a contact record and deal for every new lead.
Use a delay/wait step to send a follow-up email 3 days later if the lead has not responded.
| Feature | n8n | Zapier | Make |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-hostable | Yes | No | No |
| Open source | Yes (fair-code) | No | No |
| Free tier | 5 workflows / 2.5k runs | 100 tasks/mo | 1,000 ops/mo |
| Custom code | JS + Python | Limited | Limited |
| AI / LLM nodes | Built-in | Yes | Yes |
| Visual builder | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | Per workflow (or free) | Per task | Per operation |
| Best for | Devs & power users | Beginners & small teams | Visual thinkers & agencies |