This guide compares the three on the things Australian buyers ask about first: what each one is built for, what it costs in AUD, where your data sits, and how each handles AI agents. Prices and regions were checked on vendor pages on 14 October 2026. Euro and US dollar prices are converted at the Reserve Bank's 13 October 2026 rates (A$1 = €0.6231 and US$0.6961) and rounded.
What is each platform actually built for?
The three products started in different places, and that origin still shapes what they do well.
- n8n is a workflow automation tool with a visual editor, code steps and more than 1,000 integrations. It's API-first: it calls systems through their APIs and webhooks. It also has native nodes for AI agents and the Model Context Protocol (MCP). You can use n8n's cloud service or self-host the same product.
- UiPath grew out of robotic process automation (RPA): software robots that work through user interfaces the way a person does. Its platform now adds agents and orchestration on top. UiPath describes Maestro as the orchestration layer that coordinates robots, agents, APIs, document processing and human approval steps.
- Celigo is an integration platform as a service (iPaaS) built to sync business applications. It's best known for NetSuite: Celigo says it is trusted by over 5,000 NetSuite customers and sells prebuilt integration apps such as Shopify–NetSuite and Salesforce–NetSuite.
Put simply, n8n and Celigo move data between systems through APIs, while UiPath can operate systems that have no API at all. That difference matters more than any feature list.
Which one fits which kind of work?
Classify the work before you pick a tool. Most automation backlogs mix three kinds of job, and each platform is strongest on one of them. The table below is the framework we use to sort a backlog. It's a starting point, not a rule.
| Type of work | Example | Best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record sync between SaaS apps | Shopify orders into NetSuite, invoices back to the CRM | Celigo | Prebuilt, vendor-supported flows with error handling, so less code to own |
| Event-driven API workflows | New Jira issue triggers a Slack alert, a Salesforce update and an AI summary | n8n | Fast to build, cheap to run at volume, easy to extend with code and AI agents |
| Screen-based work on legacy systems | Keying claims into a mainframe or desktop finance app with no API | UiPath | Robots operate the user interface directly; Document Understanding reads forms and PDFs |
| Long-running processes with people in them | Supplier onboarding with document checks, approvals and system updates | UiPath (Maestro) or n8n | UiPath has process modelling and case handling; n8n can do it with more build effort |
| AI agents acting across systems | An agent triages service requests and updates three systems | Any of the three | All now ship agent tooling; the deciding factor is governance and where your data goes |
If most of your backlog sits in one row, one platform will probably do. If it spreads across rows, plan for two layers with a clear rule about which owns what. Our connected enterprise guide explains how that layer fits alongside Salesforce, Atlassian, Adobe and your ERP.
How much does each cost in Australia?
n8n is the only one of the three with a full public price list. UiPath publishes one entry price, and Celigo publishes none. All three bill in foreign currency, so expect exchange-rate movement at renewal.
| Platform and plan | List price | About AUD | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|
| n8n Community (self-hosted) | Free | A$0 (plus hosting) | Almost the full feature set; no SSO, environments or Git version control |
| n8n Cloud Starter | €20 a month, billed annually | A$32 a month | 2,500 workflow executions a month, unlimited active workflows |
| n8n Cloud Pro | €50 a month, billed annually | A$80 a month | 10,000 executions a month, admin roles, workflow history |
| n8n Business (self-hosted) | €667 a month, billed annually | A$1,070 a month (about A$12,850 a year) | 40,000 executions a month, SSO and LDAP, multiple environments, Git version control |
| n8n Enterprise | Quote | Quote | Log streaming, external secret stores, 365 days of insights, SLA support; cloud or self-hosted |
| UiPath Community | Free | A$0 | Studio, Maestro Automate and Orchestrate, for individuals and learning |
| UiPath Basic | From US$25 a month | From A$36 a month | 2 robots, up to 11 users, 1 tenant; hosted in the Europe region only |
| UiPath Standard and Enterprise | Quote | Quote | Unlimited users and robots, choice of region; Enterprise adds on-premises and bring-your-own AI model |
| Celigo Standard, Professional and Enterprise | Quote | Quote | Flat rate by endpoints and flows, with no per-task or data-volume charges and no overage fees |
Sources: n8n pricing, UiPath pricing and Celigo pricing. UiPath's page says its Basic plan "is evolving" and an updated offer is coming, so check it before you budget.
Three things change the real cost more than the list price:
- How usage is counted. n8n charges per workflow execution, however many steps that execution runs. Celigo charges by connected endpoints and flows, not volume. UiPath's paid plans are quoted, and its agents use agent calls, which the Basic plan limits. A high-volume, many-step workflow can be cheap on n8n, flat on Celigo, and anywhere in between on UiPath depending on your contract.
- Who runs it. Self-hosting n8n removes most of the licence cost but adds hosting, patching, backups, monitoring and on-call. Budget for that time honestly. For many teams it costs more than the licence it replaces.
- Who maintains the integrations. Celigo's integration apps are maintained by Celigo when the connected applications change. A custom n8n workflow or UiPath robot is yours to fix when a vendor changes an API or a screen. Screen-based robots tend to need more upkeep than API integrations, because user interfaces usually change more often than APIs.
Where does my data sit, and does that matter under the Privacy Act?
It matters whenever personal information flows through the platform, and the three products differ sharply here.
| Platform | Australian hosting | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| n8n Cloud | No. Data for hosted plans is stored in Frankfurt, Germany. | If you need data onshore, self-host n8n in an Australian cloud region or your own data centre. |
| n8n self-hosted | Yes, wherever you deploy it | You own security, encryption keys, backups and access control. |
| UiPath Automation Cloud | Yes. Australia is a region, and Orchestrator, Agents, Maestro and Integration Service are hosted there. | Some AI features route elsewhere: Autopilot is routed to Japan and AI Computer Vision to the EU. The Basic plan is Europe-only. |
| Celigo | Yes. Celigo runs a separate Australian domain (au.integrator.io), and account data stays in that region. | Choose the region at sign-up. Moving later means rebuilding integrations in a new account. |
Sources: n8n pricing FAQ, UiPath global cloud regions and Celigo regional domains.
Under Australian Privacy Principle 8, an organisation that discloses personal information to an overseas recipient is generally accountable if that recipient mishandles it. The OAIC's APP 8 guidelines explain when sending data to a cloud provider counts as a disclosure and when it is only a use. An onshore integration platform doesn't settle the question on its own, though. As Celigo's own documentation points out, the applications you connect to may store data in other countries. Map the whole data path, not just the middle layer.
If your automations make or support decisions about individuals, the Privacy Act's new automated decision-making transparency duties start on 10 December 2026. We cover what they require in our guide to automated decisions and the Privacy Act.
How do they handle AI agents?
All three now let you build agents, so the useful comparison is about control rather than capability.
- n8n includes agent, MCP and AI nodes from its Starter plan up. Because it's code-friendly and self-hostable, you can keep prompts, tools and model calls inside your own network and point them at a model hosted in Australia. The governance features, such as SSO, environments, Git version control and log streaming, sit in the Business and Enterprise tiers.
- UiPath puts the most weight on governance. Its platform page lists observability, controlled agency, an agent registry and compliance and audit as a separate layer. The registry covers third-party agents, including Azure AI Foundry, AWS Bedrock, LangChain and CrewAI agents. Its Enterprise plan lets you bring your own model.
- Celigo lists Agent Builder, an MCP server and its Ora assistant across all editions, and lets you use your own large language model. Its strength is giving agents safe, structured access to the business records it already syncs.
Whichever you choose, an agent that can update finance, HR or customer records needs the same controls as any other privileged system user. That means a named owner, least-privilege access, logged actions and a human approval step for anything hard to reverse. Our framework for agentic AI in systems integration covers how to design those controls. For ideas on where agents pay off first, see 40 agentic AI use cases by department.
Can we use more than one?
Yes, and many organisations should. A common pattern is Celigo or n8n for API integrations, with UiPath robots only where a system has no usable API. The risk is overlap: two teams building the same integration in different tools, with no shared monitoring. Three rules keep it manageable:
- Write down which tool owns which type of work, using a table like the one above, and route new requests through it.
- Prefer APIs over screens. Use a robot only when there's no API, or when building one would cost more than the robot will over its life.
- Send errors and run logs from every platform to one place, such as your service desk or monitoring tool, so failures are visible to the people who support the business process.
This is the kind of work behind our Meriton Suites project, where integrating the booking and ecommerce platforms with Klaviyo made behavioural targeting possible across more than 1 million customer records. The value came from deciding where data should flow and who owns each connection, as much as from the tools.
Frequently asked questions
Is n8n open source?
Not in the strict sense. n8n's community edition uses the Sustainable Use License, a "fair-code" licence. It's free for your own internal business use, but you can't host n8n as a service for clients to build their own workflows without a commercial licence. Building and maintaining workflows for your own organisation is allowed.
Is UiPath only for RPA now?
No. RPA is still its core strength, but the platform now covers agents, API integration through Integration Service, document processing and process orchestration through Maestro.
Do we need Celigo if we don't run NetSuite?
Not necessarily. Celigo connects many SaaS applications, but many of its prebuilt integration apps centre on NetSuite. If your core systems are elsewhere, compare its connectors for your specific applications against building the same flows in n8n.
What should we do next?
List your top 20 automation candidates, tag each with the type of work from the first table, and note whether each touches personal information. That list usually answers the platform question. If you'd like a second opinion, our enterprise automation team works with n8n and UiPath and can assess your backlog, recommend the layer for each item and design the controls around it. Contact us to book an integration assessment.
