Blog · 10 November 2026
n8n vs Make vs Zapier: Which Automation Tool to Choose
n8n, Make and Zapier compared on pricing model, control, data privacy and complexity, and how we choose between them when we automate work for clients.
We use all three of these tools with clients, and we don’t have a favourite. Each one is the right answer for a different kind of business. This post explains how they differ and how we decide.
The short answer
- Zapier when you need a simple automation working today and nobody on your team wants to think about it again.
- Make when your workflows have branches, loops and data to reshape, and you want to see the whole flow on one screen.
- n8n when automation is becoming core to how you operate, when volumes are high, or when your data has to stay on your own servers.
How they charge you
The biggest practical difference is what each tool counts when it bills you.
| Zapier | Make | n8n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| You pay per | Task (each action step that runs) | Operation or credit (each module that runs) | Execution (one full run of a workflow) |
| A 10-step workflow run once costs | Up to 10 tasks | Around 10 operations | 1 execution |
| Self-hosting | No | No | Yes, free under its licence |
| Free plan | Yes, limited | Yes, limited | Self-hosted, or a cloud trial |
That one row explains most of the cost stories you’ll read. Zapier and Make charge per step, so a long workflow that runs thousands of times a month gets expensive quickly. n8n charges per run on its cloud plans, and costs only your server if you host it yourself.
Prices change often, so check each tool’s pricing page before you commit. What doesn’t change is the billing unit, and that’s what decides your bill at scale.
Zapier: the fastest way to connect two tools
Zapier has the largest library of ready-made app connections, and it’s the easiest of the three to learn. If a form submission should create a CRM contact and post a message in Slack, someone on your team can build that in an afternoon.
Where it fits: simple, linear tasks such as form notifications, lead capture and syncing a spreadsheet.
Where it struggles: workflows with lots of steps or high volume, because every step is a billed task. Complex logic is possible, but it gets awkward to build and maintain.
Make: visual control over complex flows
Make shows your workflow as a map. You can see where data branches, loops over a list, or gets transformed before it moves on. That makes it easier to build and debug anything more involved than “when this happens, do that”.
Where it fits: multi-step processes with conditions, such as routing enquiries by service, enriching data before it reaches your CRM, or syncing orders between systems.
Where it struggles: very high volumes, where per-operation billing adds up, and teams that need their data kept off third-party servers.
n8n: automation you own
n8n is source-available and can run on your own server, which changes two things. Your data never has to leave infrastructure you control, and your costs stay flat as volume grows. It also has strong support for AI agents and for custom code when a pre-built connection doesn’t exist.
Where it fits: businesses where automation is becoming core infrastructure, workflows with AI steps, high volumes, and regulated data.
Where it struggles: teams with no technical support at all. Self-hosting means someone has to look after updates, backups and monitoring. That’s work we usually take on for clients.
How we choose for a client
We ask four questions:
- How many runs a month, and how many steps each? Multiply them out. If the number is large, per-step billing rules out Zapier and often Make.
- Where must the data live? If customer data can’t sit on a third-party platform, self-hosted n8n is the answer.
- Who will maintain it? If it’s your own non-technical team, Zapier or Make. If it’s us, or a developer, n8n opens up more.
- Is AI part of the workflow? All three can call AI models, but n8n’s agent tools go furthest when an AI step needs to make decisions.
Many businesses end up using two of these: Zapier for quick wins owned by the marketing team, and n8n for the core workflows that run the business.
Next step
If you’re not sure which fits, tell us what you want to automate. We’ll map the workflow, estimate the monthly cost on each tool, and recommend one. Start a project or read more about our workflow automation work.