Zapier, Make or n8n: which automation tool should you choose?

Short answer: choose Zapier if you have little technical knowledge, mainly want simple connections between well-known apps, and your volume stays low. Choose Make if you want to see visually how data flows through your process and you need a bit more logic at a lower price. Choose n8n as soon as your workflows run to multiple steps or your volume grows, because it charges per workflow execution instead of per step. For complex processes, that difference in pricing model delivers savings that can reach eighty or ninety per cent.

Most comparisons between these three focus on the number of integrations. The difference that actually matters lies in how they count.

How the three charge

This is the most important part of this article.

Zapier charges per task. Every action in your workflow counts separately. A Zap with five steps that runs a thousand times costs you five thousand tasks.

Make charges per operation. Similar to Zapier, but each operation is cheaper.

n8n charges per execution. The whole workflow counts as one, however many steps it contains. A twenty-step workflow that runs a thousand times costs you a thousand executions.

For simple connections of two or three steps, that makes little difference. As soon as your processes become more complex, the gap widens fast. In published comparisons from 2026, the same work that costs around $50 to $60 a month on n8n comes out at more than $299 on Zapier.

Side by side

Zapier: choose it for simplicity and low volume

Zapier is the easiest to get started with. The largest range of ready-made connections, the clearest interface, and you don’t need any technical knowledge.

Choose Zapier if you want a handful of simple connections, such as a form submission that lands in a spreadsheet and sends a message in Slack. It’s also the right call if nobody on your team is technical and it has to keep working without help.

Where it pinches: the bill as you grow. Because every step counts, an extensive workflow quickly gets expensive. Companies that start on Zapier and expand their processes often reach a point where the monthly invoice is out of all proportion to what’s actually happening.

Make: the middle ground

Make uses a visual view in which you can watch your data move from block to block. If you want to understand your processes as well as set them up, that’s a real plus. Branches, filters and loops are easier to set up than in Zapier, and the price per operation is lower.

Choose Make if you have processes with multiple branches, you want to check visually what’s happening, and you have more volume than Zapier can handle affordably.

Where it pinches: with truly complex logic you still hit limits, and you remain dependent on their cloud.

n8n: choose it for volume, complexity or sensitive data

n8n is open source. You can use it in their cloud or run it on your own server. In the second case, you pay only for your server, which comes to roughly $10 to $20 a month, and the number of executions is unlimited.

Three reasons to choose it.

The pricing model. Per execution instead of per step. The more complex your workflows, the bigger the difference.

Your own code. You can add JavaScript or Python wherever a standard block falls short. That removes the ceiling you run into with the other two.

Your data. If you run it yourself, your data never leaves your own environment. For anyone working with patient data, case files or HR data, that’s often the deciding argument.

Where it pinches: the learning curve. n8n expects you to understand what an API is and how data flows from one step to the next. Self-hosting also means you’re responsible for updates and back-ups. The range of ready-made integrations is smaller, although a generic HTTP step covers a lot of ground.

A worked example

Say an enquiry comes in, gets enriched with company data, lands in your CRM, is assigned a task, sends a confirmation to the customer and a notification to your salesperson. Six steps. Five hundred enquiries a month.

On Zapier: three thousand tasks a month. That’s far above the entry plans.

On n8n: five hundred executions. That fits within the cheapest paid plan, or costs you nothing on top of your server if you self-host.

Same work, very different invoice. That’s why we usually end up on n8n for clients with real process automation.

What we recommend in practice

Start with the process, and pick the tool after that.

Write down what happens by hand today, how often, and how much time it takes. Only then does it become clear whether you need a simple connection or a real process.

For one-off connections between standard tools, Zapier is fine and you’ll be done within the hour. For processes at the heart of your business, or where volume or sensitive data is involved, we build on n8n.

With us, this falls under AI and automation. We charge automation work at €90 an hour or as a fixed estimate per project. A custom web app or internal tool starts from €3,600, quoted in phases.

Not sure yet which processes lend themselves to automation? That’s what an AI audit is for.

Frequently asked questions

Is n8n free?

The Community Edition is, if you host it yourself. You then pay for your own server, roughly $10 to $20 a month. The hosted cloud version starts at around $20 a month. Self-hosting requires technical maintenance, so a free licence still costs you time.

Can I switch from Zapier to n8n?

Yes, but not at the push of a button. Workflows need to be rebuilt. You can carry the logic over, but you rebuild the structure. For a handful of workflows, allow a few days of work.

Which is best for AI agents?

n8n, mainly because you can add your own code and its pricing model doesn’t penalise the fact that AI workflows often involve many steps. Zapier and Make now have AI features too, but there every step counts towards your bill.

What if I don’t have a technical team?

Then Zapier or Make is the safest choice for anything you manage yourself. If you still want n8n for the cost savings, have a partner set it up and maintain it. Otherwise, within a year you’ll have a stalled process that nobody can fix.

How much can I save?

That depends entirely on the number of steps per workflow and the volume. For simple connections with low volume, the difference is small. For complex processes at scale, published comparisons report savings of eighty to ninety per cent compared with Zapier. Run the numbers with your own figures before you switch.

In short

The feature lists of these three look very similar. Their pricing models differ sharply, and those decide your invoice.

Few steps and low volume: Zapier. More logic at a lower price: Make. Many steps, high volume or sensitive data: n8n.

Whether you build this yourself or have it built is a separate trade-off. That’s covered in Freelancer, agency or in-house.

Not sure what the smartest choice is in your case? Run your process past us. We’ll do the maths with your own figures, and sometimes the answer is that your existing tool is enough.