Make vs n8n vs Zapier: which automation tool should you choose?
Make, n8n or Zapier? A 2026 comparison of the three automation tools: verified prices, ease of use, data hosting and SME use cases.
Updated on
I build automations in Make and n8n, and I regularly meet businesses that started out on Zapier. None of the three is "the best" in absolute terms: each wins on specific ground. This comparison is based on the official pricing pages, checked in September 2026, and on what I see in real projects.
Quiz · 1 minute
Make, n8n or Zapier: which one suits you?
Answer the 4 questions to get a recommendation.
The three tools in one sentence
- Zapier: the most accessible. You chain a trigger and actions in a very guided interface.
- Make (formerly Integromat): a visual, diagram-style editor that handles branching, loops and data transformation very well.
- n8n: a "fair-code" tool you can install on your own server, popular for complex workflows and AI agents.
Detailed comparison
| Criterion | Zapier | Make | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of use | Very easy | Intermediate | More technical |
| Advertised integrations | 9,000+ apps | 3,000+ apps | 2,000+ integrations, plus the HTTP node |
| Billing unit | Task | Credit (one module action) | Execution of a full workflow |
| Free plan | 100 tasks a month | 1,000 credits a month, 2 active scenarios | Unlimited when self-hosted |
| Cheapest paid plan | USD 19.99 a month (annual) | USD 9 a month | EUR 20 a month (cloud, annual) |
| Self-hosting | No | No | Yes (Docker, private server) |
| Advanced logic | Decent | Very good | Very good, with code if needed |
| AI agents | Yes | Yes | Yes, very complete AI nodes |
Prices taken from the official pages in September 2026, excluding tax. They change often: check before you commit.
Key point: the billing units are not comparable. Zapier and Make count every step, n8n counts one full execution, however many steps it has. A 10-step workflow run 1,000 times therefore uses about 10,000 tasks or credits on one side, and 1,000 executions on the other.
Zapier: the simplest, the most connected
Zapier is unbeatable for getting started quickly: if a SaaS app exists, it almost always has a Zapier connector. The interface guides you step by step, with no diagram to understand.
Its limits show with complexity and volume. Per-task billing makes long workflows expensive, and conditional logic, although it has improved, remains less readable than in Make or n8n.
- Free plan: 100 tasks a month.
- Professional: from USD 19.99 a month billed annually (750 tasks), USD 29.99 billed monthly.
- Team: from USD 69 a month billed annually.
Who it is for: a freelancer or a small marketing team that wants to connect two or three SaaS tools without spending time on it.
Make: the best power-to-price ratio
Make shows each scenario visually: you can see data flow from module to module, with routers for branching and built-in transformation tools. It is the tool I find most educational for a team that wants to understand what it has built.
- Free plan: 1,000 credits a month, 2 active scenarios, triggered every 15 minutes at most.
- Core: from USD 9 a month for 10,000 credits, unlimited scenarios, one-minute interval.
- Pro and Teams: USD 16 and USD 29 a month for 10,000 credits, with extra features.
Its main limitation is hosting: Make is an online service only. And since every module action uses a credit, a poorly designed scenario (a loop over hundreds of items, for example) can drain a quota faster than expected.
Who it is for: most SMEs that want to automate invoicing, reminders, CRM or reporting, with a non-technical team that needs to be able to read the scenarios.
n8n: flexibility and control over your data
n8n is the only one of the three you can install on your own server. For a fiduciary firm, a practice or a business handling sensitive data, that is often the deciding argument: the instance can run in Switzerland, on infrastructure you control.
n8n is also very comfortable with complex workflows: loops, sub-workflows, JavaScript or Python code when a visual block is not enough, and dedicated AI agent nodes.
- Community (self-hosted): free, under the Sustainable Use License.
- Cloud Starter: EUR 20 a month billed annually, 2,500 executions.
- Cloud Pro: EUR 50 a month billed annually, 10,000 executions.
Two things to know before choosing n8n. First, "free" does not mean "no cost": you need a server, backups, updates and monitoring. Second, the licence allows internal use and consulting work, but forbids reselling hosted n8n as a service to your own clients.
Who it is for: a business with confidentiality constraints, large volumes or AI projects, which has at least some technical skills in-house or a provider for maintenance.
Which tool to choose for your situation?
| Your situation | My choice |
|---|---|
| Connecting a few SaaS tools, with no technical skills | Zapier |
| SME automating its administrative processes | Make |
| Sensitive data, hosting in Switzerland preferred | Self-hosted n8n |
| Large volume of repetitive processing | n8n |
| AI agents and complex business logic | n8n, or Make for a simpler need |
| Marketing team with many SaaS tools | Zapier or Make |
My view
If I had to keep only one for a Swiss SME without an IT department, I would most often start with Make: it is affordable, visual, and powerful enough for the vast majority of administrative processes.
I switch to n8n as soon as the data is sensitive or the volume becomes significant. The cost of a server and its maintenance is then more than offset by control over hosting and the absence of per-step billing.
Zapier remains excellent, but I keep it for simple, low-volume needs: for the same volume, it almost always ends up more expensive than its two competitors.
The real risk, in fact, is not choosing the "wrong" tool. It is automating a poorly defined process, or delivering workflows nobody knows how to take over. That is why I train teams in my n8n and Make training in Geneva.
Still unsure about a specific case? I build n8n and Make automations in Geneva and help you decide based on your own processes. To go further, read my guide to business automation with AI or my definition of the webhook (in French), the basic building block of most workflows.
Useful sources
- Zapier, official pricing page
- Make, official pricing page
- n8n, official pricing page and integrations catalogue
- n8n Docs, Sustainable Use License
Frequently asked questions
What I’m asked most often
- Which is cheapest: Make, n8n or Zapier?
- For low volumes, Make is often the cheapest of the online services: the free plan includes 1,000 credits a month and the first paid plan starts at USD 9. n8n is free when self-hosted, but you then have to pay for and maintain a server. Zapier is generally the most expensive for the same volume.
- Is n8n really free?
- The n8n community edition is free if you host it yourself, for internal use within your company. Its licence (Sustainable Use License) does, however, forbid reselling n8n as a hosted service to clients. The n8n cloud version is paid, from EUR 20 a month billed annually.
- Do I need to know how to code to use n8n?
- Not for everyday workflows, which are built from visual blocks. Being able to read JSON and write a few lines of JavaScript helps a lot as soon as data needs transforming. That is what makes n8n more technical than Zapier.
- Where is the data hosted with Make, Zapier and n8n?
- Make and Zapier are online services: data passes through their servers. n8n can be installed on a server you control, for example in Switzerland. Bear in mind, though, that every connected application, and every AI service called, also receives part of the data.
- Can I move from Zapier to Make or n8n?
- Yes, but there is no reliable automatic import: workflows have to be rebuilt. It is a good opportunity to document and simplify them. Factor in rebuilding and testing time before comparing subscriptions.
Written by
Thierry Barbezat
Independent consultant in Geneva. Co-owner of an SME for ten years before moving full-time into automation, web design and SEO. CAS in digital communication from the University of Geneva, certified in n8n and Make.
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