Zapier vs Make vs n8n: which automation tool should you choose in 2026?

Zapier, Make or n8n: which one should you choose?

It comes down to two questions: who builds the automations, and how many steps they have. n8n gets our highest score (4.3 out of 5) because it bills the whole workflow and can run on your own servers. Make (4.1 out of 5) has the lowest entry price of the three. Zapier (3.5 out of 5) is the easiest to learn and connects to the most apps.

On paper, all three do the same job: an event in one app triggers a chain of actions in others. The real difference lies elsewhere, in what each one counts when it bills you.

Why isn’t comparing list prices enough?

Because the three tools do not sell the same unit. A price “for 10,000” means nothing until you know 10,000 of what.

• n8n counts one execution per full workflow run, whether it has 2 steps or 30.
• Make deducts credits for each operation, meaning each module that runs inside a scenario.
• Zapier counts one task per successful action. The trigger is free; every action after it counts.

The direct consequence: the longer a scenario, the wider the gap between n8n and the other two. On a two-step scenario, the three units come out roughly even.

How much does the same scenario use on each tool?

Here is what the same scenario run 1,000 times in a month consumes, worked out from each vendor’s unit definitions. We assume one credit per operation on Make, which is the case for standard modules; AI modules can use more.

Our reading: this table is the whole comparison in miniature. On the 10-step scenario, n8n Starter has plenty of headroom (1,000 executions out of 2,500). Make Core lands exactly on its 10,000-credit cap. Zapier goes past the 750 tasks of Professional and even the 2,000 tasks of the Team plan: you need a higher tier (tiers go up to 20,000 tasks), and we do not quote that price here because we have not recorded it.

Mind the currencies: n8n lists its prices in euros, Make and Zapier in US dollars.

Which tool has the best free plan?

It depends on what you are willing to manage. All three have a free way in, but not of the same kind.

• n8n: the self-hosted Community Edition is free with no execution cap; you only pay for the server. There is no free Cloud plan, only a trial with no credit card. Full details are in our n8n pricing guide.
• Make: 1,000 credits a month, 2 active scenarios, runs every 15 minutes at most, 5 MB max file size.
• Zapier: 100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps only, 15-minute polling, 1 seat.

If you want to test without installing anything, Make is the most generous: 1,000 credits run a 10-module scenario about a hundred times, which Zapier’s free plan cannot do since it stops at two steps.

Make vs n8n: what is the difference?

Make is a visual editor built for no-code users; n8n goes further, at the cost of real technical skills. We rate Make 4 out of 5 for ease of use, n8n 3 out of 5.

n8n makes up for it in features: AI agents, self-hosting, unlimited users on every plan, up to 20 concurrent executions on Pro. Make has no self-hosting, but its Teams plan at $29 a month billed yearly adds team management and roles.

n8n’s weak spot is the gap between its plans: Pro costs €60 a month for 10,000 executions, then Business jumps to €800 a month. Make’s weak spot is predictability: at high volume, credit usage is hard to forecast, since it grows with every module you add.

Our reading is that the tipping point is the number of steps. A 10-step scenario run 10,000 times fits in n8n Pro (10,000 executions), while on Make it would need something like 100,000 credits.

Zapier vs Make: which is better for a non-technical team?

Zapier if simplicity comes first; Make if budget comes first. Zapier gets our top score for ease of use (5 out of 5) and has the largest integration catalog of the three, which matters when your business apps are niche.

Its Professional plan costs $19.99 a month billed yearly, or $29.99 month to month, for 750 tasks, with multi-step Zaps, premium apps and webhooks. The Team plan, at $69 a month billed yearly, moves up to 2,000 tasks, 25 users and SAML SSO.

Make Core starts at $9 a month billed yearly for 10,000 credits, with unlimited active scenarios and runs every minute. For a team whose automations stay short, Zapier is well worth its price. Once scenarios get longer, the task counter climbs fast.

Where is your data hosted?

This is the criterion that separates the three most clearly for a European company. n8n Cloud stores data in the European Union, on servers in Frankfurt, and self-hosted n8n keeps it wherever you install it. Make runs on AWS and lets you pick an EU zone (eu1, eu2) or a US zone (us1, us2), without stating the exact physical location of the EU zones. Zapier hosts data on AWS in the United States and advertises no EU option.

On compliance, Zapier covers transfers under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and holds a SOC 2 Type II report. Make lists SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001. n8n provides a pre-signed data processing agreement and a public SOC 3 report.

Which one fits your profile?

• You do not code and want to connect your apps quickly: Zapier. It is the simplest, provided US data hosting is fine for you.
• You are a freelancer or a small team on a tight budget: Make. $9 a month billed yearly, and a free plan that lets you build real multi-step scenarios.
• Your workflows have many steps or run thousands of times: n8n. Billing per full workflow changes the order of magnitude of the bill.
• You need control over where your data lives: n8n, on Cloud in Frankfurt or installed on your own servers.
• You are building AI agents: n8n, which offers them alongside workflows, with 2,300 AI credits a month from the Starter plan.

If you are still torn between Make and n8n, run the same scenario on Make’s free plan and on the n8n Cloud trial, then compare what each one counted.