n8n vs Make vs Zapier: how to choose

Take one common workflow: a form submission (the trigger) that is checked, written to the CRM, sent to Slack and confirmed to the customer by email. That's one trigger and four action steps, running 2,000 times a month.

• Zapier: triggers don't count as tasks, so 4 actions × 2,000 runs = 8,000 tasks. That needs the 10,000-task tier: US$129 a month billed annually, or US$193.50 billed monthly. If one of those steps is a built-in Filter or Formatter, which Zapier doesn't count, usage drops to 6,000 tasks and still needs the 10,000-task tier.
• Make: roughly one credit per module per run, so about 5 × 2,000 = 10,000 credits a month, the size of Make's entry paid tiers.
• n8n Cloud: one execution per run, so 2,000 executions. That fits the Starter plan at €20 a month billed annually.
• n8n self-hosted: no per-run charge. You pay for a small server and, more importantly, for someone to maintain it.

The lesson is about scaling, not the specific numbers. On Zapier and Make, adding steps adds cost to every run. On n8n, a 20-step workflow costs the same per run as a 5-step one. That's why long AI workflows (fetch, clean, call a model, check the output, write back, notify) are usually cheaper on n8n.

n8n is source-available under its Sustainable Use License. It allows you to use and modify n8n for your own internal business purposes, or for non-commercial and personal use. It does not let you sell n8n itself as a hosted service to others. Files marked as enterprise (".ee") need a paid n8n licence. For a clinic or a company automating its own processes, the free self-hosted edition is generally fine; an agency building workflows inside a client's own n8n is also normal practice.

All three can retry failed steps and alert someone. The differences show up in bigger workflows:

• n8n has error workflows (a separate workflow that runs when another fails), code nodes in JavaScript and Python, and AI agent nodes that can call tools. Because you can self-host it, execution data stays where you put it.
• Make is strong at visual branching and data mapping, and its scenario editor makes complex flows readable for non-developers.
• Zapier has the largest catalogue of ready-made app integrations and the gentlest learning curve, which is why most teams start there.

This is our first-party opinion from client projects, not a neutral ranking.

• Not every Zapier app has an n8n node. Missing ones are rebuilt with n8n's HTTP Request node against the app's API, which takes longer.
• Zapier's built-in tools (Formatter, Paths, Delay) map to n8n nodes, but the logic often needs restructuring rather than copying.
• Run old and new side by side for a week and compare outputs before switching off the Zap.
• Decide who maintains self-hosted n8n before you migrate: updates, backups and monitoring don't happen on their own.