Zapier vs. Make vs. n8n for Small Businesses: Which One Fits Your Actual Workflow Volume in 2026
If you're running fewer than roughly 2,500 simple automation steps a month and don't mind a bit of setup, Make's Core plan is the cheapest entry point at $12/month. If your volume is already unpredictable or growing fast and someone on your team can manage a small server, n8n's self-hosted Community Edition removes the monthly-volume ceiling entirely — you only pay for hosting. Zapier costs more per action almost everywhere on this list, but its 9,000+ app library and live-chat support are real advantages if nobody on staff has time to debug a workflow. There is no single "best" tool here — the right one depends on how much you run and how much setup time you're willing to trade for a lower bill.
What You're Actually Choosing Between
All three tools do the same basic job: they watch for an event in one app (a new form submission, a new row, a new email) and then perform actions in other apps automatically, without you writing custom integration code.
Zapier is the oldest and most app-compatible of the three, connecting to more than 9,000 services. It's built for someone who wants to click together a workflow in a few minutes and never think about infrastructure again.
Make (formerly Integromat) uses a visual canvas where you can see data flow between steps, including branches and loops. It's aimed at people who want more control over complex logic than Zapier's straight-line Zaps allow, without writing code.
n8n is the only one of the three that's genuinely free if you're willing to host it yourself. It's open-source, supports custom JavaScript/Python code steps, and is popular with technically comfortable owner-operators who want to avoid recurring per-task fees entirely.
Real 2026 Pricing, Side by Side
Every price below is the vendor's published annual-billing rate for their entry paid tier, confirmed directly on the vendor's own pricing page. Monthly billing (no annual commitment) costs more in all three cases — Zapier and Make list roughly 30-33% more, n8n roughly 17-20% more.
| Tool | Free tier | Entry paid plan | Mid tier | Billing unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zapier | 100 tasks/mo, 2-step Zaps | Professional, from $19.99/mo — 750 tasks/mo, multi-step Zaps | Team, from $69/mo — 25 users, SAML SSO | 1 task = 1 completed action step |
| Make | 1,000 credits/mo, 2 active scenarios | Core, $12/mo — 10,000 credits/mo, unlimited scenarios | Pro, $21/mo — same credits + priority execution | 1 credit = 1 module run |
| n8n | Self-hosted Community Edition: free software, unlimited executions (you pay only for a server) | Cloud Starter, €20/mo — 2,500 executions/mo | Cloud Pro, €50/mo — 10,000 executions/mo | 1 execution = 1 full workflow run, any number of steps |
The billing unit is the detail most owners miss. Zapier and Make charge per step — a five-step workflow running 500 times a month burns 2,500 units on either platform. n8n charges per full workflow run regardless of step count, so that same five-step workflow costs 500 executions, not 2,500. That's why n8n's raw numbers look small next to Zapier's and Make's — they're measuring a different thing.
Size Your Actual Volume Before You Pick a Plan
Before comparing sticker prices, work out what you'd actually spend on each platform for the same job. Use this formula for every workflow you plan to automate:
(steps in the workflow) × (times it runs per day) × 30 = monthly Zapier tasks or Make credits needed
(times it runs per day) × 30 = monthly n8n executions needed, regardless of step count
Example: an order-confirmation workflow that reads a new Shopify order, updates a spreadsheet, and sends a Slack message (3 steps) running 20 times a day needs roughly 1,800 Zapier tasks or Make credits a month (3 × 20 × 30) — but only 600 n8n executions (20 × 30), because n8n counts the whole run once.
Before you commit to an annual plan, list every workflow you actually plan to run today — not the ones you might build someday — and run each through the formula above. Most owners size their plan for imagined future volume instead of real current volume, and end up paying for headroom they never use.
Once you have a monthly total, match it against the table above. Under roughly 750 units a month with simple, single-branch workflows, Zapier's Free or Professional tier is usually enough on its own merits, and you avoid a second tool to learn. Between 1,000 and 10,000 units a month, Make's Core plan is the cheapest way to get unlimited active scenarios. Past 10,000 executions a month, or if your volume swings unpredictably week to week, the math starts favoring n8n's self-hosted Community Edition, where volume no longer changes your bill at all.
Where Each Tool Breaks Down As You Scale
Cost isn't the only variable — each platform has a point where it stops being the easy choice.
Zapier gets expensive fastest per unit of work, and its per-task pricing means a workflow with more steps costs more every time it runs, even if none of those extra steps do meaningful work. It fits best when your priority is speed of setup and breadth of app support, and your automation volume is genuinely light.
Make is the middle ground: cheaper per unit than Zapier for most workloads, with more visual control over branching logic, but you're still capped by a monthly credit allowance and still paying a recurring bill that scales with volume.
n8n removes the volume ceiling on the self-hosted Community Edition, but the cost shows up as your own time: you're responsible for the server, backups, and security updates. n8n's own Cloud plans (from €20/month) exist specifically for owners who want the execution-based savings without managing a server — a middle path between full self-hosting and Zapier-style convenience.
None of the three is a "best" pick in the abstract. A single-person consulting business running a handful of light automations a month is usually better served by Zapier's simplicity than by the setup time n8n requires. A business already running dozens of workflows a day is usually overpaying on Zapier or Make relative to what n8n would cost once the setup time is paid back.
A Two-Week Way to Test Before You Commit
Don't buy an annual plan on the first day. Instead:
- Days 1-3: Rebuild your single highest-value workflow (the one that saves the most manual time today) on each tool's free tier — Zapier Free, Make Free, and n8n's local Docker install or a $5-8/month VPS.
- Days 4-10: Run all three side by side for a full week of real traffic, not test data. Track how many tasks, credits, or executions each one actually consumed.
- Days 11-14: Multiply your real one-week usage by roughly 4.3 to estimate a realistic month, then compare that number against each plan's included allowance and the annual price.
- Before you pay annually: Confirm the specific integrations you need are available on the plan tier you're about to buy — some premium app connections are gated to paid tiers even when the base task allowance would otherwise cover you.
Run the two-week test on your single highest-value workflow before automating anything else — it's the fastest way to find out whether your real usage looks like the example above or nothing like it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the actual difference between a Zapier "task," a Make "credit," and an n8n "execution"?
A Zapier task and a Make credit are both consumed once per completed action step, so a longer workflow costs more each time it runs. An n8n execution is consumed once per full workflow run, no matter how many steps it contains — a 10-step n8n workflow and a 2-step n8n workflow cost the same per run.
Is Make really cheaper than Zapier for the same work?
For most small-business workloads, yes, per unit of automation — Make's Core plan lists 10,000 credits for $12/month, while Zapier's Professional plan starts at 750 tasks for $19.99/month. The comparison only holds if your workflows are similar in step count on both platforms; very simple one-step Zaps narrow the gap.
When does self-hosting n8n make sense for a small business?
It tends to make sense once your monthly volume comfortably exceeds what Make's Core or Zapier's Professional tier includes, or once someone on your team is already comfortable maintaining a small Linux server. Below that, the setup and maintenance time usually isn't worth trading for the savings.
Can I switch platforms later without starting over?
Not automatically — none of the three import another vendor's workflow format directly, so switching means rebuilding each workflow by hand. Most simple workflows take well under an hour to recreate on a different platform once you know the trigger and the actions you need, which is part of why the two-week side-by-side test above is worth doing before you commit to a year of billing on any one tool.
Sources: Zapier, "Plans & Pricing" (zapier.com/pricing), checked September 11, 2026. Make, "Pricing & Subscription Packages" (make.com/en/pricing), checked September 11, 2026. n8n, "Pricing" (n8n.io/pricing), checked September 11, 2026.