n8n vs Zapier vs Make: which automation tool fits your business?
All three connect your apps so routine work happens on its own, but they suit different people. Here is the honest side-by-side, built only from the facts on each tool's review page.
| n8n | Zapier | Make (formerly Integromat) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Self-hosted Community Edition on GitHub; cloud Starter €20/mo (2.5K executions) and Pro €50/mo (10K), billed annually | Free (100 tasks/mo, two-step Zaps); Pro from $19.99/mo billed annually ($29.99 monthly) for 750 tasks | Free plan with 1,000 credits/mo; paid plans (Core, Pro, Teams) on the official website |
| Cost model | Free plan | Free plan | Free plan |
| Open source | No | No | No |
| License | Sustainable Use License (fair-code); enterprise files under a separate licence | Proprietary SaaS | Proprietary SaaS |
| Level | Intermediate | Beginner | Beginner |
| Best for | Teams with someone technical who want maximum power and control, and the option to host it on their own server. | Non-technical teams who want to automate in minutes and are happy to pay more as volume grows. | People who want visual, multi-branch flows with a usable free plan and no server to maintain. |
n8n
The most powerful way for a small business to automate its routine work, especially self-hosted.
Best for: Teams with someone technical who want maximum power and control, and the option to host it on their own server.
Strengths
- 1,500+ integrations and 9,000+ workflow templates.
- Mix visual building with JavaScript, Python and npm packages.
- Cloud pricing is per workflow execution, regardless of how many steps a workflow has.
- Works with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google or open-source AI models.
Good to know
- Not OSI open source: the licence allows internal business, personal or non-commercial use, but not reselling n8n as a service.
- Self-hosting requires Docker and someone to maintain the server.
Zapier
The easiest start for non-technical teams; costs grow with volume, so watch your task count.
Best for: Non-technical teams who want to automate in minutes and are happy to pay more as volume grows.
Strengths
- Free plan with unlimited Zaps within 100 tasks per month.
- No code, no server, huge app catalogue.
- Pro and Team plans scale from 750 up to 2,000,000 tasks per month.
Good to know
- Free plan allows only two-step Zaps (one trigger, one action).
- High-volume automations become expensive compared with self-hosted tools such as n8n.
Make (formerly Integromat)
More visual and flexible than Zapier for multi-step flows, with a usable free plan.
Best for: People who want visual, multi-branch flows with a usable free plan and no server to maintain.
Strengths
- Free plan with 1,000 credits per month.
- Most actions cost 1 credit, which makes usage easy to estimate.
- Start-up Plan: 50% off Business for organizations under 20 employees.
Good to know
- Some AI features consume more than 1 credit per action.
- Free plan has only 1 MB of data storage.
Which one should you choose?
Pick Zapier to start fastest, Make for visual flows with a free plan, and n8n when you want control or expect high volume. Not sure? Tell us what you want to automate and we will recommend and set it up.
Coming soon: custom bots
We are preparing a service to build bots tailored to your routine, your business or your trading. It is not available yet: follow our Telegram channel to know when it opens.
Sources
- n8n: https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n
- n8n: https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/blob/master/LICENSE.md
- n8n: https://n8n.io/pricing/
- Zapier: https://zapier.com/pricing
- Make (formerly Integromat): https://www.make.com/en/pricing