n8n vs Zapier vs Make: The Honest 2026 Comparison

Last Tuesday morning, David spent forty-five minutes explaining to his bookkeeper why their Zapier bill had jumped from $49 to $299 in a single month. The culprit? One automated workflow that had grown from 3 steps to 8 steps. Same number of runs. Triple the cost.

I can only describe his expression as a man discovering his favorite coffee shop now charges per sip.

This is the automation tax nobody warns you about when you’re signing up for that free trial. The platforms that promise to save you time can quietly become one of your biggest software expenses. And the choice between n8n, Zapier, and Make isn’t just about features—it’s about whether you want to rent your automations or own them.

Let me walk you through what actually matters in 2026.

The Philosophy Divide: Control vs. Convenience

Before we dive into pricing tables and feature checklists, understand this: these three platforms represent fundamentally different approaches to automation.

Zapier built a highway. It’s smooth, well-paved, and gets you where you need to go quickly. But you’re paying tolls at every exit, and if you want to take a detour, you’re out of luck.

Make built a network of roads with traffic circles. More complex to navigate initially, but once you understand the flow, you can build sophisticated routes. The tolls are lower, but you’re still renting the road.

n8n handed you the construction equipment. You can build whatever roads you want, wherever you want them. The learning curve is steeper. The payoff is permanent ownership.

Your choice depends on whether you value speed of deployment or long-term control and cost efficiency.

The Pricing Reality Check

Let’s talk about the number that actually matters: what this costs you six months from now.

Zapier: The Simplicity Tax

Zapier charges per “task”—every action your automation performs. That innocent-looking workflow that checks Gmail, creates a Notion page, sends a Slack message, and updates Airtable? That’s 4 tasks. Run it 1,000 times per month, and you’ve consumed 4,000 of your monthly allowance.

The free plan gives you 100 tasks. That’s about 25 runs of a 4-step workflow. For actual business use, you’re immediately looking at $29.99/month (750 tasks) or $73.50/month (2,000 tasks). High-volume operations can easily push you into plans costing $300+ monthly.

The insidious part? Your costs scale with both complexity and volume. Add one more step to optimize your workflow, and you’ve just increased your monthly bill by 25%.

Make: Better Math, Same Model

Make uses “operations” instead of tasks, but the concept is identical. The crucial difference: you get significantly more for your money. The free tier includes 1,000 operations (versus Zapier’s 100 tasks), and the $9/month plan gives you 10,000 operations.

For the same workflow David was running, Make would cost roughly 40-60% less than Zapier. Still a consumption-based model, still scaling with complexity, but the math is considerably friendlier.

n8n: A Different Universe

n8n’s cloud offering charges per workflow execution, not per step. That 10-step workflow? Counts as one execution. That 100-step workflow processing customer data through multiple systems? Still one execution.

The free self-hosted version has no artificial limits whatsoever. Zero. Your only cost is the server it runs on—which can be as little as $5/month for a basic VPS or $0 if you’re running it on existing infrastructure.

The cloud version starts at $20/month for 2,500 executions. For comparison, running 2,500 executions of a 10-step workflow on Zapier would require 25,000 tasks—somewhere in the $500+/month tier.

This isn’t a small difference. This is “pay off your VPS server in a week” different.

Integration Ecosystems: Breadth vs. Depth

Zapier: The Everything Store

Zapier’s superpower is its integration library: 8,000+ apps and counting. If a SaaS tool has more than 100 users, there’s probably a Zapier connector for it. This plug-and-play capability is genuinely magical for non-technical teams.

The limitation? Many of these integrations are shallow. You get the common triggers and actions, but not the full API capabilities. Want to do something slightly off the beaten path? You’re often out of luck.

Make: Quality Over Quantity

Make offers around 2,000 integrations—substantially fewer than Zapier but more than sufficient for most businesses. The advantage: their connectors tend to expose more advanced features and settings.

Make’s visual interface also makes it easier to work with complex data structures, which matters when you’re doing more than simple record creation.

n8n: Infinite Depth

n8n has roughly 400+ official integrations plus hundreds of community nodes. On paper, that’s the smallest library. In practice, it’s the most flexible.

Why? Two reasons:

The HTTP Request node. This is n8n’s wild card. Any service with a REST API—which is virtually everything—can be connected using the generic HTTP node. You build the integration yourself using API documentation. More work upfront, unlimited power long-term.

The Code node. Need to transform data in a way that requires custom logic? Drop in a JavaScript or Python code block. This single feature eliminates about 70% of the “I wish this tool could…” frustrations.

If your priority is connecting popular apps quickly without technical knowledge, Zapier wins. If you need deep customization or to connect to proprietary systems, n8n is in a different league.

Ease of Use: Who Can Actually Use This?

Zapier: Marketing Manager Friendly

Zapier’s interface is explicitly designed for non-technical users. If you can think through “when this happens, do that,” you can build a Zap. The wizard-style interface holds your hand through every step.

This accessibility is why Zapier dominates in sales and marketing departments. No developer required.

Make: The Visual Thinker’s Tool

Make’s drag-and-drop canvas lets you see your automation as a flowchart. For workflows with conditional branches, error handling, or parallel processes, this is significantly more intuitive than Zapier’s linear list.

The trade-off: concepts like “routers,” “iterators,” and “aggregators” require more technical understanding. It’s perfect for “power users” who aren’t developers but are comfortable with logic.

n8n: Developer’s Playground (Getting Easier)

n8n has historically been the most technical platform, but recent improvements are changing this. The node-based editor is powerful but can be overwhelming.

The game-changer: n8n’s AI-powered workflow builder. Describe what you want in plain English (“When I get a Stripe payment, update HubSpot and send a Slack message”), and it generates the basic structure. You still need to configure authentication and specifics, but the intimidation factor drops dramatically.

For teams without technical resources, Zapier remains the easiest path. For teams with even one technically-minded person, n8n’s power-to-complexity ratio is increasingly compelling.

Data Privacy: Who Controls Your Business Logic?

This is where cloud-only platforms reveal a fundamental limitation.

When you use Zapier or Make, every piece of data flowing through your automations passes through their servers. Your API credentials, customer data, financial records—all processed and stored on third-party infrastructure.

For many businesses, this is fine. Both companies invest heavily in security. But for healthcare organizations, financial institutions, or any business handling sensitive data, this is a compliance nightmare.

n8n’s self-hosting capability changes the equation entirely. Deploy it on your own server, and your data never leaves your control. For GDPR, HIPAA, or CCPA compliance, this isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s often a legal requirement.

This is why you’ll find n8n in hospitals, banks, and European government agencies. It’s the only automation platform where “data sovereignty” isn’t marketing speak.

When to Choose Each Platform

Choose Zapier If:

• Your team is non-technical and needs results immediately
• You’re connecting popular SaaS tools with simple, linear workflows
• Your automation volume is low and unlikely to scale dramatically
• You’re willing to pay a premium for maximum convenience

Real-world fit: Small marketing agencies, solo consultants, early-stage startups automating basic lead flows.

Choose Make If:

• You need visual workflow mapping for complex, branching logic
• Your workflows are moderately sophisticated but don’t require custom code
• You want better value than Zapier but aren’t ready to self-host
• Your team includes “power users” comfortable with technical concepts

Real-world fit: Growing SaaS companies, digital agencies with multiple clients, operations teams managing multi-step processes.

Choose n8n If:

• You have technical resources (or are willing to learn)
• You’re processing high volumes or building complex workflows
• Data privacy and sovereignty are non-negotiable requirements
• You want to build automations that scale without watching your bill explode
• You need to integrate with internal or legacy systems

Real-world fit: Software companies, data engineering teams, healthcare providers, enterprise operations running mission-critical automations.

The Honest Take

Most “comparison” articles end with “it depends on your needs!” while carefully avoiding any actual recommendation. Let me be direct.

If you’re a solo entrepreneur or small team connecting a handful of common apps with simple workflows, Zapier’s convenience is worth the premium. The time saved on setup pays for itself.

If you’re a growing company with increasingly sophisticated workflows but limited technical resources, Make offers the best balance. You get substantially more power than Zapier at a more sustainable price point.

If you have (or can access) technical expertise, are building at scale, or handle sensitive data, n8n isn’t just cheaper—it’s fundamentally more powerful. The initial learning investment pays dividends that compound over time.

The mistake most businesses make is choosing for today instead of six months from now. Zapier is fantastic until you’re spending $400/month on a workflow that would cost $20 on n8n cloud or effectively free self-hosted.

Start simple if you must. But understand the exit costs before you’re locked in.

Your automation platform should work for you, not become another SaaS subscription slowly draining your budget. Choose accordingly.

What automation challenges are you facing? I’d be curious to hear what you’re building and whether you’ve hit limits with any of these platforms.