n8n vs Zapier vs Make in 2026: Small Business Guide
Your Zapier bill tripled in a year, even though you didn't add any automations? That's not a billing error — that's the billing model. The three major automation platforms count money so differently that the same workflow can cost €20 or €900 a month.
At qikdev we build automations on n8n every day — but honestly, it's not for everyone. Here's n8n vs Zapier vs Make without the fanboying.
The short answer: who should pick what
- Zapier — if you have no technical skills and need to connect a couple of popular services fast. Most expensive at volume.
- Make — the middle ground: visual multi-step scenarios at a moderate price.
- n8n — if volumes are growing, you want AI agents, or you need data control (GDPR). The self-hosted version is free.
The key difference: what you're billed for
This is where the trap hides, so let's start with billing, not interfaces.
- Zapier counts tasks: every action in a workflow is a billable unit. A 10-step workflow that runs once burns 10 tasks.
- Make counts operations — also per step, but the tiers are noticeably cheaper.
- n8n counts executions: the whole workflow, even 50 steps long, is one unit.
Per Cipher Projects' math, a 10-step workflow running 10,000 times a month costs 80–90% less on n8n than on Zapier. The longer your workflows, the wider the gap.
2026 pricing
| Free | Entry tier | At 50k tasks/month | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zapier | 100 tasks/mo, 2 steps | from $19.99/mo (750 tasks) | ≈ €1,000 |
| Make | 1,000 operations/mo | $10.59/mo (10,000 ops) | ≈ €280 |
| n8n | self-hosted, no limits | cloud from $20/mo | ≈ €25 (own server) |
The volume figures come from Softomate Solutions' comparison: at 50,000 tasks a month, the difference between Zapier and self-hosted n8n reaches 47x.
While you have few automations, the difference is invisible — Make's free tier (1,000 operations) lasts a small business a long time. The pain starts with growth, and automations tend to multiply.
Zapier: you pay for speed of setup
Zapier's strength is 7,000+ ready-made integrations and genuinely plug-and-play setup. If you need to move form submissions into a spreadsheet once a day, it does the job and you'll never read a manual.
Its weakness is the cost of growth and limited logic: complex branching and data processing quickly hit the platform's ceiling.
Make: the price-to-power balance
Make gives you a visual scenario builder with branching, iterators and array handling — noticeably more powerful logic than Zapier and, per Digital Applied, roughly 60% cheaper at comparable volumes. For a non-technical team with a dozen scenarios, it's a sensible default.
n8n: power and control, but you need hands
n8n is open source. The self-hosted version is free with no limits on steps or users. Inside you get real code when needed (JavaScript/Python), AI agents, and your own models. For European businesses one thing matters most: customer data never passes through a third party, which makes GDPR conversations much simpler.
The price for all this is the entry barrier. n8n needs somewhere to run (a €20–30/month VPS) and occasional updates. Without a technical person or a contractor, self-hosting becomes a chore — in that case take n8n Cloud from $20/month, or stay on Make.
We walked through real scenarios in 5 automations every small business needs — all of them built on n8n.
The honest part: when you shouldn't switch
If you run three automations and they fit in a free tier — don't touch what works. Migrating scenarios between platforms takes hours, and saving €10 a month won't pay for them. Switching to n8n makes sense when your bill passes ~€100/month, your workflows get long, or data requirements appear.
Verdict
Starting out with no tech support — Make. Maximum ready-made integrations, minimum thinking — Zapier. Growth, AI agents and data control — n8n. Not sure which fits your processes? Bring your list of routine tasks to a free 30-minute audit and we'll do the math together. Book a slot.