n8n vs Zapier vs Make — Workflow Automation Detailed Comparison 2026

The three billing models are completely different. Understanding this is essential for choosing the right platform.

Billing Models Explained

Zapier: Task-Based Pricing

Definition: Every action = 1 task. Branching, conditions, transformations add tasks.

Example workflow:
Trigger: Lead in Salesforce = 1 task
Branch: IF value > $5000 = 1 task
Action: Create in Google Sheets = 1 task
Action: Send Slack = 1 task
────────────────────────────
Per execution: 4 tasks

250 leads/month = 1,000 tasks/month
Cost: Professional plan = $69.99/month minimum

Pricing:

• Free: 100 tasks/month
• Starter: 750 tasks/month = $29.99
• Professional: 2,000 tasks/month = $69.99
• Team: 50,000 tasks/month = $799+

The Zapier trap: Complex logic explodes costs. A workflow with 3-way branching can cost $200+/month.

Make: Operation-Based Pricing

Definition: Only API calls and transformations count. Webhooks are free.

Same workflow:
Webhook Trigger = 0 operations
Parse JSON = 1 operation
HTTP to Salesforce = 1 operation
Branch evaluation = 0 operations
Google Sheets = 1 operation
Slack = 1 operation
────────────────────────────
Per execution: 4 operations

250 leads/month = 1,000 operations
Cost: FREE (free plan includes 1,000)

Pricing:

• Free: 1,000 ops/month
• Basic: 10,000 ops/month = €9
• Standard: 100,000 ops/month = €29
• Pro: 1,000,000 ops/month = €99

Make advantage: Webhook-driven automations are essentially free.

n8n: Execution-Based Pricing

Definition: One workflow run = one execution, regardless of nodes.

Same workflow:
Webhook trigger + all nodes = 1 execution

250 leads/month = 250 executions
Self-hosted: $0
Cloud: $0 (free plan covers 5,000 executions)

Pricing:

• Self-hosted: $0 (unlimited)
• Cloud Free: $0 (5,000 executions/month)
• Cloud Starter: $22/month (10,000 executions)
• Cloud Business: $110+/month (unlimited)

Real-World Cost Scenarios

Scenario 1: Simple Salesforce to Sheets

Setup: 100 leads/month → Google Sheets

Zapier: 200 tasks × (1 lead frequency) = Starter plan $29.99/month

Make: 100 operations = FREE

n8n Cloud: 100 executions = FREE

Winner: Make or n8n (30× cheaper than Zapier)

Scenario 2: 5,000 Executions/Month KMU

Setup: 10 workflows, mixed complexity

Zapier: ~15-20k tasks estimated = Team plan €799+/month

Make: ~10-15k operations = Standard plan €29/month

n8n Cloud: 5,000 executions = €22/month (or €0 self-hosted)

n8n Self-hosted: €10-20/month server = €10-20/month

Winner: n8n Self-hosted (€10) or Make (€29)

Zapier costs 25-75× more.

Scenario 3: Enterprise (100k+ executions)

Zapier: 200k+ tasks = €2-5k/month

Make: 100-150k operations = €99/month

n8n Self-hosted: €300-700/month (includes DevOps)

Winner: Make (€99) for simplicity, n8n self-hosted if you have DevOps.

Feature Comparison

GDPR & Privacy

n8n Self-Hosted (Best for GDPR)

✅ Full compliance:

• All data stays on your infrastructure
• Never transmitted to third parties
• You control encryption
• No data storage at n8n servers

⚠️ Requirement: You need a Linux server (€10-50/month)

Make (Conditional)

⚠️ Issues:

• Data flows through Make servers (USA/EU mix)
• Without Enterprise DPA: not GDPR compliant for customer data

✅ Solution:

• EU Business Plan with DPA (€50-100 extra)

Zapier (Not suitable for customer data)

❌ Problems:

• All data → Zapier US servers
• Without Enterprise: no GDPR protection
• Storage in USA (Privacy Shield issues)

✅ Only with:

• Enterprise plan (€2k+/month) + DPA negotiations
• Still no EU residency guarantee

GDPR Ranking for sensitive data:

1. n8n Self-Hosted (100% compliant)
2. Make Business + DPA (80% compliant)
3. n8n Cloud (70% compliant)
4. Zapier Enterprise (50%, very complex)
5. Standard Zapier/Make (0%, unsuitable)

Decision Framework

Choose n8n Self-Hosted if you need:

• GDPR compliance for customer data
• Unlimited workflows (cost doesn't scale)
• Local AI integration (Ollama)
• Full control over infrastructure
• To avoid vendor lock-in

Choose Make if you need:

• Fast setup (no DevOps needed)
• Budget €20-100/month
• 1,000-100,000 operations/month
• Visual workflow builder
• EU-based company (even without DPA)

Choose Zapier if you need:

• Absolute non-technical setup
• Largest integration ecosystem
• Don't mind high costs
• Enterprise support is critical

Integration Quality

The top 50 business apps (Salesforce, HubSpot, Stripe, Google, Slack) have native integration in all three platforms. Differences emerge with niche apps—but both Make and n8n can call any API via HTTP.

Real impact: You probably don't need Zapier's 7,000 integrations. 500 in n8n covers 95% of real use cases.

Self-Hosting Comparison

n8n Self-Hosted:

• Setup: 30 minutes (Docker Compose)
• Maintenance: 1h/month
• Cost: €10-50/month server
• Scalability: Unlimited (horizontal scale)

Make: Not self-hostable

Zapier: Not self-hostable

AI Integration

n8n (Best)

Native Claude, OpenAI, Ollama nodes. Call any LLM directly.

Claude Node:
  Model: claude-opus-4-6
  Input: {{$json.email}}
  Output: {{$json.classification}}

Cost: €0 (AI API calls billed separately to your account)

Make

OpenAI native, others via HTTP. Adequate but less seamless.

Cost: Each AI call consumes operations (included in operations budget)

Zapier

OpenAI only, each call = extra tasks.

Cost: 100 AI calls = 100 Zapier tasks = €69.99+ plan required

Recommendation by Size

Startup (< €50/month):

• n8n Cloud Free or self-hosted
• 1,000 executions free or unlimited

KMU (€50-300/month):

• Make Standard (€29) for speed
• n8n Self-hosted (€20) if you have DevOps
• Start Make, migrate to n8n if costs grow

Enterprise (€500+/month):

• n8n Self-hosted: Full control, unbounded growth
• Make: Backup platform for redundancy

Migration Path

Zapier → n8n/Make:

• 20 workflows = 1-2 days migration
• 90% cost savings ongoing
• ROI in first month

Make → n8n:

• No data export (rebuild workflows)
• 1h per workflow
• Worth it after 5,000 executions/month

Checklist

• Estimate monthly executions/operations
• Processing customer data? → n8n Self-hosted required
• Team has DevOps skills? → n8n Self-hosted saves money
• Budget < €50? → n8n Cloud Free
• Budget €20-200? → Make
• Budget unlimited? → n8n Self-hosted
• Trial both platforms
• Calculate 12-month cost
• Decide and commit

Advanced: Multi-Platform Strategy (Enterprise)

Companies processing 50,000+ executions/month often use hybrid:

Make (Primary):
  - 30,000 operations/month = €99 (flexible, fast setup)
  - Used for: Marketing automation, simple workflows

n8n Self-Hosted (Secondary):
  - Complex workflows, GDPR-sensitive data
  - Cost: €300-500/month (includes DevOps)
  - Used for: Finance, HR, customer data processing

Zapier (Backup):
  - Rarely used—only for integrations not in others
  - Cost: €150/month (minimal usage)

Total: €550/month for redundancy + flexibility

Alternative (cost-optimized):

n8n Self-Hosted (Only):
  - 50,000 executions/month = €0 (unlimited, self-hosted)
  - Cost: €20-50/month (server only)
  - Downside: DevOps time investment

Result: 90% cost reduction vs. Make+Zapier hybrid

Workflow Migration Guide

From Zapier to Make

Duration: 1-2 days Difficulty: Medium

Mapping:

Zapier Task = Make Operation
Zapier Sub-step = Make Sub-operation

Zapier "Condition" = Make "Router" module
Zapier "Filter" = Make "Router" module
Zapier "Formatter" = Make "Text" module + "Set" module

Issues likely:

• Zapier conditionals are simpler (Make needs explicit routing)
• Make's operation counting is stricter—some workflows cost less
• Data format conversions (Zapier JSON → Make operations)

From Make/Zapier to n8n

Duration: 1-5 days (depending on workflow complexity) Difficulty: Hard (no direct export)

Manual process:

1. Document each Zapier step
2. Map to n8n node equivalents
3. Create n8n workflow from scratch
4. Test each node
5. Test full workflow
6. Deploy
7. Monitor first 48 hours

Why no direct migration tool? Billing models differ fundamentally. Zapier's "task" concept doesn't map to n8n's "execution" concept.

Benchmarking: Real Company Costs

SaaS Company (5,000 executions/month)

Setup: Salesforce → HubSpot → Google Sheets → Slack notifications

Zapier:

• Lead sync: 5 tasks/lead × 500 leads = 2,500 tasks
• Branch checking: 500 tasks
• Notifications: 500 tasks
• Total: 3,500 tasks
• Plan: Professional (€69.99/month)

Make:

• Webhook: 0 ops
• Salesforce query: 500 ops
• HubSpot create: 500 ops
• Sheets append: 500 ops
• Slack send: 500 ops
• Total: 2,000 ops
• Plan: Free! (includes 1,000 ops, overage €10 for 1,000 ops)
• Actual cost: €10-20/month

n8n (Self-hosted):

• One execution per lead
• Total: 500 executions
• Cost: €0 (self-hosted)
• Server: €20/month

Winner: n8n self-hosted (€20/month) or Make (€10-20)

Zapier: 3-7x more expensive than alternatives.

Non-profit (10,000 executions/month, limited budget)

Setup: Donation processing, thank you emails, donor reports

Zapier:

• Donations: 10,000 tasks
• Processing: 5,000 tasks
• Emails: 10,000 tasks
• Total: 25,000 tasks
• Plan: Team (€799/month)

Make:

• Operations: ~15,000
• Plan: Standard (€29/month)
• Budget: €29/month ✓

n8n (Self-hosted):

• Cost: €20/month (server)

n8n wins for budget-conscious orgs.

Integration Ecosystem Depth (2026)

Detailed comparison of top 30 business apps:

Practical: For 95% of use cases, integration availability is equal. Differences matter only for niche apps.

Decision Tree (2026)

START
│
├─ Processing customer data (GDPR)?
│  └─ YES → n8n self-hosted (ONLY option)
│
├─ NO: Budget < €50/month?
│  └─ YES → Make (€29) or n8n Cloud Free
│
├─ NO: Budget €50-300?
│  └─ YES → Make (€29) + maybe self-hosted later
│
├─ NO: Budget > €300/month?
│  └─ YES → n8n self-hosted (cheaper long-term)
│
├─ NO: Need absolute non-technical setup?
│  └─ YES → Zapier (but expect high cost)
│
└─ COMPLEX INTEGRATIONS (20+ apps)?
   └─ All equal, choose by budget

Vendor Lock-In Risk Analysis

n8n: Low risk

• Workflows export as JSON
• Can run anywhere (Docker)
• Community-friendly

Make: Medium risk

• No export function
• Rebuild on new platform if needed (1h per workflow)
• Data within Make (can export via API)

Zapier: High risk

• No export
• Task history stuck in Zapier
• Rebuilding on new platform mandatory

Recommendation: Avoid Zapier long-term unless irreplaceable integrations.

Performance Comparison

Execution speed (how fast workflows run):

Real-world: All three are fast enough for business workflows. Pick by cost, not speed.

2026 Trend: AI Integration

n8n: Native Claude, OpenAI, Ollama nodes Make: OpenAI only, others via HTTP Zapier: OpenAI only, expensive

Example: Classify 1,000 customer messages/month

n8n + Ollama (local):
  Cost: €0 (model runs locally)
  Latency: 0.5s/message

Make + OpenAI:
  Cost: €0.30-0.50 (API calls included in operations)
  Latency: 1-2s/message

Zapier + OpenAI:
  Cost: €200+ (each call = Zapier task)
  Latency: 2-3s/message

n8n AI integration = 10-20x cheaper.

Recommendation by Use Case (Final 2026 Ranking)

E-commerce (Customer data, automation)

1. n8n self-hosted (cost, GDPR)
2. Make (simplicity if EU)
3. Zapier (avoid—too expensive)

Nonprofits (Budget-tight)

1. n8n self-hosted (free at scale)
2. Make Standard (€29/month)
3. Zapier (not viable)

Startups (Growth-focused)

1. Make (quick setup, scale as revenue grows)
2. n8n Cloud Free (if engineering team available)
3. Zapier (only if integrations unavailable elsewhere)

Enterprise (Complex, compliance-critical)

1. n8n self-hosted (full control, GDPR ready)
2. Make + n8n hybrid (redundancy)
3. Zapier (avoid—legal risk on costs)

Our recommendation: Start with Make (€29) for simplicity and flexibility. When you reach 5,000+ executions/month or need GDPR compliance, migrate to n8n self-hosted (~€20-50). This path optimizes cost while maintaining flexibility and avoiding early commitment.

Sources and Links

• n8n Workflow Automation
• Make (formerly Integromat)
• Zapier Automation
• n8n Self-Hosted Documentation