n8n vs Zapier vs Make Pricing in 2026: Which Automation Platform Is Cheapest?

Quick verdict: Automation pricing is a counting game before it’s a price game. Zapier charges for every step (1 task = 1 successful action), Make charges per module action (credits), and n8n charges per whole workflow run (1 execution, however many steps it contains) — with a free self-hosted edition neither rival offers. Priced on identical real workloads below: Make is cheapest for most small businesses ($9/mo covers a lot), n8n wins as workflows get wider and more complex (and wins outright if you’ll self-host), and Zapier is the premium you pay for simplicity and its 9,000-app directory. Prices checked October 14, 2026; n8n prices are in euros on its site, with dollar equivalents approximated.

The three counting systems at a glance

	n8n	Zapier	Make
Billable unit	1 execution = 1 full workflow run	1 task = 1 successful action step	1 credit ≈ 1 module action (routers/filters free)
Free tier	Self-hosted Community: free, unlimited	100 tasks/mo, 2-step Zaps only	1,000 credits/mo, full scenarios
Entry paid tier	Cloud Starter ~€20/mo (~$22), 2,500 executions	Pro from $19.99/mo billed yearly, 750 tasks	Core $9/mo billed yearly, 10,000 credits
Self-hosting	Yes — core product, fair-code license	No	No (enterprise options aside)
Ease of use	Most technical of the three	Easiest	In between

The fair test: identical workloads, three bills

Take a realistic 5-step automation — trigger, enrich the data, update the CRM, send a notification, log to a spreadsheet — and run it at two volumes. Watch what the counting rules do (annual-billing prices):

Workload	n8n	Zapier	Make
2,000 runs/mo (10,000 step-actions)	Cloud Starter ~€20/mo (~$22) — 2,500 executions included; self-hosted: server cost only (~€5–20/mo)	~$103–129/mo — because 10,000 tasks is what you’re actually buying	$9/mo — Core’s 10,000 credits cover it
10,000 runs/mo (50,000 step-actions)	Cloud Pro ~€50/mo (~$55) — 10,000 executions included	~$289/mo on its task ladder	~$16/mo — Pro tier’s larger credit bundle

Two lessons fall out of the table. First, width is what Zapier taxes: the smarter and more multi-step your automations get, the faster its bill climbs — our Zapier vs Make head-to-head showed the same effect in two-platform form. Second, n8n’s bill barely notices width at all — a 3-step and a 30-step workflow cost the same per run, which is why data-heavy and AI-heavy automations (where one run might include several model calls) gravitate to it. One counting caveat that cuts the other way: n8n sub-workflows called from a parent workflow count as separate executions, so very modular builds inflate run volume.

Where each platform actually wins

Make — cheapest for the classic small-business workload

For form-to-CRM-to-email style automations at low-to-mid volume, nothing touches Core at $9/mo billed yearly, and the free plan (1,000 credits) is a working tool rather than a tour. Make stays our default recommendation for most businesses — it anchors the automation slot in our under-$100 small business stack for exactly this reason.

n8n — the power user’s escape hatch

n8n wins three contests at once: complex workflows (per-execution pricing), AI automations (AI nodes and agents run on all cloud plans, with built-in model usage metered by a separate Assistant-credit allowance — 1,600/mo on Starter), and sovereignty (self-host the Community Edition free on a ~€5–20/mo server and your execution count becomes your own hardware problem, not a pricing tier). The costs are real but non-monetary: it’s the most technical builder of the three, you maintain the server if you self-host, and its app directory is smaller than Zapier’s. Note the license honestly: n8n is “fair-code” (Sustainable Use License), not open source — free to self-host for your own business use, with restrictions on reselling it as a service.

Zapier — you pay for not thinking about any of this

Zapier’s premium buys the easiest builder, the AI Copilot, and 9,000+ integrations. For a business running a handful of simple two-step automations, its bill stays modest and its learning curve is near zero. The pricing only turns hostile when workflows multiply steps or volume — which, for a growing business, is a “when,” not an “if.”

The verdict by workload

• Simple automations, low volume, non-technical owner: Zapier (or Make free, if budget leads).
• Standard small-business automation at any real volume: Make — cheapest cloud option, full stop.
• Complex, branching, AI-heavy or data-heavy workflows: n8n Cloud Pro (~€50/mo) — per-execution pricing was built for you.
• Technical owner, tight budget, maximum control: n8n self-hosted — the platform is free; you pay only for a small server.
• Hundreds of tiny two-step jobs: the one case where per-run pricing loses its edge — Make’s per-action credits usually price this better than n8n executions.

FAQ

Is n8n really free?

The self-hosted Community Edition is free for your own business use under its fair-code license, with unlimited executions — you pay only for hosting (a small VPS runs roughly €5–20/mo). n8n Cloud is the paid, managed version, from ~€20/mo billed yearly. “Free” costs you maintenance time instead of money.

Why is Zapier so much more expensive at scale?

Counting. Zapier bills every successful action step as a task, so a 5-step workflow costs 5 tasks per run; n8n bills the same run as 1 execution and Make lands in between (module actions, with routers/filters free). At 10,000 five-step runs a month, that’s 10,000 n8n executions vs 50,000 Zapier tasks — the tier ladders do the rest.

n8n vs Make: which should a small business start with?

Make, unless you already know you need n8n’s strengths (complex logic, AI agents, self-hosting). Make is cheaper to start, gentler to learn, and its free plan runs real automations. Migrate specific heavy workflows to n8n later if their width makes Make’s per-action counting bite.

Does n8n charge extra for AI features?

AI nodes, agents and MCP are included on all cloud plans under the same per-execution model; the built-in AI Assistant/model usage is metered separately in Assistant credits (1,600/mo on Starter, more on Pro). Bringing your own model API keys keeps AI costs in your own account either way.

Prices verified October 14, 2026: Zapier and Make from official pricing pages; n8n euro prices cross-checked across its pricing page and multiple current listings (dollar figures are approximate conversions — n8n bills in euros). Zapier’s higher task tiers and Make’s Pro credit bundle are per current third-party plan listings. If a figure here has moved, tell us via the Contact page. Some links in our reviews may be affiliate links; rankings are always based on testing, never commissions (see our Affiliate Disclosure).