The thing nobody tells you: they charge in different units
You cannot compare these three by price alone, because they count differently:
- Zapier charges per task: every action step counts.
- Make charges per operation: every step, filter, and action burns a credit.
- n8n charges per execution: one full workflow run counts as one, no matter how many steps.
That difference is huge. A ten-step workflow can cost roughly ten times more on Zapier than on n8n, purely because of how the meter runs.
Side by side
All prices move; confirm on the vendor page before you commit.
| Zapier | Make | n8n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charges by | task (per step) | operation (per step) | execution (per run) |
| Easiest to learn | Yes | Middle | Hardest |
| Entry price | around $30/mo (or $20 billed yearly) | around $10-12/mo | EUR 20/mo cloud, or self-host |
| Run on your own server | No | No | Yes |
| Best for | speed and the biggest app library | cheaper power, if someone learns it | privacy, low cost at scale, no lock-in |
| Lock-in | high | medium | lowest (workflows are portable files) |
Which one to pick
- Solo, non-technical owner: start with Zapier. It is the easiest to learn and connects to the most apps. Accept that the bill climbs as volume grows.
- Small team with an ops person: Make. Far cheaper per step and genuinely powerful, as long as someone will put in the learning time.
- Privacy-sensitive, or you want to avoid lock-in: n8n, self-hosted. It is the only one that keeps your data on your own server, with a flat cost and workflows you can pick up and move. Budget a few hours a month of upkeep and some technical comfort.
The one real warning
On Zapier and Make, a misconfigured loop can quietly run up hundreds or even thousands of dollars in overage charges overnight. Set a spend cap and a usage alert from day one. This is the cost version of the runaway problem in the guardrails resource.