The three serious automation platforms differ less in what they can do than in how they price it and how much complexity they let you express.
Short answer
Zapier for the widest app coverage and the gentlest learning curve. Make for real branching logic at a much lower cost per run. n8n if you want to self-host, control your data, or build agent-style workflows. Start on Zapier, move when the task limit bites.
Side by side
| Feature | Zapier | Make | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Non-technical teams automating between SaaS apps | More complex automations at a lower running cost | Technical teams who want control, self-hosting or data residency |
| Pricing | Free 100 tasks/mo; Professional from $19.99/mo; Team from $69/mo | Free 1,000 credits/mo; Core $12/mo; Pro $21/mo; Teams $38/mo | Self-hosted community edition free; Cloud Starter from €20/mo (annual); Pro from €50/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Automation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Thousands of apps including Gmail, Slack, Sheets, HubSpot, QuickBooks | 3,000+ apps, HTTP module for anything else | 400+ nodes, HTTP request node, custom code steps |
| Facts checked | 28 August 2026 | 28 August 2026 | 28 August 2026 |
| Go to tool | Try tool | Try tool | Try tool |
The pricing models are the real difference
Zapier charges per task, where a task is one action — a three-step workflow consumes three tasks per run, so its free 100 tasks is roughly 33 runs a month. Make charges credits with far more headroom but enforces a 15-minute minimum interval between runs on the free plan. n8n’s self-hosted community edition has no usage cap at all, but you carry the infrastructure.
Who should use which
Zapier
Non-technical teams, first automations, and any case where an obscure app connector decides the outcome.
Make
Anyone who has outgrown linear workflows, or whose volume makes per-task pricing painful.
n8n
Technical teams, data residency requirements, agencies building for clients, and agent-style workflows where a model chooses the next step.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheapest?
n8n self-hosted, if you already have somewhere to run it and someone to maintain it. Otherwise Make is usually cheapest per unit of work at moderate volume.
Can I migrate later?
Not automatically — workflows do not transfer between platforms. Document what you build so a rebuild is a rewrite rather than an archaeology project.