n8n vs Make vs Zapier (2026): Free Plans, Real Costs and Which AI Automation Tool Fits a Small Business
n8n vs Make vs Zapier: what each one counts (runs, credits or tasks), what's free, and what a starter plan costs, with currency notes for buyers outside the US. From each maker's own pages on 22 Oct 2026.
No one paid for this, and it has no affiliate links. How we review.
Research-based overview: we have not tested this hands-on yet, so there is no score. Facts come from the makers' own pages, linked below.
On this page
Key takeaways
Verdict: n8n vs Make vs Zapier in short
In n8n vs Make vs Zapier, the biggest difference isn’t the price tag. It’s what each tool counts. n8n counts whole workflow runs, Make counts each action, and Zapier counts tasks. So the same automation can cost very different amounts. We read each maker’s own pricing pages on 22 October 2026.
- Easiest free start: Zapier Free is “$0 /month”, with 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps (a Zap is Zapier’s name for an automation). New accounts get a 14-day Professional trial with no card.
- Most free use on a hosted plan: Make Free gives 1,000 credits a month.
- Free if you can host it: n8n’s Community Edition is “a standard, self-hosted version of n8n… available on GitHub”. You pay for your own server. n8n Cloud (hosted by n8n) starts at €20 a month billed annually.
- Cheapest paid entry: Make Core at $9 a month for 10,000 credits, per Make’s own comparison page. Whether that’s billed monthly or yearly is unconfirmed.
- We don’t name one winner. We haven’t built a test automation yet.
Research-based overview. We have not tested these tools hands-on yet. Everything below comes from each maker’s published pages, checked 22 October 2026. Costs to plan for: self-hosting n8n needs a server (cost depends on your host, unconfirmed), and AI steps can add AI model costs on top.
At a glance: free option, billing unit and cheapest paid plan
| Tool | Free option | What it counts | Cheapest paid plan (as shown) | Currency shown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n8n | Self-hosted Community Edition (free software; you pay for hosting) | Executions: one full workflow run, any number of steps | Starter €20/mo billed annually (2,500 executions) | Euros (€) |
| Make | Free plan: 1,000 credits a month | Credits: most actions use 1 credit | Core $9/mo for 10,000 credits (billing period unconfirmed) | US dollars |
| Zapier | Free plan: 100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps | Tasks | Professional "Starting from $19.99/month" (billing period unconfirmed) | Currency selector (EUR, GBP, INR, JPY, ZAR, SGD and more) |
What we checked
- Read the pricing pages of n8n, Make and Zapier on 22 Oct 2026
- Read Make's own Make-vs-Zapier page and its Help Center note on plans and credits
- Noted each free option, billing unit, cheapest paid plan, trial and currency
- Not done yet: building the same automation in all three
What we checked, and what we haven’t tested yet
We checked prices, billing units, free options, trials and currencies (the list under the table). We have not built anything yet. Before we add a verdict on ease of use, we plan to build the same small-business automation in all three:
- A website form comes in, AI writes a reply, the lead goes into Google Sheets, and the owner gets an email.
- Record how many executions, credits or tasks one run uses.
- Record how long a non-technical person takes to build it.
- Check which AI models work on the free plans without your own API key (a paid account with an AI provider). n8n Starter lists “AI models without API keys”; the others are unconfirmed.
Executions vs credits vs tasks, with one example
Take one run of a 5-step workflow:
- n8n: “An execution is a single run of your entire workflow. It doesn’t matter how many steps are in the workflow.” So it’s 1 execution. (n8n pricing)
- Make: “Every time a module in a scenario performs an action, it consumes credits”, and most actions cost 1 credit. So it’s about 5 credits. Router and error-handler modules aren’t counted. (Make pricing)
- Zapier: counts tasks. How many tasks this 5-step Zap uses is unconfirmed: Zapier’s pricing page doesn’t say, so check Zapier’s help pages before you plan around a number.
Pros and cons
These come from the makers’ own pages. They are not quality claims.
n8n
- Pros: counts whole runs; unlimited users and workflows on all plans; a self-hosting option; hosted plans keep data in the EU (Frankfurt servers); AI agents, MCP (a standard way to connect AI to other tools) and AI nodes from Starter; a cloud trial with no card. (n8n pricing)
- Cons: the Business plan (€667/mo billed annually) is self-hosted only; monthly-billing prices are unconfirmed (the page says “Save 17%” for annual); self-hosting needs some technical skill.
Make
- Pros: a generous Free plan (1,000 credits); a low entry price; AI apps and Make AI Agents “in every paid plan”. (Make vs Zapier)
- Cons: credits are counted per action, so busy workflows use more; “Credits expire at the end of the term”; extra credits cost 25% more than plan credits. (Make pricing, Make Help)
Zapier
- Pros: the most apps (“9,000+ apps”); a free plan; a 14-day trial with no card; prices in many local currencies; separate Agents and Chatbots products with their own free tiers. (Zapier pricing)
- Cons: the free plan only runs two-step Zaps; the price per task changes with volume (the page’s task tiers run from 100 to 2 million tasks).
Pricing compared
As shown on each official page, checked 22 October 2026. n8n’s prices are in euros (€); we don’t convert them, because exchange rates change. Make and Zapier prices are in US dollars.
| Plan | Price shown | Included | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n8n Community Edition | Free software | Self-hosted | Hosting cost is yours | n8n |
| n8n Starter | €20/mo billed annually | 2,500 executions, 5 at once, 1,600 Assistant credits | Hosted by n8n | n8n |
| n8n Pro | €50/mo billed annually | 10,000 executions, up to 50 at once | Hosted by n8n | n8n |
| n8n Business | €667/mo billed annually | 40,000 executions | Self-hosted only; Start-up Plan 50% off for companies under 20 employees, if eligible | n8n |
| n8n Enterprise | Contact sales | Custom | — | n8n |
| Make Free | $0 | 1,000 credits/mo | — | Make |
| Make Core | $9/mo (period unconfirmed) | From 10,000 credits/mo | Up to 300,000 credits/mo | Make vs Zapier, Make Help |
| Make Pro | $16/mo (period unconfirmed) | From 10,000 credits/mo | — | Make vs Zapier |
| Make Teams | $29/mo (period unconfirmed) | From 10,000 credits/mo | — | Make vs Zapier |
| Make Enterprise | Custom | — | — | Make |
| Zapier Free | $0 | 100 tasks/mo | Two-step Zaps | Zapier |
| Zapier Professional | From $19.99/mo (period unconfirmed) | Task tiers | Multi-step Zaps, webhooks, premium apps | Zapier |
| Zapier Team | From $69/mo (period unconfirmed) | Task tiers | 25 users, SAML SSO (company single sign-on) | Zapier |
| Zapier Agents Pro | $33.33/mo ($400 billed annually) | 1,500 activities/mo | Agents Free: 400 activities/mo | Zapier |
| Zapier Chatbots Pro | $13.33/mo ($160 billed annually) | 5 chatbots | Chatbots Free: 2 chatbots | Zapier |
Make’s plan prices come from Make’s own comparison page, because the plan cards on its main pricing page didn’t load in our research. For Zapier’s price, we use Zapier’s own page, not other sites.
Paying from outside the US
- n8n shows prices in euros, and its contract forms cover euros and US dollars. Whether you can pay in another currency is unconfirmed.
- Make shows US dollars. Other currencies are unconfirmed.
- Zapier has a currency selector with EUR, GBP, INR, JPY, ZAR, SGD and more.
AI features in each tool
- n8n: AI agents, MCP and AI nodes from the Starter plan, plus “AI models without API keys” on Starter. (n8n pricing)
- Make: AI apps and Make AI Agents “in every paid plan”. Some AI features use more than 1 credit. (Make vs Zapier, Make pricing)
- Zapier: separate Agents (from $33.33/mo billed annually, with a free tier of 400 activities) and Chatbots (from $13.33/mo billed annually, with 2 free chatbots). (Zapier pricing)
Who it's for
Which one should you pick?
- Non-technical owner who wants it simple: start with Zapier’s free plan, then try the 14-day trial for multi-step Zaps.
- Budget first, happy to learn: try Make’s free plan. Its paid plans start low, but remember credits are counted per action.
- Comfortable with a server, or need data in the EU: n8n. Self-host the free Community Edition, or use n8n Cloud from €20 a month billed annually.
- Just want bookings, reminders and review requests to run on their own? You may not need to learn a tool at all. Skip the setup and get your front desk automated with AIFix. That’s our own service.
Alternatives
- Microsoft Power Automate comes up often in the same searches. We haven’t checked its prices, so they’re unconfirmed here.
- Done for you: AIFix Automation (our own service).
FAQ
Is n8n free?
The self-hosted Community Edition is free software, but you pay for the server you run it on. n8n Cloud starts at €20 a month billed annually. (n8n pricing)
Which is easiest for beginners?
We haven’t tested ease of use yet. On paper, Zapier’s free plan and no-card trial are the simplest start, and it lists the most apps.
Can I pay in my own currency?
Zapier has a currency selector. n8n shows euros, and Make shows US dollars; other currencies for those two are unconfirmed. (Zapier pricing)
Why does the same automation cost different amounts?
Because they count differently. One 5-step run is 1 execution on n8n and about 5 credits on Make. On Zapier it’s counted in tasks (exact number unconfirmed).
Have you tested these tools?
Not yet. This comparison is based on each maker’s published pages.
Sources
- n8n pricing, n8n (checked 22 Oct 2026)
- Make pricing (FAQ on credits, Free plan and payment), Make (checked 22 Oct 2026)
- Make vs Zapier, Make (checked 22 Oct 2026)
- Adjustments to plans and pricing, Make Help Center (checked 22 Oct 2026)
- Zapier pricing, Zapier (checked 22 Oct 2026)
- AIFix Automation, AIFix (checked 22 Oct 2026)
This post was drafted with help from an AI assistant, then checked, edited and approved by Numan Malik.
Numan Malik, Founder, AIFix. Reviewed and approved by Numan before publishing. More about Numan · Editorial policy
