Side-by-side comparison · Automation & Workflows
Activepieces vs Make vs n8n
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Activepieces
4.0Pick it if: Small teams who like how Zapier works but want to own their automations or avoid per-task pricing.
Make
4.3Pick it if: Marketers and operators who've outgrown simple automations and want to see what their workflows are doing.
n8n
4.5Pick it if: Teams that want full control of their data and automations, or anyone building AI agents on a budget who doesn't mind getting a bit technical.
Overview
| Attribute | Activepieces | Make | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | A Zapier-style automation builder that's open source and charges per run, not per step. | Draw automations as a flowchart, with branches and loops, for less than Zapier charges. | Build automations and AI agents on a visual canvas, then host them yourself for free. |
| Pricing model | Open source | Freemium | Open source |
| Starting price | $20/mo flat | From $9/mo | €20/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Activepieces | Make | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0 | 4.3 | 4.5Winner |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| FeaturesHow much it can do, and how well the pieces fit together. | 3.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Activepieces | Make | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | – | No |
| Desktop app | No | No | No |
| Browser extension | No | Yes | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | Yes | No | Yes |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | – | – | Yes |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | Yes | No | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | No | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | – |
| Capabilities score | 10/ 17 | 9/ 17 | 10/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Activepieces | Make | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Small teams getting started, or anyone who will self-host. | Free Free Learning the canvas and running a couple of light scenarios. | Community Edition Free (self-hosted) Anyone comfortable running software on a server. |
PlusOur pick $20/mo flat A small business running automations every day. | CoreOur pick From $9/mo billed yearly One person automating a small business. | StarterOur pick €20/mo billed yearly A small business that wants n8n hosted for them. | |
Team $200/mo flat A larger team that needs SSO and roles. | Pro From $16/mo billed yearly Anyone whose automations have become business-critical. | Pro €50/mo billed yearly Teams running several business-critical workflows. | |
Ultimate Custom Companies with heavy volume or strict security needs. | Teams From $29/mo billed yearly A team sharing scenarios and connections. | Business €667/mo billed yearly Larger teams that need SSO and version control, self-hosted. | |
Enterprise Custom Companies that need SSO, audit logs and an uptime guarantee. | Enterprise Custom Companies that need an SLA and dedicated support. | ||
| Which plan to pick | The Free plan is unusually generous, so start there. Move to Plus when you want monthly credits instead of a daily cap and the option to use your own AI keys. Self-host only if someone on the team is happy running a server. | Core is enough for most small businesses, and 10,000 credits goes a long way when routers and error handlers are free. Move to Pro if a failed run costs you money and you want priority execution and better logs. | If you have anyone technical on hand, self-host the Community Edition on a small server and pay nothing. Otherwise Starter on the cloud is the right place to begin, and 2,500 executions covers a lot when each run of a long workflow counts as one. |
Key features
| Attribute | Activepieces | Make | n8n |
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Pros and cons
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Activepieces | Make | n8n |
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How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability. The "Visit" buttons may use affiliate links, which never affect a score.
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