Side-by-side comparison · Automation & Workflows
Make vs n8n vs Zapier
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
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.
Zapier
4.2Pick it if: Anyone who's sick of copying data between apps and has never written a line of code.
Overview
| Attribute | Make | n8n | Zapier |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | 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. | When something happens in one app, Zapier does the next step in another. No code needed. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Open source | Freemium |
| Starting price | From $9/mo | €20/mo | From $19.99/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 | Make | n8n | Zapier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.3 | 4.5Winner | 4.2 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.0 | 3.5 | 5.0 |
| FeaturesHow much it can do, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.5 | 5.0 | 3.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Make | n8n | Zapier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | – | No | – |
| Desktop app | No | No | No |
| Browser extension | Yes | No | Yes |
| 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 | No | Yes | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | – | Yes | – |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | No | Yes | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | No | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | – | – |
| Capabilities score | 9/ 17 | 10/ 17 | 9/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Make | n8n | Zapier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Learning the canvas and running a couple of light scenarios. | Community Edition Free (self-hosted) Anyone comfortable running software on a server. | Free Free Testing one or two simple automations. |
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. | ProfessionalOur pick From $19.99/mo billed yearly, or $29.99/mo One person running real automations for a business. | |
Pro From $16/mo billed yearly Anyone whose automations have become business-critical. | Pro €50/mo billed yearly Teams running several business-critical workflows. | Team From $69/mo billed yearly, or $103.50/mo A team that shares Zaps and app connections. | |
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 Large companies with security and compliance needs. | |
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 | 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. | Start on Free to confirm your apps connect, then move to Professional on yearly billing. Buy the smallest task tier and let Zapier tell you when you are close to the limit, because it is easy to overestimate how many tasks you need. |
Key features
| Attribute | Make | n8n | Zapier |
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Pros and cons
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Make | n8n | Zapier |
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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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