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Zapier vs Make vs n8n cost calculator

Describe one workflow and see what it costs each month on Zapier, Make, n8n Cloud and self-hosted n8n, counted the way each platform actually bills.

Add up every workflow. One new order, form or email is one run.

Steps after the trigger that read, create or update something.

Trigger
Billing
Who builds the workflows

A team moves Zapier and Make onto their shared-workspace plans.

The work done by hand

What one run costs when a person does it instead. Used to show whether the automation pays for itself.

Adjust assumptions

Plan prices are US list prices. n8n prices in euros, so its plans are converted at the rate below.

Monthly cost by platform

  • Zapier

    $194

    per month

    Plan
    Professional
    Used
    10,000 tasks
    Plan allows
    10,000 tasks

  • Make

    $28

    per month

    Plan
    Core
    Used
    12,000 credits
    Plan allows
    20,000 credits

  • n8n Cloud

    $28

    per month

    Plan
    Starter
    Used
    2,000 executions
    Plan allows
    2,500 executions

  • n8n self-hosted

    Lowest cost

    $20

    per month

    Plan
    Community edition
    Licence
    $0
    Server
    $20

How each platform counts it

  • Zapier: 2,000 runs × 5 actions = 10,000 tasks. The trigger is free.
  • Make: 2,000 runs × (5 actions + 1 trigger) = 12,000 credits.
  • n8n: 2,000 runs = 2,000 executions, however many steps each one has.

Self-hosting n8n removes the plan price but not the work of running, updating and backing up the server.

Is it worth automating?

  • By hand, this is 100 hours a month, about $3,000.
  • On n8n Cloud, automating it saves about $2,972 a month.

Compared against the cheapest hosted plan. Building and maintaining the workflow is not included.

US list prices, checked 1 November 2026. Confirm on each platform's pricing page before you commit.

01 / what it does

One workflow. Three ways to bill it.

Enter how often a workflow runs and how many steps it has. The calculator converts that into Zapier tasks, Make credits and n8n executions, finds the cheapest plan and tier that covers it on each platform, and puts the monthly costs side by side.

Switch the trigger between instant and scheduled to see what polling costs on Make, and add the time the task takes by hand to see whether automating it pays for itself.

It shows its working, so you can check every number.

02 / why it matters

The pricing pages do not compare.

Zapier, Make and n8n each count something different, so their plan prices cannot be lined up against each other. A plan with ten thousand of one unit is not the same size as a plan with ten thousand of another.

The difference grows with the workflow. Add steps and a Zapier bill rises with every one. Add a scheduled trigger and Make bills for checks that found nothing. On n8n, neither changes the count.

The right platform depends on the shape of the work, not the headline price.

Zapier vs Make vs n8n pricing compared

what each platform counts

  • Zapier: tasks

    Each action step that completes is one task. The trigger is free, and so are built-in steps such as Filter, Formatter, Paths and Delay.

  • Make: credits

    Each module that runs uses a credit, the trigger included. A trigger that checks on a schedule uses a credit on every check, even when there is nothing new.

  • n8n: executions

    One run of a whole workflow is one execution, whether it has two steps or forty. Self-hosted n8n has no execution limit at all.

03 / questions

Automation pricing, answered.

Which is cheapest: Zapier, Make or n8n?

It depends on the shape of the workflow. Short workflows that run rarely can fit Zapier's or Make's free plans. As steps per run go up, Zapier gets expensive fastest, because it bills every action. Make is usually cheaper per step. n8n bills per run regardless of steps, so long workflows favour it, and self-hosting it removes the plan price entirely.

What is the difference between a Zapier task, a Make credit and an n8n execution?

A Zapier task is one completed action step. A Make credit is one module run, including the trigger. Make used to call these operations. An n8n execution is one run of a whole workflow. The same workflow can use 5,000 tasks, 6,000 credits and 1,000 executions in the same month.

Why does Make cost more with a scheduled trigger?

A scheduled trigger checks the source app at a set interval, and on Make every check uses a credit whether or not it finds anything. Checking every minute is about 43,200 credits a month before any work is done. An instant trigger such as a webhook only uses a credit when something actually arrives.

Is self-hosted n8n really free?

The Community edition costs nothing to license and has no execution limit. You pay for the server it runs on, and someone has to install it, keep it updated, back it up and fix it when it stops. For a business without that capacity in-house, n8n Cloud or another hosted plan is often the cheaper option once time is counted.

What is not included in the calculation?

AI steps that are billed separately, extra credits or tasks bought on top of a plan, overage charges, premium apps, Enterprise pricing, taxes, and the time it takes to build and maintain the workflow. Loops and iterators that process many items in one run also multiply the steps that are billed, so count each item as a run.

How current are the prices?

They are US list prices taken from each platform's pricing page on the date shown under the calculator. All three change their pricing often, and n8n prices in euros, so check the pricing pages before committing to a plan.

Is anything I enter stored?

No. The calculation runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to a server or saved.

beyond the plan price

The platform is the easy choice.

The harder one is which work to automate, and what the workflow does when an app is down or a record is missing.

We build automations on Zapier, Make and n8n, and say which one fits.

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