Make vs n8n vs Zapier: Which Wins in 2026?
All three automate work across your apps, but they win on different things: Zapier on integration breadth (8,000+ apps), Make on cheap per-operation pricing and visual logic, and n8n on open-source self-hosting and code. If you'd rather build automations by describing them and skip per-task pricing, Stepper is worth a look too.
Verdict at a glance
- Choose Zapier if coverage of a specific or niche app matters most.
- Choose Make if you want powerful visual workflows at the lowest volume cost.
- Choose n8n if you need open-source, self-hosting, or heavy custom code.
- Consider Stepper if you want to build conversationally with predictable, free-to-start pricing.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Make | n8n | Zapier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triggers & Scheduling | |||
| Instant / webhook triggers | Yes | Yes | Yes Paid |
| Scheduled runs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Polling triggers | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Apps & Integrations | |||
| App integrations | 3,000+ | 500+ | 8,000+ |
| REST API | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes | Yes Paid |
| Custom connectors | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Logic & Control Flow | |||
| Conditional branching | Yes | Yes | Yes Paid |
| Loops / iterators | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Error handling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reusable sub-workflows | Yes | Yes | No |
| Custom Code | |||
| Custom code steps | JavaScript | JavaScript & Python | JavaScript & Python |
| AI | |||
| Natural-language workflow builder | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI agents / MCP | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment | |||
| Self-hosting | No | Yes | No |
| Open source | No | Yes | No |
| Security & Compliance | |||
| GDPR | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SOC 2 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HIPAA | No | No | No |
| ISO 27001 | Yes | No | Yes |
The dimensions that decide it
- Pricing & billing metric: Zapier bills per task, Make per operation, n8n per execution (free self-hosted). At 1M actions/month, Make and self-hosted n8n cost far less than Zapier.
- Integrations: Zapier 8,000+, Make 3,000+, n8n 500+ native (plus community/HTTP).
- Logic & control flow: all three do branching and loops; Make's routers/aggregators and n8n's code nodes go deepest.
- Deployment: n8n is open-source and self-hostable; Make and Zapier are cloud-only.
- Compliance: all three carry SOC 2; none of the three sign a HIPAA BAA (Power Automate does, if that's a requirement).
Where Make wins
Make offers the most visual power per dollar: routers, iterators, and aggregators on a flowchart canvas, billed per operation so high-volume scenarios stay cheap. The cost is a steeper learning curve than Zapier.
Where n8n wins
n8n is the only one you can self-host. Source-available with JS/Python code nodes, it gives full data ownership and near-zero marginal cost at scale, in exchange for owning maintenance and security yourself.
Where Zapier wins
Zapier's 8,000+ app catalog and approachable linear editor make it the safe default for connecting almost anything, especially niche SaaS. The trade-off is per-task pricing that climbs fast at volume.
Pricing comparison
Make
n8n
| Product | Plan | Monthly Price | Annual Price (per month) | Free Plan | Free Trial | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Make | Free | Free | Not listed | Yes | 30-day trial of a paid plan on signup, then drops to Free | included volume: 1,000 credits/mo, users: 1, min interval: 15 min |
| Make | Core | $10.59/mo | $9/mo billed annually | included volume: From 10,000 credits/mo, min interval: 1 min | ||
| Make | Pro | $18.82/mo | $16/mo billed annually | included volume: From 10,000 credits/mo, min interval: 1 min | ||
| Make | Teams | $34.12/mo | $29/mo billed annually | included volume: From 10,000 credits/mo, min interval: 1 min | ||
| n8n | Community (self-hosted) | Free | Not listed | Yes | 14-day | included volume: Unlimited executions (self-hosted), users: Unlimited |
| n8n | Starter | €24/mo | €20/mo billed annually | included volume: 2,500 executions/mo, users: Unlimited, concurrency: 5 concurrent | ||
| n8n | Pro | €60/mo | €50/mo billed annually | included volume: 10,000 executions/mo, users: Unlimited, concurrency: Up to 50 concurrent | ||
| n8n | Business | €667/mo billed annually | Not listed | included volume: 40,000 executions/mo, users: Unlimited | ||
| Zapier | Free | Free | Not listed | Yes | 14-day | included volume: 100 tasks/mo, users: 1 |
| Zapier | Professional | $29.99/mo | $19.99/mo billed annually | included volume: 750 tasks/mo (scalable to 2M), users: 1 | ||
| Zapier | Team | $103.5/mo | $69/mo billed annually | included volume: 2,000 tasks/mo, users: Up to 25 |
Ratings
Where Stepper fits
If the three-way trade-off between coverage, price, and control is the problem, Stepper takes a different path: describe the automation in plain language and it builds it, with a free plan and a flat $19/mo for unlimited steps within fair use instead of per-task or per-operation metering. It's cloud-hosted with a smaller (410+) app library, so it won't replace n8n for self-hosting or Zapier for exotic apps. For the automations most teams actually run, though, it's the fastest to build. See Stepper vs Zapier or the full best workflow automation tools roundup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Make cheaper than Zapier and n8n?
Which of Make, n8n, or Zapier is easiest to learn?
Which of the three can I self-host?
Which has the most integrations — Make, n8n, or Zapier?
Do any of them build workflows with AI?
Sources & References
- Make pricing — Make
- n8n pricing — n8n
- Zapier pricing — Zapier
Last updated October 7, 2026
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