Zapier vs Make vs n8n for small businesses
All three connect your apps and run automations when something happens. They differ in who they're built for and how you pay.
| Zapier | Make | n8n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Non-technical teams who want it working today | Ops-minded users building multi-branch scenarios | Technical teams wanting control or self-hosting |
| Builder | Linear step editor | Visual canvas | Visual node canvas, code nodes |
| Hosting | Cloud only | Cloud only | Cloud or self-hosted |
| Billing unit | Tasks | Operations/credits | Workflow executions (cloud); self-hosted community edition is free |
| AI | AI steps, Agents, MCP | AI modules and agents | AI agent and LangChain nodes |
Pick Zapier if…
You want the largest catalog of app integrations and the least setup. Costs can climb on high-volume, many-step workflows because billing counts each task.
Pick Make if…
Your automations branch, loop and transform data. The visual canvas makes complex flows easier to reason about, and it is often cheaper per step than Zapier at volume, though there is more of a learning curve.
Pick n8n if…
You have someone technical, want to keep data on your own server, or run lots of executions. Self-hosting means you own updates, backups and security.
Our take
Most small businesses should start on Zapier or Make's free plan with one painful manual process, and move to n8n once volume or data-control needs justify it. Check current plans on each vendor's pricing page; they change often.