Zapier vs Make vs n8n: pricing, features and which to choose

If you want to connect your business software without writing code, you will quickly come across three names: Zapier, Make and n8n. If your business runs on Microsoft 365, add a fourth: Power Automate. All of them move data between apps, trigger actions and can now call AI models. They differ in ease of use, pricing, flexibility and where your data is processed.

This guide compares Zapier vs Make vs n8n for UK businesses, with current pricing, so you can choose the right one. Prices were checked on each provider's pricing page in October 2026; they change often, so check before you buy.

Zapier vs Make vs n8n at a glance

Zapier

What is Zapier?

Zapier is an automation platform that connects web apps so they work together. You build a "Zap": a trigger, such as a new form submission, followed by one or more actions, such as creating a contact in your CRM and sending a Slack message. It's the easiest of the three to learn and connects to more apps than any other tool.

What is Zapier used for?

Typical uses include adding web enquiries to a CRM, saving email attachments to cloud storage, posting new orders to Slack or Teams, creating invoices in accounting software and, increasingly, adding AI steps that summarise, classify or draft text.

Is Zapier free?

Yes, there is a free plan. It includes 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps, which means one trigger and one action. Most businesses need a paid plan once they want multi-step workflows or more volume.

Zapier pricing in the UK

Zapier prices in US dollars, though you can view an estimate in pounds on its pricing page; prices exclude VAT. In October 2026:

• Free: $0, 100 tasks a month.
• Professional: from $19.99 a month billed yearly, or $29.99 billed monthly (about £23 a month).
• Team: from $69 a month billed yearly, or $103.50 billed monthly, for up to 25 users.
• Enterprise: priced on request.

The "from" prices are for the lowest task tier. The cost of Zapier rises with the number of tasks you buy, and every step in a Zap uses tasks: a five-step Zap that runs 1,000 times a month uses about 5,000 tasks. That is why Zapier is cheap for small, simple automations and expensive for busy, complex ones.

Choose Zapier if you want simple automations running this week, built by non-technical staff, at low volume.

Make

Make (formerly Integromat) uses a visual canvas where you drag modules onto a map and connect them. Branches, loops and data transformations are much easier to see than in Zapier, which is why operations teams and agencies often move to Make as their workflows grow.

Make pricing

Make charges in credits: most actions use one credit, and some AI features use more. In October 2026, billed yearly for 10,000 credits a month:

• Free: $0, 1,000 credits a month, with scenarios running at most every 15 minutes.
• Core: about $9 a month.
• Pro: about $16 a month.
• Teams: about $29 a month.
• Enterprise: priced on request.

For the same volume of work, Make usually costs considerably less than Zapier. Make also lets you choose EU hosting, which helps with UK GDPR conversations.

Choose Make if your workflows are getting complex or your Zapier bill is climbing, and you want a visual tool your team can still manage.

n8n

n8n is the most flexible of the three. You can use n8n's own cloud service or self-host it on your own server, and it's built with technical users in mind: you can add code when you need it, call any API and build AI agents that use your own tools and data.

n8n pricing

n8n charges per workflow execution, meaning a full run from start to finish, however many steps it has. In October 2026, n8n's plans, billed yearly, were:

• Starter: £20 a month for 2,500 executions.
• Pro: £50 a month for 10,000 executions.
• Business: £569 a month for 40,000 executions, self-hosted.
• Enterprise: priced on request.

Because you pay per run rather than per step, long workflows don't cost more than short ones. That makes n8n good value for complex automations.

n8n self-hosted

The n8n Community Edition is free to self-host, so you only pay for the server. Self-hosting means your data stays on infrastructure you control, including UK servers, which suits businesses with strict data requirements. The trade-off is that someone has to look after updates, security, backups and monitoring. n8n uses a "fair-code" licence: free for your own business use, with restrictions if you want to resell it as a service.

Choose n8n if you have technical support, want to keep data on your own infrastructure, or are building AI agents rather than simple app-to-app automations.

Zapier vs n8n

The biggest differences are ease of use and pricing. Zapier is faster to learn and has more ready-made connectors, but charges for every step. n8n takes longer to learn, but charges per workflow run and can be self-hosted, so complex or high-volume workflows usually cost much less. If your team isn't technical, start with Zapier; if you have technical help and growing volumes, n8n usually wins.

n8n vs Make

Both suit complex workflows. Make is easier for non-developers and has a polished visual editor. n8n is more flexible for developers, better for AI agents and can be self-hosted. If nobody on your team writes code, choose Make; if someone does, n8n gives you more control.

Zapier vs Make

Zapier is easier and has more apps; Make handles complex logic better and is usually cheaper at volume. Many businesses start on Zapier and move to Make when their workflows and bills grow.

What about Power Automate?

If your business runs on Microsoft 365, with Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and Excel, look at Power Automate before paying for anything else. Many Microsoft 365 business plans include it for standard connectors, it works with your existing Microsoft security and permissions, and it connects to Copilot. Premium connectors, including many non-Microsoft apps, and desktop automation need extra licences. It's less pleasant than Zapier or Make for workflows that are mostly outside Microsoft. Our guide to what Power Automate is covers it in more detail.

A Power Automate consultant can be worth it if your workflows touch SharePoint permissions, approvals or several Microsoft 365 tenants, which are easy to get wrong.

Which automation tool should you choose?

• Zapier for simple, low-volume automations built by non-technical staff.
• Make for complex workflows at a lower cost, with EU hosting.
• n8n for technical teams, self-hosting, high volumes and AI agents.
• Power Automate if most of the work happens inside Microsoft 365.

For more options, see our guide to Zapier alternatives. It's common, and sensible, to use more than one: Power Automate for internal Microsoft workflows, and Make or n8n for everything else.

Whichever you choose, the tool matters less than the process. Our guide to small business automation covers what to automate first.

How FDE Solutions can help

We're tool-agnostic. We build on Zapier, Make, n8n, Power Automate or custom code, depending on your systems, budget and data requirements, and we document everything so your team isn't locked in. If you'd like help choosing a platform or building on one, read about our intelligent automation service or book a discovery call.