n8n vs Make vs Zapier Pricing in 2026: What Each One Really Costs
The three tools meter different things, and that decides your bill more than the sticker price. n8n charges per workflow execution (unlimited steps), from €20 per month billed annually for 2,500 executions, or free if you self-host. Make charges per credit, roughly one per module action, from $9 per month for 10,000 credits. Zapier charges per task, one per successful action step, from $19.99 per month billed annually for 750 tasks. For multi-step workflows at volume, n8n is usually the cheapest of the three. Prices checked 28 October 2026.
First, what each tool is actually charging you for
| Tool | Billing unit | What counts | What does not count |
|---|---|---|---|
| n8n | Workflow execution | One run of a workflow, "regardless of complexity"; unlimited steps | Number of steps, users or workflows |
| Make | Credit | Most module actions use 1 credit; some AI features use more | Router and error-handler modules |
| Zapier | Task | Each successful action step (standard, AI by Zapier, Code), and programmatic calls such as MCP (2 tasks each) | Triggers, polling, Formatter, Paths, Filter, Delay, Looping, Sub-Zap, Digest, Storage, Tables, Forms; failed actions |
This is the whole comparison in one table. A five-step workflow that runs 1,000 times is 1,000 n8n executions, about 5,000 Make credits, and 4,000 to 5,000 Zapier tasks depending on how many steps are built-in tools.
Plan prices side by side
All prices from the vendors' own pages on 28 October 2026. n8n bills in euros; Make and Zapier in US dollars.
| Tier | n8n Cloud | Make | Zapier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | No free Cloud plan; self-hosted edition is free | $0, 1,000 credits/mo, 1 MB data storage | $0, 100 tasks/mo, two-step Zaps only, 15-minute polling |
| Entry | Starter €20/mo billed annually, 2,500 executions | Core $9/mo, 10,000 credits (Make's pricing and comparison pages) | Professional $19.99/mo billed annually ($29.99 monthly), 750 tasks |
| 10,000 units | Pro €50/mo billed annually, 10,000 executions | Core $9/mo, 10,000 credits; Pro and Teams tiers priced on the live page | Professional $129/mo billed annually ($193.50 monthly); Team $169/mo annually ($253.50 monthly) |
| Mid volume | Business €667/mo billed annually, 40,000 executions (self-hosted only) | Priced per credit tier on the live page | 50,000 tasks: Professional $289/mo annually ($433.50 monthly); Team $399/mo annually |
| High volume | Enterprise, custom | Enterprise, quote | 100,000 tasks: Professional $489/mo annually; 1,000,000 tasks: $2,199/mo annually; Enterprise custom |
| Annual discount | 17% (n8n's billing toggle) | "Cheaper" annually; start-ups under 20 employees get 50% off Business | Roughly a third off versus monthly (e.g. $129 vs $193.50 at 10,000 tasks) |
Make's pricing page renders its Pro and Teams prices in the browser and did not expose them to our check, so we only quote the Core figure that Make states in plain text on its own pages. Check the live page for the tier you need.
Overage rules: what happens at the limit
- Zapier. Professional, Team and Enterprise include pay-per-task. With it on, extra tasks cost 2.5x the base rate on monthly plans or 1.25x on annual plans, and usage pauses at 3x your task subscription. With it off, "usage stops once you reach your task limit, until the next cycle". Free has no overage at all.
- Make. When credits run out, scenarios stop until you add credits; incoming webhooks queue up to your queue limit. Extra credits come in bundles of 1,000 or 10,000 at 25% above the plan rate, expire after one month on monthly plans or at year end on annual Pro and Teams, and unused credits expire at the end of the term. Auto-purchase of 10,000 credits is available on Core, Pro and Teams.
- n8n Cloud. Plans are sized by executions (2,500 / 10,000 / 40,000 / custom). Self-hosted n8n has no execution limit at all; your server is the only ceiling.
Worked example: an agency running 10,000 workflow runs a month
Assume each run is a typical six-step workflow: trigger, one lookup, one AI step, two updates, one notification. That is five action steps after the trigger.
| Tool | Units consumed | Plan needed | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| n8n Cloud | 10,000 executions | Pro | €50 (annual) |
| n8n self-hosted | Unlimited | A VPS, e.g. Hostinger KVM 1 | $6.49 intro / $11.99 renewal, plus your maintenance time; or $20 to $50 managed by OpsThrive |
| Make | About 50,000 to 60,000 credits (five or six credit-using modules per run) | Above the 10,000-credit Core tier; price depends on the credit tier you pick | Not published in plain text; check the live page |
| Zapier | 50,000 tasks (five actions per run) | Professional 50,000 | $289 (annual) or $433.50 (monthly) |
Same work, three bills: about €50 on n8n Cloud, $289 to $433.50 on Zapier, and a Make tier well above its $9 entry price. The difference is not the tools' quality. It is that n8n counts the workflow once and the others count every step.
What the price does not tell you
- Free-tier shape. Zapier's free plan allows only two-step Zaps with 15-minute polling. Make's free plan is 1,000 credits with 1 MB of storage. n8n's free option is self-hosting, which is free in money and not free in time.
- AI steps cost extra everywhere. Zapier prices AI by Zapier by model tier and charges two tasks per MCP tool call; Make charges more than one credit for some AI features; n8n includes a block of AI assistant credits on Pro but your OpenAI or Anthropic bill is separate on all three.
- Data residency. Only n8n lets you run the whole thing on your own server. For agencies with UK or EU clients that is often the deciding factor, not the price.
- Seats. n8n: unlimited users on every Cloud plan. Zapier Free: 1 seat; Team plans add shared workspaces. Make: team features start at the Teams tier.
Our recommendation by situation
- Solo founder, a few simple automations: Make Core at $9 or Zapier Free, whichever has the connector you need.
- Agency running client workflows, under 10,000 runs a month: n8n Cloud Pro at €50, unlimited steps and users.
- Agency or e-commerce brand past 10,000 runs, or with data-residency needs: self-hosted n8n, managed if you do not want to own a server. See our self-hosted n8n cost guide for the server numbers.
- Already on GoHighLevel: keep GHL for the CRM-side automations and add n8n for the logic it cannot do; that pairing is most of what we build.
Frequently asked questions
n8n vs Zapier: which is cheaper?
At the same volume, n8n is cheaper because it counts one execution per workflow run regardless of steps, while Zapier counts a task for every successful action step. 10,000 runs of a workflow cost €50 per month on n8n Cloud Pro, but 10,000 runs of a five-action Zap are 50,000 tasks, which is $289 per month on Zapier Professional billed annually. Self-hosted n8n removes the per-execution charge entirely.
n8n vs Make: which is better value?
Make's entry price is lower ($9 per month for 10,000 credits versus €20 for 2,500 n8n executions), so for a few simple scenarios Make can be cheaper. Make meters credits per module action, so a six-module scenario uses about six credits per run; n8n meters once per run. As workflows get longer and volume grows, n8n's per-execution model and free self-hosting win.
Is n8n free?
The self-hosted version is free to download from GitHub under n8n's Sustainable Use License. n8n Cloud is paid, from €20 per month billed annually. Make has a free plan with 1,000 credits per month. Zapier has a free plan with 100 tasks per month, limited to two-step Zaps.
What happens when I go over my limit?
Zapier: with pay-per-task enabled, extra tasks cost 1.25 times the base rate on annual plans or 2.5 times on monthly plans, and usage pauses at three times your subscription. Make: scenarios stop until you add credits; extra credit bundles cost 25% more and expire with your term. n8n Cloud: plans are sized by executions, and the next plan up is Pro (10,000) or Business (40,000); self-hosted n8n has no execution limit.
n8n vs Make for AI agents: does pricing change?
The metering stays the same. On n8n an AI agent run is one execution however many tool calls it makes, and Pro includes AI assistant credits. On Make, some AI features cost more than one credit per action. On Zapier, AI by Zapier steps are priced by model tier, an MCP tool call costs two tasks, and Zapier Agents have a separate activity allowance (400 per month on the free plan).
Which should an agency start with?
If you need a quick two-step automation and have no technical help, Zapier or Make's free tiers are the fastest start. If you will run client workflows at volume, or want to own the data, start on n8n: Cloud Starter at €20 per month while you learn, then self-host or use managed hosting once you pass 10,000 executions.
Sources
- n8n pricing page, checked 28 Oct 2026: https://n8n.io/pricing/
- Zapier pricing page and task rules, checked 28 Oct 2026: https://zapier.com/pricing
- Make pricing page (plans, credits, free tier, overage rules), checked 28 Oct 2026: https://www.make.com/en/pricing
- Make, Make vs n8n comparison page (paid plans from $9 for 10,000 credits): https://www.make.com/compare/make-vs-n8n
- Make help centre, extra credits: https://help.make.com/extra-credits
- Hostinger n8n VPS pricing (self-hosting cost reference), checked 28 Oct 2026: https://www.hostinger.com/vps/n8n-hosting