Short answer: I used Make and Zapier first and then moved to n8n. I have now run n8n for more than a year on a server I installed myself, and it has worked well for me. If you can install and maintain a server and you do not want to think about an execution quota, self-hosted n8n is a good fit. If you do not want to manage a server, a cloud service is probably easier. This post is based on my own experience and on the official pricing pages I checked on October 7, 2026.
How I compared them
- I looked at three things: whether you can self-host, how each plan limits usage, and what you take on when you run the server yourself.
- The prices and limits are what I read on each official pricing page on October 7, 2026. Prices change often, so check the official page before you pay.
- The three services bill in different units: workflow executions (n8n), credits (Make) and tasks (Zapier). I could not confirm exactly how each unit is counted, so read the official explanation before you compare plans.
- I do not compare how Make and Zapier feel to use in detail. For them I only summarize the official pricing pages.
At a glance
Note The prices and limits below come from the official pricing pages on October 7, 2026, and they can change. Check the official page again before you pay.
| n8n | Make | Zapier | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-hosting | The Community Edition can be downloaded from GitHub and self-hosted | I did not find a self-hosting option on the pricing page | I did not find a self-hosting option on the pricing page |
| Billing unit | Workflow executions | Credits | Tasks |
| Free option | I did not confirm a free cloud plan on the pricing page; self-hosting uses the Community Edition | Free plan: up to 1,000 credits per month, 2 active scenarios, minimum 15-minute interval | Free plan: 100 tasks per month, two-step Zaps only, 15-minute update interval |
| Entry paid plan (example) | Cloud Starter: €20 per month billed annually, 2.5K executions | Core: $9 per month, 10,000 credits | Professional: $19.99 per month billed annually for 750 tasks ($29.99 billed monthly) |
Pricing details
Note The prices and limits below come from the official pricing pages on October 7, 2026, and they can change. Check the official page again before you pay.
n8n
| Plan | Price | Limits and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Starter (cloud) | €20 per month, billed annually | 2.5K workflow executions |
| Pro (cloud) | €50 per month, billed annually | 10K workflow executions |
| Business | €667 per month, billed annually | 40K workflow executions, self-hosted only, license key required |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Custom number of executions, hosted by n8n or self-hosted |
Make
| Plan | Price per month | Credits and limits |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Up to 1,000 credits, 2 active scenarios, 15-minute minimum interval, 512 MB data transfer, 7 days of logs |
| Core | $9 | 10,000 credits, unlimited active scenarios, 1-minute minimum interval, 5 GB data transfer, 30 days of logs |
| Pro | $16 | Shown with the same credits and limits as Core |
| Teams | $29 | Shown with the same credits and limits as Core |
Make says annual billing saves 15% or more. I could not confirm the feature differences between Pro and Teams.
Zapier
| Plan | Example tier | Billed monthly | Billed annually, per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 100 tasks per month | $0 | $0 |
| Professional | 750 tasks | $29.99 | $19.99 |
| Professional | 2,000 tasks | $73.50 | $49.00 |
| Team | 2,000 tasks | $103.50 | $69.00 |
| Team | 5,000 tasks | $178.50 | $119.00 |
Zapier offers several task tiers inside each plan, and the table shows only some of them. The pricing page says multi-step Zaps and premium apps start with the Professional plan.
What a year of self-hosted n8n looks like for me
- What I use it for I use it to automate tasks around my blogs.
- My setup I installed an Ubuntu server on a mini PC and run n8n on it. I do not have to think about a monthly execution quota.
- The hard part I have to install and maintain everything myself. I also have to deal with things like power outages on my own.
- What it costs me The mini PC I bought, a domain name, and the time I spend maintaining the server. I do not list amounts in this post.
- Before n8n I used Make and Zapier first, then moved to n8n.
Which one fits
This is my opinion, based on my experience and the official information above.
- If you can spend time on server maintenance and you do not want to worry about an execution quota, self-hosted n8n worked well for me.
- If you do not want to manage a server, a cloud service such as n8n Cloud, Make or Zapier is probably easier.
- If you want to try automation first, Make and Zapier both list a free plan on their pricing pages.
Before you self-host
- Read the license of the n8n Community Edition yourself in the LICENSE.md on GitHub. It contains a sentence about use for internal business purposes or non-commercial and personal use. I could not confirm how it applies when you offer n8n to other people as a service, so ask n8n if that applies to you.
- You are responsible for installation, updates, backups and access security.
- How to prepare for power outages depends on your setup, so I do not cover it here.
What I could not verify
- How workflow executions, credits and tasks are counted in detail
- The feature differences between Make Pro and Teams
- Other Zapier task tiers that are not in the table
- Whether Make and Zapier really have no self-hosting option; I only did not find one on the pricing pages
- The fine print of the n8n Community Edition license
Sources
There is also a Korean version of this comparison: n8n vs Make vs Zapier 비교, 자체 호스팅 n8n을 1년 넘게 쓴 정리.