Make vs n8n vs Zapier API Automation Pricing

· 6 min read ·
Make vs n8n vs Zapier API Automation Pricing

What You’ll Need

Table of Contents

Understanding the Pricing Models

I’ve spent the last three years testing automation platforms at scale, and I can tell you: pricing looks simple until you actually run workflows in production. Each platform uses a different metric—tasks, operations, executions—which makes direct comparison feel like comparing apples to software engineers.

The reality? Your actual cost depends on:

  • Workflow complexity (API calls, data volume, frequency)
  • Whether you need enterprise features (SSO, audit logs, support)
  • If you’re willing to self-host (saves money but adds operational burden)
  • Your tolerance for vendor lock-in

Let me break down each platform so you can make an informed decision. If you’re building something complex, understanding these numbers upfront is critical—I’ve seen teams migrate platforms mid-project and lose weeks of productivity.

n8n Pricing Breakdown: Cloud vs Self-Hosted

n8n Cloud operates on a monthly subscription model based on workflow executions. Here’s the current structure:

n8n Cloud Plans:

  • Free: 0–500 executions/month, 1 workflow, community support
  • Pro: $20/month, 40,000 executions/month, unlimited workflows, email support
  • Team: $200/month, 200,000 executions/month, team collaboration, Slack support
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing, 1M+ executions/month, SSO, audit logs, dedicated support

The execution count resets monthly, so a workflow running 10 times daily costs the same as one running 1,000 times daily (as long as you stay within your tier).

Self-Hosted n8n changes everything. You pay:

  • $0/month for the software
  • Infrastructure costs (where it gets real)

On a Hetzner VPS (€20/month for a decent instance), you’re looking at ~€20 + a bit of your time for setup. On Contabo VPS (€4/month for entry-level), it’s even cheaper. But you handle database maintenance, SSL certificates, backups, and security patches yourself.

For teams running 500K+ executions/month, self-hosting breaks even quickly. For small teams? Cloud is simpler.

Here’s what a typical self-hosted n8n setup costs annually:

  • VPS: $240/year (Hetzner mid-tier)
  • Domain (optional): $10/year on Namecheap
  • SSL: $0 (Let’s Encrypt, free)
  • Your time: priceless (plan 4-6 hours initial setup)

Total: ~$250/year vs $240/year Pro Cloud (but you own the infrastructure).

Make.com Pricing and Operations Cost

Make.com uses operations as its billing unit. One operation = one trigger + one action (roughly). Complex workflows with multiple steps blow through operations fast.

Make Pricing:

  • Free: 1,000 operations/month
  • Standard: $9.99/month, 10,000 operations/month
  • Pro: $19.99/month, 50,000 operations/month
  • Business: $99/month, 250,000 operations/month
  • Enterprise: Custom, 1M+ operations/month

Here’s where it gets tricky: A simple workflow might be 2 operations per run. A complex one? 15–30 operations per run. If your workflow triggers 100 times daily and does 10 steps each, that’s 30,000 operations/month—you’re paying $19.99 minimum, likely more.

Example workflow cost:

  • Trigger: GitHub push (1 operation)
  • API call to Slack (1 operation)
  • Data transform (1 operation)
  • Database insert (1 operation)
  • Send email (1 operation)
  • Runs 50 times daily

That’s 5 operations × 50 runs × 30 days = 7,500 operations/month. Standard plan costs $9.99—reasonable.

But add one more step (webhook to external API), and you’re at 6 operations × 50 × 30 = 9,000 operations/month. Still $9.99, but you’re close to the ceiling. Scale to 100 runs daily? You hit the Pro tier at $19.99.

Gotcha: Make doesn’t distinguish between simple and complex operations. A webhook call costs the same as a conditional branch.

Zapier Pricing: Task-Based Automation

Zapier bills by tasks. One task = one workflow automation run. So if a Zap (Zapier’s term for workflow) runs 100 times, that’s 100 tasks billed.

Zapier Pricing:

  • Free: 100 tasks/month, 2-step Zaps
  • Pro: $19.99/month, 750 tasks/month, unlimited steps
  • Team: $51/month, 2,000 tasks/month, shared workflows
  • Business: $124/month, 5,000 tasks/month, advanced features
  • Enterprise: Custom, unlimited tasks, dedicated support

The simplicity is appealing: one trigger, any number of actions, one task per execution. But hidden costs exist:

  1. Premium integrations: Some apps cost extra (Google Sheets, Slack, premium connectors)
  2. Formula Pro: Advanced logic features are paid add-ons
  3. Sub-Zaps: Each sub-workflow counts separately against your task quota

Real scenario: A marketing team runs a Zap that:

  • Triggers on new Typeform response (1 task)
  • Creates HubSpot contact (1 task)
  • Sends Slack notification (1 task)
  • Logs to Google Sheets (1 task)

Wait—that’s not how Zapier counts. The entire Zap is 1 task per run, regardless of steps. So 100 form submissions = 100 tasks billed. At 750 tasks/month (Pro), you’re fine.

But if you use a sub-Zap (a nested workflow)? Each sub-Zap run counts as an additional task. Complexity = more costs.

💡 Fast-Track Your Project: Don’t want to configure this yourself? I build custom n8n pipelines and bots. Message me with code SYS3-HUGO.

Real-World Cost Comparison

Let me give you three scenarios I’ve actually implemented:

Scenario 1: Content Marketing Workflow

  • Pulls RSS feeds (1/hour, 720/month)
  • Filters for keywords
  • Creates draft social posts
  • Logs to Google Sheets
  • Posts to Twitter (if approved)

n8n Cloud Pro: $20/month (720 executions well under 40K) Make Standard: ~$15/month (720 × 2–3 operations = 1,440–2,160) Zapier Pro: $19.99/month (720 tasks)

Winner: Make by $5, but negligible difference

Scenario 2: E-commerce Order Processing

  • Webhook from Shopify (50 orders/day = 1,500/month)
  • Validate inventory via API
  • Create shipment in FedEx
  • Update Shopify order status
  • Send customer email
  • Log to warehouse DB
  • Slack notification (internal team)

n8n Cloud Pro: $20/month (1,500 executions) Make Pro: $19.99/month (1,500 × 5 operations = 7,500) Zapier Pro: $19.99/month (1,500 tasks, but order + inventory + shipment + notification = 1 task per order if done in one Zap)

Winner: Zapier, because multi-step workflows count as 1 task. Make’s operation count scales with complexity.

Scenario 3: Enterprise Data Pipeline

  • 10,000 API calls daily to aggregate data
  • Complex transformations (10+ steps)
  • Runs every 15 minutes
  • Enriches 5K records/day

n8n Cloud Pro: $20/month (40,000 executions at 4/hour = 2,880/month, well within limit) Make Business: $99/month (40,000 × 15 operations/workflow = 600K operations—exceeds Business tier, Enterprise pricing needed) Zapier Business: $124/month (40,000 tasks)

Winner: n8n by a huge margin. At this scale, Make requires custom enterprise pricing.

API Automation Examples with Code

Here’s where I show you practical code—because pricing means nothing without execution.

n8n Workflow: GitHub → Slack API Integration

This n8n workflow triggers on new GitHub releases and posts to Slack via API:

{
  "nodes": [
    {
      "parameters": {
        "owner": "myorg",
        "repository": "myrepo",
        "event": "release"
      },
      "name": "GitHub Trigger",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.github",
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "position": [250, 300]
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "method": "POST",
        "url": "https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/WEBHOOK/URL",
        "headerParameters": {},
        "bodyParametersJson": "{\n  \"text\": \"New Release: {{$node[\\\"GitHub Trigger\\\"].json.release.name}}\",\n  \"attachments\": [\n    {\n      \"color\": \"#36a64f\",\n      \"title\": \"{{$node[\\\"GitHub Trigger\\\"].json.release.name}}\",\n      \"title_link\": \"{{$node[\\\"GitHub Trigger\\\"].json.release.html_url}}\",\n      \"text\": \"{{$node[\\\"GitHub Trigger\\\"].json.release.body}}\",\n      \"ts\": {{Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000)}}\n    }\n  ]\n}"
      },
      "name": "Slack Webhook",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest",
      "typeVersion": 4.1,
      "position": [650, 300]
    }
  ],
  "connections": {
    "GitHub Trigger": {
      "main": [
        [
          {
            "node": "Slack Webhook",
            "type": "main",
            "index": 0
          }
        ]
      ]
    }
  }
}

In this workflow:

  • GitHub Trigger watches for release events
  • HTTP Request node posts to Slack webhook
  • Dynamic fields pull release name, URL, and body from GitHub event data

Cost on n8n Cloud Pro: Each release

Want to automate this yourself?

Start with n8n Cloud (free tier available) or self-host on a Hetzner VPS for full control.

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