Introduction
In the competitive environment of businesses today, automation cannot be avoided when it comes to scalability, efficiency, and minimizing operational costs. Companies are looking for workflow automation software to automate manual processes, optimize workflows. Three of the most notable platforms in this room include Zapier, Make and n8n.
For B2B executives, IT decision-makers and operations leaders, the selection of an automation platform is a strategic decision that will affect productivity, data security, integration agility, and potential long-term ROI.
To compare them properly you have to go more in-depth than just the surface. All to figure out which platform suits you best if you are planning to automate any part of your company.
Detailed Comparison of Zapier vs Make vs n8n
| Criteria | Zapier | Make | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | Really beginner-friendly, not installation at all, just build for non-technical people. | Visual, drag & drop page builder with enhanced design options; some learning curve. | Developer-centric, it needs some technical prowess but can be highly customizable. |
| Integrations | App integrations available out of the box 6,000+; top SaaS tool coverage. | 1,500+ apps and multi-step actions with in-depth integrations. | 350+ integrations natively, with extensibility through APIs, custom nodes, and community plugins. |
| Customization & Flexibility | Limited, predefined triggers/actions only. | Great flexibility around more complicated logic, filters and branching. | Highly flexible; open-source with potential to create custom workflows and nodes. |
| Hosting | Cloud-only (no self-hosting). | Cloud hosted by using Make’s infrastructure for data storage. | Both - cloud and self-hosted, for complete control of the data. |
| Data Security & Compliance | Secure enterprise grade - GDPR & SOC 2 compliance. | Cloud Hosting Protection GDPR compliant hosting. | Self-hosting option means you control everything; enterprise edition includes compliance features. |
| Pricing Model | Subscription, charge per task (gets expensive at scale). | Usage-based pricing, cheaper for more complex workflows. | Free self hosted option, enterprise support, most cost effective for scaling. |
| Best For | smb, startups, marketing & sales teams looking for super fast automations. | Fast-growing companies and large businesses that handle complicated multi-stage processes. | High control, flexibility, and self hosting for developers, IT teams, and businesses. |
Pricing Comparison: Zapier vs Make vs n8n
Zapier Pricing
Free Plan: Includes 100 tasks per month and five single-step Zaps.
For individuals: £ 15.20 when billed annually, everything in free, plus, unlimited premium apps.
Best for teams: £ 52.48 when billed annually, everything in pro, plus, have shared app connection functionality.
Organizations plan: custom pricing, unlimited users, advanced admin permissions and app controls.
Make Pricing
Free plan: a free tier is available with limited but sufficient functionalities to start.
Core plan: $9 per month and offers access to Make API, support standard and custom app.
Pro plan: $16 per month, best for teams managing high volume of automation.
Teams plan: 29 per month, includes everything in the pro plan plus team specific features.
Enterprise plan: custom pricing, furnishing custom functions, advanced integrations, and advanced security features.
n8n Pricing
Starter plan: € 24 if billed monthly and € 20 if billed annually, its great plan for getting started with.
Pro plan: € 60 per month if billed monthly and € 50 per month if billed annually
Enterprise plan: custom pricing depending on the requirements of the enterprise.
Which Automation Tool Is Better Fit For Your Business?
Zapier: The No-Code Favorite
Best For: Small to mid-sized businesses that want easy plug and play automation.
It is now deployed by many companies for its simplicity. It is the most integrated SaaS App where you can integrate with 6,000+ apps. If your team is seeking fast workflows free of technical overhead, then Zapier is your go to option.
Strengths
- Extensive app ecosystem with a range of integrations out of the box.
- Intuitive, no-code interface.
- Reliable for simple, linear workflows.
Limitations
- May get expensive as workflows and task volume scale.
- Lack of flexibility or the need for custom logic can feel limiting.
- Not suitable for enterprises who want more control.
Make: The Visual Builder
Is best for: Companies looking to connect their departmental project workflows, that requires advanced, visual workflow design with flexibility.
Make sits somewhere between the simplicity of Zapier and developer-friendly tools like n8n. It provides a drag-and-drop visual builder, which helps teams build complex processes without writing code.
Strengths
- Very visual and intuitive when process mapping.
- Cheaper than Zapier at scale.
- This supports nested logic, routers, parallel execution, and more.
Limitations
- The learning curve is more challenging than Zapier.
- However, some advanced functions may still need a technical eye.
- Cloud-only with little self-hosting or compliance burden in some verticals.
n8n: The Open-Source Powerhouse
Best for: Businesses looking for scalability, customizability and complete plausible deniability of automation.
n8n is emerging as quite a powerful player in the automation field; particularly for B2B companies with tech teams and enterprise-grade needs. Compared to Zapier, and Make, Scipio is open-source and self-hostable, making it a great fit for sectors for which regulatory compliance, data privacy, or bespoke solutions are at the forefront of industry concerns.
Strengths
- Open source, flexible, and highly customizable.
- Self hosted means private data and compliance.
- For advanced users it also supports JavaScript functions and complex logic.
Limitations
- Needs involvement to manage the technology.
- Fewer pre-built integrations than Zapier.
- Less beginner friendly for non-technical teams.
How To Pick The Right One For Your Business?
Opt for Zapier: if you want fast, easy, plug-and-play connections for small to medium sized businesses.
Go for Make: if you need visual workflow mapping and complex logic but don’t want to get bogged down in code.
Opt for n8n: if your business emphasizes scalability, feature control, and extensive customizations a good fit for enterprises and tech focused teams.
Closure
Zapier, Make, and n8n are powerful tools and after knowing the difference between them, its functionality and how it helps in various workflow automation to automate manual processes. you can easily determine which one will suit your needs the best.
Ready to streamline your automation processes and to see quick results? Contact BMVSI AI software development company to see how it can help your team.
FAQs
n8n is open-source, flexible to serve as its own host, and scales super cost-effectively. You pay per task/operation in Zapier and Make, which quickly gets very expensive as you scale your workflows.
n8n is distinguished by its developer-friendly customizability and rich workflow branching. Make offers powerful visual workflow creation, while Zapier is great for simple, plug-and-play automations with a lower degree of complexity.
Zapier’s library is the largest by volume, Make’s is extremely wide with sophisticated logic capabilities, while n8n has no limits to what you can integrate with courtesy APIs, custom nodes, or community-made connectors.
Self-hosting is also available on n8n, allowing businesses to maintain total control over data security and compliance. Make and Zapier are cloud-first and best for companies that are happy to entrust their data to third-party containers.
