n8n vs Zapier vs Make: What a B2B Team Should Actually Use

n8n vs Zapier vs Make comes down to one trade: who carries the work. Zapier carries it for you, n8n hands it to your engineers, and Make sits in between. Choose on features alone and you can still end up with a bill nobody planned for, because each tool charges for something different.

This guide is for B2B teams picking a first automation platform, or reconsidering the one they already pay for.

Key takeaways

• Zapier bills per task, Make per credit, n8n per execution. At volume, that rule matters more than the plan price.
• Zapier is the fastest to start, Make is the best value for logic-heavy flows, and n8n gives the most control.
• n8n is the only one you can self-host, which means you own the patching too.
• Test one real workflow for two weeks before you pay for a year.

The short answer: Zapier for the fastest start, Make for the most value, n8n for the most control. Which one fits comes down to three questions:

• Who builds the workflows? A no-code team points to Zapier or Make. Engineers point to n8n.
• Where can customer data live? If it must stay on your own servers, n8n self-hosted is the only option of the three.
• How many runs and steps a month? High volume and long workflows favor Make or n8n.

How we researched this, and what we did not test

Here is what this comparison is built on:

• Each vendor’s own docs and pricing pages, all checked on 29 October
• Official help pages for every billing rule, because blog summaries disagree with each other
• Independent reviews, used only as a cross-check

And what I didn’t do:

• No benchmarks or load tests. The cost examples are arithmetic on published rules, not bills I measured.
• No trust in vendor-written comparisons. Zapier’s own comparison page and a sales-data vendor’s page both rank for this topic and both sell something, so I treat their claims about rivals as claims.
• No undated prices. Prices move often, so every one here carries a date.

Disclosure: Nevion Labs builds workflow automations on platforms that include Make and n8n. Factor that in, and check the sources yourself.

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n8n vs Zapier vs Make: quick verdict

If your team is…	Choose	Why
Marketing, sales ops or RevOps with no developer	Zapier	Fastest setup, 8,000+ apps, lowest learning curve
Ops-minded, comfortable with branching and data mapping	Make	Visual canvas, 10,000 credits from about $9/month on annual billing
Engineering-led, or bound by data-residency rules	n8n	Self-hosting, code nodes, billing per run instead of per step
Running high volumes or AI-agent workflows	Make or n8n	Both cost far less than Zapier as steps and runs grow

How each tool counts usage: the rule that drives your bill

All three do the same basic job: something happens in one app, something else happens in another. What really separates them is what they charge for, and that matters more than the sticker price of any plan.

• Zapier bills tasks. A task is a successful action step. Per Zapier’s help center, triggers, filters, paths, Formatter, Delay, Looping, Tables and Forms steps do not use tasks, and neither do failed steps or editor test runs. Polling triggers use no tasks either. Once you pass your plan limit, pay-per-task plans are charged for extra tasks and other plans hold new runs until the cycle resets.
• Make bills credits. An operation is one module run, and credits are the billed unit. Make’s help center says existing operations were converted 1:1, third-party AI app modules still use one credit per operation, and Make’s own built-in AI features can use more because billing tracks actual AI cost. Loops multiply usage, since modules downstream of an iterator run once per item.
• n8n bills executions. An execution is one run of a workflow. Per n8n’s docs, only production executions count towards the quota. A Schedule Trigger counts every time it fires, polling nodes count only when they find new data, and each valid webhook request counts. Manual runs, sub-workflow runs and error-workflow runs do not.

Worked example: inbound lead routing

Take one workflow that runs 2,000 times a month. A new lead comes in, a filter checks it, then enrichment, scoring, a CRM record, a Slack alert and a spreadsheet log. That’s one trigger, one filter and five actions.

Tool	What gets counted	Monthly usage	Plan that fits
Zapier	5 action steps per run (trigger and filter are free)	10,000 tasks	Above the 750-task entry plan; read the price off Zapier’s task slider
Make	6 modules per run (assuming the trigger counts as one operation)	12,000 credits	Core’s 10,000 credits plus one extra pack, roughly $18 on annual billing
n8n	1 execution per run	2,000 executions	Cloud Starter, about €20/month for 2,500 executions

This is arithmetic on the rules above, not a measured bill, and add-on credit prices differ between sources, so check each pricing page. In the n8n vs Zapier cost comparison, what to remember is the pattern: every extra action step adds steps times runs to your Zapier and Make usage, and adds nothing on n8n.

Zapier: fastest to adopt, widest coverage

• Best for: non-technical teams that want results this week
• Builder: a straight list of steps; most people ship a first automation within an hour
• Apps: about 9,000 by Zapier’s own count, so niche SaaS tools are most likely covered here
• Logic: branching through Paths, plus Agents, Copilot and an MCP server that lets outside AI tools act across its apps

Pricing (October)

• Free: 100 tasks a month
• Professional: from $19.99/month billed annually ($29.99 monthly), 750 tasks
• Team: from $69/month annually ($103.50 monthly), 2,000 tasks, up to 25 users
• Enterprise: quoted

Watch for:

• Cost creep. Every successful action step is a task, so long workflows get pricey fast.
• No exit route. It is cloud-only, and independent reviews say you can’t export workflows.

Make: best value for logic-heavy workflows

• Best for: ops teams that think in flowcharts
• Builder: a visual canvas where modules are joined by lines, so you can see the data move
• Logic: routers for branching, iterators and aggregators for loops, error routes on each module
• Apps: 3,500+ by Make’s own claim
• Learning curve: days, not hours

Pricing (October)

• Free: 1,000 credits and 2 active scenarios
• Core, Pro, Teams: $9, $16 and $29 a month billed annually, each with 10,000 credits; they differ in features like full-text execution search and team permissions
• Enterprise: quoted; per Make’s pricing page it adds SSO, audit logs and overage protection

Watch for:

• Loops. Importing 100 rows costs at least 100 credits.
• AI features. Make’s built-in AI can burn more credits than a normal module.
• Cloud only. Like Zapier, there is no self-hosting.

n8n: most control, for teams that can run it

• Best for: engineering-led teams, or anyone with data-residency rules
• Builder: a visual canvas plus real code (JavaScript and Python nodes)
• Logic: an HTTP Request node for any API, sub-workflows, and an AI Agent node built on LangChain
• Version control: Git support on self-hosted setups
• Apps: roughly 400+ built-in nodes (counts differ by source, and Zapier’s comparison page claims more); the HTTP node and community nodes cover most gaps

Pricing (October)

• Community Edition: free to self-host, no execution cap
• Cloud Starter: about €20/month, 2,500 executions
• Cloud Pro: about €50/month, 10,000 executions
• Business: about €667/month billed annually, 40,000 executions, with SSO
• Enterprise: quoted
• Paid plans include unlimited users and workflows, so adding colleagues doesn’t raise the bill.

Watch for:

• Licence. n8n uses the Sustainable Use License: source-available, not open source in the OSI sense. Internal business use is fine; reselling it, embedding it in a product or hosting it for others needs a commercial agreement.
• Ops work. You own uptime, backups and patching, and SSO and audit-style features need a paid licence key even on your own server.
• Short history. One review notes Cloud Starter keeps only a day of execution history, so a Friday-night failure may be gone by Monday.

Security, compliance and governance

B2B buyers usually ask three things: who can see our data, where does it live, and can we prove who changed what.

Zapier reports SOC 2 Type II, SOC 3, GDPR and CCPA compliance. It says SAML SSO and role-based access come with the Team plan, while SCIM provisioning and app-level restrictions are Enterprise features. These are Zapier’s own statements.

Make reports GDPR, SOC 2 Type II and SOC 3 on its security page. Its pricing page lists SSO, audit logs and overage protection under Enterprise.

n8n is the only one of the three you can run on your own servers. That helps with finance, healthcare and contracts with data-residency clauses. But there’s a catch:

• CVE-2026-21877, rated CVSS 10.0, was disclosed in January.
• It let an authenticated user run untrusted code and potentially take over an instance.
• It hit versions from 0.123.0 up to, but not including, 1.121.3 (fixed in November), on both self-hosted installs and n8n Cloud, according to The Hacker News.
• More advisories were reported later.

The takeaway: self-hosting needs a patching routine, not just an install.

If you self-host n8n:

• Keep it off the public internet where you can
• Put it behind a reverse proxy or VPN
• Run it as a non-root user
• Subscribe to n8n’s GitHub security advisories

On any platform, ask the vendor for:

• Its SOC 2 report
• A data processing agreement
• The sub-processor list
• The data region and audit-log retention

And use OAuth connections instead of static API keys.

AI agents and data governance

All three now sell AI features. The question that matters for a B2B team is simple: where does your data go when an AI step runs?

• Zapier offers Agents, Copilot and an MCP server. Its help center says Agents use a separate activity quota, and each successful MCP tool call uses 2 tasks. Zapier says it provides AI guardrails for detecting personal data and prompt injection; that is a vendor claim we did not test.
• Make includes AI agents and AI modules, and its built-in AI features can use more credits than ordinary modules.
• n8n has an AI Agent node built on LangChain and can connect to models you host yourself, which keeps prompts and customer records inside your own infrastructure if your policy requires it.

Before you automate anything that touches customer data, settle three things: which fields may go to an outside model, who approves the actions an AI writes, and where the logs live.

n8n vs Zapier: side-by-side comparison

	Zapier	Make	n8n
Builder	Linear steps	Visual canvas	Visual canvas plus code
App coverage	About 9,000 (vendor count)	3,500+ (vendor claim)	400+ built-in, plus HTTP node
Billing unit	Task per successful action	Credit per module run	Execution per workflow run
Entry paid price (annual)	$19.99/mo, 750 tasks	$9/mo, 10,000 credits	€20/mo, 2,500 executions
Self-hosting	No	No	Yes
Learning curve	Hours	Days	Days to weeks
SSO	Team plan (vendor claim)	Enterprise plan	Business plan and up, also on self-hosted licences
Compliance reported	SOC 2 Type II, SOC 3, GDPR, CCPA	SOC 2 Type II, SOC 3, GDPR	Your own controls if self-hosted
Workflow export	Not available	Yes (JSON blueprints)	Yes (JSON)

Prices and plan details were checked in October. Confirm on each vendor’s pricing page before you budget.

Pricing at a glance (October)

Tier	Zapier	Make	n8n
Free	100 tasks a month	1,000 credits, 2 active scenarios	Community Edition, self-hosted, no execution cap
Entry paid	Professional: $19.99/mo annual, 750 tasks	Core: $9/mo annual, 10,000 credits	Cloud Starter: about €20/mo, 2,500 executions
Team tier	Team: $69/mo annual, 2,000 tasks, up to 25 users	Pro $16 and Teams $29/mo annual, 10,000 credits each	Cloud Pro: about €50/mo, 10,000 executions
Business and above	Enterprise: quoted	Enterprise: quoted	Business: about €667/mo annual, 40,000 executions, SSO; Enterprise quoted

Entry prices use annual billing where the vendor offers it. Confirm on each pricing page before you budget.

How to decide: four questions

1. Who will build and maintain the workflows? If it is marketing or sales ops with no developer, start with Zapier or Make. If engineers own them, n8n becomes realistic.
2. Where must the data live? If a contract or regulator requires your own infrastructure, n8n self-hosted is the only option of the three.
3. How many runs and steps? Multiply runs by action steps using the counting rules above. Small, simple volumes suit any tool; long workflows at high volume favor n8n and Make.
4. How complex is the logic? Branching, loops, custom code and AI agents favor Make or n8n. Simple trigger-and-action handoffs favor Zapier.

Plenty of B2B teams end up running two tools: Zapier for quick business-user automations, and Make or n8n for the heavier back-office and data work. That’s fine as long as every workflow has a named owner and a naming convention. Without those, it gets messy fast.

Run a two-week pilot before you pay for a year

Pick one real workflow (lead routing works well), build it on your top choice, and track four numbers:

1. Build time
2. Monthly usage in the vendor’s own unit
3. Failures per hundred runs
4. How long it takes someone other than the builder to fix a broken run

Annual plans are cheaper per month but rarely refundable, so don’t commit until those numbers look right.

Switching and lock-in

• No automatic migration. You rebuild the workflows and re-enter the credentials.
• Export: Make and n8n export workflows as JSON, which helps with backups and review. Independent reviews say Zapier has no workflow export.
• Zapier to Make or n8n: workflows of more than three steps usually translate well, since branching and looping are more flexible.
• Cutover: run the old and new versions side by side for a week or two before switching the old one off.

Mistakes to avoid

• Comparing plan prices instead of unit costs. A cheap plan that bills every step can cost more than a pricier plan that bills runs.
• Assuming self-hosted n8n is free. Budget for server time, patching, backups and, if you need SSO, a paid licence.
• Forgetting loops. Row-by-row processing multiplies Make credits and Zapier tasks, so a 500-row import is not one unit.
• Skipping governance early. Decide who owns each workflow, where credentials live and how failures alert someone before you have fifty automations. This is core marketing operations and data work, and it is far cheaper to set up early.

n8n vs Zapier: frequently asked questions

Bottom line

In the n8n vs Zapier vs Make debate, start with the team, not the tool. Give Zapier to people who need results this week, Make to ops people who think in flowcharts, and n8n to engineers who want control and don’t mind patching what they host. Then run one real workflow for two weeks and let your own usage numbers make the call.

Need help choosing or building this?

Not sure which tool fits your stack? Nevion Labs designs and builds workflow automations for B2B teams.

• Tell us what you want to automate
• We’ll help you pick the right tool and scope a pilot
• We build, document and hand it over with clear ownership

Book a call with Nevion Labs

You can also read about our integrations and workflow automation services, see how we have worked with other teams, or get in touch.