- All three connect your apps and run steps for you. The big difference is how they charge and who controls the system.
- Zapier counts tasks, Make counts credits, and n8n counts whole workflow runs. Long workflows often cost less on n8n.
- Pick the tool after you list your workflows, not before. The workflow decides the tool.
A bakery owner wants three things to happen by themselves. New website orders go into a sheet. The customer gets a confirmation. The kitchen gets a list every morning.
She searches “automation tool” and finds three names again and again: Zapier, Make and n8n. All three promise to connect her apps. Which one should she pick?
This guide explains the real differences in plain English. It is the same question we answer at the start of every business workflow automation project.
These tools change their plans often. This guide explains how each one charges, not exact prices. Check each pricing page, linked under Sources, before you decide.
What do these tools actually do?
All three are workflow automation tools. A workflow is a set of steps that runs by itself when something happens.
For example: “When a form is sent, add a row to the sheet, then send an email.” The form is the trigger. The row and the email are the steps.
You build workflows by connecting blocks on a screen. No programming is needed for most small business jobs.
How does each tool charge?
This is the biggest practical difference.
| Tool | What it counts | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Zapier | Tasks | Each action a workflow completes uses a task. A five-step workflow can use several tasks every time it runs. |
| Make | Credits | Each action uses credits. Most actions use one credit. Some AI features use more. |
| n8n | Workflow executions | One full run of a workflow counts once, however many steps it has. |
A short workflow that runs a few times a day costs little on any of them.
A long workflow that runs hundreds of times a month is where the difference shows. On n8n, a ten-step run still counts as one execution. On tools that count each action, the same run counts many times.
Write down how many steps each workflow has and how often it runs in a month. Multiply them. That one number tells you more than any comparison table.
Who controls the system?
Zapier and Make are cloud services. They host everything. You log in, build and pay.
n8n can run in two ways. n8n Cloud is hosted for you, like the others. Or you can host n8n yourself on your own server.
n8n’s Sustainable Use License allows the self-hosted Community Edition to be used for your own internal business purposes. It doesn’t allow you to offer n8n itself as a service to your customers without a separate agreement.
Self-hosting means your workflow data stays on a server you control. It also means someone has to keep that server updated and backed up.
Which tool suits which business?
There is no single winner. Here is a fair rule of thumb.
- Zapier suits very simple jobs and teams that want the quickest start. It connects to a very large number of apps.
- Make suits visual thinkers with medium-sized workflows who want to see every branch on one screen.
- n8n suits longer workflows, AI steps and businesses that want to own and control their system, either self-hosted or on n8n Cloud.
We build most systems with n8n, because AI steps and long workflows are common in our work, and clients can keep the system on their own account. If a client already runs Zapier or Make well, we often keep it.
What about AI?
All three now offer AI steps. For example, an AI model can read an email, decide what it is about and write a reply draft.
In our builds, Claude, an AI model, does the reading and writing. n8n runs the steps around it: receiving the message, saving it and sending the reply after a person approves it.
The tool matters less than the design. A good workflow shows a person anything sensitive before it goes out.
The recipe
Before committing to one tool, test it with one real job.
Automation recipe: test one workflow on two tools
- When this happensYou have one repetitive job you want to automate, for example new form entries going to a sheet and an email.
- The system doesWrite the job down as steps – what starts it, what happens, where the result goes.
- ThenCount how many steps run each time and how often it happens in a month.
- ThenBuild the same workflow on the free plan or trial of two tools.
- ThenRun it for a week with real data and note errors, speed and usage.
- You onlyChoose the tool, and decide who owns the account and keeps the logins.
- n8n
- Zapier
- Make
- Google Sheets
- Gmail
Common mistakes
Choosing the tool first. List your jobs first. The jobs decide the tool.
Forgetting usage. A workflow that looks cheap with ten test runs can cost far more at full volume on per-action pricing.
Building on a personal account. Create the account in the business’s name, with the business owner as admin.
No written list of workflows. Without a list, nobody knows what runs where when something breaks.
A simple next step
Write down three jobs you repeat every week. For each, note what starts it and where the result goes. That list is your starting point, whichever tool you choose.
For job ideas, see 10 tasks a small business can automate this month. For a job with paperwork, read how to turn invoices and forms into spreadsheet rows.
Want a second opinion on your list? Book a free video call.
Sources
- n8n: plans and pricing
- n8n: Sustainable Use License
- Zapier: plans and pricing
- Make: pricing and credits
This guide was drafted with AI assistance, then reviewed, fact-checked and edited by MD Al Amin.
Quick questions
Is n8n really free?
The self-hosted Community Edition can be used free for your own internal business purposes under n8n's Sustainable Use License. You still pay for the server it runs on and for someone to look after it. n8n's cloud plans are paid.
Which tool is easiest for a beginner?
Zapier is usually the quickest to learn for simple two- or three-step jobs. Make and n8n show the whole workflow as a visual map, which helps once jobs get longer.
Can I move from one tool to another later?
Yes, but workflows don't copy across. Each one is rebuilt in the new tool. Keeping a simple written list of your workflows makes a move much easier.