n8n vs Make vs Zapier for Agencies (2026)

Quick verdict

For agencies that run long client workflows at volume, n8n can be worth evaluating first: it bills one execution per workflow run, not per step, and you can self-host it. Make suits visual, mid-complexity builds on a budget. Zapier is worth evaluating for straightforward app handoffs, while each successful action counts as a task.

Prices and limits as of November 2026. See sources.

The difference that matters most: what you are billed for

The three platforms count usage in different units. This one difference drives most of the cost gap for agencies, because client workflows tend to be long and run often.

n8n bills executions. One execution is one run of a whole workflow, regardless of how many steps it has.
Make bills credits. Each action a scenario module performs uses credits. Most actions use 1 credit, and some AI features use more. Reading data from an app or webhook counts. Router and error-handler modules do not.
Zapier bills tasks. Each successful action in a Zap counts as one task. Checking (polling) for new data does not use tasks.

Worked example

Take a 5-step lead workflow (a trigger plus 4 actions) that runs 1,000 times a month. If each step is one successful action that uses one credit:

n8n: 1,000 executions.
Make: about 5,000 credits (5 modules × 1,000 runs).
Zapier: about 4,000 tasks (4 actions × 1,000 runs; the trigger is free).

Add filters, loops over many rows or AI steps, and the gap usually grows. Use your own step counts and run volumes to estimate cost before you choose.

n8n vs Make vs Zapier: side by side

Sources: vendor pricing pages and docs, checked November 2026. Currencies as shown by each vendor.
	n8n	Make	Zapier
Billing unit	Workflow execution (whole run)	Credit (per module action)	Task (per successful action)
Free option	Self-hosted Community edition (free software); Cloud has a free trial	Free plan: 1,000 credits/month	Free plan: 100 tasks/month, two-step Zaps
Entry paid plan	Cloud Starter: €20/month billed annually, 2,500 executions	Core: from $9/month, from 10,000 credits/month	Professional: from $19.99/month
Team plan	Pro: €50/month billed annually, 10,000 executions	Teams: from $29/month, from 10,000 credits/month	Team: from $69/month, 25 users
Users	Unlimited users on all plans	Not compared here	1 seat on Free and Professional; 25 on Team; unlimited on Enterprise
Self-hosting	Yes	No self-hosted edition on the pricing page	No self-hosted edition on the pricing page
At the limit	Starter and Pro overage capped; Business and Enterprise keep running, overage may apply	Scenarios stop until credits are added; extra credits in bundles of 1,000 or 10,000	Pay-per-task billing at a higher rate, or Zaps pause
SSO	Enterprise (Cloud); Business or Enterprise (self-hosted)	Not compared here	SAML SSO on Team and Enterprise
Best fit	Technical agencies, high volume, custom code, data control	Visual builders who want lower entry pricing	Non-technical teams and simple, fast automations

“Not compared here” means we could not verify the figure from the vendor's own pages in November 2026, so we leave it out.

Pricing in November 2026

n8n

n8n Cloud Starter costs €20/month and Pro €50/month, billed annually, with 2,500 and 10,000 workflow executions. The self-hosted Business plan costs €667/month billed annually for 40,000 executions, and n8n says it is only available self-hosted at the moment. Enterprise is priced by sales. The self-hosted Community edition is free and, according to n8n's docs, includes almost the complete feature set. For a deeper look, read n8n Cloud vs self-hosted n8n.

Make

Make's free plan includes 1,000 credits a month. Make's own comparison page lists Core from $9/month, Pro from $16/month and Teams from $29/month, each starting at 10,000 credits a month. That page does not say which billing term these prices use. Make's FAQ says annual payment in advance costs less than monthly. Credits expire at the end of the term. When you run out, you can buy extra credits in bundles of 1,000 or 10,000 at the price set in your subscription.

Zapier

Zapier's Free plan includes 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps. Professional starts from $19.99/month and adds multi-step Zaps, premium apps and webhooks. Team starts from $69/month and adds 25 users, shared Zaps, folders and app connections, and SAML SSO. Enterprise is priced by sales. Prices rise with the task tier you select. Zapier says pay-per-task billing above your plan's limit costs more per task than your base subscription tasks.

What agencies should check

Margin at scale. Agencies run the same workflow for many clients. Per-action billing multiplies with every client and every step. Per-execution billing, or a self-hosted server with a fixed cost, scales more predictably.
Licensing. n8n's licence FAQ lets you run client automations on your own self-hosted instance as long as clients cannot create or edit them. Embedding a workflow builder for clients needs a commercial licence from n8n.
Seats. Zapier limits seats by plan (25 on Team). n8n includes unlimited users on all plans, but the free Community edition does not share workflows or credentials between users.
Client hand-over. Decide early whose account each automation runs on. Moving a client from your account to theirs later means a rebuild or a re-import.
Who maintains it. Self-hosting moves updates, backups and uptime to you. Price that work into your retainer, or keep that client on a hosted plan.

We build and run client automation for agencies. See how we work with agencies and our free workflow resources.

Considering a move to n8n?

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When to choose each

Choose n8n if

Your workflows have many steps or run at high volume.
You want to self-host for cost or data control.
Your team can write code, or you have a technical partner.

Choose Make if

You want a visual builder with low entry pricing.
Your scenarios are mid-complexity and moderate volume.
You do not want to manage servers.

Choose Zapier if

Non-technical staff build and own the automations.
Workflows are short, with only a few actions each.
Speed of set-up matters more than cost per run.

Many agencies use more than one: Zapier or Make for quick internal jobs, and n8n for high-volume client workflows. Our VibraMedia case study shows the n8n side of that at scale: over 100,000 executions per month, with about £1,175 per month saved after moving to self-hosted n8n and smarter LLM routing.

Migration notes

Audit first. Export a list of Zaps or scenarios with step counts and monthly runs. Turn off anything nobody uses.
Estimate in the target unit. Convert tasks or credits into n8n executions (one per run) to size the plan or server.
Rebuild, do not convert. Each platform stores workflows in its own format. n8n saves workflows as JSON, which you can keep in version control once rebuilt.
Reconnect accounts. App connections and credentials do not move between platforms. Re-authorise each one in the new tool.
Run in parallel. Use test data or a read-only shadow run to compare outputs. Disable outbound messages and writes in the shadow workflow, then switch triggers over and turn the old workflow off.

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheapest for an agency: n8n, Make or Zapier?

It depends on how many steps your workflows have and how often they run. n8n counts one execution per workflow run, whatever the number of steps. Make charges credits for each module action, and Zapier charges a task for each successful action. For long, frequent workflows, n8n usually needs the fewest billable units, and its Community edition is free to self-host.

Can I self-host Make or Zapier?

Make and Zapier sell hosted plans. Neither lists a self-hosted edition on its pricing page, and Make's own comparison page contrasts its secure cloud with n8n's self-hosted option. n8n is the only one of the three with a free self-hosted Community edition.

Does Zapier charge for the trigger step?

No. Zapier's pricing FAQ says it never charges a task to check for new data. A task is counted when a Zap successfully completes an action, and each successful action counts as a separate task.

What happens when I run out of Make credits or Zapier tasks?

Make says scenarios stop until credits are added. Incoming webhooks queue up to your storage limit. Zapier emails you near your limit. With pay-per-task billing on, Zaps continue at a higher per-task rate. With it off, they pause until the next usage period.

Can an agency resell n8n to clients?

n8n's Sustainable Use License FAQ lets you build automations for clients on your own instance, as long as clients cannot create or edit them. You can charge for set-up, maintenance, training and consultancy. You cannot host n8n as a service where clients build their own workflows, or white-label it, without a commercial agreement with n8n.

How hard is it to move from Zapier or Make to n8n?

There is no direct import. Each platform stores workflows in its own format, so you rebuild each Zap or scenario in n8n, reconnect the app accounts, and test it against the original before you switch the old one off.

Sources

We checked every price, plan limit and feature on this page against the vendors' own pages in November 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm current figures before you buy.