--- title: "n8n vs Zapier vs Make: True Cost Compared (2026)" description: "n8n, Zapier and Make compared on 2026 vendor-published pricing: per-task, per-credit and per-execution billing, and the AI multipliers that changed the maths." image: https://peppereffect.com/hubfs/blog/images/n8nzm-hero-20260623-061149.webp --- [Skip Navigation or Skip to Content](https://peppereffect.com/blog/n8n-vs-zapier-vs-make#skipToMain) [![logo](https://peppereffect.com/hubfs/PeperEffect_Theme_2026/Images/logo.png)](https://peppereffect.com) - [4 Pillars Playbook](https://peppereffect.com/hubfs/lead-magnets/4-pillars-playbook-interactive.html) - [About](https://peppereffect.com/about-ai-consultancy) - [Services](https://peppereffect.com#services) - [Citation Engine](https://peppereffect.com/citation-engine) - [Lead Generation](https://peppereffect.com/lead-generation) - [Sales Administration](https://peppereffect.com/sales-administration) - [Project Management](https://peppereffect.com/project-management-operations) - [Marketing Infrastructure](https://peppereffect.com/marketing-infrastructure) - Resources - [Blog](https://peppereffect.com/blog) - [AI Visibility Check](https://peppereffect.com/hubfs/lead-magnets/ai-visibility-check-landing.html) - [AEO/GEO Readiness Assessment](https://peppereffect.com/hubfs/lead-magnets/aeo-readiness-assessment-landing.html) - [AI Visibility Value Pipeline](https://peppereffect.com/hubfs/lead-magnets/ai-visibility-value-report-landing.html) - [CAC Calculator B2B SaaS](https://peppereffect.com/hubfs/cac-calculator-b2b-saas.html) - [Agency Partner Program](https://peppereffect.com/agency-partner-program) - [Agency comparison](https://peppereffect.com/geo-aeo-agency-comparison) - [B2b Search Traffic Study 2026](https://peppereffect.com/blog/b2b-search-traffic-study-2026) - [Case Studies](https://peppereffect.com#case-study) - [Ranke Consulting](https://peppereffect.com/case-study-ranke-consulting) - [Whitehat](https://peppereffect.com/case-study-whitehat) - [SPRUNG.RAUM](https://peppereffect.com/case-study-sprungraum) - [Helium42](https://peppereffect.com/case-study-helium42) [Contact us](https://peppereffect.com/contact-us) [Contact us](https://peppereffect.com/contact-us) ![n8nzm-hero-20260623-061149](https://peppereffect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog/images/n8nzm-hero-20260623-061149.webp?width=1280&height=550&name=n8nzm-hero-20260623-061149.webp) #### Table of Contents #### Published by ![Picture of Peter Vogel](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/cd43f2b31a6cdeead12c6b4274a27967) Peter Vogel Founder of peppereffect. Systems architect for B2B founders who want to scale revenue without scaling headcount. Peter has built AI-powered growth operating systems for companies across SaaS, executive search, and high-ticket consulting, engineering the infrastructure that decouples growth from manual effort. [B2B Growth](https://peppereffect.com/blog/tag/b2b-growth) [AI Automation](https://peppereffect.com/blog/tag/ai-automation) 02 Okt. 2026 # n8n vs Zapier vs Make: True Cost of Ownership Compared Three platforms, three billing units, and a bill that can differ by an order of magnitude for identical work. Zapier charges for every action step. Make charges for every module run. n8n charges once per workflow run, however much sits inside it. That difference decides your annual cost more than any feature on any comparison page. Two things changed in 2026. Zapier and Make now meter AI steps at a multiple of ordinary steps, so the arithmetic that held for simple automations breaks the moment a model enters the workflow. And neither publishes a price at the volumes real B2B workflows reach. Every figure below comes from the vendors' own pages. Where a number is not published, we say so. 750 Tasks in Zapier Professional $19.99/mo billed annually, Zapier 2026 10,000 Credits in every paid Make tier Core $12, Pro $21, Teams $38, Make 2026 10,000 n8n Pro executions, unlimited steps 50 EUR/mo billed annually, n8n 2026 5x Task multiplier on Zapier's default AI tier Premium model tier, Zapier Help 2026 ## How do n8n, Zapier and Make count what you owe? Zapier bills per task, where a task is one completed action step. Make bills per credit, where a plain non-AI module run costs one credit. n8n bills per execution, where an execution is a single run of a workflow regardless of how many nodes it contains. Cost therefore scales with actions on Zapier, with module runs on Make, and with trigger frequency on n8n. The detail under those definitions is where the money moves. On Zapier, triggers are free, as are Filter, Paths, Formatter, Delay, Looping, Digest, Zapier Manager and Storage steps. Every successful external action increments the counter, including steps inside an error-handler path ([Zapier Help](https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496196837261-Zapier-plan-and-app-limits)). On Make, credits and operations are now separate ideas: operations count the activities your scenarios perform, credits are what you pay for them. For non-AI apps one operation equals one credit, and the trigger module counts ([Make Help](https://help.make.com/credits-and-operations)). On n8n, only production executions count toward the quota, meaning runs started by triggers, schedules or polling. Manual runs in the editor, sub-workflows, error workflows, empty polls and malformed webhooks are all excluded ([n8n Docs](https://docs.n8n.io/build/understand-workflows/understand-executions/)). | Platform | Billable unit | Does the trigger cost? | Does workflow depth cost? | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Zapier | Task, one completed action step | No | Yes, every action on every run | | Make.com | Credit, one operation for non-AI modules | Yes | Yes, every module run per record | | n8n | Execution, one full workflow run | Included in the execution | No, node count is free | Sources: [Zapier Help: plan and app limits](https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496196837261-Zapier-plan-and-app-limits), [Make Help: credits](https://help.make.com/credits), [n8n Docs: executions](https://docs.n8n.io/build/understand-workflows/understand-executions/). Checked 2 October 2026. ![Business analyst comparing Zapier, Make, and n8n pricing sheets with a calculator and workflow dashboards](https://peppereffect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog/images/n8nzm-body1-20260623-061151.webp?width=1200&height=675&name=n8nzm-body1-20260623-061151.webp) Key Takeaway Simple two and three-step automations cost roughly the same on all three platforms. The models diverge with depth, because **Zapier and Make charge again for every step on every run while n8n charges once for the run**. Depth, not volume, is the variable that separates the bills. ## What changed in 2026: AI steps no longer cost one unit Both per-step vendors now meter AI work at a multiple of ordinary work. On Zapier the model tier multiplies the task count for that step, and the highest multiplier is the default. On Make, AI and advanced modules move from fixed to dynamic credit usage, priced on tokens, file size, pages or run time. On n8n an AI node sits inside the execution and changes nothing. Zapier documents a task multiplier per model tier. Standard is 1x and supports no tools. Advanced is 3x. Premium is 5x, supports tools, and is described as the default for new steps. Bringing your own AI account returns the multiplier to 1x while still allowing Advanced or Premium models, which Zapier names as the most cost-effective option for tool-heavy workflows ([Zapier Help](https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/46425475442829-AI-by-Zapier-model-tier-pricing)). Read that as a bill. Accept the default on one AI step and it consumes five tasks per run instead of one. A ten-step workflow with a single AI step on the default tier costs fourteen tasks per run, a 40 percent increase from a dropdown nobody changed. Make's structure is harder to forecast. Most modules bill a fixed credit per operation, but Make states that some consume more because of processing complexity, tagging its own examples at 2 and 10 credits. AI and advanced modules bill dynamically, varying per run with tokens, file size, page count or processing time ([Make Help](https://help.make.com/credits)). Where you connect your own AI provider, you pay Make one credit per operation and your provider for the tokens. The default that costs you five times Zapier's Premium model tier carries a **5x task multiplier and is the default for new AI steps**. Switching to your own AI account returns the step to 1x. Teams that added AI steps during 2026 and never opened the model dropdown are paying five tasks per AI step per run, and nothing in a task report labels it as a multiplier. ## Price your own workflow The published definitions let you compute billable units exactly, without a quote. Set your workflow shape below and compare what each model charges for identical work. The arithmetic is the vendors' own counting rules applied to your numbers. Billable units for the same workflow Action steps per run Runs per month Of those steps, AI steps on Zapier's default 5x tier | Platform | Units per run | Units per month | Against the published base tier | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Zapier tasks | 10 | 100,000 | 133x the 750 tasks in Professional at $19.99/mo | | Make credits | 11 | 110,000 | 11x the 10,000 credits in Pro at $21/mo | | n8n executions | 1 | 10,000 | exactly the 10,000 executions in Pro at 50 EUR/mo | Make counts the trigger module, Zapier does not. n8n counts one execution however many nodes run. AI steps on Zapier are counted at the default Premium multiplier of 5x. Unit arithmetic by peppereffect from the counting rules published by [Zapier](https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496196837261-Zapier-plan-and-app-limits), [Make](https://help.make.com/credits) and [n8n](https://docs.n8n.io/build/understand-workflows/understand-executions/), and the base-tier allowances on each vendor's pricing page. Checked 2 October 2026. Now double the depth to twenty steps and hold the runs. Zapier doubles to 200,000 tasks. Make rises to 210,000 credits. n8n does not move: still 10,000 executions, still 50 EUR, because the extra ten steps live inside the same execution. That is the whole argument for per-execution pricing on complex builds, and it needs no vendor quote to demonstrate. ## What does Zapier actually cost in 2026? ![DevOps engineer monitoring a self-hosted n8n server rack and infrastructure dashboard](https://peppereffect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog/images/n8nzm-floatright-20260623-061203.webp?width=280&name=n8nzm-floatright-20260623-061203.webp) Zapier publishes four plan families and two concrete prices. Free is permanent at 100 tasks a month. Professional is $19.99 a month billed annually and includes 750 tasks. Team is $69 a month billed annually. Enterprise is quoted. Annual billing saves 33 percent, and the catalogue stands at more than 9,000 apps ([Zapier pricing](https://zapier.com/pricing); [Zapier blog](https://zapier.com/blog/zapier-pricing/)). What Zapier does not publish is a price at volume. Neither the pricing page nor the pricing explainer says what 100,000 or a million tasks a month costs. The ladder sits behind a slider and in sales conversations, so a buyer cannot model a serious workflow from public information. The figures circulating in third-party posts are not vendor-published, and we do not repeat them here. The overage mechanism is documented, and it matters more than the sticker price. Pay-per-task billing is the default on many newer accounts. With it enabled, workflows in a workspace with no task limit keep running past the plan allowance and overage billing begins. Zapier notifies you at 100 percent of your plan limit, at 80 percent of three times that limit, and at 100 percent of the three-times threshold, after which workflows are held. With pay-per-task off, workflows simply stop at the limit until you upgrade or the cycle resets ([Zapier Help](https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/36606829464973-How-billing-and-invoicing-work-in-organizations-and-workspaces)). The practical ceiling on an undersized Zapier plan is therefore about three times its allowance, bought at overage rates rather than plan rates. Size the plan to your baseline and keep overage for spikes. ## What does Make.com actually cost in 2026? Make's free tier gives up to 1,000 credits a month. Every paid tier starts at the same 10,000 credits and differs on features rather than volume: Core at $12 a month, Pro at $21, Teams at $38, with Enterprise quoted. Credits scale by slider above that base, annual billing saves 15 percent or more, and the catalogue is more than 3,000 standard apps ([Make pricing](https://www.make.com/en/pricing)). Set the entry prices side by side. Zapier's $19.99 Professional includes 750 tasks. Make's $21 Pro includes 10,000 credits. For non-AI work the units compare directly, since a Zapier task is one completed action and a Make credit is one module operation, the one asymmetry being that Make charges for the trigger. Make therefore starts with roughly thirteen times the billable units for the same money. Make's catch is forecasting rather than price. Because credits track module runs per record, a scenario pulling 100 items through four modules burns around 400 credits in one run. Credit usage also stopped being uniform, with some modules tagged at 2 or 10 credits and AI modules billing dynamically ([Make Help](https://help.make.com/credits)). A Make estimate built on one credit per module is a floor, not a forecast. As with Zapier, Make's help pages do not restate allowances or prices at higher volumes, so the cost of a million operations is a question for the live pricing card or for sales. ## What does n8n actually cost in 2026? n8n Cloud publishes Starter at 20 EUR a month billed annually for 2,500 executions, Pro at 50 EUR for 10,000 executions, and Business at 667 EUR for 40,000 executions with self-hosting, each with unlimited steps per execution. On Business, additional capacity is sold in buckets of 300,000 executions at 4,000 EUR. Enterprise is quoted ([n8n pricing](https://n8n.io/pricing/)). Note the currency. n8n prices in euros, which quietly breaks like-for-like comparisons written for a US audience. Two advantages follow from the execution model. Complexity is free, so adding nodes, branches, AI calls and integrations never raises the execution count. And the exclusions are generous: editor testing, sub-workflows, error workflows, empty polls and malformed webhooks all sit outside the quota, so development does not consume production budget. On the per-step platforms every test run costs units. Choosing a platform is the easy half. Architecting what runs on it is the half that compounds. [See how we architect operations](https://peppereffect.com/project-management-operations) ## The licence question procurement asks late ![Small B2B team gathered around a screen comparing automation platform options](https://peppereffect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog/images/n8nzm-floatleft-20260623-061200.webp?width=280&name=n8nzm-floatleft-20260623-061200.webp) Self-hosted n8n carries no per-execution fee, and it is not open source. The Community Edition ships under the Sustainable Use License, Version 1.0, which permits use and modification only for your own internal business purposes or for non-commercial or personal use, and bars providing the software to others except free of charge for non-commercial purposes. Files whose names contain ".ee." require a separate Enterprise License ([n8n LICENSE.md](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/blob/master/LICENSE.md)). For internal automation that restriction is irrelevant. For anyone embedding automation into a product they sell, reselling it to clients or running it as a managed service, it is the whole decision, and it usually surfaces when legal reads the licence after the build is done. The alternatives marketed as open source mostly draw the same line in a different place, which is why "open source" is not a usable procurement answer on its own. Activepieces keeps enterprise features commercial around an MIT core. Windmill requires a commercial licence to redistribute, resell, host as a managed service, white-label or embed. Node-RED is the clean case, Apache 2.0 under the OpenJS Foundation. One practical note: registering self-hosted n8n by email returns a licence key that enables folders, editor debugging and custom execution data, usable on up to five instances ([n8n Self-hosted FAQ](https://support.n8n.io/article/how-to-activate-community-edition-key)). | Platform | Licence | Internal business use | Resell, embed or host for others | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | n8n Community Edition | Sustainable Use License v1.0 | Permitted | Needs a separate agreement | | Activepieces Community Edition | MIT, enterprise features commercial | Permitted | Permitted for the MIT core | | Windmill | AGPLv3 for the non-enterprise build | Permitted | Needs a commercial licence | | Node-RED | Apache 2.0, OpenJS Foundation | Permitted | Permitted | Sources: licence files on each project's repository, [n8n](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/blob/master/LICENSE.md), [Activepieces](https://github.com/activepieces/activepieces), [Windmill](https://github.com/windmill-labs/windmill), [Node-RED](https://github.com/node-red/node-red). Checked 2 October 2026. Licence summaries are not legal advice. ## The hidden costs nobody quotes you Each platform carries a quieter cost that arrives after the decision. On Zapier it is sprawl and overage: the same ease that lets anyone build a Zap lets every team build overlapping ones, and pay-per-task turns an undersized plan into a creeping monthly surprise. On Make it is credit inflation, because scenarios iterating over large datasets consume credits out of proportion to business events, and development runs consume them too. On n8n it is operational: infrastructure, security, monitoring, backups and the engineering time to run them, plus a steeper learning curve. There is a measurement cost too. On the per-step platforms a unit no longer maps cleanly to a business event, because an AI step might cost one unit or five and a Make module one credit or ten. Forecasting next quarter means knowing which model tiers and module tags are in play, on top of how often the workflow fires. ![Infographic comparing per-task, per-operation, and per-execution pricing models with a cost curve diverging at scale](https://peppereffect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog/images/n8nzm-infographic-20260623-061210.webp?width=1200&height=675&name=n8nzm-infographic-20260623-061210.webp) ## Breadth, flexibility, and who each platform is built for Cost decides most of this, capability decides the rest. Zapier leads on breadth with more than 9,000 apps. Make connects more than 3,000 behind a visual builder. n8n ships fewer prebuilt nodes and reaches any REST API through its HTTP Request node, so technical teams integrate by configuration rather than waiting for a connector. | Factor | Zapier | Make.com | n8n | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Best for | Non-technical teams | Semi-technical builders | Technical teams | | Published apps | 9,000+ | 3,000+ standard | Core nodes plus any REST API | | Entry paid price | $19.99/mo, 750 tasks | $12/mo, 10,000 credits | 20 EUR/mo, 2,500 executions | | AI steps billed at a multiple | Yes, up to 5x | Yes, dynamic on tokens | No | | Price published at high volume | No | No | Yes, to 300,000 buckets | | Self-hosting | No | No | Yes, licence restrictions apply | Sources: [Zapier pricing](https://zapier.com/pricing), [Make pricing](https://www.make.com/en/pricing), [n8n pricing](https://n8n.io/pricing/), plus the billing documentation cited above. Checked 2 October 2026. ## If none of the three fit, what else is there? Four situations push teams off all three: a licence that blocks reselling, a cost curve that breaks at your volume, a team that would rather write code than drag boxes, and connector gaps in a vertical. Each has a credible answer. The caveat is that most published numbers for these platforms come from their own marketing. If licensing is the binding constraint, Activepieces is the closest like-for-like, with an MIT-licensed Community Edition and enterprise features held back commercially. Its repository states 200-plus integrations, worth checking against the live catalogue before you commit, because third-party roundups quote numbers several times higher without a source ([Activepieces GitHub](https://github.com/activepieces/activepieces)). If your team is engineering-led, Pipedream runs your code on infrastructure it manages, which suits product teams embedding automation into their own software, while Windmill is built to be self-hosted and treats scripts, flows and internal apps as one system. If the work is edge or IoT, Node-RED has the cleanest licence in the category. If governance dominates, the enterprise iPaaS tier is priced for exactly that. We have left out the cost-per-million-operations claims that circulate for these platforms. They come from vendor pages promoting a comparison and we could not confirm them independently. A cost comparison that repeats a vendor's own competitive maths is marketing with a table around it. Key Takeaway Name the one constraint you cannot compromise on, then shortlist against it. **Licence blocks resale, cost breaks at volume, team cannot code, connector does not exist.** Those four cover almost every migration we are asked to architect, and each points at a different platform. ## How should you choose between n8n, Zapier and Make? Match the platform to your depth, volume and team, in that order. Depth decides which billing unit favours you, volume decides whether the unpublished high-volume ladder matters, and the team decides whether you can carry the operational load the cheapest unit price brings. 1 Count your steps before you compare prices Take your three highest-volume workflows, count the action steps and monthly runs, and multiply. If the result sits inside a published base tier, that platform is priced for you. If it sits far outside every one, you are shopping for a quote. 2 Choose Zapier when breadth and speed beat unit cost Non-technical team, shallow workflows, moderate volume, a niche connector only Zapier carries. The premium per task buys the fastest route to something that works. Check the model tier on every AI step before you ship. 3 Choose Make for visual mid-complexity at a lower unit price Some technical comfort, workflows that branch and transform, and a need for more units per dollar. Design scenarios to avoid needless iteration, and audit which modules carry credit multipliers before you forecast. 4 Choose n8n when depth and AI are permanent features of the work Technical operators, deep multi-system workflows, frequent runs, and AI steps that would multiply elsewhere. Confirm the licence fits your commercial model before the build. 5 Run a hybrid and put each workflow where it is cheapest Use a managed tool for commodity SaaS integrations where breadth wins, and n8n for custom and agentic logic where depth is free. This is the stance peppereffect architects most often, treating platforms as components rather than a single bet. ![Engineer reviewing a complex multi-step automation workflow with many connected nodes on a monitor](https://peppereffect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog/images/n8nzm-body2-20260623-061156.webp?width=1200&height=675&name=n8nzm-body2-20260623-061156.webp) Stop guessing which platform your automations belong on peppereffect architects AI operating systems that put each workflow on the platform with the lowest true cost of ownership, then builds and hands over the system that decouples your growth from headcount. Book a Growth Mapping Call and we will map your highest-value automations and the stack to run them. [Book your Growth Mapping Call](https://meetings-eu1.hubspot.com/peterpeppereffect/discovery-call) [Or see what building the automation itself costs](https://peppereffect.com/blog/ai-automation-cost) ## Frequently asked questions **Is n8n cheaper than Zapier and Make?** For deep or AI-heavy workflows, usually, and the published tiers show why. A ten-step workflow run 10,000 times a month is 10,000 n8n executions, exactly the allowance in n8n Pro at 50 EUR a month. The same work is 100,000 Zapier tasks, 133 times the 750 in the $19.99 Professional plan, and 110,000 Make credits, 11 times the 10,000 every paid Make tier starts with. For shallow, low-volume work the free tiers on Zapier and Make can be cheapest. **What is the difference between a Zapier task, a Make credit and an n8n execution?** A Zapier task is one completed action step, with triggers and built-in steps like Filter, Paths and Formatter free. A Make credit is one operation, normally one module run including the trigger, though some modules cost 2 or 10 credits and AI modules bill on tokens. An n8n execution is one full workflow run whatever the node count, and only production runs count. This is the biggest single driver of the cost difference. **Do AI steps change the cost comparison?** Substantially, on two of the three. Zapier multiplies tasks by model tier, 1x on Standard, 3x on Advanced and 5x on Premium, with Premium the default for new steps, so one AI step can cost five tasks per run. Make moves AI and advanced modules to dynamic credit usage priced on tokens, file size, pages or run time. On n8n an AI node sits inside the execution and the count stays at one. **What does a million tasks or operations a month cost?** Zapier and Make do not publish it. Neither vendor states a price at roughly 100,000 or 1,000,000 units a month, so the answer comes from the pricing slider or from sales. n8n is the exception, selling capacity on its Business plan in buckets of 300,000 executions at 4,000 EUR. Any figure quoted for Zapier or Make at that volume is a third-party estimate, not a vendor price. **Is self-hosted n8n really free?** There is no per-execution fee, and there are two real costs. The first is operational: a server, database, storage, monitoring, backups and the engineering time to patch, secure and scale them. The second is legal: the Sustainable Use License permits use only for your own internal business purposes or non-commercial use, so reselling it, embedding it in a product or running it for clients needs a separate agreement. **Which is best for a B2B team: n8n, Zapier or Make?** Zapier for non-technical teams and the widest connector library. Make for visual mid-complexity at a lower unit price. n8n when you have technical operators, deep logic and AI steps, because depth costs nothing. For many B2B companies the answer is a hybrid: a managed tool for commodity integrations, n8n for custom and agentic logic. Compare the field in our roundup of [AI automation tools](https://peppereffect.com/blog/ai-automation-tools), or the two visual builders in [n8n vs Make](https://peppereffect.com/blog/n8n-vs-make). ## Resources - [Zapier: Plans and pricing](https://zapier.com/pricing) - [Zapier: Pricing explained](https://zapier.com/blog/zapier-pricing/) - [Zapier Help: plan and app limits](https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496196837261-Zapier-plan-and-app-limits) - [Zapier Help: AI model tier pricing](https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/46425475442829-AI-by-Zapier-model-tier-pricing) - [Zapier Help: task limits and pay-per-task overage](https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/36606829464973-How-billing-and-invoicing-work-in-organizations-and-workspaces) - [Make: Pricing and plans](https://www.make.com/en/pricing) - [Make Help: fixed and dynamic credit usage](https://help.make.com/credits) - [Make Help: credits versus operations](https://help.make.com/credits-and-operations) - [n8n: Plans and pricing](https://n8n.io/pricing/) - [n8n Docs: what counts as an execution](https://docs.n8n.io/build/understand-workflows/understand-executions/) - [n8n: Sustainable Use License, Version 1.0](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/blob/master/LICENSE.md) - [n8n: Community Edition key](https://support.n8n.io/article/how-to-activate-community-edition-key) - [Activepieces: licence](https://github.com/activepieces/activepieces) - [Windmill: licence terms](https://github.com/windmill-labs/windmill) - [Node-RED: Apache 2.0 licence](https://github.com/node-red/node-red) - [peppereffect: n8n pricing explained](https://peppereffect.com/blog/n8n-pricing) - [peppereffect: n8n limitations](https://peppereffect.com/blog/n8n-limitations) - [peppereffect: AI automation build cost](https://peppereffect.com/blog/ai-automation-cost) ## Related blog ![Senior B2B executive scoring AI agency proposals against a six-pillar framework](https://peppereffect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog/images/best-ai-agency-hero-20260407-044509.webp?width=406&height=320&name=best-ai-agency-hero-20260407-044509.webp) ###### 14 Okt. [Agentic AI](https://peppereffect.com/blog/tag/agentic-ai) [Marketing Infrastructure](https://peppereffect.com/blog/tag/marketing-infrastructure) [B2B Growth](https://peppereffect.com/blog/tag/b2b-growth) [AI Automation](https://peppereffect.com/blog/tag/ai-automation) #### Best AI Agency for B2B in 2026: A Six-Pillar Scorecard for the Discovery Call [Peter Vogel](https://peppereffect.com/blog/author/peter-vogel) ![A split scene contrasting a rigid linear automated workflow on the left with an adaptive branching AI agent on the right](https://peppereffect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog/images/agentic-vs-trad-hero-20260611-050007.webp?width=406&height=320&name=agentic-vs-trad-hero-20260611-050007.webp) ###### 12 Okt. [Agentic AI](https://peppereffect.com/blog/tag/agentic-ai) [AI Automation](https://peppereffect.com/blog/tag/ai-automation) [Automation](https://peppereffect.com/blog/tag/automation) #### Agentic AI vs Traditional Automation: Which One Each Step Needs [Peter Vogel](https://peppereffect.com/blog/author/peter-vogel) ![B2B marketing leader viewing an AI chat answer that cites her brand among its sources, illustrating the goal of generative engine optimization services](https://peppereffect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog/images/geo-services-hero-20260605-051525.webp?width=406&height=320&name=geo-services-hero-20260605-051525.webp) ###### 09 Okt. [GEO](https://peppereffect.com/blog/tag/geo) [B2B Growth](https://peppereffect.com/blog/tag/b2b-growth) [SEO](https://peppereffect.com/blog/tag/seo) #### Generative Engine Optimization Services: What a Provider Delivers and How to Vet One [Peter Vogel](https://peppereffect.com/blog/author/peter-vogel) THE NEXT STEP ## Stop Renting Leverage. Install It. 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We help companies become scalable and independent. - ##### Our Resources - [4 Pillars Playbook](https://peppereffect.com/hubfs/lead-magnets/4-pillars-playbook-interactive.html) - [About Us](https://peppereffect.com/about-ai-consultancy) - [Blog](https://peppereffect.com/blog) - [Case Studies](https://peppereffect.com#case-study) - [Contact us](https://peppereffect.com/contact-us) ##### Our Services - [Lead Generation](https://peppereffect.com/lead-generation) - [Sales Administration](https://peppereffect.com/sales-administration) - [Project Management](https://peppereffect.com/project-management-operations) - [Marketing Classics](https://peppereffect.com/marketing-infrastructure) - [Citation Engine](https://peppereffect.com/citation-engine) ##### Contact Info - [+49 163 7096754](tel:+491637096754) - [info@peppereffect.com](mailto:info@peppereffect.com) - Provinzialstrasse 41, 46499 Hamminkeln, Germany - [Imprint](https://peppereffect.com/imprint) - [Privacy Policy](https://peppereffect.com/privacy-policy) © 2026 peppereffect | All Rights Reserved Cookie-Einstellungen ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Peter Vogel", "url" : "https://peppereffect.com/blog/author/peter-vogel" }, "datePublished" : "2026-10-02T04:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "n8n vs Zapier vs Make: True Cost Compared (2026)", "image" : [ "https://peppereffect.com/hubfs/blog/images/n8nzm-hero-20260623-061149.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://peppereffect.com/blog/n8n-vs-zapier-vs-make", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://peppereffect.com/hubfs/20201010_peppereffect_Logo.png" }, "name" : "peppereffect" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "Article", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Peter Vogel", "url" : "https://peppereffect.com/about" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-02", "datePublished" : "2026-10-02", "description" : "n8n, Zapier and Make compared on 2026 vendor-published pricing: per-task, per-credit and per-execution billing, and the AI multipliers that changed the maths.", "headline" : "n8n vs Zapier vs Make: True Cost of Ownership Compared", "image" : "https://peppereffect.com/hubfs/blog/images/n8nzm-hero-20260623-061149.webp", "keywords" : "n8n vs zapier vs make, automation platform pricing, zapier task pricing, make credits, n8n executions, workflow automation cost", "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://peppereffect.com/blog/n8n-vs-zapier-vs-make", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://peppereffect.com/hubfs/peppereffect-logo.svg" }, "name" : "peppereffect", "url" : "https://peppereffect.com" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "FAQPage", "mainEntity" : [ { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "For deep or AI-heavy workflows, usually, and the published tiers show why. A ten-step workflow run 10,000 times a month is 10,000 n8n executions, exactly the allowance in n8n Pro at 50 EUR a month. The same work is 100,000 Zapier tasks, 133 times the 750 in the $19.99 Professional plan, and 110,000 Make credits, 11 times the 10,000 every paid Make tier starts with. For shallow, low-volume work the free tiers on Zapier and Make can be cheapest." }, "name" : "Is n8n cheaper than Zapier and Make?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "A Zapier task is one completed action step, with triggers and built-in steps like Filter, Paths and Formatter free. A Make credit is one operation, normally one module run including the trigger, though some modules cost 2 or 10 credits and AI modules bill on tokens. An n8n execution is one full workflow run whatever the node count, and only production runs count. This is the biggest single driver of the cost difference." }, "name" : "What is the difference between a Zapier task, a Make credit and an n8n execution?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Substantially, on two of the three. Zapier multiplies tasks by model tier, 1x on Standard, 3x on Advanced and 5x on Premium, with Premium the default for new steps, so one AI step can cost five tasks per run. Make moves AI and advanced modules to dynamic credit usage priced on tokens, file size, pages or run time. On n8n an AI node sits inside the execution and the count stays at one." }, "name" : "Do AI steps change the cost comparison?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Zapier and Make do not publish it. Neither vendor states a price at roughly 100,000 or 1,000,000 units a month, so the answer comes from the pricing slider or from sales. n8n is the exception, selling capacity above Business in buckets of 300,000 executions at 4,000 EUR. Any figure quoted for Zapier or Make at that volume is a third-party estimate, not a vendor price." }, "name" : "What does a million tasks or operations a month cost?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "There is no per-execution fee, and there are two real costs. The first is operational: a server, database, storage, monitoring, backups and the engineering time to patch, secure and scale them. The second is legal: the Sustainable Use License permits use only for your own internal business purposes or non-commercial use, so reselling it, embedding it in a product or running it for clients needs a separate agreement." }, "name" : "Is self-hosted n8n really free?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Zapier for non-technical teams and the widest connector library. Make for visual mid-complexity at a lower unit price. n8n when you have technical operators, deep logic and AI steps, because depth costs nothing. For many B2B companies the answer is a hybrid: a managed tool for commodity integrations, n8n for custom and agentic logic. Compare the field in our roundup of AI automation tools, or the two visual builders in n8n vs Make." }, "name" : "Which is best for a B2B team: n8n, Zapier or Make?" } ] } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "Organization", "contactPoint" : { "@type" : "ContactPoint", "contactType" : "customer service", "url" : "https://peppereffect.com/contact" }, "logo" : "https://peppereffect.com/hubfs/peppereffect-logo.svg", "name" : "peppereffect", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/pepper-effect/" ], "url" : "https://peppereffect.com" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement" : [ { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://peppereffect.com/", "name" : "Home", "position" : 1 }, { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://peppereffect.com/blog", "name" : "Blog", "position" : 2 }, { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://peppereffect.com/blog/n8n-vs-zapier-vs-make", "name" : "n8n vs Zapier vs Make: True Cost of Ownership Compared", "position" : 3 } ] } ```