Zapier vs Make vs n8n: Best Workflow Automation Platform 2026

Over the past six months, I've built the same 10 real-world automations in Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), and n8n to definitively answer: which automation platform should you actually use?

The short answer: it depends on your needs. The long answer: after completing 30 automation projects across all three platforms, spending $500+ on subscriptions, and timing everything, I now know exactly which platform excels at what—and which will save (or cost) you the most time and money.

This comprehensive comparison will help you choose the right automation platform based on your budget, technical skills, and specific automation requirements.

The Contenders: Quick Overview

Zapier

• Founded: 2011 (oldest, most established)
• Pricing: Starts at $19.99/month (5 Zaps, 750 tasks)
• Key Strength: Easiest to use, most integrations (7,000+)
• Best For: Non-technical users, quick automations, standard workflows

Make (formerly Integromat)

• Founded: 2012 (rebranded to Make in 2022)
• Pricing: Starts at $9/month (1,000 operations)
• Key Strength: Visual workflow builder, complex logic, best value
• Best For: Complex automations, visual thinkers, budget-conscious teams

n8n

• Founded: 2019 (newest, open-source)
• Pricing: Free (self-hosted) or $20/month (cloud, 2,500 executions)
• Key Strength: Open source, unlimited customization, privacy
• Best For: Technical users, developers, data privacy requirements, unlimited scaling

Testing Methodology

I built these 10 real-world automations in each platform:

1. Lead capture: Form submission → Google Sheets → Email → CRM
2. E-commerce order: Shopify order → Inventory update → Shipping label → Customer email
3. Social media: RSS feed → Format post → Schedule to Twitter/LinkedIn
4. Customer support: New ticket → Assign to team member → Notify Slack
5. Document workflow: New contract → Generate PDF → Send for signature → Save to Drive
6. Data sync: Airtable record → Transform data → Update PostgreSQL
7. Scheduled report: Daily at 9 AM → Query database → Generate report → Email
8. Webhook processing: Receive webhook → Parse JSON → Conditional routing → Multiple actions
9. File processing: New file in Drive → Extract text → Analyze with AI → Store results
10. Multi-step conditional: Complex if/then logic with error handling and retries

For each, I measured: Setup Time, Execution Speed, Reliability, Monthly Cost

Head-to-Head Comparison

Round 1: Ease of Use

Zapier: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Extremely intuitive interface
• Guided setup with helpful prompts
• Minimal learning curve (30 minutes to first automation)
• Great error messages that actually help
• Built-in AI assistance
• Setup Time (simple automation): 5-10 minutes

Make: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Visual flowchart interface (very intuitive once learned)
• Steeper initial learning curve (2-3 hours)
• Excellent once you understand the paradigm
• Better for visualizing complex workflows
• Great drag-and-drop experience
• Setup Time (simple automation): 10-15 minutes

n8n: ⭐⭐⭐

• Node-based workflow editor
• Requires technical mindset
• Steeper learning curve (4-6 hours)
• Great for developers, confusing for non-technical users
• Powerful but more complex
• Setup Time (simple automation): 15-25 minutes

Winner: Zapier (easiest to learn and use)

Round 2: Integrations & Connectors

Zapier: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• 7,000+ apps (by far the most)
• Every major SaaS tool is supported
• Pre-built triggers and actions
• Excellent documentation for each app
• Regular updates when apps change APIs
• Premium apps available on higher plans

Make: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

• 1,500+ apps (good coverage)
• Most popular tools supported
• Some apps have more features than Zapier
• Excellent HTTP/API module for custom connections
• Growing library
• Generally supports major players

n8n: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

• 400+ nodes (fewest pre-built, but...)
• Open source = community contributions
• Extremely powerful HTTP Request node
• Can build custom nodes yourself (if technical)
• Growing rapidly
• Best for API-first approach

Winner: Zapier (most integrations out of the box)

BUT: n8n wins for custom/niche tools (you can build anything)

Round 3: Complex Workflows & Logic

Zapier: ⭐⭐⭐

• Linear, step-by-step workflows
• Basic conditional logic (Paths)
• Limited branching capabilities
• Filters work well for simple conditions
• Multi-step Zaps can get expensive
• Not great for complex decision trees

Make: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Excellent for complex logic
• Visual routers, filters, aggregators
• Error handling built-in
• Parallel execution paths
• Loops and iterations
• Best visual representation of complexity

n8n: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Powerful programming-like capabilities
• JavaScript expressions throughout
• Complex conditionals and transformations
• Error workflows
• Merge branches
• Best for developers

Winner: Tie (Make for visual complexity, n8n for programmatic complexity)

Round 4: Data Transformation

Zapier: ⭐⭐⭐

• Built-in Formatter tool (decent)
• Basic text, number, date operations
• Limited data manipulation
• Often requires extra steps (= more tasks = more cost)
• Cannot easily work with arrays/loops

Make: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Excellent built-in functions
• Text, math, date/time functions
• Array and object manipulation
• Iterators for processing lists
• Aggregators for combining data
• Visual data mapper

n8n: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Full JavaScript expressions
• Complete data transformation freedom
• Work with complex JSON
• Custom functions
• Best for data-heavy workflows

Winner: Tie (Make for visual/guided transformations, n8n for ultimate flexibility)

Round 5: Pricing & Value

Let's compare costs for a typical small business (10,000 tasks/month):

Zapier:

• Starter Plan: $19.99/month (750 tasks) - NOT ENOUGH
• Professional Plan: $49/month (2,000 tasks) - NOT ENOUGH
• Team Plan: $299/month (50,000 tasks) - WORKS but expensive
• Effective cost: $299/month for 10K tasks
• Cost per 1,000 tasks: $29.90

Make:

• Core Plan: $9/month (10,000 operations) - PERFECT
• Pro Plan: $16/month (10,000 operations + extra features)
• Effective cost: $9-16/month for 10K operations
• Cost per 1,000 operations: $0.90-1.60

n8n:

• Self-hosted: FREE (unlimited)
• Cloud Starter: $20/month (2,500 executions)
• Cloud Pro: $50/month (10,000 executions)
• Effective cost: Free (self-hosted) or $50/month (cloud)
• Cost per 1,000 executions: $0 (self-hosted) or $5

Winner: Make (best value for cloud-hosted) or n8n (best for self-hosted)

Round 6: Performance & Reliability

Zapier: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• 99.99% uptime (excellent)
• Fast execution (typically 1-5 minutes for triggers)
• Occasionally delays during high load
• Automatic retries
• Excellent monitoring and logs
• Avg execution time: 2-3 minutes

Make: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

• 99.9% uptime (very good)
• Instant execution for many scenarios
• Real-time execution option available
• Good retry logic
• Detailed execution logs
• Avg execution time: 30 seconds - 2 minutes

n8n:

• Self-hosted: Depends on your infrastructure
• Cloud: 99.9% uptime
• Very fast execution
• Depends on your server (if self-hosted)
• Excellent debugging capabilities
• Avg execution time: 10-60 seconds

Winner: Zapier (most reliable) but Make is very close

Round 7: Error Handling & Debugging

Zapier: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Clear error messages
• Auto-retry failed tasks (3 attempts)
• Task History shows exactly what happened
• Can replay failed tasks
• Email notifications on failures
• Good but not great debugging

Make: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Excellent visual debugging
• See data flow through each module
• Powerful error handlers
• Can route errors to different paths
• Detailed execution logs with data previews
• Best for understanding what went wrong

n8n: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Developer-friendly debugging
• See input/output data for each node
• Error workflows (handle errors separately)
• Built-in expressions tester
• Complete execution data
• Best for technical troubleshooting

Winner: Tie (Make for visual debugging, n8n for developer debugging)

Round 8: Learning Resources

Zapier: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Extensive documentation
• Video tutorials for every app
• Active community forum
• University training courses
• Many third-party tutorials
• Quick answers to questions

Make: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Good official documentation
• Make Academy (training courses)
• Active community
• Templates library
• Growing but smaller than Zapier
• Sometimes need to search harder for answers

n8n: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Good technical documentation
• Community forum
• YouTube tutorials
• Open source = community shares workflows
• More technical focus
• Growing resources

Winner: Zapier (most comprehensive resources)

Pricing Deep Dive

When Zapier Makes Sense Cost-Wise

Zapier is cost-effective when:

• You need < 750 tasks/month (Starter plan: $19.99)
• You value time saved more than money
• You're willing to pay for ease of use
• Multi-step Zaps are minimal

When Make is the Value King

Make saves money when:

• You need 10K+ operations/month ($9 Core vs $299 Zapier Team)
• You have complex workflows (operations counted differently)
• You use data transformations (doesn't count as extra operations)
• You iterate over arrays (one operation vs. multiple tasks in Zapier)

Real example: Scenario: Process 500 new leads daily (15,000/month)

• Each lead: capture → enrich data → add to CRM → notify sales → send email

Zapier: 15,000 x 5 steps = 75,000 tasks = $299/month (Team plan)

Make: 15,000 operations (steps in one scenario don't multiply) = $9/month (Core plan)

Savings: $290/month = $3,480/year

When n8n is Worth It

n8n wins on cost when:

• Self-hosting (FREE, unlimited)
• You have technical team to maintain it
• Data privacy is critical (all stays on your servers)
• You need 100K+ executions/month

Self-hosting costs:

• DigitalOcean droplet: $12/month
• Or AWS/Azure: $15-30/month
• Unlimited executions

Feature Comparison Table

Real-World Performance: The 10 Automations

Here's how each platform performed on my test automations:

Automation 1: Lead Capture (Simple)

Zapier: 5 min setup, 3 min execution, $0.10/lead Make: 10 min setup, 1 min execution, $0.01/lead
n8n: 15 min setup, 30 sec execution, $0/lead (self-hosted)

Winner: Make (best balance of ease and value)

Automation 5: Document Workflow (Complex)

Zapier: 30 min setup, often hits task limits, $0.50/document Make: 45 min setup, excellent workflow visualization, $0.05/document n8n: 60 min setup, most flexible, $0/document (self-hosted)

Winner: Make (best for complex workflows at reasonable price)

Automation 10: Multi-Step Conditional (Very Complex)

Zapier: Difficult to implement, required workarounds, expensive Make: Excellent, visual branching perfect for this, affordable n8n: Most powerful, full control, but required coding

Winner: Make (perfect use case for its strengths)

Decision Framework: Which Should YOU Choose?

Choose Zapier If:

✅ You're non-technical (minimal learning curve) ✅ You need the most app integrations ✅ Budget isn't the primary concern ✅ You value time saved over money saved ✅ You need simple, linear workflows ✅ You want the most reliable option ✅ You need premium app integrations

Avoid if: You have high volume automations or complex logic needs

Choose Make If:

✅ You want best value for money ✅ You have complex, branching workflows ✅ You need visual workflow representation ✅ You process lists/arrays frequently ✅ Data transformation is important ✅ Budget matters but you're not super technical ✅ You need 10K+ operations/month

Avoid if: You need immediate simplicity or very niche app integrations

Choose n8n If:

✅ You have technical team/skills ✅ Data privacy is critical ✅ You need unlimited scaling ✅ You want to self-host ✅ You need customization/white labeling ✅ You have very high volume (100K+/month) ✅ You want source code access ✅ You need version control for workflows

Avoid if: You're non-technical or need plug-and-play simplicity

Migration Between Platforms

Moving from Zapier to Make

Difficulty: Medium Time: 2-4 hours per complex Zap

Process:

1. Document your Zapier workflows
2. Rebuild logic in Make's visual interface
3. Test thoroughly (different counting model)
4. Run parallel for 1 week before switching

Watch out for:

• Zapier's "Find or Create" = Make's "Search + Create" (separate modules)
• Filters work differently
• Date/time formatting differences

Moving from Zapier to n8n

Difficulty: Hard Time: 4-8 hours per complex Zap

Process:

1. Set up n8n (cloud or self-hosted)
2. Install required nodes
3. Rebuild workflows (often with code)
4. Extensive testing
5. Gradual migration

Watch out for:

• May need to write JavaScript expressions
• Authentication setups more manual
• Need to understand HTTP requests for some apps

My Personal Recommendation

After six months and 30 production automations:

For most people: Start with Zapier (easiest), then evaluate Make after 3 months when you understand your needs and volume.

For budget-conscious teams with moderate complexity: Make is the sweet spot—90% of Zapier's ease at 10% of the cost.

For tech-savvy teams or high volume: n8n self-hosted is unbeatable on cost and flexibility.

My actual setup: I use all three!

• Zapier: Customer-facing automations (most reliable)
• Make: Internal workflow automations (best value)
• n8n: Data processing pipelines (unlimited scale)

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I migrate between platforms easily?

Sort of. Simple automations (< 5 steps) migrate easily. Complex workflows require rebuilding. No automatic migration tools exist. Plan for 2-4 hours per complex automation.

Which has the best Slack/Gmail/Google Sheets integration?

All three are excellent for major apps. Zapier might have slightly more pre-built actions, but Make and n8n's HTTP modules can access any API endpoint.

Can Make or n8n access the same apps as Zapier?

Most major apps: yes. Very niche apps: Zapier might be only option. However, Make and n8n's API/HTTP capabilities mean you can usually build custom connections.

Is n8n really free forever?

Yes, the self-hosted version is 100% free and open source. You pay only for cloud hosting ($15-30/month) if you don't use their cloud service. No execution limits.

Which is fastest for same automation?

Actual speed: n8n (~30 sec) > Make (~1-2 min) > Zapier (~2-3 min) Perceived speed: Make feels faster because of instant testing and better visibility

Do I need coding knowledge for n8n?

For simple automations: No. For complex logic and transformations: Yes, JavaScript helps significantly. Make is the sweet spot if you want power without coding.

---

Related articles: Zapier Multi-Step Workflow Tutorial, No-Code Automation Tools for Beginners