Zapier vs Make vs n8n Cost Calculator
Set your workflow's steps and monthly runs. See what it actually costs on all three platforms, not the "starting at" number.
Describe your workflow
Trigger + each action after it. A Gmail trigger → Slack message → CRM update → email is 4 steps.
How many new leads, orders, tickets, or rows trigger this workflow monthly.
Your monthly cost, updating live
3 steps × 500 runs = 1,500 tasks/operations a month on Zapier or Make. On n8n it's just 500 executions — the workflow, not each step, is what gets billed.
Zapier
$49.00/mo
Professional tier · 1,500 tasks
Make
$9.00/mo
Core tier · 1,500 ops
Cheapest at this volume
n8n (Cloud)
$24.00/mo
Cloud Starter tier · 500 executions
n8n can also be self-hosted for $0 in license fees (unlimited executions) plus roughly $5–$20/month in server costs — the tradeoff is you manage updates and uptime yourself instead of a vendor doing it.
Pricing shown is the published entry-level tier that covers your volume, current as of August 2026. Verify current tiers at each vendor before budgeting — they change without much notice.
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Zapier tasks = steps × runs. Every action step that completes counts as one task, so a 3-step workflow running 500 times a month uses 1,500 tasks, not 500. This is the multiplier most SMBs miss when they read the "starting at $19.99" price.
Make operations = steps × runs, same multiplier as Zapier, but priced lower per unit ($9/mo covers 10,000 ops vs Zapier's $49/mo for 2,000 tasks) — which is why Make is usually cheaper at the same workflow complexity.
n8n executions = runs only. One workflow run is one execution regardless of how many steps it contains, so step count doesn't compound your bill the way it does on the other two platforms.
Each platform's monthly cost is the cheapest published tier whose limit covers your calculated volume. Tiers above the ones shown ($49+/mo Zapier Professional, $9/mo Make Core, $24/mo n8n Cloud Starter) exist for higher volume and are noted as Custom/Enterprise once you exceed them.
Common questions
Why does Zapier cost so much more than I expected?
Because pricing is per task, not per run. A 5-step workflow running 1,000 times a month is 5,000 tasks, which needs the $49/month Professional plan, not the $19.99 Starter plan most people budget for based on the homepage price.
Is Make always cheaper than Zapier?
At the same step count and run volume, yes, Make's operation pricing is consistently cheaper per unit. The tradeoff is a steeper learning curve and a smaller pre-built integration library than Zapier's.
When does self-hosting n8n make sense?
Once volume is high enough that Cloud Pro's $60/month for 10,000 executions is a real constraint, or when a team already has someone who can manage a small server. Below that, Cloud Starter at $24/month is usually the simpler choice.
Does this include the cost of building the workflow?
No, this is platform subscription cost only. Implementation (design, build, testing, and 90 days of support) is a separate one-time cost, typically $2,500–$15,000 depending on complexity. See the full pricing breakdown for ROI timelines.
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Full tier breakdown and ROI timelines: Workflow Automation Software Pricing — Automate, See ROI In
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