Quick comparison
| Feature | Zapier | Make | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per task/month | Per operation/month | Self-host free / cloud paid |
| Cost at scale | Expensive | Medium | Cheapest |
| Ease of use | Easiest | Medium | Steeper learning curve |
| Visual workflow builder | Basic | Excellent | Excellent |
| Custom code support | Limited | Medium | Full |
| Self-hosting | No | No | Yes |
| AI/LLM nodes | Basic | Medium | Advanced |
| Best for | Simple automations | Visual complex flows | Complex AI workflows |
Zapier: the beginner's choice
Zapier is the easiest to start with. If you've never built an automation before, you can have your first "Zap" running in 20 minutes. It has the largest library of native integrations (6,000+), so connecting two mainstream tools is usually drag-and-drop.
The catch: it gets very expensive very fast. A medium-sized business running serious automations can easily pay $500–$2,000/month. And the logic capabilities are limited — complex branching, loops, or AI integrations require workarounds.
Best for: small teams, non-technical users, simple linear automations, testing concepts before building properly.
Make: the visual powerhouse
Make (formerly Integromat) hits the sweet spot for most businesses. It has a beautiful visual canvas, excellent support for complex logic (routers, iterators, aggregators), and is significantly cheaper than Zapier at equivalent volumes.
It's cloud-only — you don't control your data or infrastructure. For most businesses this isn't an issue, but it matters for regulated industries (healthcare, legal, finance).
Best for: businesses that need complex multi-step flows, good value at mid-scale, teams who want a visual builder without touching code.
n8n: the engineer's choice (and ours)
n8n is open-source and self-hostable. This means you can run it on your own server, pay zero per-task fees, and have complete control over your data. At scale, this often means 10x–50x cost savings compared to Zapier.
It also has the most advanced AI capabilities — dedicated LLM nodes, agent workflows, vector store integrations, and full custom JavaScript support. When you need to embed Claude or GPT-4 into a complex workflow, n8n handles it cleanly.
The tradeoff: it has a steeper learning curve and requires technical setup if self-hosting.
Best for: businesses serious about automation at scale, AI-heavy workflows, data-sensitive industries, technical teams.
We build primarily on n8n for clients who need real scale and AI integration. For simpler, one-off automations or clients who want to manage flows themselves without technical help, Make is the right call. We avoid recommending Zapier for anything beyond prototyping.