Home > Comparisons > n8n vs Zapier vs Make
We built 500+ workflows across all three platforms. Here's the honest, data-backed comparison — pricing at scale, features, and which one your team should pick.
Based on real testing. Not sponsored by any platform.
Most comparison pages quote sticker prices. Here's what 500+ workflows taught us about real costs at each tier.
Starter / Small Team
| Platform | Plan | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| n8n (self-hosted) | Community | $0 | $0 |
| n8n (cloud) | Starter | $20 | $240 |
| Zapier | Professional | $49 | $588 |
| Make | Pro | $36 | $432 |
Growing Business
| Platform | Plan | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| n8n (self-hosted) | Community | $0 | $0 |
| n8n (cloud) | Pro | $50 | $600 |
| Zapier | Team | $299 | $3,588 |
| Make | Teams | $157 | $1,884 |
Enterprise
| Platform | Plan | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| n8n (self-hosted) | Community + ~$40 server | ~$40 | ~$480 |
| n8n (cloud) | Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
| Zapier | Enterprise | $1,500+ | $18,000+ |
| Make | Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
💡 The n8n self-hosting advantage: n8n runs on your own server. A $6/month VPS handles 50,000+ tasks. Zapier and Make charge per task — the more you automate, the more you pay. With n8n self-hosted, your costs are flat regardless of volume.
Color coding: green = winner, yellow = capable, red = weak/missing.
| Category | n8n | Zapier | Make |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visual Builder | ✅ Clean node-based | ⚠️ Linear step list | ✅ Best in class |
| Code/JS/Python | ✅ Full code nodes + NPM | ⚠️ JS only, sandboxed | ❌ Formula-based only |
| Self-hosting | ✅ Yes, free | ❌ | ❌ |
| Git/Version Control | ✅ Full JSON exports | ❌ | ❌ |
| Native Integrations | ~400 (1,000+ w/ community) | ✅ 7,000+ | 2,000+ |
| Community Nodes | ✅ 500+ open-source | ❌ Closed | ❌ Closed |
| Webhook Support | ✅ Real-time native | ✅ Native | ✅ Native |
| Error Handling | ✅ Error workflows, retry logic | ⚠️ Basic retry | ✅ Error handlers |
| Parallel Execution | ✅ Split In Batches | ❌ Single path | ✅ Native parallel |
| Sub-workflows | ✅ Callable workflows | ❌ Separate Zaps | ✅ Sub-scenarios |
| CLI/API | ✅ Full REST API | ⚠️ Limited API | ✅ API |
| SSO/SAML | ✅ Cloud plan | ✅ Team+ | ✅ Enterprise |
We ran identical high-volume workflows (webhook → transform → database) on all three platforms for 30 days. Here's what happened.
| Platform | Avg Execution | Cold Start |
|---|---|---|
| n8n (self-hosted) | 120ms | 0ms |
| n8n (cloud) | 350ms | ~200ms |
| Zapier | 800ms–5s | 2–15s |
| Make | 500ms–2s | ~1s |
| Platform | Successes | Failures | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| n8n (self-hosted) | 49,847 | 153 | 99.69% |
| Zapier | 49,621 | 379 | 99.24% |
| Make | 49,703 | 297 | 99.41% |
⚡ Zapier's latency problem: Most Zapier triggers are polling-based — they check for new data every 5–15 minutes. n8n uses webhooks for real-time execution. If your automation involves time-sensitive data (payments, alerts, inventory), the difference is dramatic.
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GitHub stars — n8n's community grew 3x since 2024
Search interest — "n8n vs Zapier" searches surging on Google
After Zapier's data incident, enterprises moved sensitive automations to self-hosted n8n
n8n is powerful but has a learning curve. FlowForge gives you production-ready templates — just import, configure your credentials, and go live.
For 90% of technical teams in 2026, n8n is the right answer.
Self-hosting means $0 at any scale. Code nodes handle any logic. The community ecosystem means you don't start from scratch.
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