Zapier, Make or n8n: which fits a small business?

Side-by-side comparison

Prices as published on the date above, in the vendors' own currencies.

How they count usage (this is where costs diverge)

Imagine a workflow that runs 1,000 times a month and has five steps.

• Zapier counts each completed action step as a task, so that's roughly 4,000–5,000 tasks a month. Triggers, filters, formatters and paths don't count.
• Make counts each module run as a credit, so it's roughly 5,000 credits. AI modules can cost more.
• n8n counts each run of the whole workflow as one execution, however many steps it has. That's 1,000 executions.

For simple two-step automations the difference is small. For long, multi-step workflows at volume, n8n and Make are usually much cheaper than Zapier.

Zapier: best for simple, fast, widely supported

Zapier has the most integrations and the gentlest learning curve. If a non-technical team member will maintain the automations, or you need a niche app that only Zapier supports, it's usually the right choice.

Watch for: task costs as workflows grow. AI steps are billed by model tier since June 2026, at 1x, 3x or 5x tasks. Data is hosted in the US, with no EU or Canadian option.

Make: best for visual, complex workflows on a budget

Make's visual canvas handles branching, loops and data transformation more comfortably than Zapier, and it usually costs less for the same work. When you create your account, you choose US or EU hosting, and you can't change it later.

Watch for: a steeper learning curve. Also, since late 2025, extra credits cost more than the credits included in your plan.

n8n: best for control, volume and Canadian data

n8n is open-source-style (under its "Sustainable Use License") and prices per workflow run, which makes it very economical at volume. Its biggest advantage for Canadian businesses: you can self-host it on Canadian servers for your own internal use. Your customer data then never leaves Canada, which matters for clinics and anyone with privacy-sensitive data.

Watch for: it's the most technical of the three, and self-hosting means someone has to maintain the server, updates and backups. n8n Cloud is hosted in the EU (Frankfurt).

This is a big part of our work as an n8n consultant for Winnipeg businesses: we set it up on Canadian hosting, build the workflows, and keep it maintained.

Which should you choose?

• A few simple automations, maintained in-house: Zapier.
• More complex workflows at moderate volume, with a tighter budget: Make.
• High volume, complex logic, or data that needs to stay in Canada: self-hosted n8n.
• A Microsoft 365 business automating Outlook, SharePoint and Teams: consider Power Automate, which may already be included in your licence.

You're not locked in forever. Many businesses start on Zapier and move high-volume workflows to n8n or Make later. Our pricing page shows what a typical build costs.