n8n vs Make vs Zapier Pricing: Same Workflow, $12 to $89

For one 5-step workflow, n8n is the cheapest of the three at almost every volume, because it bills one execution per run while Make bills about five credits and Zapier four tasks. On annual billing, 1,000 runs a month costs about $22 on n8n Starter (€20), $12 on Make Core and $89 on Zapier Professional. At 100,000 runs, Make Pro is $533 and Zapier Professional $1,269 a month, and n8n Cloud needs a sales quote or a self-hosted server.

Prices below were checked on each vendor’s pricing page on 28-29 October 2026, in USD unless marked, before tax. They change often, so confirm before you buy. This is part of our AI automation hub.

How each tool counts usage

The three tools sell the same thing (automated workflows) but meter it with different units. Getting the unit right matters more than comparing headline prices.

n8n: executions

n8n’s pricing page defines an execution as “a single run of your entire workflow. It doesn’t matter how many steps are in the workflow or how much data it processes.” A 5-step workflow and a 50-step workflow both cost 1 execution per run. n8n also says you only pay when a workflow runs from start to finish.

Make: credits (formerly operations)

Make switched its billing unit to credits on August 27. Its pricing FAQ says each action a scenario performs consumes credits, “most actions consume 1 credit,” and some AI features use more. Routers and error-handler modules use none.

Two details push Make’s count up:

• The trigger counts. Make’s help center says a trigger module runs once per check, which is 1 operation per check, even when it returns several items.
• Bundles multiply. If the trigger returns 10 new rows, every later module runs 10 times. Make’s own example: a trigger plus three modules processing 10 responses uses 31 operations in one run.

Zapier: tasks

Zapier counts one task per successful action step. Triggers use no tasks. Its built-in utilities (Formatter, Filter, Paths, Delay, Looping, Tables, Forms) are free, AI steps cost 1, 3 or 5 tasks, and an MCP call costs 2.

Units per run for a 5-step workflow

Take a common shape: one trigger (new form entry) and four actions (enrich with an API call, add a CRM contact, post to Slack, append a row to a sheet). Assume one item per run and no AI steps.

If one of your four Zapier actions is a Filter or Formatter step, it is free, so you would pay 3 tasks per run instead. If your Make trigger polls on a schedule, every empty check still uses a credit, so a scenario that checks every minute can burn credits even on quiet days.

Monthly cost at 1,000, 10,000 and 100,000 runs

The worked numbers below use the per-run units from the table above and the smallest listed tier that covers the volume. “Annual” means the monthly-equivalent price on a yearly plan.

The arithmetic

• 1,000 runs: n8n 1,000 executions. Make 1,000 × 5 = 5,000 credits. Zapier 1,000 × 4 = 4,000 tasks.
• 10,000 runs: n8n 10,000 executions. Make 10,000 × 5 = 50,000 credits. Zapier 10,000 × 4 = 40,000 tasks.
• 100,000 runs: n8n 100,000 executions. Make 100,000 × 5 = 500,000 credits. Zapier 100,000 × 4 = 400,000 tasks.

The cost table

Checked 28-29 October 2026. Euro to USD at the ECB reference rate of 1.1133 for 28 October 2026. n8n says annual billing saves 17%. Viewed from a US browser on 29 October 2026, n8n.io/pricing shows USD prices instead: Starter $20/mo billed annually or $24 monthly, Pro $50 or $60 (10,000 executions), Pro with 50,000 executions $120 or $144, and Business $800 or $960.

What the table does not show:

• Make at 10,000 runs has no 50,000-credit tier. The slider jumps from 40,000 to 80,000. You could take the 40,000 Core tier ($38 annual, $51 monthly) and buy extra credits, which Make sells in 1,000 or 10,000 bundles at a price set by your plan. We could not see that bundle price, so check the pricing page before relying on it.
• Make Core stops at 300,000 credits. At 500,000 the page shows Core as unavailable and points you to Pro.
• n8n at 10,000 runs sits exactly on Pro’s 10,000-execution limit. Any growth, retries or test runs in production push you over. The page says overage fees on Starter and Pro are capped but does not list them. Pro also comes in a 50,000-execution size, listed at $120/mo annual or $144 monthly in the US view on 29 October 2026.
• n8n at 100,000 runs: the Business plan (€667/mo annual, 40,000 executions) is self-hosted only, and 100,000 is beyond even that. Most teams at this volume either get an Enterprise quote or run the free Community Edition on their own server. Our n8n self-hosted vs cloud cost guide prices that option.

Cost per 1,000 runs

Dividing the annual prices by volume shows how fast the gap widens:

• 1,000 runs: n8n about $22.27, Make $12.00, Zapier $89.00 per 1,000 runs.
• 10,000 runs: n8n about $5.57 ($55.66 ÷ 10), Make $9.70 ($97 ÷ 10, monthly billing), Zapier $28.90 ($289 ÷ 10).
• 100,000 runs: Make $5.33 ($533 ÷ 100), Zapier $12.69 ($1,269 ÷ 100).

At low volume, Make’s cheap entry tier wins. From about 10,000 runs, n8n’s flat per-run billing pulls ahead, and Zapier stays the most expensive for this shape of workflow at every volume we priced.

A Zapier pricing calculator you can do by hand

Want it computed for your own volume? Use our n8n vs Make vs Zapier cost calculator, which holds the full Zapier and Make tier tables. Or do it by hand in three steps:

1. Count billable steps per Zap. Count action steps only. Skip the trigger and any Formatter, Filter, Paths, Delay or Looping steps. Count AI steps as 1, 3 or 5 tasks depending on the model tier.
2. Multiply by monthly runs. Billable steps × runs = tasks per month. Add 10-20% for retries and growth.
3. Pick the tier at or above your total. Tiers we saw on the slider include 750, 1,500, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000, 200,000 and up to 2 million tasks.

Example: a lead-routing Zap with a trigger, a Formatter step, a Filter, a HubSpot action and a Slack action has 2 billable steps. At 3,000 leads a month that is 6,000 tasks, so you need the 10,000-task tier, not the 5,000 one. On Make, built-in data transforms do use credits, so the same workflow is roughly 4 to 5 credits per run depending on how you build the filter, or 12,000 to 15,000 credits a month. That needs the 20,000-credit Core tier ($21 annual, $28 monthly, re-checked 30 Oct 2026).

Prices at the 1,500, 2,000, 10,000 and 20,000 task tiers were not captured in our check, so read them off Zapier’s pricing page.

Plan details that change the math

Who should pick which

If Zapier’s per-task pricing is the problem, our Zapier alternatives guide covers more options. For a worked n8n build, see the n8n lead generation workflow.

Notes for Canadian and Australian buyers

• Currency. Make and Zapier charge in USD. n8n lists prices in euros (its wire-transfer page offers both € and $ contracts for annual Business plans). At the ECB rate for 28 October 2026, n8n Starter’s €20 is about C$31.28 or A$31.66, and Pro’s €50 is about C$78.19 or A$79.15. Your card issuer’s rate and any foreign-transaction fee will differ.
• Tax. All prices here are before tax. Canada’s GST/HST rules for foreign digital-economy businesses have applied since July 1, 2021 (CRA). Australia’s GST is 10% and applies to digital products sold to Australian consumers. Sales to GST-registered Australian businesses are excluded from the seller’s GST turnover (ATO). Check your invoice.
• US entity owners. If you run a US LLC from Canada, paying for these tools from the LLC’s account keeps the expense on the right books. See US LLC for Canadians.

Bottom line

Price your own workflow before comparing headline plans. Count steps, multiply by runs, and convert to each tool’s unit. For a 5-step workflow, Make is cheapest at around 1,000 runs, n8n wins from about 10,000 runs, and Zapier costs the most at every volume, in exchange for the simplest builder for non-technical teams. Adding AI? See n8n AI agent cost per run and n8n WhatsApp chatbot cost.