Make.com vs Zapier vs n8n: which automation platform should your small business actually use?

If you spend even a few hours researching workflow automation, you'll see the same three names everywhere: Make.com, Zapier, and n8n. They all sit in the "no-code automation" category and they all do roughly the same thing — connect Tool A to Tool B and run logic in between.

But they're not interchangeable. Picking the wrong one for your business can cost you months of rework and hundreds of dollars a month in unnecessary subscription fees. Here's how to choose, in plain terms.

The short version

• Most small businesses (4–50 staff) should start with Make.com. It's the best all-rounder, free tier is generous, paid plans start at $9/mo.
• Zapier is right when you need an obscure integration that the others don't support — it has the largest connector library by some margin.
• n8n is right when data sovereignty matters (you want to self-host, no third party touches your data) or when you have unusual volume that would blow out the other two's pricing.

If you only read one paragraph, that's it. Read on for the reasoning.

Make.com — the default recommendation

Make.com (formerly Integromat) is what we build on most often. The visual editor is genuinely good — you can see your data flowing through each step, set conditional branches, run scenarios on schedules. The mental model is "scenarios" rather than "zaps," which translates better to multi-step business processes.

Where Make shines:

• Complex multi-step flows with conditional logic
• Loops and iteration (Zapier handles these awkwardly)
• Working with arrays of data (e.g. "for each line item in this invoice, do X")
• Webhook handling
• Error handling — failed scenarios can retry, escalate, or branch

Where it falls short:

• Fewer total integrations than Zapier (still has the big ones — Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, HubSpot, Slack, all the email providers, all the major CRMs)
• Learning curve is slightly steeper than Zapier
• Customer support is async-only until you're on higher tiers

Pricing: Free tier covers 1,000 operations per month (plenty for testing). Core plan at $9/mo gets you 10,000 ops. For most small businesses, Core or Pro ($16/mo) is the sweet spot.

We default to Make when no specific reason pushes us elsewhere.

Zapier — the safety choice

Zapier has been around longer than either of the others and it shows in the connector library. They support around 7,000 apps. If you're integrating with something obscure — a niche CRM, an industry-specific tool, a regional payment provider — Zapier is the most likely to have it covered out of the box.

Where Zapier wins:

• Largest connector library by a meaningful margin
• Easier learning curve for total beginners
• More polished UI
• Better documentation (Zapier University is genuinely useful)
• Strong AI features in the newer "Zaps" interface

Where Zapier falls short:

• More expensive at scale (their per-task pricing adds up fast)
• Multi-step flows are clunkier than Make
• Loops and arrays are restricted to higher tiers
• Free tier is more limited (100 tasks/mo, single-step zaps only)

Pricing: Free tier is tight. Paid plans start at $19.99/mo. For an active small business with multiple automations, you're typically on the Professional plan at $49/mo+.

We pick Zapier when our client needs an integration that Make doesn't support, or when they're already deep in the Zapier ecosystem.

n8n — the technical choice

n8n is an open-source automation platform you can self-host. That's the headline feature. The visual editor is similar to Make, the integration library is smaller but growing, and the pricing model is fundamentally different.

Where n8n shines:

• Self-hostable — your data never touches a third party's servers
• Open source — you can modify it
• Pricing is per-instance, not per-operation — predictable at scale
• Strong support for code nodes (JavaScript, Python) when you outgrow no-code
• Great for high-volume scenarios where per-operation pricing would balloon

Where n8n falls short:

• Requires actual technical setup if self-hosted (you're running a server)
• Cloud tier exists but pricing isn't as friendly for small users ($20/mo entry)
• Smaller community and integration library
• Less polish than Make or Zapier

Pricing: Free self-hosted (you provide the server, ~$10/mo of hosting). Cloud starts at $20/mo.

We recommend n8n when a client has data sovereignty concerns (medical, legal, sensitive financial), when volume is genuinely high (50,000+ operations/month), or when they want the option to extend with custom code.

How to actually decide

Run through these questions in order:

1. Do you have data sovereignty constraints? (Medical records, sensitive legal docs, anything regulated.) If yes, look at n8n self-hosted. Otherwise, keep going.
2. Is there a specific app you absolutely need integrated that you've already checked Make doesn't support? If yes, Zapier. Otherwise, keep going.
3. Are you running, or will soon run, more than 10,000 operations per month? If yes, Make's Pro plan ($16/mo unlimited operations on its Teams plan) is exceptional value vs Zapier's task pricing. Stay with Make.
4. Otherwise: Start with Make on the free tier. Move to paid when you exceed 1,000 ops/mo.

That's it. Most small businesses end on Make.

What people get wrong

The mistake we see most often: picking Zapier first because it's the most famous name, then either getting hit by surprise bills or running into a flow it can't elegantly handle. Brand recognition isn't a great basis for choosing infrastructure — the better question is how complex your automations will get, and how much volume you'll run.

Second mistake: trying to self-host n8n without the technical capacity to maintain it. A self-hosted automation platform that nobody can fix when it breaks is worse than no automation. If you don't have technical capacity in-house and don't want to pay for ongoing maintenance, stay on Make or Zapier cloud.

Third: switching too often. Every platform migration costs you the time of rebuilding scenarios. Pick deliberately the first time, stay for at least 12 months, then re-evaluate.

We'll tell you which to use

If you're considering an AI Business Assessment, one of the things we always cover is which automation platform fits your specific situation. The recommendation is part of the report, with specific reasoning tied to the tools you already use and the workflows we found. There's no commercial relationship between us and any of these platforms — we're recommending what actually fits, not what pays us.