n8n, Make or Zapier: which one should you use?
All three connect your apps and run steps without a person. They differ in who can build with them, how they charge and where your data goes. The right choice depends on your team, not on a feature list.
6 min read. Updated
The short answer
Each tool has a natural home:
- Zapier suits non-technical teams who want a simple automation running today and value its long list of ready connections.
- Make suits people who want to see the whole flow on a visual canvas, with branches and data changes, without writing code.
- n8n suits technical teams who want full control, custom code steps, or the option to run it on their own servers.
How they charge
This matters more than the headline price. Zapier charges by task, and each completed action usually counts as one. Make charges by the work each step does. n8n Cloud charges by workflow run, however many steps it has, while self-hosting moves the cost to your server and to the person who looks after it.
So a long workflow can be cheap on one tool and expensive on another. Providers change their plans, so check the current pricing pages, then estimate from your own monthly volume.
Where your data goes
With Zapier and Make, data passes through the provider's cloud. With self-hosted n8n it stays on servers you control, which can make a data protection review simpler, but you take on updates, backups and security.
Before you choose, ask where each provider processes data, whether a data processing agreement is available, and how long run logs are kept.
When a move is worth it
Moving costs time, and it can break things that work today. It usually pays off only when one of these is true:
- Your monthly bill keeps climbing and a rebuild would cut it for good.
- A rule on where data is kept rules out your current tool.
- You need logic that your current tool cannot do cleanly.
What matters more than the tool
A well-built system on any of the three beats a careless one on the best tool. Look for error handling, alerts, written documentation and accounts in your company name. Ask to see these before you compare features.
On Aphelore, every project ends with exports and documentation, so that another builder could take over whichever tool you choose.
Questions
Which one is cheapest?
It depends on your workflows. Long workflows with many steps favour a model that charges per run. Short, simple ones can be cheap anywhere. Estimate from your real volume.
Can AI steps run in all three?
Yes. All three can call AI models. You usually pay the AI provider separately for usage, so include that in your budget.