What Make, n8n
and Zapier cost
Automation platforms jump in price at operation thresholds, which makes them hard to compare by eye. Move the sliders and see what you would actually pay on each.
An operation is a single step in a flow — receiving an enquiry, saving to the CRM, sending a message. One lead-handling process is usually 4–8 operations per enquiry. Prices are indicative, based on 2026 price lists with annual billing.
Cheapest on paper, but not for every company. The server has to be updated, monitored and backed up. With one or two processes that is usually more trouble than it saves. It makes sense at high volume, or with sensitive data that cannot leave the company.
Three platforms,
three billing models.
Price is only one criterion. Here is the rest.
Billed per operation. A visual editor, a fast start and a large library of integrations. At high volume it becomes expensive.
Billed per task and per user. The easiest to use, but the cost rises fastest of the three.
No server to maintain, with a limit on flow executions. A sensible choice when you don’t want to administer anything but do care about cost.
No limit on operations, but it needs administering. Worthwhile at high volume, or with data that cannot leave the company.
When the platform cost
doesn’t matter.
Frequently asked questions
about platform costs.
A single step in a flow: receiving an enquiry, writing to a database, sending a message, checking a condition. One lead-handling process is usually 4–8 operations per enquiry.
Yes, but it is not a matter of a few clicks. The flows have to be rebuilt — usually a few hours of work per process.
With one or two processes it is more trouble than it is worth. It starts to make sense at a dozen or more processes, or with sensitive data.
For standard processes at medium volume, usually Make. With sensitive data or high volume — n8n on the client’s own server.
Not sure how many
operations your process generates?
In a free consultation we will work it out together and tell you which platform makes sense in your case.