01Three tools, three different units
The three tools sell different things, so their prices cannot be compared line by line. Zapier's pricing page says a task is counted when Zapier successfully completes a unit of work for you, and that failed actions, polling and built-in tools such as Formatter, Paths and Filter do not count. Zapier's help centre (help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496196837261) counts successful action steps and does not count trigger steps as tasks. Make's page calls credits the billing unit and says each action a scenario performs consumes credits, usually one. Make's help centre adds that credits replaced the older term operations without changing the billing model. n8n's page defines an execution as a single run of the entire workflow, and says step count and data volume do not change that count. So one run with five steps can be several billable units on Zapier and Make, and one on n8n.
- Zapier: a task is a completed unit of work. Failed actions and built-in tools like Filter do not count (zapier.com/pricing). Trigger steps do not count as tasks (help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496196837261)
- Make: credits are the billing unit. Most actions cost 1 credit, some AI features cost more (make.com/en/pricing, help.make.com/credits)
- n8n: an execution is one whole run of a workflow, however many steps it has (n8n.io/pricing)
- All three pricing pages were opened on 14 October 2026. Plans change, so check the page before you buy
02What the three pricing pages said in October 2026
Zapier lists prices in USD. Free is $0 with 100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps only, no premium apps and a 15-minute polling interval. Professional at 750 tasks a month is $29.99 billed monthly or $19.99 a month billed annually. Professional at 1,500 tasks is $58.50 monthly or $39.00 a month annually, and at 2,000 tasks it is $73.50 or $49.00. Team starts at 2,000 tasks: $103.50 monthly or $69.00 a month annually. n8n lists euros for its cloud: Starter is 20 EUR a month billed annually for 2,500 executions, and Pro is 50 EUR a month billed annually for 10,000, both with unlimited active workflows, according to the page. Business is 667 EUR a month billed annually for 40,000 executions and is listed as self-hosted only. Billed monthly, n8n Cloud is 24 EUR (Starter), 60 EUR (Pro) and 800 EUR (Business). n8n Cloud has a free trial with no card required, limited to 1,000 executions. Make's Free plan includes 1,000 credits a month and its paid plans are priced by credits. We quote no Make paid prices, so check make.com/en/pricing for current ones. We did not check whether tax is added at checkout.
- Zapier Free: $0, 100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps only (zapier.com/pricing)
- Zapier Professional: 750 tasks at $29.99 monthly or $19.99 a month billed annually; 1,500 tasks at $58.50 or $39.00; 2,000 tasks at $73.50 or $49.00
- n8n Cloud billed annually: Starter 20 EUR for 2,500 executions, Pro 50 EUR for 10,000. Billed monthly: Starter 24 EUR, Pro 60 EUR, Business 800 EUR. Free trial with no card, limited to 1,000 executions (n8n.io/pricing)
- Make: Free plan 1,000 credits a month. Paid plans are priced by credits; check make.com/en/pricing for current prices
- Currencies differ (USD and EUR) and we do not convert them
03The same workflow on three bills
Take one workflow: a website enquiry arrives, gets added to a CRM, triggers a confirmation email to the customer, pings you, and gets logged in a spreadsheet. That is one trigger and four actions. Say 200 enquiries a month (an example, not a benchmark). The sums below are our arithmetic from each page's own definition, not a number quoted by any vendor. On Zapier the trigger does not count (Zapier help centre) and four completed actions are four tasks, so 800 tasks a month. That is above the 750 of the smallest Professional tier, so you land on the next one, 1,500 tasks: $39.00 a month billed annually or $58.50 billed monthly. The Free plan could not run it at all, because it allows two-step Zaps only. On n8n it is 200 executions, far inside the 2,500 of Starter. On Make, if each action costs the usual one credit, the four actions are 800 credits. Make's FAQ says reading data from an app or a webhook also counts as a credit, which adds one credit per run, so the total is about 1,000 credits: the whole Free allowance. We did not read the other Free limits.
- Zapier: 4 completed actions are 4 tasks per run, so 800 tasks a month for 200 runs
- n8n: 1 execution per run, so 200 executions for 200 runs
- Make: about 800 credits for the four actions, plus 1 credit per run for reading the trigger data (Make FAQ), so about 1,000 credits a month, the whole Free allowance
- Going over: Zapier says extra tasks bill at a higher per-task rate set by your plan and billing cycle, and runs stop at 3 times the plan limit. With pay-per-task off, runs pause until the next usage period.
- Make says scenarios stop when credits run out, and extra credits come in bundles of 1,000 or 10,000
04Which one fits which business, in our view
The shape of the billing decides more than the headline price, so match it to your workflows. Short flows that run rarely suit per-action billing: a one-action flow under 100 runs a month fits Zapier's Free plan as the page describes it. Long flows that run often favour per-run billing, because on n8n a ten-step run still counts as one execution, while on Zapier and Make each action adds to the bill. If you want to host the tool yourself, n8n's page lists a self-hosted version on GitHub, and the Zapier and Make pages we read mention none. Self-hosting trades a subscription for a server and someone to keep it running, and we put no price on that. Last, ask who fixes the flow when a connected app changes. Our post on n8n makes that point, so we do not repeat it here.
- Few steps, low volume: the Free plans on Zapier (100 tasks, two-step Zaps) and Make (1,000 credits) are the place to test
- Many steps, high volume: per-run billing on n8n grows more slowly than per-action billing (arithmetic from the definitions above)
- Want to host it yourself: only n8n's page lists a self-hosted version
- Whatever you pick, name the person who fixes it when a connected app changes
05Where PROOF48 is the wrong choice
If you will build one or two workflows yourself, buy the subscription and do it. AUTOMATE is the wrong purchase for that. It costs 2,997 EUR a month, lists two custom automations a month, booking automation with a CRM, an AI website chatbot, DM and email auto-responders and everything in GROWTH, and lists no Zapier, Make or n8n subscription. A business with one form-to-email flow should not pay for that. AUTOMATE also does not cover WhatsApp or phone. PROOF48 has not published a case study built on any of the three tools. Where we fit is the business that wants the result without owning the upkeep. Standalone automation builds are scoped and priced on request through the start page.
- One or two simple flows you can build yourself: buy the tool, skip AUTOMATE
- AUTOMATE lists no Zapier, Make or n8n subscription among its features
- Workflows that live in WhatsApp or phone calls: outside AUTOMATE
- A store (2,500 to 4,500 EUR) or a web app (from 5,000 EUR) is a separate project with its own timeline, and larger projects may need a deposit as agreed in our terms
An order email that no task meter counts
Rotiseria Baba Novac sends an order confirmation email through Resend on every order, from a custom .NET and Blazor build. None of Zapier, Make or n8n is in that stack, so none of the three counts anything for that email. That is the only lesson we draw, and it comes with a trade: code has no task meter, and it also needs someone to maintain it. We hold no order volume for the rotiseria and no cost comparison against any of the three tools, so we state none.
See the build: Rotiseria Baba NovacQuestions, answered
Which of the three is cheapest for a small business?
It depends on your steps and your volume, so we cannot name one without your workflow. In our 200-enquiries example n8n counted the fewest billable units: 200 executions against 800 tasks on Zapier. We quote no paid Make prices, so we do not rank it on cost.
Can I start for free?
Zapier's pricing page lists a Free plan with 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps only. Make's page says its Free plan has 1,000 credits a month. n8n Cloud has a free trial with no card required, limited to 1,000 executions, and its standard self-hosted version is on GitHub.
Does PROOF48 set up Zapier, Make or n8n for me?
We have not published a case study built on any of the three. AUTOMATE includes two custom automations a month, and standalone automation work is scoped and priced on request. Tell us the workflow and we say whether it is worth building or worth a subscription you run yourself.
Where PROOF48 fits
Compare the unit before the price: Zapier counts completed actions, Make counts credits, n8n counts whole runs. In October 2026 Zapier Professional started at $19.99 a month billed annually for 750 tasks and n8n Cloud Starter at 20 EUR for 2,500 executions, and Make's Free plan includes 1,000 credits a month, with paid plans priced by credits. PROOF48's AUTOMATE, 2,997 EUR a month, is for businesses that want automations built and kept running for them, not for one simple flow.
Cosmin Tiu · Founder, PROOF48
Cosmin has worked in online marketing and software development since 2018, and has built with AI every day since January 2023. He still writes code from scratch daily, in Python, React, Rust and C#. PROOF48 ships business websites in 48 hours and invoices afterwards, so every opinion on this blog was paid for in real builds, not in theory.