PricePerRun
Automation pricing, decoded

Zapier vs Make vs n8n true cost calculator

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Question 1 of 5

1. How many automations do you run?

2. How many steps does each automation have after the trigger?

3. How many times a day does each automation actually do work (process data)? Runs that find nothing are not counted.

4. Could you run n8n on your own server (self-hosting)?

5. How do you prefer to pay?

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Or enter your exact workload once. We convert it into each vendor's own unit (tasks, credits, executions) and rank verified prices, cheapest first.

Your workload

How often the workflow runs.

Billable action modules per run (exclude Router & error handlers). Don't count the trigger.

Zapier Filter/Formatter/Path: 0 tasks, but rules out Zapier Free.

Iterators and aggregators: 1 credit each.

Zapier and Make do not publish a cost per AI step, so they are not ranked.

Requirements
Billing & tax
Billing
Advanced

Defaults are the ECB reference rates of 2026-10-15 (not live). n8n is priced in EUR; Zapier and Make in USD. The ranking recomputes in USD with your rates.

Cheapest
Make Core 40,000 credits: $29.00/mo

Your workload in each vendor's unit: 20,000 Zapier tasks · 25,000 Make credits · 5,000 n8n executions per month (annual billing).

#OptionPlanPer monthPer year24-mo TCO
1Make cheapest
Core 40,000 credits
$29.00$348.00$696.00
2n8n Cloud
Pro-1list €50.00
$56.04$672.48$1,344.96
3Zapier
Professional 20,000 tasks
$189.00$2,268.00$4,536.00

Prices exclude VAT/sales tax.

Self-hosted n8n Community shown, never ranked

The software is free with no execution cap. Infrastructure cost is Not published by vendor (only a single secondary source so far). Self-hosting is cheaper than the cheapest ranked option (Make, $29.00/mo) only if your server plus your time costs less than that.

The catch, per option

  • Zapier — Professional 20,000 tasks
    Overage: Pay-per-task overage is opt-in. Upper bound, estimated at 1.25x the plan's base rate (about $0.0118 per task; Zapier product update). Zaps pause at 60,000 tasks (3x the plan). Never used to rank.
    • Every successful billable action is a task; triggers and built-in steps (Filter/Formatter/Path) cost 0 tasks.
    • Free is two-step only (trigger + 1 action, no built-in steps, no webhooks).
  • Make — Core 40,000 credits
    Overage: Scenarios stop at the credit limit; upgrade, buy credit packs or go Enterprise. No overage dollar amount is modeled.
    • 1 credit per module action including the trigger read; Router and error handlers are free and are not entered (1 trigger + 4 billable actions per run).
    • When credits run out, scenarios stop; unused credits expire.
    • Same volume on Pro: $53.00/mo; Teams: $99.00/mo.
  • n8n Cloud — Pro-1
    • One execution = one whole workflow run, so step count does not change the price.
    • No auto-overage on Starter/Pro-1: upgrade or one-time reset.
    • Priced in EUR; converted with the exchange rate you set.
See Make pricingSee n8n Cloud pricing

Scenarios

Zapier vs Make cost for 10,000 actions/month

2,000 runs a month, 5 billable actions each.

$16.00/mocheapest: Make Core 20,000 credits

Zapier vs Make vs n8n cost at 50,000 steps/month

10,000 runs a month, 5 billable actions each.

$55.00/mocheapest: Make Core 80,000 credits

How much does Zapier really cost for 5 multi-step Zaps?

5 Zaps × 300 runs a month, 3 billable actions each (1,500 runs).

$9.00/mocheapest: Make Core 10,000 credits

Zapier overage cost: what happens past your task limit (monthly vs annual)

1,500 runs a month, 2 billable actions each (3,000 tasks), on monthly billing.

$10.59/mocheapest: Make Core 10,000 credits

Make credits explained: cost of 100,000 credits/month

20,000 runs a month: 1 trigger credit + 4 billable actions = 100,000 credits.

$99.00/mocheapest: Make Core 150,000 credits

n8n Cloud vs self-hosted n8n: true monthly cost

8,000 runs a month, 6 billable steps each; self-hosting takes 2 hours a month at $50/hour.

$55.00/mocheapest: Make Core 80,000 credits

n8n Starter vs Pro: when 2,500 executions isn't enough

4,000 runs a month, 3 billable steps each.

$16.00/mocheapest: Make Core 20,000 credits

Cheapest way to run a webhook automation 1,000 times a day

30,000 runs a month, one action each, webhook trigger (Zapier Free is out).

$55.00/mocheapest: Make Core 80,000 credits

Zapier Team vs Make Teams for a 5-person team

5 seats with SSO, 1,000 runs a month, 4 billable actions each.

$119.00/mocheapest: Zapier Team 5,000 tasks

Cost of a 10-step workflow running hourly: Zapier vs Make vs n8n

720 runs a month (hourly), 10 billable actions each.

$9.00/mocheapest: Make Core 10,000 credits

Zapier annual vs monthly: how much you save at each tier

2,500 runs a month, 4 billable actions each (10,000 tasks), billed monthly.

$18.82/mocheapest: Make Core 20,000 credits

Do Zapier filters and formatters cost tasks? (and the cost impact)

45 runs a month, 1 billable action + 2 built-in steps (Filter, Formatter) each.

$0.00/mocheapest: Make Free

Zapier vs Make for 2,000 leads/month into a CRM

2,000 runs a month, 3 billable actions each.

$9.00/mocheapest: Make Core 10,000 credits

AI steps in automations: cost per 1,000 runs on Zapier, Make and n8n

1,000 runs a month, 2 regular actions + 1 AI step each. The AI-step cost on Zapier and Make is not published by vendor, so those two are shown as missing rather than guessed.

$22.42/mocheapest: n8n Cloud Starter

Switching from Zapier to Make: savings calculator for a $189/mo plan

Zapier Professional 20,000 tasks ($189/mo annual): 4,000 runs × 5 billable actions.

$29.00/mocheapest: Make Core 40,000 credits

Make Core vs Pro: is priority execution worth it?

6,000 runs a month, 4 billable actions each (30,000 credits).

$29.00/mocheapest: Make Core 40,000 credits

Automation cost for e-commerce: 3,000 orders/month

3,000 runs a month (one per order), 4 billable actions each, webhook trigger.

$16.00/mocheapest: Make Core 20,000 credits

Which automation tool needs SSO, and what does it cost

3 seats with SSO, 12,000 runs a month, 2 billable actions each.

$399.00/mocheapest: Zapier Team 50,000 tasks

n8n vs Zapier for 100,000 tasks/month

20,000 runs a month, 5 billable actions each: 100,000 Zapier tasks.

$99.00/mocheapest: Make Core 150,000 credits

Zapier free plan vs Make free plan: real limits compared

90 runs a month, 1 billable action each (a two-step Zap).

$0.00/mocheapest: Zapier Free

Use cases

CRM lead sync: what it costs on Zapier, Make and n8n

New leads from your website pushed into a CRM, about 60 a day.

$9.00/mocheapest: Make Core 10,000 credits

E-commerce order processing (Shopify to sheet and email): automation cost

Each order logged to a spreadsheet and a confirmation email sent.

$16.00/mocheapest: Make Core 20,000 credits

Lead enrichment workflow: monthly automation cost

Every new lead enriched from a data provider, filtered and scored before it reaches sales.

$9.00/mocheapest: Make Core 10,000 credits

Slack notification automations: what a high-volume alert flow costs

Alerts from your product or monitoring posted to Slack, a single action per run.

$29.00/mocheapest: Make Core 40,000 credits

Invoice processing automation: cost per month

Incoming invoices parsed, matched to purchase orders and posted to accounting.

$9.00/mocheapest: Make Core 10,000 credits

Social media auto-posting: what scheduling across networks costs

One scheduled post published to several networks, many times a day.

$9.00/mocheapest: Make Core 10,000 credits

Form to CRM automation: cost for a small team

Contact-form submissions turned into CRM contacts and a welcome email.

$9.00/mocheapest: Make Core 10,000 credits

Daily reporting automation: cost of a scheduled multi-step report

A scheduled run each morning that pulls data from several tools and emails a summary.

$0.00/mocheapest: Make Free

Guides and comparisons

PricePerRun: automation cost summary

Zapier vs Make vs n8n. Prices checked 2026-10-16.

Inputs

Runs per month
5,000
Billable actions per run
4
Built-in steps per run
0
Make extra modules per run
0
AI steps per run
0
Seats
1
Webhooks / SSO needed
no / no
Billing / currency
annual / USD

Workload in each vendor's unit: 20,000 Zapier tasks · 25,000 Make credits · 5,000 n8n executions per month.

Ranked options

Cheapest verified option: Make Core 40,000 credits at $29.00/mo.

#OptionPlanMonthlyAnnual (12-mo TCO)24-mo TCO
1MakeCore 40,000 credits$29.00$348.00$696.00
2n8n CloudPro-1$56.04$672.48$1,344.96
3ZapierProfessional 20,000 tasks$189.00$2,268.00$4,536.00

Self-hosted n8n Community is free software; infrastructure and time are not included.

Tax

Amounts exclude VAT/sales tax.

The catch, per tool

  • Zapier: Pay-per-task overage is opt-in. Upper bound, estimated at 1.25x the plan's base rate (about $0.0118 per task; Zapier product update). Zaps pause at 60,000 tasks (3x the plan). Never used to rank. Every successful billable action is a task; triggers and built-in steps (Filter/Formatter/Path) cost 0 tasks. Free is two-step only (trigger + 1 action, no built-in steps, no webhooks).
  • Make: Scenarios stop at the credit limit; upgrade, buy credit packs or go Enterprise. No overage dollar amount is modeled. 1 credit per module action including the trigger read; Router and error handlers are free and are not entered (1 trigger + 4 billable actions per run). When credits run out, scenarios stop; unused credits expire. Same volume on Pro: $53.00/mo; Teams: $99.00/mo.
  • n8n Cloud: One execution = one whole workflow run, so step count does not change the price. No auto-overage on Starter/Pro-1: upgrade or one-time reset. Priced in EUR; converted with the exchange rate you set.

Verified 2026-10-16. Sources: https://priceperrun-site.pages.dev/sources/

Reopen this calculation: https://priceperrun-site.pages.dev/?r=5000&a=4&b=annual