Zapier free plan vs Make free plan: real limits compared
90 runs a month, 1 billable action each (a two-step Zap).
- This workload is 90 Zapier tasks, 180 Make credits or 90 n8n executions a month.
- Cheapest verified option: Zapier (Free) at $0.00/month, $0.00 over 24 months.
- The priciest ranked option is n8n Cloud at $22.42/month: $269.04 more per year than the cheapest.
- Zapier Free allows 100 tasks of two-step Zaps only. Add a second action (180 tasks) and Zapier costs Professional 750 tasks at $19.99/mo, while Make Free still covers 90 × 3 = 270 credits of its 1,000.
Cheapest
Zapier Free: $0.00/mo
Your workload in each vendor's unit: 90 Zapier tasks · 180 Make credits · 90 n8n executions per month (annual billing).
| # | Option | Plan | Per month | Per year | 24-mo TCO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zapier cheapest | Free | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| 2 | Make | Free | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| 3 | n8n Cloud | Starterlist €20.00 | $22.42 | $268.99 | $537.98 |
Prices exclude VAT/sales tax.
Self-hosted n8n Community shown, never ranked
The software is free with no execution cap. Infrastructure cost is TODO-verify (only a single secondary source so far). Self-hosting is cheaper than the cheapest ranked option (Zapier, $0.00/mo) only if your server plus your time costs less than that.
The catch, per option
- Zapier — Free
- 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 — FreeOverage: 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 + 1 billable actions per run).
- When credits run out, scenarios stop; unused credits expire.
- n8n Cloud — Starter
- 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.