Make vs n8n 2026: Which Workflow Automation Tool Wins?
Quick verdict: Make is our overall pick for Make vs n8n.
Make (4.0/5) and n8n (4.0/5) tie on rating and split on model: Make sells credits at $12/mo per 10,000 with a managed visual canvas, n8n sells complete executions from EUR 20/mo and can be self-hosted for zero licence cost.
| Tool | Rating | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Make Best overall | 4.0/5 | Free $12/mo (Core, 10k credits) | Make trades Zapier's linear steps for a visual canvas with routers, iterators and error ro… |
| n8n Best free Best for teams | 4.0/5 | Free €20/mo (Starter, annual) | n8n is the only tool in the class you can self-host free with unlimited workflows, executi… |
Bottom line: both score 4.0/5 and both are built for people who think in branching, not linear steps — but the bills behave differently. Make charges per credit and every module counts, including triggers and filters: Core is $12/mo at 10,000 credits, Pro $21/mo, Teams $38/mo. n8n charges per complete workflow execution regardless of node count: Starter EUR 20/mo at 2,500, Pro EUR 50/mo at 10,000, Business EUR 667/mo at 40,000 with SSO and Git version control — and every cloud plan includes unlimited users and workflows. n8n's decisive card is the free self-hosted Community Edition with unlimited executions; Make's is that someone else runs it. n8n also goes further on code (JavaScript and Python nodes, 70+ LangChain nodes for agents) and gives unlimited users on every tier, which is why it takes best-for-teams here. Choose n8n when you can own infrastructure and want per-execution economics; choose Make when you want the canvas without the server.
Pricing and details
Make · 4.0/5
Free plan available · $12/mo (Core, 10k credits)
Credit-based: every module execution counts as one credit, including triggers, routers and filters. Free gives 1,000 credits/mo, 2 active scenarios and a 15-minute minimum interval between runs. Core, Pro and Teams all start at 10,000 credits/mo and differ by feature: unlimited active scenarios and minute-level scheduling from Core, priority execution plus full-text log search from Pro, team roles and shared scenario templates from Teams. AI modules cost 2-50 credits each and the Make Code app bills 2 credits per second of execution. Data transfer caps are 512MB on Free and 5GB per 10k operations on paid tiers. Enterprise is custom.
Annual billing saves 15% or more versus pay-monthly; credits scale from 10k to 8M+ per month
Make trades Zapier's linear steps for a visual canvas with routers, iterators and error routes — free for 1,000 operations a month, paid from $12/mo, and the best price per unit of work for complex branching.
Score breakdown
Pros
- Best price per unit of work in the class: Core is $12/mo at 10,000 credits, roughly an order of magnitude cheaper than Zapier for equivalent volume.
- Visual canvas with routers, iterators, aggregators and visual error routes handles branching that Zapier's linear model cannot.
- Every module counts as one credit, and credits scale to 8M+/month, so high-volume pipelines stay on-platform.
- Make Code runs JavaScript or Python inside a scenario, and 350+ AI apps plus an MCP server are wired in.
Cons
- Steeper learning curve than Zapier — the canvas, operations accounting and error handling take real time to internalise.
- Free plan is tight: 1,000 credits/mo, 2 active scenarios and a 15-minute minimum interval between runs.
- Credits are consumed by triggers, routers and filters too, and AI modules cost 2-50 credits each, so budgets need modelling before you commit.
Pricing verified 2026-09-25
n8n · 4.0/5
Free plan available · €20/mo (Starter, annual)
Priced per complete workflow execution, not per step - a workflow counts as one execution no matter how many nodes it contains, and every plan includes unlimited users, unlimited workflows and every integration. Starter gives 2,500 executions/mo with 5 concurrent executions and 1 shared project; Pro gives 10,000 with 20 concurrent, admin roles, global variables, workflow history and execution search; Business gives 40,000 with SSO/SAML/LDAP, Git version control, environments and a self-hosted option. The Community Edition is free to self-host under the fair-code Sustainable Use License with unlimited workflows, executions and users - you pay only for infrastructure. Enterprise is quote-only.
Annual billing saves ~17%; month-to-month is available at a higher rate
n8n is the only tool in the class you can self-host free with unlimited workflows, executions and users — and on cloud it bills per complete workflow execution, not per step, with JavaScript and Python anywhere in the flow.
Score breakdown
Pros
- Community Edition is free to self-host with unlimited workflows, executions and users — you pay only for infrastructure.
- Cloud bills per complete workflow execution, not per step: a 40-node workflow still counts as one execution.
- JavaScript and Python code nodes everywhere, plus 70+ LangChain nodes for AI agents, vector stores and RAG.
- Every cloud plan includes unlimited users and workflows, so seat count never drives the bill.
Cons
- Highest setup burden in the class: self-hosting means owning patching, backups, monitoring and execution-data pruning.
- Cloud starters are tight on concurrency — Starter allows 5 concurrent executions, and Business jumps to €667/mo.
- Interfaces and documentation are English-first, and the builder assumes a technical mental model.
Pricing verified 2026-09-25
Frequently asked questions
Which is better overall, Make or n8n?
Make is our overall pick (4.0/5 vs 4.0/5). Make (4.0/5) and n8n (4.0/5) tie on rating and split on model: Make sells credits at $12/mo per 10,000 with a managed visual canvas, n8n sells complete executions from EUR 20/mo and can be self-hosted for zero licence cost.
Do Make and n8n offer free plans?
Make and n8n have a free tier. Make paid plans start at $12/mo (Core, 10k credits); n8n paid plans start at €20/mo (Starter, annual).
What does Make cost?
$12/mo (Core, 10k credits) — Credit-based: every module execution counts as one credit, including triggers, routers and filters. Free gives 1,000 credits/mo, 2 active scenarios and a 15-minute minimum interval between runs. Core, Pro and Teams all start at 10,000 credits/mo and differ by feature: unlimited active scenarios and minute-level scheduling from Core, priority execution plus full-text log search from Pro, team roles and shared scenario templates from Teams. AI modules cost 2-50 credits each and the Make Code app bills 2 credits per second of execution. Data transfer caps are 512MB on Free and 5GB per 10k operations on paid tiers. Enterprise is custom. Prices were last verified on 2026-09-25.