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Zapier vs Make vs n8n for Solopreneurs (2026): Pricing Models Explained

Updated 2026-10-26 · Prices verified on official vendor pages

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Short answer: Zapier is the easiest to learn and connects the most apps. Make gives you more steps for the money on a visual canvas. n8n is the best value once your workflows have many steps, because it bills per workflow run, not per step.

Sources: zapier.com/pricing, make.com/en/pricing, n8n.io/pricing, checked 26 Oct 2026.

How each one charges you

	Zapier	Make	n8n
Billing unit	Task = each successful action step (triggers and built-in tools like Filter/Formatter don't count)	Credit = each module action (most use 1; some AI actions use more)	Execution = one full workflow run, any number of steps
Free option	100 tasks/mo, two-step Zaps	1,000 credits/mo	Self-hosted Community Edition
Entry paid price	Pro: $19.99/mo billed annually for 750 tasks ($29.99 monthly)	Core/Pro on the pricing page	Starter: €20/mo billed annually; Pro €50/mo
Apps	9,000+	1,000+ standard apps	All integrations on every plan, plus HTTP/code
Free trial	14-day Pro trial, no card	Free plan	Cloud trial, no card

Worked example: a client-onboarding workflow

Say a new client fills in a form. That creates a Notion page, sends a welcome email, adds a calendar invite and posts a Slack note. That's 1 trigger and 4 actions.

Zapier: about 4 tasks per client, because the trigger is free. 30 clients a month is about 120 tasks, which is over the free 100 limit. Multi-step Zaps also need Pro.
Make: about 5 credits per run, so 30 runs is about 150 credits. That fits easily in the 1,000 free credits.
n8n: 1 execution per client, so 30 executions.

These are estimates. Your real counts depend on lookups, loops and errors.

Pick Zapier if…

You want the fastest setup, need an obscure app, or will never touch code. Try Zapier

Pick Make if…

You want branching, loops and visual debugging without paying per step at Zapier prices. Note that Make credits expire at the end of each term. Try Make

Pick n8n if…

You build long workflows, AI agents, or anything that runs on a schedule many times a day. You may also want to self-host to keep data on your own server. n8n Cloud stores data in Frankfurt, Germany. Try n8n Cloud

Our take for most freelancers

Start on Make Free for your first 2–3 automations. Move to n8n when your workflows grow past ~10 steps or run hourly. Use Zapier for the one integration that isn't available anywhere else.

FAQ

Which is cheapest for a solopreneur?

For light use, all three have a $0 option. Zapier Free gives 100 tasks a month with two-step Zaps, Make Free gives 1,000 credits a month, and the n8n Community Edition is free to self-host. For multi-step workflows that run often, n8n's per-execution billing is usually the most predictable.

What is the difference between a task, a credit and an execution?

Zapier counts each successful action step as a task. Make counts each module action as a credit. n8n counts one execution per full workflow run, whatever the number of steps.

Is n8n hard to self-host?

You need a server and basic Docker knowledge. If you don't want to maintain a server, n8n Cloud Starter costs €20/month billed annually.

Tools in this article

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