Make vs n8n: which automation tool fits your business?
Short answer: Make if you want a visual builder that runs in the cloud and nobody on your team wants to look after a server. n8n if someone technical is around, you want to host it yourself so runs aren't metered, or your data needs to stay on your own server.
The builders feel pretty similar. The real difference is who's on the hook when something breaks. Hope this helps.
Founder, Handled. Greenville, SC. Updated October 2026, 7 min read.
The short version
Both let you drag steps onto a canvas and connect them. Underneath, they're built on different bets.
| Category | Make | n8n |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Non-technical teams, light to moderate volume | Teams with someone technical, high volume, data that has to stay put |
| Free option | 1,000 credits a month in the cloud | Community edition, free if you host it |
| Paid from | $12 a month for 10,000 credits | Cloud Starter: 20 euros a month, billed annually |
| How it counts | Credits, usually one per module action | Whole workflow runs (executions), however many steps |
| Setup | Sign up and build | Cloud: sign up. Self-hosted: you need a server |
| My pick | Most small businesses | When a technical person owns it |
Prices checked October 2026. n8n lists its prices in euros, so any dollar figure you see elsewhere is a conversion and will drift. Double-check both pricing pages before you commit.
Make: visual, managed, and metered
Formerly Integromat. Nothing to install, nothing to babysit.
In Make you build a scenario by dragging modules onto a canvas and connecting them. When you test it, you can watch the data move from step to step, which makes fixing things a lot less mysterious.
Make charges in credits. Each module action usually uses one credit, and some AI and code modules use more.
Free: 1,000 credits a month. Core: $12. Pro: $21. Teams: $38. Those are monthly prices for 10,000 credits a month, and they're a bit lower if you pay yearly. More credits cost more.
- No server. Make runs it, monitors it, and updates it. You just build.
- Friendly for non-developers. Plan on an afternoon to get comfortable. No command line, ever.
- Lots of ready-made app connections. Mainstream business software is well covered.
- The meter is always running. More steps and more runs mean more credits. Loops multiply it fast.
- Your data passes through Make. Fine for most businesses. Worth thinking about if you handle sensitive client info.
- Custom code is limited. When the built-in modules can't do it, your options are narrower than in n8n.
n8n: run it yourself, or pay them to
The source code is public, so you can host it on your own server.
The n8n canvas will feel familiar if you've used Make. Where it pulls ahead is flexibility: you can drop your own JavaScript or Python into any step, and it has solid building blocks for AI steps, like having a model sort incoming messages before routing them.
Community edition: free to self-host. You pay for the server and the upkeep.
Cloud Starter: 20 euros a month billed annually, 2,500 workflow executions. Cloud Pro: 50 euros a month billed annually, 10,000 executions. An execution is one full run of a workflow, no matter how many steps it has.
Business: 667 euros a month billed annually, and it's self-hosted only. Most small businesses won't need it.
- No per-run meter when self-hosted. Busy workflows don't make the bill climb.
- Your data stays on your server. That matters if you handle sensitive client information.
- Code when you need it. When there's no button for what you want, a developer can just write it.
- Someone has to run the server. Setup, security updates, backups, and noticing when it's down.
- Fewer ready-made connections. For niche software you may be wiring up the app's API by hand.
- Cloud pricing closes the gap. Once you pay for n8n Cloud, the "basically free" argument goes away.
Which one should you pick?
Before you pick between Make and n8n, check these in order.
Before adding an automation platform, check what your current tools already do. A lot of CRMs, booking tools and email tools have automations built in, and many connect to each other directly. That's the cheapest automation there is.
- Make if nobody wants to own a server and your volume is moderate.
- n8n self-hosted if you have a technical person, high volume, or data that has to stay in-house.
- n8n Cloud if you want n8n's flexibility without the server, and you've checked the math against Make.
If the workflow is really the core of how your business runs, it might deserve to be built properly instead of glued together. On the Court Room build, the piece that would have been a fragile Make or n8n chain was the link to their inventory system, so we wrote a proper connector against its API instead.
What neither pricing page tells you
The sticker price is the easy part.
Make counts steps. n8n Cloud counts runs. A ten-step workflow that runs 500 times a month is about 5,000 credits on Make, and 500 executions on n8n Cloud. Busy, many-step workflows favor n8n. Simple ones barely matter.
Loops multiply on Make. If a scenario handles 50 records one at a time, every module after the loop runs 50 times.
Self-hosted isn't free, it's paid in attention. Add the server bill from your hosting company, plus the hours to set it up, update it and fix it. If that time comes from you, count it.
Downtime is on you. If your server dies overnight, your follow-ups don't go out. Self-hosting means you also need a way to find out.
Questions people ask me
Got one that isn't here? Ask me on a free call →
Is Make free to use?
There's a free plan with 1,000 credits a month, which is enough to try it on a real workflow. Paid plans start at $12 a month for 10,000 credits. Each module action in a scenario usually uses one credit.
Is n8n free?
The community edition is free if you host it yourself, so you pay for the server and your time, not per run. n8n's cloud plans are priced in euros: Starter is 20 euros a month and Pro is 50 euros a month, billed annually, with 2,500 and 10,000 workflow executions.
Do I need a developer to use n8n?
Not to build in it, since the canvas is visual like Make's. You do need someone comfortable with servers if you self-host: setting it up, keeping it updated, and noticing when it goes down. If nobody on your team wants that job, use n8n Cloud or Make.
What happens if my self-hosted n8n server goes down?
Your automations stop until it's back. That's the trade you make for self-hosting. If a missed run means a missed lead or a missed appointment reminder, either set up monitoring or pay for a managed option.
Can I move from Make to n8n without rebuilding everything?
No, there's no import. Each scenario gets rebuilt as an n8n workflow. Move the one that costs you the most first, run both side by side until the results match, then move the rest.
When you don't need me
If your automations run and somebody knows how to fix them, you're set. Skip the call if one of these is you.
You have a few simple automations. Make's free or Core plan will cover it. Build them yourself.
You already have a developer who likes n8n. Let them run it. That's exactly who it's for.
Your current setup works and the bill is fine. Switching platforms to save a few dollars a month rarely pays for the rebuild.
What changed
- October 2026: rewritten top to bottom. Make pricing restated in credits, n8n pricing restated in euros from its own page. Removed three made-up business examples, unsourced savings and uptime figures, server cost estimates, and app counts I couldn't confirm.
- April 2026: first published.
Sources
Every price and outside fact on this page comes from the sources below, checked October 3, 2026. Prices change often, so check before you buy.
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