Zapier vs Make vs n8n: UK Prices for a Small Business

Verdict

Zapier, Make and n8n all connect your apps so a job runs without you. The price depends less on the plan name than on what each one counts. Zapier counts tasks, Make counts credits and n8n counts whole runs. That one difference decides which is cheapest for you.

• You want it to work with little learning. Zapier or Make. Both say you can build without code.
• You want the lowest bill. Make and n8n both came in well under Zapier in our example below. n8n's software is free to run yourself, but then you run the server.
• You want your data kept in Europe. n8n Cloud or Make, which offer EU hosting. Zapier says it keeps data in the United States and does not offer EU-only storage.

Tunewell takes no commission from any of them. Every price and rule below comes from each vendor's own pages, read on 2 November 2026.

Counting

Each tool bills on a different unit, so a plan with "2,000" on it does not mean the same thing in each.

Zapier. Its help centre says a task is any successful action that runs. In its Classic Zaps, triggers never count, nor do filters, formatting steps or steps that fail. Zapier says that from 1 December 2026 its Next Gen Zaps use at least 1 task per successful run, so check this if you start on one. If you go over your limit, Zapier can switch you to pay-per-task billing at a higher rate, or hold your Zaps until your task allowance resets if you turn that off. One line on Zapier's pricing page says every step in a Zap uses tasks, but its help article and FAQ both say triggers do not count, so we followed those.

Make. Make's pricing page says credits are its billing unit and most actions use 1 credit. Reading data from an app, searching, creating, updating and transforming data all count. Make's operations page says a trigger counts as one operation per check, however many items it finds.

n8n. The n8n pricing page bills by workflow executions, regardless of complexity. An execution is a single run of your whole workflow, and it does not matter how many steps it has. Per n8n's documentation, test runs do not count, and a timer-based trigger counts each time it fires.

Example

Prices mean little without a job, so here is one. We invented it to be typical, not to describe a customer.

The job: 5 automations. Each runs 100 times a month, so 500 runs in all. Each run starts when something happens, such as a new enquiry, and then does 4 things: adds a row to a sheet, sends a confirmation email, creates a task and posts a message to the team.

Using the rules above, we worked out what each tool counts:

• Zapier: 500 runs of 4 actions is 2,000 tasks, because the trigger is free.
• Make: 500 runs of 1 trigger and 4 actions is 2,500 credits.
• n8n: 500 runs is 500 executions.

On monthly billing the same job is £56.26 on Zapier, $16 on Make and £24 on n8n. Zapier's pound figures come from the currency choice on its pricing page, where the 2,000-task setting reads £37.51 paying yearly and £56.26 paying monthly. Zapier says the amount may vary with the exchange rate when you pay. Make's pricing page offered only dollars, where its Core plan starts at 10,000 credits for $11 on annual billing and $16 on monthly. We do not convert it. n8n's pricing page shows Starter, with room for 2,500 executions, at £20 yearly and £24 monthly.

Zapier's 2,000-task tier fits the job exactly, so it has no room to grow, while Make's and n8n's smallest plans carry spare room.

Zapier's page says its prices exclude taxes. Make's and n8n's pages do not say, so expect VAT may be added at checkout.

Two warnings. First, this assumes each automation starts when something happens. If instead one checks for news every 15 minutes, it makes 2,880 checks in a 30-day month by itself. On Make, where a check is an operation, five of those would use 14,400 credits, more than the 10,000 in that Core plan. On n8n, a trigger that checks an app and finds nothing does not count, but a Schedule trigger counts every time it fires. On Zapier checks never count. Second, real traffic moves these numbers, so count your own runs for a month before choosing.

Plans

The cheapest paid plan is a starting point. Each vendor also sells larger tiers.

Zapier. The free plan gives 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps, meaning a trigger and one action. Professional, which adds multi-step Zaps, starts at £15.30 a month for 750 tasks on yearly billing and £22.96 on monthly. In dollars the same plan is $19.99 and $29.99. Larger tiers on the same page: 5,000 tasks is £68.12 yearly, and 10,000 is £98.74.

Make. The free plan has 1,000 credits a month and a limit of 2 active automations that run at most every 15 minutes. Paid plans remove the limit on active automations and allow a check every minute. Credits expire at the end of each term, so unused ones do not carry over. Make's page also lists 20,000 credits on Core at $20 a month, paying yearly.

n8n. We found no free cloud plan. n8n offers a 14-day trial limited to 1,000 executions, after which it deletes your instance unless you pay. Starter is 2,500 executions. Pro is 10,000 executions at £50 a month yearly or £60 monthly, with admin roles and more projects. Every plan includes unlimited users and workflows.

Self-Hosting

n8n's software is free to run yourself. Its Community edition is described as free with almost the complete feature set. Features such as single sign-on, shared projects and version control need a paid licence.

The plain version: the software costs nothing, but you or someone you pay must provide a server, install n8n, keep it updated and fix it when it stops. n8n's own table lists technical expertise as required, and says you must manage the infrastructure and the maintenance. We have not priced a server today, so the cost of one is on top of the £0 and we give no figure. For a busy owner with no technical help, n8n Cloud is the version that matches the n8n documentation's advice for people without technical expertise.

A real advantage of self-hosting is control of where the data sits. If you host n8n on a server in the UK, your workflow data stays on that server. n8n collects usage data by default, which you can switch off, and a paid licence key checks in with n8n's licence server daily. The vendors' own hosting is covered below.

Ease and Reach

Ease of use. Zapier's FAQ answers "Do I need to know how to code?" with "Nope" and its plans use a visual no-code editor. Make's free plan lists a no-code visual workflow builder. n8n's pricing page does not describe it as no-code, and lists code steps on every cloud plan, while its documentation says Cloud needs no technical expertise to run. We have not built the same job in all three, so this is each vendor's own claim and not a test.

Apps. Zapier says it connects to 9,000+ apps. Make's plan cards say 3,500+ apps, though its own FAQ still says more than 1,000. n8n's integrations page says 2,000+. These are counted differently, so check that the apps you use are on the list instead of comparing the totals.

Data location. None of the three states a UK-only option.

Zapier's data privacy page says it hosts data on AWS servers in the United States, and that it does not support storing data only within the EU. It also says it has certified its compliance with the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension. Make's comparison table lists hosting on AWS in the EU or North America. Make's data zones page warns that choosing an EU zone does not mean every AI request stays in the EU. n8n's pricing FAQ says hosted plans keep data in the EU on servers in Frankfurt, and that self-hosted data is wherever you host it.

Situations

A few simple automations, no technical help. Try the free plan of Zapier or Make first. Zapier's free plan is limited to two-step Zaps and 100 tasks, while Make's gives 1,000 credits but only 2 active automations. Both are enough to test one real job before you pay.

Many steps in each automation. Zapier and Make bill per step, so each added step raises the count. n8n bills the whole run once, which is why its figure stays low in our example.

Data kept in Europe. Choose n8n Cloud or Make, and read their hosting pages against your needs. If you handle clients' personal data, ask the vendor for its data processing terms before you connect anything.

Someone technical on hand. Self-hosted n8n costs no licence fee, and the server is the cost you add.

Tunewell

Choosing between these three is one part of a Check-Up. We look at how your business runs, then tell you which tools to use and which to skip, and we say when a cheaper one is enough. We take no commission from any tool. You own everything we build. A Check-Up is £495 for up to 10 staff and includes one Quick Win, chosen from More Reviews, Invoices Chased or Weekly Numbers, set up and working.

You do not need us to choose. The example above and the free plans are enough to test one real job. If you would like help, see the Menu of jobs we automate, or book a free 30 minute Intro Call.