# n8n vs Make vs Zapier. Which automation tool suits a small business If you want to automate a few steps between well known apps and nobody on your team writes code, Zapier is usually the easiest way to start. If your workflows branch and depend on conditions, Make tends to fit well. If volume grows or you want the data on your own server, n8n can pay off, as long as someone looks after it. The deciding factor is what each tool counts when it bills you. [Web version](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/n8n-vs-make-vs-zapier-small-business/) By David Monje, crida studio · Published 2026-11-03 · Updated 2026-11-03 ## Which tool fits you ### Zapier If you have a few short workflows, well known apps and nobody technical on the team. Count how many actions you add up each month. ### Make If the workflow has branches and conditions and you want to see it drawn out. Choose the EU when you create the organisation. ### n8n If volume is high, workflows are long or you want the data on your own server, and you have someone to maintain it. ## What each tool counts when it bills you All three charge by usage, but each one counts something different. Zapier counts tasks. Its help centre says that in Classic Zaps a task is any action that runs successfully, while triggers and filters do not count. A form that creates a CRM contact and emails you uses two tasks. From 1 December 2026, every successful run of a Next Gen Zap uses at least one task. Make counts credits. Its help centre explains that by default one module operation equals one credit, and that only things triggered by a scenario run use credits. Some more complex modules use more than one credit per operation, two or ten for example. Many AI modules use credits based on the tokens they consume. n8n counts executions. Its pricing page, as of November 2026, says an execution is one full run of the workflow, however many steps it has. The same form with a CRM entry and an email is a single execution. For long workflows that run many times a day, this way of counting changes the numbers a lot. ## Where your customers' data ends up If you automate quotes or customer records, personal data flows through the tool and you need to know where it is stored. n8n says on its pricing page that on its hosted plans data is stored in the EU, on servers in Frankfurt. If you install it on your own server, the data stays wherever you decide. Make lets you pick the data centre when you create your organisation, either the United States or the European Union, and its help centre warns that you cannot change it later. Get it right on day one. For Zapier, the sources we cite do not say, so ask where data is stored before you send customer information through it. ### Is n8n free? The n8n Community Edition has no licence fee if you install it on your own server and use it for your company's internal work. What you pay for is the server and the hours of whoever updates and monitors it. n8n Cloud is a paid service and bills by the number of workflow executions each month. ## Who keeps the automations running Zapier and Make run in their own cloud, and the vendor looks after the servers and updates. You only maintain the workflows. With n8n you have two options. You can use n8n Cloud, which works the same way, or install the Community Edition on a server you own or rent. The Community Edition is used under the Sustainable Use License. According to the n8n docs, it lets you use and modify the software for your own internal business purposes or for non commercial use. For a small business automating its own work, that fits. Reselling it to others as a service needs a separate agreement with n8n. Self hosting does not mean free. You pay for the server, and someone has to install updates, run backups and check what happened when a workflow fails on a Saturday. If nobody in the company can do that, count those hours as a cost or hand the maintenance to someone who can. ### Which one is cheapest for a small business? It depends on volume and number of steps. For a few short workflows, any of the three can work out fine. When a workflow has many steps and runs often, counting one execution per run, as n8n does, can work out cheaper. Count your own process and check each tool's current prices. ## How each tool is built and what it connects to Zapier is built as a list of steps, one after another, and is usually the simplest to get started with. Make draws the workflow as a diagram with branches. That helps when there are conditions, such as sending a quote to one sales rep or another depending on the area. n8n is visual too, but if you host it yourself you need to know how to run a server. Before you choose, check that your apps are supported. Look at your CRM, booking or appointment software, email, spreadsheets and WhatsApp Business. For n8n, the pricing page says every plan includes every integration. If an app has no connector but does have an API, you will need someone who can connect it. ### Can I move from Zapier or Make to n8n later? Yes, but you will have to rebuild the workflows, because each tool stores them its own way. That is why it helps to write down what each workflow does, which apps it touches and what data it moves. With that list, switching is a configuration job and the process is already worked out. ## n8n, Make and Zapier side by side The table sums up what each vendor's official documentation says as of November 2026. We leave prices out because they change often and depend on each company's volume. Open each pricing page with your own count of runs and steps in hand, and work out the numbers for your case. How each tool bills, where it keeps data and who maintains it, according to official documentation as of November 2026 | Criterion | Zapier | Make | n8n | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it bills for | Tasks, one per successful action | Credits, by default one per module operation | Executions, one per full workflow run | | What does not count | Triggers and filters in Classic Zaps. From 1 December 2026, each Next Gen Zap run uses at least one task | Anything outside a scenario run | Steps within the same run | | Where data lives | Ask Zapier | United States or EU, chosen when you create the organisation | Frankfurt on n8n Cloud, or your own server | | Who maintains the servers | Zapier | Make | n8n on its cloud, or you if you self host | ### Can these tools send WhatsApp notifications? It depends on the connector and on how you use WhatsApp. Before you build anything, check whether the tool you pick has a WhatsApp Business connector and what it lets you do. The phone app and the API are not meant for the same things. Our guide on the WhatsApp Business app versus the API explains the differences and how to choose. ## What to prepare before you choose The decision almost makes itself once three things are clear. How often the process happens, which apps it touches and who will deal with it when it breaks. Run the count on one real process, such as quote requests at a clinic in Girona or bookings at a restaurant on the Costa Brava. - How many times the process runs each month, in high season and in low season. - How many steps each run has, since every action adds up on Zapier and Make but not on n8n. - Which apps are involved and whether the tool you are looking at has a connector for them. - What personal data goes through it and where it has to be stored. - Who on the team will maintain it and how many hours they can give it. ## References - [n8n, pricing page](https://n8n.io/pricing/) - [n8n, Sustainable Use License documentation](https://docs.n8n.io/n8n-community-license/) - [Make Help Center, credits](https://help.make.com/credits) - [Make Help Center, organizations and data centre location](https://help.make.com/organizations) - [Zapier Help Center, how task usage is measured](https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496196837261-How-is-task-usage-measured-in-Zapier) ## The crida perspective We are a marketing, brand and technology studio based in Girona. We bring identity, content and development together so a digital experience makes sense from beginning to end. crida studio, Caldes de Malavella (Girona, Spain). David Monje, founder and director. ## Shall we look at which process to automate first? Tell us which process you repeat every week, which apps you use and who looks after it. We will tell you which tool fits and how we would set it up. [Tell us more](https://www.crida.studio/en/#contact) ## More on web design - [Business process automation from Girona](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/services/business-process-automation/) - [Which workflow should a small business automate first?](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/workflow-automation-small-business/) - [WhatsApp Business app or API? Which one suits your customer service](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/whatsapp-business-app-or-api/) - [Applied AI and website assistants](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/services/applied-ai-web-assistants/) - [What an AI assistant should do on a website](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/website-ai-assistants/)