Three automation platforms compared on pricing models, AI features, and self-hosting.
Decision point
Zapier AI
Make
n8n
Best for
Automating business workflows across apps
Visual automation scenarios and multi-step operational workflows
Technical workflow automation with self-hosting and AI agent options
Category
Automation
Automation
Automation
Price
See evidence below — official sources checked 2026-09-18
See evidence below — official sources checked 2026-10-01
See evidence below — official sources checked 2026-10-01
AIToolsEssentials editorial score
4.4/5
4.3/5
4.3/5
Scores are editorial product assessments — job fit, likely output quality, ease of adoption, and operational cost — not lab benchmarks, and no tool here has a published hands-on result. How we score.
Evidence status
Zapier AI
Core Zapier plans: Free at $0 with 100 tasks/month; Professional starts at $19.99/month when billed annually; Team is $69/month when billed annually; Enterprise is custom. AI steps, code, MCP, SDK, and Zap workflows draw from a shared task pool. In AI by Zapier, Standard model steps consume 1 task per run, Advanced 3 tasks, and Premium 5 tasks; tool calls add task usage. The pricing page separately lists Agents Free with up to 400 automated activities/month and Agents Pro with up to 1,500 activities/month, but did not expose a dependable Agents Pro price in the retrieved official page text.
At the displayed 10,000-credit tier: Free is $0 with up to 1,000 credits/month; Core is $12/month; Pro is $21/month; Teams is $38/month; Enterprise is sales-led. Most module actions use 1 credit, while AI features using Make's AI Provider can consume an operation credit plus token-based credits. Make's AI Provider is available on all plans; custom AI-provider connections are available on paid plans. Credits normally expire at the end of the subscription term, and extra-credit bundles are available on eligible paid plans.
Starter: €20/month billed annually for 2,500 workflow executions with unlimited steps and 1,600 Assistant credits/month. Pro: €50/month billed annually for 10,000 executions with either 4,000 or up to 9,600 Assistant credits/month depending on plan size. Business: €667/month billed annually for 40,000 executions, self-hosted. Enterprise: custom. Free trials include 800 Assistant credits plus 100 AI credits that expire when the trial ends. Assistant-credit balances refresh monthly and unused credits do not roll over; additional AI credits cannot currently be purchased. The page advertises saving 17% on annual billing.
Version names and prices move fast. This panel tracks what each product actually ships today, with checked dates — so the comparison stays about real models, not marketing names.
Zapier AI — current lineup (2026-08-26)
Model
Role
Context
Pricing
Zapier Agents
AI agents that act across 8,000+ app integrations
-
Agent usage billed by plan
Chatbots + Tables + Interfaces
No-code AI surfaces on Zapier data
-
Included per plan tier
Plans
Free → Professional ~$19.99/mo → Team → Enterprise
-
Task-based billing
Zapier sells automation outcomes (tasks), not model tokens — AI features ride on partner models.
Make — current lineup (2026-08-26)
Model
Role
Context
Pricing
Make AI Agents
Autonomous agents inside scenario workflows
-
-
Make.com platform
Visual scenario builder, 2,000+ app integrations
-
-
Plans
Free 1,000 ops/mo → Core ~$9/mo → Pro → Enterprise
-
Operation-based billing
Make charges by operations executed, not tasks — usually cheaper at scale than Zapier.
n8n — current lineup (2026-08-26)
Model
Role
Context
Pricing
n8n AI Agent nodes + LangChain integration
Self-hosted or cloud agentic workflows, bring your own LLM keys
-
-
n8n Cloud
Hosted option
-
From ~$20/mo (starter)
Self-hosted (fair-code)
Free to run on your infrastructure
-
$0 license cost; pay your own compute
n8n gives maximum control: your servers, your model keys, no per-task markup.
Lineups verified from official vendor pages; confirm before purchase.
How to decide
Match each platform to your actual workflow constraints: editor preference and model access for coding tools; task-based versus credit-based versus execution-based pricing, self-hosting needs, and technical depth for automation. Run one real workflow in each finalist before paying.
Quick recommendation
Use the trial checklist on each review page and the free scorecard to record time-to-result, corrections needed, and monthly cost at your expected volume before committing to a plan.
It depends on your workflow shape. Zapier bills per task ($19.99+/mo annual for Professional), Make bills credits (~$12/mo at the 10k tier), n8n bills executions (€20/mo for 2,500 runs). Complex multi-step workflows are usually cheapest on n8n because steps inside a run are unlimited.
Can I self-host any of these?
Only n8n. It offers a free self-hosted community edition. Zapier and Make are cloud-only.
Which is best for AI-powered automations?
Check credit/task costs of AI steps specifically: Make charges more credits for AI modules, and Zapier counts AI steps as tasks. Model your actual scenario volume in each platform's calculator before choosing.
Optional Premium · $12/mo, secure checkout by Stripe
Want someone to decide with you before a renewal?
The free Stack Audit finds the waste. Premium is optional: a dated keep/cut pack, alerts, and a 48-hour written reply by email — $12/month, cheaper than one overlapping seat, not another AI subscription. The directory, Keep, Test, Cut, and the instant Stack Audit stay free.
7-day free trial · then $12/month · code LAUNCH50 for 50% off first paid month · use code LAUNCH50 at checkout · delivered by email · research and strategy only · affiliate status never changes recommendations.