Zapier, Make, n8n or custom code: which should a small business use?
Short answer
Zapier charges per action step, Make per module and n8n per whole run, so one workflow can cost more than 4 times as much on one platform as another. As of November 2026, a workflow with one trigger and two actions run 50,000 times a month costs $489 a month on Zapier Pro, $107 on Make Core and $5 as custom code on Cloudflare Workers, billed annually. n8n Cloud stops at 10,000 runs on Pro. Custom code wins at volume if someone maintains it.
Deniz SancarFounder of Yarigai, London. Updated .
Yarigai is a done-for-you AI agency that builds these systems, so read this with that in mind. Every price and figure links to its source below. Read this page as Markdown.
At a glance
| Platform | Entry paid plan, billed annually | What one unit of usage means | Cost at 50,000 runs of a two-action workflow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zapier Pro | $19.99 a month for 750 tasks | Each successful action step is 1 task; triggers are free | $489 a month (100,000 tasks) |
| Make Core | $11 a month for 10,000 credits | Most module actions, including the trigger, use 1 credit | $107 a month (150,000 credits) |
| n8n Cloud Pro | €50 a month for 10,000 executions | One execution is one full run of a workflow, any number of steps | Over the Pro limit; Enterprise is quoted |
| n8n self-hosted | Community Edition, no licence fee listed | No execution limit listed | Server from €6.49 a month plus upkeep |
| Custom code on Cloudflare Workers | $5 a month, 10 million requests included | One request per run | $5 a month |
Zapier, Make, n8n and Cloudflare prices checked on their own pages on 7 November 2026.
What a task, a credit and an execution mean
The three platforms count usage in different units, and that drives most of the price gap. Zapier counts steps, Make counts module operations, and n8n counts whole runs.
Zapier tasks
Zapier counts a task each time an action step "successfully completes a unit of work". Triggers do not count, and neither do its built-in tools such as Filter, Formatter, Paths and Delay. A Zap with one trigger and four actions uses 4 tasks per run. Code by Zapier, AI by Zapier and MCP calls can cost more than 1 task each.
If you go over your plan, Zapier's pay-per-task setting bills extra tasks at 1.25 times your base task rate on annual plans and 2.5 times on monthly plans. Usage stops at 3 times your subscription until the next cycle. With pay-per-task off, workflows stop at the limit.
Make credits
Make says "most actions consume 1 credit", and reading data from an app or webhook counts, so the trigger uses a credit. Routers and error handlers are free. A polling trigger uses a credit on every check, even when it finds nothing new. When a trigger returns several items, each item runs through the later modules, so 10 items into a 3-module scenario uses 31 operations. The Code app costs 2 credits per second of run time.
n8n executions
n8n says "an execution is a single run of your entire workflow", whatever the number of steps or the amount of data. A 20-step workflow costs the same as a 2-step one. That makes n8n cheaper than Zapier or Make for long workflows.
Custom code
Custom code has no per-step charge. On Cloudflare Workers, the paid plan costs $5 a month and includes 10 million requests and 30 million CPU milliseconds. Extra requests cost $0.30 per million. You pay the hosting bill plus whoever writes and maintains the code.
Plan prices as of November 2026
All three no-code platforms charge more for monthly billing than annual. Zapier's monthly prices are 1.5 times its annual ones, and Make's are 25% to 45% higher.
| Volume | Zapier Pro (annual / monthly) | Zapier Team (annual) | Make Core (annual / monthly) | n8n Cloud (annual) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 100 tasks | n/a | 1,000 credits | None listed |
| About 2,000 to 2,500 units | $49 / $73.50 (2,000 tasks) | $69 | $11 / $16 (10,000 credits) | Starter €20 (2,500 executions) |
| 10,000 units | $129 / $193.50 | $169 | $11 / $16 | Pro €50 |
| 20,000 units | $189 / $283.50 | $249 | $20 / $28 | Over cloud limits |
| 50,000 units | $289 / $433.50 | $399 | $65 / $81 at 80,000 | Over cloud limits |
| 100,000 units | $489 / $733.50 | $599 | $107 / $134 at 150,000 | Over cloud limits |
n8n's Business plan costs €667 a month billed annually for 40,000 executions and is self-hosted only. Make's Pro plan costs more than Core, at $20 a month billed annually for 10,000 credits and $166 for 150,000. One earlier reading of Make's page, by Jetadmin on 26 September 2026, gave Core at $9 a month billed annually, so check Make's page before you budget.
A worked cost example at 5,000 and 50,000 runs
Take one common workflow. When a customer pays in Stripe, create the invoice in Xero and post a message in Slack. That is one trigger and two actions.
- Zapier uses 2 tasks a run, because the trigger is free.
- Make uses 3 credits a run, one for the trigger and one for each action.
- n8n uses 1 execution a run.
- Custom code uses 1 Worker request a run.
At 5,000 runs a month
| Platform | Usage | Plan needed | Monthly cost (annual billing) | Yearly cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zapier Pro | 5,000 × 2 = 10,000 tasks | 10,000-task tier | $129 | $1,548 |
| Make Core | 5,000 × 3 = 15,000 credits | 20,000-credit tier | $20 | $240 |
| n8n Cloud | 5,000 executions | Pro (10,000) | €50 | €600 |
| n8n self-hosted | 5,000 executions | Community Edition | from €6.49 server | from €77.88 |
| Custom code | 5,000 requests | Workers Paid | $5 | $60 |
At 50,000 runs a month
| Platform | Usage | Plan needed | Monthly cost (annual billing) | Yearly cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zapier Pro | 50,000 × 2 = 100,000 tasks | 100,000-task tier | $489 | $5,868 |
| Make Core | 50,000 × 3 = 150,000 credits | 150,000-credit tier | $107 | $1,284 |
| n8n Cloud | 50,000 executions | Above Pro; Business (40,000, self-hosted) is also short | Enterprise quote | Quoted |
| n8n self-hosted | 50,000 executions | Community Edition | from €6.49 server | from €77.88 |
| Custom code | 50,000 requests | Workers Paid | $5 | $60 |
Per run at 50,000 a month, Zapier costs $489 ÷ 50,000 = about $0.0098, Make $107 ÷ 50,000 = about $0.0021 and Workers $5 ÷ 50,000 = $0.0001. Add an AI step and a CRM lookup, and Zapier rises to 4 tasks a run while n8n stays at 1 execution.
The platform bill is only part of the cost. Softomate, a London agency, lists a simple n8n or Make automation from £1,500 setup plus £99 a month, and an API integration starter from £3,000 plus £199 a month, excluding VAT and usage. At 5,000 runs, Make's $240 a year is less than any build fee on that list. At 50,000 runs, Zapier's $5,868 repeats every year, while a custom build costs its setup fee once and then its monthly support.
When custom code wins
Custom code wins when volume makes per-task pricing expensive, when a failure costs real money, or when the logic outgrows a visual builder. It loses when nobody will maintain it.
- Volume. At 100,000 Zapier tasks a month the annual bill is $5,868 on Pro. The same runs on Workers cost $60 a year in hosting.
- Testing. Code can carry automated tests that run before every change, so a broken field mapping fails the test before it reaches the ledger. On n8n, Git version control comes with the €667 Business plan.
- Complex logic. Loops, retries, branching and calls to several AI models are easier to write and read in code. In Make, each looped item multiplies the operations that follow it.
- Ownership. Code in your own repository and cloud account keeps working when a vendor changes its rules. In November 2025 Make started charging 25% over plan rate for manually bought extra credits, which had cost the plan rate, and capped Core at 300,000 credits a month.
One question from a Reddit thread on this exact choice settles most cases. "Who fixes this at 9am Monday when it breaks?" If the answer is nobody, stay on a hosted platform such as Zapier, Make or n8n Cloud, where the vendor runs the servers.
Self-hosting n8n
n8n's Community Edition is free to download from GitHub, and its pricing page lists no price or execution limit for it. n8n's hosting docs recommend Docker Compose for production and say npm installation is deprecated from n8n 3.0. A small Hetzner cloud server starts at €6.49 a month excluding VAT.
The server is the cheap part. Someone has to install updates, back up the database, watch for failed runs and keep credentials safe. If your team has no one who does that already, n8n Cloud or Zapier costs less than the hours.
How to move from no-code to code
Move one workflow at a time, starting with the one that costs most or breaks most. Keep the rest where they are.
- List every workflow with its monthly runs and units used. Zapier's task history and Make's usage screen show both.
- Pick the workflow with the biggest bill or the most failures.
- Write down its trigger, every step, every field mapping and every error case.
- Rebuild it as code with tests for each mapping and error case.
- Run the old and new versions side by side and compare outputs on real records.
- Point the trigger, such as a Stripe webhook, at the new code and switch the old workflow off.
- Keep low-volume workflows on the no-code tool. A Zapier Zap that runs 50 times a month costs less there than anywhere else.
How Yarigai builds automations
Yarigai builds automations, AI agents and internal tools inside the client's own accounts, so the code, the data and the accounts belong to the client from day one. Nothing runs on a Yarigai platform and there is nothing to sign up for. The client pays AI and hosting bills at cost, and the monthly running cost is on the quote. A single workflow can go live in about two weeks.
Every project starts with a free 30-minute scope call. A blueprint of about a week, credited to the build, sets out the plan, a clickable prototype, the monthly running cost, a fixed price and the payback maths. Yarigai quotes a fixed price after the blueprint and does not publish prices.
The guarantee reads "If the build isn't profitable for you, we won't build it." The site's worked example is a $500 a month tool, which is $6,000 a year. Zapier's 100,000-task Pro tier is close to that, at $5,868 a year. A person approves anything that sends money, emails a customer or deletes data. See AI operations and AI agent or automation for what to automate first.
Common questions
Is n8n cheaper than Zapier?
For long workflows, yes. n8n counts one execution per full run, and Zapier counts one task per action step. A workflow with a trigger and nine actions run 1,000 times uses 1,000 n8n executions and 9,000 Zapier tasks. n8n Pro costs €50 a month for 10,000 executions, and Zapier Pro costs $129 a month for 10,000 tasks, both billed annually.
What counts as a task in Zapier?
Each action step that completes successfully counts as 1 task. Triggers, failed steps and built-in tools such as Filter, Formatter, Paths and Delay do not count. Code by Zapier, AI by Zapier and MCP calls can use more than 1 task.
Does Make charge for the trigger?
Yes. Make counts reading data from an app or webhook as an action, so the trigger uses a credit. A polling trigger uses a credit on every check, even when no new data arrives, so instant webhook triggers cost less.
Is n8n free to self-host?
The Community Edition has no licence fee on n8n's pricing page, and the page lists no execution limit for it. You pay for the server, which starts at €6.49 a month on Hetzner, and for the time to update, back up and monitor it. Paid self-hosted features such as SSO and Git version control come with the Business plan at €667 a month.
What happens when I hit my Zapier task limit?
With pay-per-task on, Zapier keeps running and bills extra tasks at 1.25 times your base rate on annual plans or 2.5 times on monthly plans. It stops at 3 times your subscription. With pay-per-task off, your Zaps stop until the next billing cycle.
How much does an agency charge to build an n8n or Make workflow?
Softomate, a London agency, lists a simple n8n or Make automation from £1,500 setup plus £99 a month, excluding VAT, platform fees and usage. An API integration starter costs from £3,000 plus £199 a month. No independent survey covers automation build prices, so these figures come from a firm that sells the work.
Should a small business start with custom code?
Usually not. At 5,000 runs a month the example workflow costs $240 a year on Make, less than any build fee on Softomate's UK price list. Move to code when the platform bill, the failure rate or the logic outgrows the tool.
Sources
Checked on or before 7 November 2026. Prices change, so check the live page before you decide.
- Zapier pricing, Zapier, checked 7 November 2026.
- Make pricing, Make, checked 7 November 2026.
- Make.com Pricing in 2026: The Credit Ladder, AI Model Costs, and the Polling Checks You Pay For, Superdupr, updated 12 October 2026.
- Make.com Pricing in 2026: Plans, Costs, and Limits Explained, Jetadmin, published 26 September 2026.
- Important update: upcoming adjustment to plans and pricing, Make Community, posted 23 October 2025.
- n8n pricing, n8n, checked 7 November 2026.
- Host n8n, n8n docs, checked 7 November 2026.
- Workers pricing, Cloudflare, checked 7 November 2026.
- Cloud servers, Hetzner, checked 7 November 2026.
- AI Automation Pricing for UK Businesses: What Every Service Costs and What ROI to Expect in 2026, Softomate Solutions, updated 1 October 2026.
- n8n vs Zapier vs custom build, the decision matrix I actually use, r/automation via a Reddit mirror snapshot, captured 8 May 2026.
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Book a free scope call. If the build isn't profitable for you, we won't build it.