Guide · updated
n8n vs Make: pricing and which automation tool costs less
n8n vs Make compared on verified US prices: per-execution vs per-credit billing, the free self-hosted option, and when each is cheaper.
Typical savings: at the entry tier, Make Core is $12/month billed annually for 10,000 credits, and n8n Starter (Cloud) is $20/month billed annually for 2,500 workflow executions. If you pay for both and one can run all your automations, dropping n8n Starter saves $20/month and dropping Make Core saves $12/month. Self-hosting n8n's Community Edition has no software fee. You pay for your own server and maintenance.
How they charge
Make bills in credits, and most module actions use one credit. n8n Cloud bills per workflow execution, however many steps the workflow has. For short, simple scenarios Make's credits go further. For long workflows that loop over many records, n8n's per-execution count usually costs less.
How the plans line up (US, billed annually)
| Make (10,000-credit tier) | n8n | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Community Edition, self-hosted |
| Entry | Core, $12/month ($16 monthly) | Starter (Cloud), $20/month ($24 monthly), 2.5k executions |
| Mid | Pro, $21/month ($28 monthly) | Pro (Cloud), $50/month ($60 monthly), 10k executions |
| Team | Teams, $38/month ($51 monthly) | Business, $800/month ($960 monthly), 40k executions, self-hosted only |
Make's prices rise with the credit tier. See the n8n vs Make comparison, and the n8n and Make pages for sources and dates.
When to pick which
Pick Make if your team wants a hosted visual builder and your scenarios are short. Pick n8n if you can self-host, want to write code in workflows, or run long multi-step workflows. Moving from Zapier? The Zapier to n8n workflow covers the migration.
Check your own numbers
The audit is a free stack and savings calculator, and you don't need to sign up. List what you pay for and it shows keep, downgrade or drop line by line, with the arithmetic. OneLessTool has no affiliate links, so no recommendation earns us anything. If you want ongoing checks, the site has a waitlist for an upcoming Verified Savings Plan: "We'll watch your stack's prices and tell you what to drop. Joining the waitlist is free."