Free tool · no signup · all prices read 6 September 2026
Automation cost calculator
Price lists for n8n, Zapier and Make cannot be compared directly, because the three platforms do not count the same thing. n8n charges per execution — one run of a whole workflow, however many steps it has. Zapier charges per task — one successfully completed action step, with triggers and polling excluded by its own definition. Make charges per credit — one module action. Describe your workload once below and this page converts it into all three units, then prices each against the vendor’s published tiers.
Every price is hard-coded from the vendor’s own page on 6 September 2026 and nothing is interpolated: where your volume goes past a tier we read, the tool says “price not read” instead of inventing one. n8n publishes in euros and the other two in dollars; no exchange rate is applied.
Your workload
| Platform | Billing unit | Units / month | Cheapest tier that fits | Price |
|---|
Computed in your browser by /tools/cost.js; the price table is at the top of that file with its read date. n8n prices are the annual-billing rate in EUR; Zapier’s are the annual rate in USD; Make’s Core figure is the monthly price in USD shown on its page, which also advertises “Save 15%+” for annual billing. No request leaves this page.
The three billing units, in each vendor’s own words
| Platform | Unit | Definition, quoted | How this page counts it |
|---|---|---|---|
| n8n | Execution | n8n’s pricing page: “An execution is a single run of your entire workflow. It doesn’t matter how many steps are in the workflow or how much data it processes.” | runs × workflows |
| Zapier | Task | Zapier’s pricing page: “A task is counted whenever Zapier successfully completes a unit of work for you.” The page adds that failed actions don’t count, and that triggers, polling and built-in data tools don’t consume tasks. | (steps − 1) × runs × workflows |
| Make | Credit | Make’s pricing page: “Each module action in your scenario, like adding a Google Sheet row or fetching Gmail account data, counts as one credit.” Error handlers and routers consume none. | steps × runs × workflows |
Two assumptions are worth naming. For Zapier we subtract the trigger, because its page states triggers and polling do not consume tasks. For Make we count every step as a module action, which is the worst case — Make says routers and error handlers consume nothing, so a scenario with routing will come in under this figure.
How to read the result
- The step count is the whole storyRaise “steps” and watch only the Zapier and Make rows move. n8n’s figure does not change, because n8n meters the trigger firing and not the work that follows. This is the single structural difference behind most of the price gap people notice.
- Cadence beats everything on n8nThe preset “4 steps · 2,880 runs” is one workflow polled every 15 minutes for 30 days. It is a small workflow, and it exceeds the 2,500 executions a Starter plan includes on its own. Our cron expression builder converts any schedule into that monthly number.
- Free tiers are structural, not just numericZapier’s free plan does not merely cap tasks at 100 — it allows two-step Zaps only, one trigger and one action. The calculator skips it entirely once you set more than two steps, because no task budget makes a longer Zap fit.
- Self-hosting is not the €0 row it looks likeThe Community Edition carries no licence fee, but n8n itself lists what you take on instead: servers and containers, resources and scaling, security, and configuring n8n. Our self-hosted guide has the commands and the honest cost comparison.
If the answer is n8n
The full plan-by-plan arithmetic, including what a single run costs on each tier, is on n8n pricing explained; the platform comparison beyond price is on n8n vs Zapier vs Make. To try one before committing, several workflows in our template library need no credentials at all and import in about a minute.
Sources and last verified
All three price lists were read directly from the vendors on 6 September 2026. Prices change; the vendors’ pages are the source of truth, and the conversions on this page are our arithmetic from their published numbers.
- n8n Plans and Pricing — n8n.io/pricing — checked 2026-09-06
- Zapier Pricing — zapier.com/pricing — checked 2026-09-06
- Make Pricing — make.com/en/pricing — checked 2026-09-06
Frequently asked questions
Why do the three platforms give such different numbers for the same workflow?
Because they meter different things. n8n counts one execution per run of the whole workflow whatever its size. Zapier counts one task per successfully completed action step, and its page says triggers and polling do not consume tasks. Make counts one credit per module action. A ten-step workflow run once therefore costs one unit on n8n, nine on Zapier and about ten on Make — before any price is compared.
Where do the prices in this calculator come from?
All of them were read on 6 September 2026 from the vendors’ own pricing pages: n8n Cloud Starter at €20/month for 2,500 executions and Pro at €50 for 10,000 (annual billing); Zapier Free at 100 tasks and Professional at $19.99, $39, $49 and $89 a month at the annual rate for 750, 1,500, 2,000 and 5,000 tasks; Make Free at 1,000 credits and Core at $9 a month for 10,000. Nothing is interpolated.
What happens above the tiers you list?
The calculator says “higher tier — price not read” rather than guessing. Zapier’s page shows tiers up to 2,000,000 tasks and Make’s selector goes above 10,000 credits, but we only read the tiers shown above, so those are the only ones we will quote. For n8n, above 40,000 executions the answer is Enterprise, which n8n prices on request.
Does the calculator convert currencies?
No. n8n publishes in euros and Zapier and Make in US dollars, and we have no exchange rate we could cite with a date, so the two currencies are shown side by side. Apply your own rate for the day you would actually be billed — and remember all three are foreign-currency charges if you are outside the eurozone and the United States.
What is not included in the self-hosted n8n line?
Everything that is not a licence fee. Self-hosting the Community Edition costs nothing to n8n, but you pay for a server and for the work n8n itself lists: setting up and configuring servers and containers, managing resources and scaling, securing servers and applications, and configuring n8n. For a small team that time is usually the larger number, which is why the calculator shows it as “€0 licence + your server” rather than as zero.
Does the number of steps really not affect the n8n bill?
It does not. Adding a Code node, three Set nodes and five more app nodes changes nothing on an n8n invoice, because the meter is the trigger firing, not the work done afterwards. What does change the bill is cadence: a schedule that runs every 15 minutes is 2,880 executions in a 30-day month, more than the Starter plan’s 2,500 on its own.