Zapier vs Make vs n8n: which one fits your business?

Zapier, Make and n8n are workflow automation tools: when something happens in one app, they do something in another. We're a small AI automation agency in Berkshire, and we set up tools like these for SMEs like yours, always in your own accounts.

Say an enquiry form comes in. Any of the three can add the details to your customer list and message whoever handles new work. They differ in where they run, where your data ends up and how hard they are to learn. Prices change often, so we've left them out.

Zapier vs Make vs n8n at a glance

The learning-curve and best-for rows are our judgement.

Which is the best workflow automation tool?

It depends on the job. Here's how we'd choose:

• Zapier if your team will build and change simple automations themselves.
• Make if your jobs branch, say quotes one way and complaints another.
• n8n if data must stay on a server you control, and someone can run it.
• Power Automate if most of the work happens in Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and Excel.
• None of them if software you already pay for has the feature built in. Customer systems and accounts packages often do.

Zapier: the quickest start

Zapier calls each automation a Zap: a trigger, the event that starts it, then one or more actions. You build it step by step from menus, and Zapier says no coding is needed. It has the most ready-made connections of the three, more than 9,000 apps by its own count. For AI, Zapier Agents work through tasks using knowledge you give them, and Zapier Copilot helps you build them.

What Make does differently

Make calls each automation a scenario, and you build it on a canvas where you see every step and branch at once. In our view it takes longer to learn than Zapier, but jobs with lots of branches are easier to follow. Make lists more than 3,000 ready-made app connections. Its AI Agents sit on the same canvas, and Make says you can see each decision an agent makes, add manual approvals and stop it at set points.

n8n gives you the most control

n8n is the only one of the three you can run on your own server, but the upkeep is a real job. n8n's documentation says it "recommends self-hosting for expert users", and warns: "Mistakes can lead to data loss, security issues, and downtime."

It's also the hardest to learn. n8n's own line is "Code when you need it, UI when you don't", and it says its AI agents can use any model, including offline ones.

Where each one keeps your data

Once an automation handles personal data, such as customers' names and emails, where that data goes matters under UK GDPR.

• Zapier keeps data on Amazon's AWS servers in the US and doesn't offer EU-only storage. It's certified to the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, the basis of the UK-US "data bridge". The government's factsheet says to check that certification first.
• Make uses the EU or US data centre you choose when you set up. You can't change it later.
• n8n Cloud stores data in the EU, on servers in Frankfurt. Self-hosted, it's wherever you put it, which can be a UK server.
• Power Automate keeps flows in a workspace Microsoft calls an "environment". The default one sits in your Microsoft 365 home location. A new one set to "Europe and United Kingdom" may be placed elsewhere in Europe.

Data also goes to every app and AI model in the chain, so check them all. The ICO's guidance on international transfers is the place to start. This isn't legal advice.

How each one counts usage

Their cloud plans all charge by usage, but count it differently. Zapier counts a task for each action step that runs successfully. Triggers, filters and some built-in tools, such as Formatter, don't count, but Code by Zapier and AI by Zapier steps do, and AI by Zapier's count depends on the model. Make uses credits, usually one for each step that runs, and more for some AI features. n8n Cloud counts executions: one full run of a workflow is one execution, however many steps it has.

Example: a trigger plus four actions, running 200 times a month, is 200 executions on n8n Cloud, up to 800 tasks on Zapier, and around 1,000 credits on Make if each step uses one. That doesn't make n8n the cheapest. Plans include different amounts, and self-hosting has its own costs.

When we build for you, you pay these subscriptions and any AI usage fees in your own accounts, and they're listed in the quote. How we price covers the rest.

Power Automate vs Zapier

If your business runs on Microsoft 365, look at Power Automate before you pay for anything else. Microsoft 365 licences include a limited set of its features, though apps Microsoft classes as premium need a premium licence.

It can also work older Windows software. Its desktop flows copy a person's clicks and typing, which is called robotic process automation (RPA). Zapier, Make and n8n mostly work through each app's online connections.

Like Zapier, it has an AI assistant called Copilot to help you build. Zapier is the better pick if most of your apps sit outside Microsoft, or your team wants the simplest builder.

Adding AI to an automation

Each of these tools can add an AI step, such as sorting a rambling email or drafting a reply. Save AI for steps that involve reading or writing: fixed rules cost less to run and are easier to check. What is AI automation? explains the split, and AI agents for business covers keeping a person in charge.

When an AI step writes to your customers, we follow the same rules as for an AI receptionist for business. Standard messages like booking reminders go out automatically, in wording you've approved. Anything AI writes for one particular customer is checked by a person before it goes out. Live assistants, such as website chats and phone receptionists, always say they're AI, hand over to a person on request, and have their conversations reviewed afterwards. No outbound AI marketing calls.

How to choose, in four steps

1. 01

   Write the job down

   What starts it, each step, the apps involved and how often it runs.

2. 02

   Follow the data

   List every app and AI model it passes through, and where each one keeps data.

3. 03

   Decide who looks after it

   Someone has to fix it when an app changes. With self-hosted n8n, that includes the server.

4. 04

   Try one job first

   Run it for a few weeks, with a person checking the results.

Our free AI readiness assessment for business is a short set of questions that shows what to sort out first, with no email needed.