Make vs n8n
AI Automation pricing comparison · 2026
Make pricing ranges from $0–$34.12/month, while n8n ranges from $0–$800/month. Make is typically 62% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.
Make and n8n are two of the most popular workflow automation platforms, each offering a visual builder and a free tier but with fundamentally different pricing philosophies. Make is a fully managed cloud platform with operation-based pricing starting at $10.59/month for 10,000 operations and access to 3,000+ integrations, while n8n is an open-source tool that offers unlimited free executions when self-hosted and cloud plans starting at $24/month for 2,500 executions -- crucially, n8n counts full workflow runs rather than per-step operations, making it more cost-effective for complex multi-step automations. This comparison breaks down their real-world costs, execution models, and trade-offs to help you choose the right automation platform in 2026.
Plan-by-Plan Pricing
| Plan | Make | n8n |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free /month | Free /month |
| Core | $10.59 /month | $24 /month |
| Pro | $18.82 /month | $60 /month |
| Teams | $34.12 /month | $800 /month |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
Cost at Scale
Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.
Make
6 scenariosn8n
7 scenariosMarket Intelligence
Make
- Median annual cost
- $500
- Based on
- 205 deals
n8n
- Median annual cost
- $700
- Based on
- 51 deals
Contract Terms
| Term | Make | n8n |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-renewal | Yes | Yes |
| Cancellation | No refunds after billing | Not specified in sources |
| Minimum commitment | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual billing options available |
| Price escalation | No published schedule | No published schedule, but enterprise pricing structure makes scaling expensive - users report dramatic price jumps from free/starter tiers to enterprise (from $20/month to $20,000/year) |
| Can downgrade | Yes | Yes |
Our Verdict
Choose Make if you want a fully managed cloud platform with no DevOps overhead, need access to 3,000+ app integrations (vs n8n's 400+), prefer a polished visual workflow builder with operation rollover, or want the lowest cloud-hosted entry price at $10.59/month for teams that run simpler automations with fewer steps per workflow.
Choose n8n if you value open-source flexibility and self-hosting for unlimited free executions, need data privacy and full infrastructure control, run complex multi-step workflows where per-execution pricing (not per-operation) saves significantly, or have the technical resources to manage self-hosted deployments and want to avoid vendor lock-in.
Frequently Asked Questions
01 How do Make operations compare to n8n executions?
Make counts each module (step) in a workflow as one operation. A 10-step scenario running 100 times uses 1,000 operations. n8n counts each complete workflow run as one execution regardless of steps. The same 10-step workflow running 100 times uses only 100 executions in n8n. For complex multi-step workflows, n8n is significantly more cost-effective. For simple 1-2 step automations, Make's operation counting is comparable.
02 Can I self-host Make or n8n for free?
n8n offers a free, open-source Community Edition that can be self-hosted with unlimited executions, workflows, and users. Make is a proprietary SaaS platform and does not offer self-hosting. If you have DevOps expertise and want unlimited free automation on your own infrastructure, n8n is the only option. Self-hosting n8n requires a server (approximately $10-50/month for a VPS) and ongoing maintenance.
03 Which platform has more integrations?
Make offers 3,000+ app integrations, significantly more than n8n's 400+. If you rely on niche or enterprise SaaS tools, Make is more likely to have a native integration. However, n8n compensates with its HTTP Request node and custom code nodes that allow you to connect to any API. For most common apps (Google, Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce), both platforms offer native integrations.