If you have already ruled out Zapier on price or power - you are now looking at two tools: Make.com and n8n. Both are significantly more capable than Zapier. Both cost less per operation. But they are not the same tool, and picking the wrong one creates problems down the road.
The short answer
Make.com for most businesses. n8n when you need self-hosting, high-volume processing with no per-operation cost, or code-level logic inside your workflows. If you are not sure, start with Make.
Pricing comparison
Make.com charges per operation - each module execution in a scenario counts as one operation. The free plan gives you 1,000 operations/month. Paid plans start at $9/month for 10,000 operations and scale from there. For most SMBs running moderate automation, you land in the $9-29/month range. n8n cloud starts at $20/month for 2,500 executions. Self-hosted n8n is free except for your server cost - typically $5-20/month on a basic VPS. At high volume, self-hosted n8n is dramatically cheaper than Make because there is no per-operation cost.
Make.com wins when:
- Your team needs to understand and maintain the automation
- You want fast setup without a developer
- Your workflows are moderate complexity with standard app connections
- You prefer a managed cloud tool with no server maintenance
- Budget is $9-50/month for automation
n8n wins when:
- You process high volumes and per-operation pricing would add up
- You need self-hosting for GDPR or data residency requirements
- Your team includes a developer who can write JavaScript or Python
- You need complex data transformation logic inside the workflow
- You want zero vendor lock-in and full infrastructure control
Complexity and learning curve
Make.com has a gentler learning curve. The visual canvas is intuitive, the module library is well-documented, and most standard integrations work without any configuration beyond authentication. A non-technical founder can learn Make in a weekend. n8n is more complex. The node structure is similar but the self-hosted setup requires server administration knowledge, and getting the most out of n8n requires comfort with code nodes and JavaScript. The payoff is significantly more power and flexibility.
What we use at 2pizza.team
We use Make.com for roughly 70% of client builds. It handles most standard automation requirements efficiently and clients can understand what we built. We use n8n for clients with compliance requirements (healthcare, finance, GDPR-sensitive operations), high-volume document processing pipelines where Make costs would scale badly, and any project needing custom code logic inside the workflow. Some projects use both - Make orchestrates the standard operations, n8n handles the heavy data processing.
Integration library comparison
Make.com has 1,000+ pre-built connectors. n8n has 400+ built-in integrations but adds custom HTTP requests for anything else. In practice, both can connect to any app with an API - the difference is how much manual configuration is needed for less common tools. For Shopify, HubSpot, Salesforce, Airtable, Notion, Slack, Google Workspace, and other major tools, both have solid native integrations.
Error handling and reliability
Make.com has solid built-in error handling with retry logic, error routes, and email alerts. n8n has comparable error handling but requires more configuration. Both are production-reliable when set up correctly. Self-hosted n8n requires you to manage uptime yourself - a managed VPS with monitoring is necessary for production workflows.
Not sure which one fits your specific workflow? Book a free 30-min scoping call. We assess your use case and recommend the right tool before building anything.
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