Alternatives
Zapier alternatives, priced on the same workloads
Cheaper or more flexible than Zapier? Make and n8n compared with Zapier on five standard workloads, using verified 2026 prices, with when to switch and when to stay.
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No commercial relationship: No affiliate or sponsored links appear on this page. If that changes, commissions will never change which tool we recommend or how the costs are computed.
Short answer
Make and n8n are the two Zapier alternatives we can price precisely. Where both prices were verifiable, Make cost less than Zapier on 4 of 4 standard workloads (up to 10.8x less); n8n suits long workflows and self-hosting, priced in euros. Based on official documentation and pricing as of October 20, 2026. No product was tested hands-on for this page.
Last updated · Last verified
Cost on five standard workloads
| Workload | Zapier (USD) | Make (USD) | n8n (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| W1 · Solo lead capture1 workflow × 100 runs × 2 steps after the trigger | $19.99/moProfessional · 200 tasks | FreeFree · 300 credits | €20/moStarter · 100 executions |
| W2 · Small-business starter stack5 workflows × 200 runs × 3 steps after the trigger | $89/moProfessional · 3,000 tasks | $12/moCore · 4,000 credits | €20/moStarter · 1,000 executions |
| W3 · Long multi-step process2 workflows × 250 runs × 12 steps after the trigger | $129/moProfessional · 6,000 tasks | $12/moCore · 6,500 credits | €20/moStarter · 500 executions |
| W4 · High-volume simple sync3 workflows × 2,000 runs × 1 step after the trigger | $129/moProfessional · 6,000 tasks | Not verifiable12,000 credits | €50/moPro · 6,000 executions |
| W5 · Multi-client operations6 workflows × 300 runs × 4 steps after the trigger | $129/moProfessional · 7,200 tasks | $12/moCore · 9,000 credits | €20/moStarter · 1,800 executions |
Per month, billed annually, in the currency each vendor publishes; never converted. “Not verifiable” means the Price Index holds no price for that volume, so we show none. Prices last verified .
Pick by your reason for switching
Your Zapier bill is too high on short workflows
Zapier charges a task per successful action and prices plans by task tier. Make's credit plans start lower at modest volume.
Make
Vetted research reviewMake has not been scored yet — insufficient evidence for a Vetted Authority score.
Best for
Cutting the bill for short-to-medium workflows on a hosted platform.
Setup difficulty
moderate
Pricing
Free (1,000 credits per month); Core $12/mo billed annually at the default 10,000-credit setting.
Why we picked it
Where both prices were verifiable, Make cost less than Zapier on 4 of 4 of our standard workloads, up to 10.8x less.
Strengths
- Free hosted plan.
- Visual canvas with routers and five error handler types.
Weaknesses
- Credits grow with modules and bundles, so long or data-heavy runs use more.
- Above the default 10,000-credit setting the price is not recorded in the Price Index (1 of our five workloads).
Who it's for
Zapier users whose bill is driven by task tiers on short workflows.
Who should skip it
Teams that need self-hosting.
Your workflows have many steps
Every action step is a Zapier task. n8n counts one execution per run, whatever the step count.
n8n Cloud
Vetted research reviewn8n Cloud has not been scored yet — insufficient evidence for a Vetted Authority score.
Best for
Long multi-step workflows, where Zapier counts a task per action.
Setup difficulty
complex
Pricing
Starter €20/mo billed annually (2,500 workflow executions with unlimited steps); Pro €50/mo billed annually. Prices in euros.
Why we picked it
Our 12-step workload used 6,000 Zapier tasks a month but only 500 n8n executions: n8n bills the run, not the step.
Strengths
- Unlimited steps per execution.
- Code node for JavaScript or Python.
Weaknesses
- No free cloud plan.
- Steeper learning curve than Zapier for non-technical builders.
Who it's for
Teams with a technical builder and long workflows.
Who should skip it
Teams where nobody is comfortable with JSON or APIs.
You need to self-host
Zapier's plans are hosted. n8n publishes a free self-hosted edition and paid self-hosted plans.
n8n Community Edition (self-hosted)
Vetted research reviewn8n Community Edition (self-hosted) has not been scored yet — insufficient evidence for a Vetted Authority score.
Best for
Keeping workflows and data on your own servers.
Setup difficulty
complex
Pricing
Free software; you pay for hosting and the time to run it. Paid self-hosted plans add governance features.
Why we picked it
The only option here that runs entirely on infrastructure you control.
Strengths
- No platform fee.
- Full control over where data is processed.
Weaknesses
- Excludes SSO, workflow sharing and Git version control.
- Updates, backups and monitoring are your job.
Who it's for
Teams with an operator who can maintain a server.
Who should skip it
Anyone without someone to own uptime and upgrades.
When to stay on Zapier
- Your workflows depend on an app or action that only Zapier connects to. Check the exact trigger and action, not just the app name.
- Your volume is tiny and each Zap has one action: Zapier Free includes 100 tasks per month with two-step Zaps (one trigger, one action).
- Nobody on the team will maintain workflows built on a canvas or with code; switching cost is real time.
- We list only alternatives whose prices are verified in the Price Index. Other tools named in our research (for example Pabbly Connect, Gumloop and Lindy) are left out until their pricing is verified, not because they were judged worse.
Verified pricing
Zapier plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Pricing unit | Key limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | Free | Per account |
|
| Professional | From $29.99/mo | From $19.99/mo | By usage tier |
|
| Team | From $103.50/mo | From $69/mo | By usage tier |
|
| EnterpriseContact sales | Contact sales | Contact sales | Custom |
|
Prices are in USD as Zapier publishes them for visitors in the United States; we never convert currencies. Taxes are not included unless the vendor says so.
- Free
Why a value is blank or missing: Free plan; there is no annual billing.
- Professional
Price rises with the task tier you choose; published tiers run from 750 to 2M tasks per month, with a custom task limit beyond that. Every tier price was read from the tier selector on the pricing page, billed monthly and billed yearly. The page labels yearly billing "Save 33%". Live chat support starts at the 2,000-task tier.
- 750 tasks per month: $29.99/mo billed monthly · $19.99/mo billed annually
- 1,500 tasks per month: $58.50/mo billed monthly · $39/mo billed annually
- 2,000 tasks per month: $73.50/mo billed monthly · $49/mo billed annually
- 5,000 tasks per month: $133.50/mo billed monthly · $89/mo billed annually
- 10,000 tasks per month: $193.50/mo billed monthly · $129/mo billed annually
- 20,000 tasks per month: $283.50/mo billed monthly · $189/mo billed annually
- 50,000 tasks per month: $433.50/mo billed monthly · $289/mo billed annually
- 100,000 tasks per month: $733.50/mo billed monthly · $489/mo billed annually
- 200,000 tasks per month: $1,149/mo billed monthly · $769/mo billed annually
- 300,000 tasks per month: $1,599/mo billed monthly · $1,069/mo billed annually
- 400,000 tasks per month: $1,899/mo billed monthly · $1,269/mo billed annually
- 500,000 tasks per month: $2,199/mo billed monthly · $1,499/mo billed annually
- 750,000 tasks per month: $2,999/mo billed monthly · $1,999/mo billed annually
- 1,000,000 tasks per month: $3,299/mo billed monthly · $2,199/mo billed annually
- 1,500,000 tasks per month: $4,499/mo billed monthly · $2,999/mo billed annually
- 1,750,000 tasks per month: $4,799/mo billed monthly · $3,199/mo billed annually
- 2,000,000 tasks per month: $5,099/mo billed monthly · $3,389/mo billed annually
- Team
Price rises with the task tier you choose; the Team plan starts at the 2,000-task tier and published tiers run to 2M tasks per month. Every tier price was read from the tier selector on the pricing page, billed monthly and billed yearly.
- 2,000 tasks per month: $103.50/mo billed monthly · $69/mo billed annually
- 5,000 tasks per month: $178.50/mo billed monthly · $119/mo billed annually
- 10,000 tasks per month: $253.50/mo billed monthly · $169/mo billed annually
- 20,000 tasks per month: $373.50/mo billed monthly · $249/mo billed annually
- 50,000 tasks per month: $598.50/mo billed monthly · $399/mo billed annually
- 100,000 tasks per month: $898.50/mo billed monthly · $599/mo billed annually
- 200,000 tasks per month: $1,499/mo billed monthly · $999/mo billed annually
- 300,000 tasks per month: $1,799/mo billed monthly · $1,199/mo billed annually
- 400,000 tasks per month: $2,099/mo billed monthly · $1,399/mo billed annually
- 500,000 tasks per month: $2,699/mo billed monthly · $1,799/mo billed annually
- 750,000 tasks per month: $3,299/mo billed monthly · $2,199/mo billed annually
- 1,000,000 tasks per month: $3,749/mo billed monthly · $2,499/mo billed annually
- 1,500,000 tasks per month: $5,099/mo billed monthly · $3,399/mo billed annually
- 1,750,000 tasks per month: $5,699/mo billed monthly · $3,799/mo billed annually
- 2,000,000 tasks per month: $5,999/mo billed monthly · $3,999/mo billed annually
- Enterprise
Why a value is blank or missing: "Contact for pricing" on the pricing page.
How Zapier counts usage
A task is used when a Zap successfully moves data or completes an action; each successful action counts as a separate task, and triggers do not count. AI steps, code, MCP and SDK usage draw on the same task allowance (one MCP tool call uses two tasks).
Last verified from the official Zapier pricing page.
Make plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Pricing unit | Key limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | Free | Per account |
|
| Core | $16/mo | $12/mo | By usage tier |
|
| Pro | $28/mo | $21/mo | By usage tier |
|
| Teams | $51/mo | $38/mo | By usage tier |
|
| EnterpriseContact sales | Contact sales | Contact sales | Custom | None published |
Prices are in USD as Make publishes them for visitors in the United States; we never convert currencies. Taxes are not included unless the vendor says so.
- Free
Why a value is blank or missing: Free plan; there is no annual billing.
- Core
At 10,000 credits per month: $16/mo billed monthly ($1.60 per 1,000 credits) or $12/mo billed annually ($1.20 per 1,000 credits). Price scales with the credits you choose.
- Pro
At 10,000 credits per month: $28/mo billed monthly ($2.80 per 1,000 credits) or $21/mo billed annually ($2.10 per 1,000 credits).
- Teams
At 10,000 credits per month: $51/mo billed monthly ($5.10 per 1,000 credits) or $38/mo billed annually ($3.80 per 1,000 credits).
- Enterprise
Why a value is blank or missing: "Custom" pricing; Make asks Enterprise buyers to talk to sales.
How Make counts usage
Each module action in a scenario (for example adding a Google Sheets row or fetching Gmail data) consumes credits; most actions use 1 credit, while some advanced features using Make's AI Provider may use more. Router and error-handler modules use none. The pricing FAQ says credits replaced the previous billing unit "as of August 27".
Last verified from the official Make pricing page.
n8n plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Pricing unit | Key limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | Not published | €20/mo | Per account |
|
| Pro | Not published | €50/mo | Per account |
|
| Business | Not published | €667/mo | Per account |
|
| EnterpriseContact sales | Contact sales | Contact sales | Custom | None published |
Prices are in EUR as n8n publishes them for visitors in Germany; we never convert currencies. Taxes are not included unless the vendor says so.
- Starter
Read from the euro-priced page n8n serves to visitors in Germany ("20€/mo, billed annually"). n8n shows US-dollar amounts to US visitors instead; at verification the US page showed $20/mo billed annually and $24/mo billed monthly. Neither figure is converted from the other.
Why a value is blank or missing: The monthly-billing euro price could not be captured at verification (the billing toggle did not respond on the EU-region fetch).
- Pro
Read from the euro-priced page n8n serves to visitors in Germany ("50€/mo, billed annually"). At verification the US page showed $50/mo billed annually and $60/mo billed monthly.
Why a value is blank or missing: The monthly-billing euro price could not be captured at verification (the billing toggle did not respond on the EU-region fetch).
- Business
Self-hosted only; n8n Cloud hosting for Business is waitlisted. Read from the euro-priced page ("667€/mo, billed annually"). At verification the US page showed $800/mo billed annually and $960/mo billed monthly. Overage is 4,000 EUR per extra bucket of 300,000 executions.
Why a value is blank or missing: The monthly-billing euro price could not be captured at verification (the billing toggle did not respond on the EU-region fetch).
- Enterprise
Why a value is blank or missing: "Contact Sales" on the pricing page.
How n8n counts usage
An execution is a single run of an entire workflow, however many steps it has or however much data it processes.
Last verified from the official n8n pricing page.
Price your own workflow
How each vendor counts this workload
Zapier tasks, Make credits and n8n executions are different units. Here is how we translate 5 workflows × 200 runs × 3 action steps into each one. It is an approximation: change any per-run figure if you know your real usage.
Zapier: tasks
Each successful action step uses 1 task. Trigger steps never use tasks, and neither do Filter or Paths steps or built-in tools such as Formatter and Delay.
Default: action steps per run (the trigger is free).
3,000 tasks a month
- AI by Zapier and Code by Zapier steps can use more than 1 task; a Zapier MCP tool call uses 2.
- Steps that error, halt or are skipped by a filter use no tasks, so real usage can be lower.
Sources, read Oct 17, 2026: Zapier: How is task usage measured; Zapier pricing
Make: credits
Each module run is one operation, and for non-AI apps 1 operation uses 1 credit. The trigger runs once per scenario run; each later module runs once per bundle it processes. Routers and error handlers use none.
Default: action modules per run + 1 for the trigger.
4,000 credits a month
- A polling trigger uses a credit on every check, even when it finds nothing new, so frequent schedules add credits.
- A module that handles several bundles in one run (rows, emails, files) uses a credit per bundle.
- Make AI features can use extra credits based on tokens.
Sources, read Oct 17, 2026: Make Help Center: Operations; Make Help Center: Credits; Make pricing
n8n: executions
One execution is one full run of a workflow, however many steps it has or however much data it processes.
Default: 1 per workflow run, whatever the step count.
1,000 executions a month
- If your workflows start other workflows, check how n8n counts those runs before relying on this figure.
Sources, read Oct 17, 2026: n8n pricing
Cost side by side (billed annually)
Zapier
MakeLowest cost
n8n
Make is cheapest among the USD-priced options, billed annually. n8n is priced in another currency and is not ranked against them; we never convert currencies.
Plain link to Make's pricing page. We have no affiliate relationship with Make.
Assumptions
- Every price and limit comes from the Vetted SaaS Price Index; each column links its source and verification date.
- Each vendor is quoted at its cheapest plan that fits the mapped usage, users, active workflows and steps.
- Amounts stay in the currency each vendor published. We only rank vendors priced in the same currency.
- “A year” figures are 12 × the monthly price. Overage and add-ons are not included.
- n8n is quoted on its Cloud plans; self-hosting costs depend on your own setup (see the n8n cost calculator).
Take the next step
Down to two platforms? The Opportunity Scorecard weighs them against your own criteria and shows why one leads, in your browser, with no account.
Score your shortlistSources
Official vendor pages, each with the date we last checked it. Prices on this page come from the Vetted SaaS Price Index; the facts on this page were last checked .
- Zapier plans and pricing
Retrieved
- Zapier: How is task usage measured
Retrieved
- Make pricing and subscription packages
Retrieved
- Make Help Center: Credits
Retrieved
- Make Help Center: Error handlers
Retrieved
- n8n plans and pricing
Retrieved
- n8n Docs: Understand executions
Retrieved
- n8n Docs: Using the Code node
Retrieved
- n8n Docs: Community Edition features
Retrieved
- n8n Docs: Host n8n
Retrieved
Update history
Published. Prices from the Price Index; product facts re-checked against official documentation.