Are you looking for the best platform to automate your business processes? Choosing between Make vs Zapier or n8n can be tricky if you don’t know the fundamental differences between each of these solutions. In this article, you’ll learn which of these tools best suits your specific needs.

Zapier stands out for offering over 6000 pre-built integrations, making it a perfect choice if you need to quickly connect popular apps. Make, on the other hand, provides greater flexibility for complex workflows, while n8n, with approximately 1000 connectors, is presented as an open source alternative ideal for teams with advanced technical knowledge.

The pricing model of these platforms varies considerably. Zapier charges for each individual task completed, make invoice per operation, and n8n only for full workflow execution. Remember that this difference can lead to significant savings if you need to implement complex automations with multiple steps.

For small businesses looking to automate simple processes without technical complications, Zapier is the most accessible option. If your business handles large volumes of data with specific transformation needs, Make could deliver better results. On the other hand, n8n offers unique advantages such as the possibility of self-hosting, a fundamental feature for sectors such as finance and health where data privacy is a priority.

Below, we’ll take a closer look at each platform, comparing their pricing models, integration capabilities, ease of use, and advanced features. By the end of this article, you’ll be clear about which one best suits your business needs in 2025, whether you’re looking for simplicity or need technical power to develop sophisticated workflows.

Pricing Model: Tasks vs Executions

Do you know how each platform’s pricing model affects the final cost of your automations? Understanding the differences between Make, Zapier, and n8n is critical to choosing the option that best suits your budget and needs. Each platform uses a different approach that directly impacts the profitability of your automated processes.

Zapier: Costs per task and limited scalability

Zapier bases its pricing model on individual tasks. This means that each action completed by a Zap consumes one task from your monthly quota. For example, if you create a Zap that adds Google contacts to a spreadsheet, each new contact created uses a task. It’s an easy system to understand, but it can be costly when you’re working with complex streams or large volumes of data.

Zapier’s free plan gives you just 100 tasks per month, while the Professional plan starts at €19.07 per month for 750 tasks. If you need more capacity, the Team plan costs €65.84 per month and includes only 2,000 tasks.

Remember that Zapier uses an overbilling system: when you reach your plan limit, it automatically switches to a model that charges 1.25 times the base cost for each additional task. There is also a maximum limit of 3 times your contracted quota, after which your Zaps are paused until the next billing cycle.

Make: Cheaper operations for complex flows

Make counts each action as an operation within your scenarios. Unlike Zapier, it offers higher trading volume for a lower price, making it ideal for more elaborate automations.

Step 1: Examine the basic plans. Make’s Core plan starts at €8.59 per month and includes 10,000 trades, a significantly higher volume than Zapier’s equivalent plan.

Step 2: Consider flexibility. The Pro plan costs €15.27 per month while maintaining 10,000 trades but adding flexibility of annual use, allowing you to spread out trades according to your seasonal needs.

To better understand the difference, imagine a scenario where you download images from Instagram, resize them, and upload them to Dropbox. With Make, this would count as 7 operations in total: 1 for Instagram + 3 for resizing + 3 for uploading to Dropbox. The same flow in Zapier would consume a much higher percentage of your monthly fee.

If you want to try before you commit, Make offers a free plan with 1,000 monthly trades, allowing you to experiment with complex flows with no upfront investment.

n8n: Unlimited runs with free self-hosting

Looking for the most cost-effective option for complex automations? N8N revolutionizes the pricing model by charging for full flow executions instead of individual steps. An execution corresponds to a single run of the flow, no matter how many steps it contains or how much data it processes.

This structure is extremely advantageous for complex flows. For example, a flow that on other platforms would require 10,000 trades could be executed as a single execution on n8n.

n8n’s Starter plan costs €22.90 per month and includes 2,500 runs with unlimited steps, while the Pro plan offers 10,000 runs for €57.25 per month. But n8n’s real competitive advantage is its Community version—completely free and open-source—which allows for self-hosting with no execution limits.

For organizations with specific data security requirements, n8n’s self-hosting option allows complex automations to be implemented without recurring licensing costs. The Enterprise version also offers deployment on the customer’s own infrastructure.

For simple flows with few steps, Zapier can be economical initially. However, for complex automations or large volumes of data, Make offers better value for money with its operations model. N8N stands out as the most cost-effective option in the long run thanks to its unlimited run model in the self-hosted version.

When implementing any automation, it is critical to ensure the quality of the processed data. Services like EmailVerify allow you to validate critical information such as emails or phone numbers before entering them into your workflows, avoiding costly mistakes and improving the efficiency of your automations.

Cross-platform integrations and connectivity

The ability to connect applications and services largely determines the potential of any automation platform. In this section, you’ll learn how Make, Zapier, and n8n differ when it comes to integrating your favorite tools and creating complex workflows.

Zapier: Over 6,000 pre-connected apps

Zapier stands out for its extensive catalog of predefined integrations, offering direct connection to more than 6,000 applications. This near-universal coverage makes it the ideal solution for businesses using niche tools or lesser-known applications.

Zapier’s philosophy focuses on accessibility and simplicity. Its linear approach allows you to create functional integrations in a few minutes, without the need for advanced technical knowledge. Each connected application (called an “app” in your ecosystem) includes pre-configured triggers and actions that facilitate the exchange of data between platforms.

Among Zapier’s most popular integrations we find:

• Productivity tools: Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Asana
• CRM Platforms: Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive
• Marketing Solutions: Mailchimp, Facebook Lead Ads, Instagram
• Ecommerce apps: Shopify, WooCommerce, PayPal

However, you should keep in mind that Zapier has some important limitations. Webhooks, essential for connecting with custom APIs, are only available on Premium plans. In addition, standard integrations sometimes offer limited functionality compared to the full capabilities of the native app.

Make: HTTP modules and custom connectors

Make takes a more technical approach to integrations, combining more than 1,500 predefined connectors with powerful customization capabilities. Unlike Zapier, Make offers greater depth in its integrations, allowing you to perform more precise and complex manipulations of data.

Make’s HTTP module is its main competitive advantage. This module allows you to connect to virtually any API using custom requests, without relying exclusively on predefined connectors. Therefore, although its catalog is numerically inferior to Zapier’s, its technical flexibility compensates for this difference.

Make particularly excels at transforming data between applications. Its advanced mapping capabilities allow complex information to be manipulated during transfer, which is crucial to maintaining data integrity in enterprise systems.

For enterprise deployments, Make offers integrations with GDPR and SOC2 Type 1 compliance, providing a level of security suitable for organizations with strict regulatory requirements.

n8n: Community Connectors and HTTP Node

N8N represents the most technical and flexible approach to integrations between the three platforms. Although it has approximately 300 native connectors, significantly fewer than its competitors, its open and extensible architecture allows for unprecedented customization.

The centerpiece of n8n’s integration system is its HTTP Request node, an exceptionally versatile tool that allows you to connect to virtually any external API. This node supports all HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.) and offers advanced options such as:

• Multi-Method Authentication (OAuth2, API Key, Basic Auth)
• Full customization of headers and query parameters
• Sophisticated error and retry handling
• Processing of responses in various formats (JSON, text, file)

In addition, n8n stands out for its free self-hosting capability, allowing you to install community connectors directly on your server. This is particularly valuable for organizations with strict data privacy requirements or specific integration needs.

A differentiating aspect of n8n is its support for integrations with artificial intelligence through its LangChain nodes, which allow you to incorporate LLM capabilities and other AI services directly into workflows.

Remember that when implementing any automation solution, it is essential to ensure the quality of the data processed. Services like Verify Emails – to verify emails can integrate with these platforms to validate critical information such as emails or phones. This validation can be implemented using their API, ensuring that only verified data enters your automated workflows.

Ease of use vs technical customization

What is the easiest platform to use? Which one offers greater customization capacity? These questions are critical when choosing an automation tool. Let’s discuss how each one performs based on your level of technical expertise.

Zapier: Perfect for non-technical users

Zapier is positioned as the most accessible option for those who do not have programming experience. Its intuitive interface allows you to create automations following a simple structure: “When this happens, do that”, without the need to write code.

Zaps are built through a visual interface that guides you step-by-step, allowing you to create functional automations in minutes. In addition, Zapier offers numerous predefined templates that greatly facilitate the initial learning process.

Remember that while Zapier is extremely accessible, this simplicity comes at a price: advanced customization options and handling complex logic are more limited than on other platforms.

Make: Balancing simplicity and power

Make occupies a middle position, offering a balance between ease of use and technical capabilities. Its visual interface is more sophisticated and has a moderate learning curve, but the effort is rewarded with greater flexibility to customize your workflows.

Unlike Zapier, Make allows you to visualize the entire flow of data between applications using a scenario builder that clearly shows how information is transferred. This transparency makes it easy to debug and optimize complex automations.

We recommend Make if you have technical ambitions and want to gradually delve into the world of automation without immediately facing pure programming. Its data transformation and conditional operator capabilities provide precise control over workflows without the need for extensive code.

n8n: Maximum power with greater complexity

N8N represents the most technical option of the three, offering unprecedented flexibility and customization, but with a steeper learning curve. This platform is designed for developers and technical teams who need complete control over their automations.

Although n8n includes a visual interface, to take advantage of its full potential you will need to understand programming concepts such as JavaScript functions, advanced data manipulation, and JSON structures. This initial complexity translates into superior capabilities for managing sophisticated business logic.

The open-source nature of n8n also allows for custom extensions and flexible deployment options, including self-hosting. This feature is especially valuable for organizations with specific security requirements or that need highly customized integrations.

If you’re unsure which platform best suits your technical knowledge, consider that you can start with Zapier and work your way up to Make or n8n as you become more comfortable with automation concepts.

To maximize the performance of any automation platform, it is critical to ensure the quality of the processed data. Services like EmailVerify [link_10] allow you to validate critical information like emails or phone numbers before integrating them into your workflows. Using its validation [link_11]API, you can automatically verify contact details, reducing errors and improving the effectiveness of your automations.

Advanced capabilities: code, AI, and error handling

When you’re looking for a powerful automation platform, you should pay special attention to the advanced features it offers. Support for custom code, AI integrations, and error handling are crucial features that make big differences between Make, Zapier, and n8n. Let’s see how they compare in these aspects.

AI Automation: How Do They Integrate with Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is completely transforming automation platforms by 2025. n8n excels with its native implementation of LangChain, providing approximately 70 nodes dedicated to AI functionalities. This feature allows you to create truly intelligent workflows, from advanced chatbots to RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) systems and autonomous agents that can interact with multiple services simultaneously.

For its part, Zapier has developed Copilot, an AI-powered assistant that understands instructions in natural language to help you build automations faster. It also gives you features like Zap Guesser, which suggests automations based on the needs you express, and AI fields in Zapier Tables for sentiment analysis and content briefs.

Make, while less sophisticated in this regard, takes a more pragmatic approach by offering integrations with popular services such as OpenAI (ChatGPT, DALL-E), Google Cloud Vision, and Eleven Labs. If you’re looking for simpler, more straightforward AI solutions, this might be a suitable option for you.

Error Handling: What Happens When Something Goes Wrong?

To maintain reliable business processes, effective error management is critical. Make excels in this aspect with five different error handlers: Ignore, Resume, Commit, Rollback, and Break. This flexibility allows you to define precise responses to failures based on the specific context of your automation.

N8N offers customizable error handling flows that are triggered when a failure occurs. With this platform, you can implement complex logic for recovery and notifications. Its advanced capabilities include configurable retries and the ability to save incomplete executions to investigate issues later.

Zapier, although more limited in this aspect, includes basic error handling steps that you can add to each stage of a Zap (except for Triggers and Paths). However, it doesn’t have the sophisticated recovery capabilities you’ll find on the other platforms.

Code Support: Advanced customization for your needs

Need to implement custom logic in your automations? Code support can be decisive. n8n excels by offering full support for JavaScript and Python, even allowing you to install external npm packages when running in self-hosted mode. This feature makes it much easier to develop highly customized solutions.

Zapier offers its “Code by Zapier” module that supports both JavaScript and Python, albeit with some important limitations: a maximum of 250 elements in the output object and restrictions on runtime (maximum 30 seconds) and memory (256 MB limit).

Make, surprisingly, only includes custom JavaScript functions in its Enterprise plan. If you don’t have this plan, you’ll have to settle for using predefined functions for basic manipulations.

Remember that to maximize the effectiveness of any of these automations, data validation is essential. Services such as VerifyEmails allow you to integrate email validation directly into your flows through its API, perfectly complementing the phone number validation capabilities to ensure the quality of the data processed in your automations.

Scalability, collaboration, and business options

If you have a growing business, the ability to scale your automation platform and manage work teams becomes a deciding factor. In this section, you’ll learn how each tool addresses these critical business aspects.

n8n: Self-Hosting, Full Control & RBAC

n8n stands out in its Enterprise edition for offering exceptional deployment flexibility, allowing you to install the platform directly on your own infrastructure. This feature is essential if you work in industries where data privacy is a top priority.

Role-based access control (RBAC) in n8n gives you three levels of permissions within projects: Admin, Editor, and Viewer. Note that the Project Editor role is available on Pro Cloud and Self-hosted Enterprise plans, while the Project Viewer role is only included on Enterprise plans. This structure allows you to manage teams with different needs:

• Project Admin: Grants the highest level of permissions to manage settings, members, and all project items
• Project Editor: Create, update, and delete workflows within the project
• Project Viewer: Provides read-only access, with no ability to run flows

Note that the open-source Community version, while free, doesn’t include enterprise features such as projects, SSO, custom variables, and version control.

Make: Advanced roles and APIs for user management

Make gives you sophisticated capabilities to manage teams through an advanced role system and a dedicated API for user management. If your organization has multiple departments, you’ll appreciate the ease of establishing collaborations with granular permissions.

Make’s role system allows you to assign specific permissions to each member of your team, controlling who can create, edit, or simply visualize certain scenarios. In addition, through its API for user management, you can automate the onboarding and configuration of new members.

Zapier: Enterprise plans with task limits

Zapier has Enterprise plans with advanced functionalities for companies, although maintaining its task-based billing model. For large-scale deployments, it provides you with priority support, access to a Technical Account Manager and a Customer Success Manager.

However, you should keep in mind that even business plans maintain task limits, with an additional payment system when you exceed the contracted limit. Upon reaching this limit, Zapier automatically switches to additional task billing charging 1.25 times the base cost of each task.

For any business automation solution, data validation is essential. VerifyEmails allows you to integrate email validation and phone number validation into your flows using its API to verify phone numbers, ensuring the quality of the information before processing it in your automations.

Data validation in automated flows

Did you know that implementing validation processes in your automations can prevent costly mistakes? Data validation is critical when creating workflows in Make, Zapier, or n8n. Even if your automations are perfectly designed, they will lose effectiveness if they process incorrect or poorly formatted information.

Benefits of validating emails, phone numbers and addresses

Validating your data before processing it offers multiple advantages for your business. First, it significantly reduces costly errors that arise from incorrect information. According to recent studies, data validation failures can cost companies between €2.39 and €2.96 trillion annually.

When you verify emails, for example, you get:

1. Avoid delivery issues in your campaigns
2. Improve response rates
3. Protect your domain’s reputation

The same goes for validating phone numbers, where you reduce the costs of failed communications. For postal addresses, validation prevents shipments to non-existent destinations, ensuring that your products reach your customers correctly.

Remember that proactive validation significantly improves the user experience by catching errors immediately, not after the incorrect data has contaminated your system.

Integration with Verify Emails

VerifyEmails offers direct integrations with all three platforms we’re looking at, allowing you to implement real-time verification. Through this service, you’ll be able to validate critical information before it enters your automated workflows.

With Zapier, for example, you can create Zaps that automatically validate email addresses when a new contact signs up. This integration is particularly useful for:

• Web Forms
• Email marketing campaigns
• CRM Systems

At Make, we recommend implementing validation as an intermediate step in your scenarios. This will allow you to create branches based on the validity of the analyzed data, thus optimizing the workflow.

API for automatic validation:

If you’re looking for more customized automations, the EmailVerify API gives you complete flexibility. This API allows you to integrate data validation directly into your workflows using HTTP requests, whether in n8n, Make, or Zapier.

This technical approach is ideal when you need to:

1. Verify large volumes of data in a short time
2. Implement custom logic based on validation results
3. Create fully automated processes without manual intervention
4. Maintain detailed validation logs for future audits

If you have any questions about how to implement these validations, our support team can help you configure the solution that best suits your specific needs.

In n8n, in particular, you can use the HTTP Request node to connect to the API and validate data at any point in the flow. This platform also allows you to take advantage of its ability to handle retries and custom responses to validation failures, thus increasing the robustness of your automations.

Comparison Table: Make vs Zapier vs n8n

Need to see all the differences between Make, Zapier, and n8n at a glance? In this comparison table you will find a summary of the main features of each platform. Remember that the best choice will depend on your specific needs, your budget and the technical level of your team.

tasklearning curveSupportplan onlyCapabilitiesintegrationshandlesControlroles

Feature	Zapier	Make	n8n
Pricing Model	Per individual	Per Operation	By full-flow run
Free Plan	100 tasks/month	1,000 operations/month	Unlimited (Community version)
Basic Plan	€19.07/month (750 tasks)	€8.59/month (10,000 operations)	€22.90/month (2,500 executions)
Integrations	+6,000 apps	+1,500 connectors	~300 native connectors
Ease of Use	Very intuitive, ideal for beginners	Average	Requires technical knowledge
Customization	Limited	Moderate	Registration (open source)
Code	JavaScript and Python (limited)	Enterprise	Full JavaScript and Python
AI	Copilot and Zap Guesser	Basic AI	70 LangChain nodes
Error Handling	Basic	5 different	Customizable and advanced
Self-hosting	Unavailable	Unavailable	Available (free)
Access	Basic	Advanced	RBAC with 3 levels

As you can see from the table, each platform has its own advantages. Zapier stands out for its ease of use and number of integrations, Make offers an excellent balance between functionality and price, while n8n excels in customization and technical flexibility.

If you want to delve into any specific feature, I recommend checking out the previous sections where we explain each aspect in detail.

Conclusion

The final decision: choosing the right platform for your business

After taking a closer look at the three main automation platforms, it’s clear that each one offers specific benefits depending on your business needs. Which one should you choose? The answer depends mainly on your technical level, budget, and specific requirements.

Zapier stands out for its simplicity and ease of use, making it the perfect choice for small businesses or teams without advanced technical expertise. With over 6,000 pre-built integrations, it allows you to quickly automate simple processes without complications. Remember that its per-task pricing model can be expensive if you need to implement complex workflows with multiple steps.

Make occupies a middle position, offering a balance between power and accessibility. Its visual interface for building scenarios makes it easier to understand complex processes, while its per-operation pricing model is more economical for medium-volume automations. We recommend this platform if your company needs to transform data between applications and you have a team with basic technical knowledge.

N8N represents the most flexible and powerful alternative for organizations with qualified technical teams. Its open-source nature, free self-hosting option, and full JavaScript/Python support make it the best choice for complex business automations. This platform shines especially in sectors such as finance or health, where data privacy is a priority.

The quality of the data you process will ultimately determine the success of any automation. EmailVerify integrates seamlessly with all three of these platforms, allowing you to validate critical information to validate emails, phone numbers, or mailing addresses before incorporating them into your workflows. This validation significantly reduces costly errors and improves the operational efficiency of your automations.

To choose the ideal platform, consider your specific priorities: Zapier for simplicity, Make for cost-to-functionality balance, and n8n for maximum customization and control. The best option will be one that aligns with your technical team’s capabilities, budget, and specific integration needs.

The future of business automation holds great possibilities with these three leading platforms. We recommend that you honestly evaluate your current technical capabilities, project your future scalability needs, and select the platform that best supports the growth of your business.

FAQs

Q1. What’s the main difference between Zapier and Make in terms of integrations?
Zapier offers over 6,000 pre-built integrations, while Make has around 1,500 connectors. Zapier is ideal for quick connections between popular apps, while Make allows for more customization in its integrations.

Q2. How does n8n’s pricing model compare to Zapier and Make’s?
N8N charges per full-flow execution, regardless of the steps involved. Zapier charges per individual task and Make per operation. In addition, n8n offers a free Community version with unlimited self-hosting.

Q3. Which platform is best suited for non-technical users?
Zapier is the most accessible option for beginners, with an intuitive interface that allows you to create automations without the need for programming. Make has a moderate learning curve, while n8n requires more technical knowledge.

Q4. How do these platforms differ in terms of AI capabilities?
n8n stands out with approximately 70 LangChain nodes for advanced AI functionalities. Zapier offers Copilot, an AI assistant for creating automations. Make has basic integrations with popular AI services.

Q5. Which platform offers better options for businesses in terms of scalability and collaboration?
n8n excels for businesses with its self-hosting option and role-based access control (RBAC). Make offers advanced roles and an API for user management. Zapier has business plans, but maintains task limits even at higher levels.