Productivity ยท Head-to-head

Make vs n8n

Make (freemium, AI Score 8.7/10) vs n8n (freemium, AI Score 8.7/10). Side-by-side pricing, features, pros and cons, and which to pick.

The verdict

Pick Make ifโ€ฆ
  • โ†’you want our editor's pick for this category
  • โ†’your primary use case is teams building multi-step, branching automations who want to see the whole flow on a canvas rather than describe it as a list of steps.
  • โ†’you need: marketing
Try Make โ†’
Pick n8n ifโ€ฆ
  • โ†’your primary use case is technically comfortable teams who want to self-host their automation and build ai agents that chain llms with operational tools.
Try n8n โ†’

Side-by-side specs

Spec Make n8n
Category Productivity Productivity
Pricing model freemium freemium
Headline pricing Free tier with 1,000 credits/mo; paid from $9/mo for 10,000 credits Freemium
Free tier Yes, and it runs real scenarios: 1,000 credits a month across 2 active scenarios, with a 15-minute minimum run interval. Annual billing is advertised at 15%+ savings on the paid tiers. Free self-hosted version with unlimited workflows
AI Score 8.7/10 8.7/10
Best for Teams building multi-step, branching automations who want to see the whole flow on a canvas rather than describe it as a list of steps. Technically comfortable teams who want to self-host their automation and build AI agents that chain LLMs with operational tools.
Editor's pick โœ“ Yes โ€”
Use cases productivity agents marketing productivity agents
Date added 2026-08-02 2025-08-01

Pros and cons

๐Ÿ”—

Make

Productivity ยท freemium

Pros

  • โœ“Visual canvas makes branching and conditional automations readable in a way a linear step list does not
  • โœ“Routers and error handler modules cost zero credits, so defensive structure does not inflate the bill
  • โœ“3,000+ connectors including 400+ AI integrations, which covers most of what a small team needs to wire together
  • โœ“Free tier runs genuine scenarios on a schedule rather than expiring like a trial
  • โœ“Entry pricing starts at $9/mo, well below what comparable platforms charge for a first paid tier

Cons

  • ร—Credits are consumed per module action, so a multi-step scenario burns the allowance far faster than the plan names suggest
  • ร—The advertised $9, $16 and $29 prices are only the 10,000-credit rung of a slider, and real costs climb from there
  • ร—Free tier caps scheduling at a 15-minute minimum interval and execution at 5 minutes, which rules out anything time-sensitive
  • ร—The canvas is harder to learn than a form-based builder, which is a real cost for occasional users
  • ร—Full-text log search sits on Pro, so debugging on the cheaper tiers is more painful than it should be
n8n logo

n8n

Productivity ยท freemium

Pros

  • โœ“Open-source with full self-hosting capability
  • โœ“AI agent workflow capabilities
  • โœ“Complete data privacy when self-hosted
  • โœ“Visual node-based editor is intuitive

Cons

  • ร—Self-hosting requires technical knowledge
  • ร—Smaller app ecosystem than Zapier
  • ร—Documentation can be sparse for advanced features
  • ร—Cloud plans have execution limits
Comparison explorer Add a third tool to this matchup Opens the interactive explorer with Make and n8n already in place. Slot in up to two more tools from the full index, filter by category or price, and read every plan, feature, pro and con in one table. โ†’

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Updated 2026-08-02. Spec data sourced from official product pages and tracked in our public directory at /tools.