n8n vs Make (2026): which visual automation builder should you use?
Pick Make if your builders are ops or marketing people who want a polished visual canvas with routers and iterators and you run moderate volume; pick n8n if you have someone technical, want to self-host, or run long workflows where paying per execution beats paying per module action. Both are canvas-style builders, so the real split is billing and how close each lets you get to code.
Disclosure: I build most automations for OneGTM and clients as code with Claude Code (Deepline for data, Supabase for storage, GitHub Actions for schedules), so I use neither tool for my own pipeline. This page compares their November 2026 pricing and docs, shows the cost at realistic volumes, and says when each is still a better choice than code.
Key takeaways
- Make bills in credits: most module actions cost 1 credit, so a 10-module scenario uses about 10 credits per run.
- Make Core is $9 a month billed annually ($10.59 monthly) for 10,000 credits; Pro is $16 ($18.82) and Teams $29 ($34.12) at the same credit level.
- n8n bills per workflow execution regardless of steps: Starter is $20 a month annually ($24 monthly) for 2,500 executions.
- n8n Community Edition is free to self-host; Make is cloud only.
- Make's Free plan gives 1,000 credits a month with a 15-minute minimum interval between runs.
n8n
n8n
A node-based workflow builder you can self-host for free (Community Edition) or run on n8n Cloud, priced per workflow execution regardless of how many steps it has.
Best for: Technical teams, high-volume or AI-heavy workflows, self-hosting
Pricing: Community Edition free to self-host. Cloud Starter $20 a month billed annually or $24 billed monthly (2,500 executions). Pro $50 annually or $60 monthly (10,000 executions). Business 667 euros a month annually (self-hosted only). Enterprise on request.
Make
Make
A visual scenario builder with routers, iterators and aggregators on a canvas, billed in credits where most module actions cost 1 credit.
Best for: Ops people who want branching logic cheaply without writing code
Pricing: Free (1,000 credits a month, 15-minute minimum interval). At 10,000 credits: Core $9 a month billed annually or $10.59 monthly, Pro $16 or $18.82, Teams $29 or $34.12. Enterprise custom.
Also consider
Zapier
The simplest of the three and the largest catalog, with 10,415+ apps, billed per task.
Best for: Non-technical teams with low volume
Pricing: Free with 100 tasks a month; Pro from $19.99 a month billed annually ($29.99 monthly) for 750 tasks
Prices are from each vendor's site as of November 2026 and change often, so check before you buy. This is an opinionated list, not a paid ranking. Some links are referral links that may earn us a credit; that never changes what you pay or who makes the list.
n8n vs Make at a glance
| Tool | Best for | Starting price |
|---|---|---|
| n8n | Technical teams, high-volume or AI-heavy workflows, self-hosting | $20 a month billed annually, $24 monthly |
| Make | Ops people who want branching logic cheaply without writing code | $9 a month billed annually, $10.59 monthly (Core, 10,000 credits) |
| Zapier | Non-technical teams with low volume | Free with 100 tasks a month |
Starting prices as published by each vendor in November 2026.
n8n vs Make: side by side
| n8n | Make | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting paid price | $20 a month billed annually, $24 monthly | $9 a month billed annually, $10.59 monthly (Core, 10,000 credits) |
| Free option | Community Edition, free to self-host | Free plan: 1,000 credits a month |
| Billing unit | Workflow execution, any number of steps | Credit: most module actions cost 1 |
| Scheduling | Any interval you configure | 15-minute minimum on Free; down to the minute on Core and up |
| Integrations | 2,587 listed | 3,500+ apps |
| Self-hosting | Yes | No |
| Code | JavaScript and Python nodes on all cloud plans | Custom functions on Enterprise |
| Users | Unlimited on every plan | Teams and team roles on the Teams plan |
| Unused allowance | Executions reset monthly | Credits expire at the end of the term |
| Startup discount | 50% off Business under 20 employees | 50% off Business under 20 employees |
As published on each vendor's own site on November 1, 2026. Plans and prices change often, so check before you buy.
n8n vs Make pricing compared
At low volume Make is cheaper. Its Core plan costs $9 a month billed annually for 10,000 credits, enough for 1,000 runs of a 10-module scenario. n8n's cheapest cloud plan is $20 a month for 2,500 executions. The picture flips as workflows get longer: 10,000 runs of that same 10-module scenario on Make needs about 100,000 credits, while n8n Pro covers 10,000 executions for $50 a month billed annually ($60 monthly).
Make's per-1,000-credit rate is $0.90 on Core, $1.60 on Pro and $2.90 on Teams on annual billing, so team features carry a real premium. n8n gives unlimited users on every plan but caps shared projects (1 on Starter, 3 on Pro). Self-hosting n8n's Community Edition removes the licence cost entirely, at the price of running a server.
- Make Free: $0, 1,000 credits a month, 15-minute minimum interval.
- Make Core: $9 a month annually ($10.59 monthly) at 10,000 credits; unlimited active scenarios, Make API access.
- Make Pro: $16 a month annually ($18.82 monthly) at 10,000 credits; priority execution, custom variables, full-text log search.
- Make Teams: $29 a month annually ($34.12 monthly) at 10,000 credits; team roles and shared templates.
- n8n Starter and Pro: $20 and $50 a month annually ($24 and $60 monthly) for 2,500 and 10,000 executions.
- n8n Business: 667 euros a month annually for 40,000 executions, self-hosted only.
Features compared
Make and n8n look similar on screen: both put modules on a canvas and pass data between them. Make is more guided and has more native connectors; n8n exposes raw JSON, runs real code and can live on your own server.
- Branching and loops: Make's routers, iterators and aggregators are its strength and do not charge credits for routers; n8n handles arrays natively and branches with IF and Switch nodes.
- Code: n8n has JavaScript and Python Code nodes on every cloud plan; Make keeps custom functions to Enterprise.
- App coverage: Make lists 3,500+ apps against n8n's 2,587, and both have generic HTTP modules for anything else.
- AI: n8n includes an AI Agent node, MCP client and MCP server trigger on all cloud plans; Make offers AI features through its AI Provider, which can use more than 1 credit per action.
- Error handling: Make has rollback, break, resume and ignore handlers that cost no credits; n8n has error workflows and automatic retries.
- Hosting: n8n can run on your own infrastructure; Make is cloud only.
- Data limits: Make ties data storage and transfer to credits (10 MB storage and 5 GB transfer per 10,000 credits); n8n cloud caps saved executions by plan.
Who should pick n8n
- You have a technical builder who wants code steps and raw JSON.
- Workflows are long or high volume, so per-execution pricing wins.
- You need to self-host for data control or cost.
- You are building AI agents with tool calls and MCP.
Who should pick Make
- Builders are non-technical and want a guided visual canvas.
- Volume is moderate and $9 to $16 a month covers it.
- You rely on branching logic with routers and iterators.
- You need a native connector Make has and n8n does not.
The verdict
Make is the better value for small teams running moderate volume with visual, branching scenarios. It is cheap at the bottom and the canvas is easy to read.
n8n is the better fit when a workflow has many steps, loops through records, or needs code. Its pricing ignores step count, and self-hosting is a real option.
For my own work and most client builds I skip both and write the automation as code with Claude Code, scheduled on GitHub Actions with Supabase holding state. I still recommend Make for an ops team that wants to own its scenarios without engineers, and n8n for a technical team that wants a visual layer and self-hosting.
Sources
Every price and feature claim above was checked on these pages on November 1, 2026. Something out of date? Email team@getaob.com.
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