n8n vs Zapier vs Make: Which Automation Platform Is Right for Your Business?

Three Platforms, Very Different Trade-offs

If you've started looking into automating parts of your business, you've probably come across three names: Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), and n8n. All three let you connect apps and build automated workflows without writing code from scratch. But they're built for different users, with different priorities, at very different price points.

This comparison is written for Australian business owners who want to understand the practical differences, not just feature lists. We'll cover pricing, ease of use, integrations, execution limits, data sovereignty, and when each platform is the right choice.

Quick Comparison Table

Feature	Zapier	Make	n8n
Starting price	~$29 USD/mo (~$45 AUD)	~$9 USD/mo (~$14 AUD)	Free (self-hosted) or ~$20 USD/mo cloud (~$31 AUD)
Free tier	100 tasks/month, 5 zaps	1,000 operations/month	Unlimited (self-hosted)
Ease of use	Easiest. Designed for non-technical users.	Visual builder. Moderate learning curve.	Most powerful. Steepest learning curve.
Native integrations	7,000+	1,800+	400+ built-in, plus any API via HTTP node
Execution model	Task-based (each action = 1 task)	Operation-based (each module execution = 1 op)	Unlimited executions (self-hosted)
Self-hosting	No	No	Yes (Docker, any server)
Data residency	US servers (AWS us-east)	US or EU servers	Wherever you host it
Code execution	Limited (Python/JS in paid tiers)	Yes (JS, basic)	Full (JS, Python, any language via shell)
Branching/logic	Paths (paid tier only)	Routers, filters, error handlers	Full branching, loops, sub-workflows, error handling
Best for	Simple app-to-app connections	Visual workflow design on a budget	Complex workflows, data-sensitive industries

Pricing: The Real Cost at Scale

Pricing is where these platforms diverge dramatically, and where the sticker price can mislead you.

Zapier

Zapier's free tier gives you 100 tasks per month across 5 zaps (workflows). That's enough to test, not enough to run anything meaningful. The Starter plan at $29.99 USD/month (~$46 AUD) gives you 750 tasks. The Professional plan at $73.50 USD/month (~$113 AUD) gives you 2,000 tasks and unlocks features like paths (branching logic) and custom formatting.

Here's the catch: Zapier counts every action in a workflow as a task. A 5-step workflow that runs 100 times uses 500 tasks. If you're running 10 workflows processing 50 items each per day, you'll burn through the Professional plan's 2,000 tasks in a couple of days. Enterprise plans (starting around $250 USD/month) are where Zapier expects high-volume users to land.

Make

Make's free tier is more generous: 1,000 operations per month. The Core plan at $9 USD/month (~$14 AUD) gives you 10,000 operations. The Pro plan at $16 USD/month (~$25 AUD) gives you 10,000 operations plus advanced features like custom variables and full-text log search.

Make counts each module execution as one operation. A 5-module workflow running once uses 5 operations. This is similar to Zapier's counting, but Make's pricing is roughly 3 to 4 times cheaper at equivalent volumes.

n8n

n8n's self-hosted version is free, with no execution limits. You pay for the server (a basic VPS in Australia runs $10 to $30 AUD/month from providers like Vultr or Hetzner). n8n Cloud starts at $20 USD/month (~$31 AUD) for 2,500 executions, but importantly, n8n counts workflow executions, not individual step executions. A 10-step workflow that runs once counts as 1 execution, not 10.

For high-volume use cases (processing hundreds of form submissions, syncing data between systems hourly, running daily reporting workflows), the self-hosted option makes n8n dramatically cheaper than both Zapier and Make at scale.

Ease of Use: Who Is Each Platform Built For?

Zapier: Built for anyone

Zapier is the easiest to learn. The interface walks you through trigger-action pairs with plain language descriptions. If you can fill in a form, you can build a basic Zapier workflow. The trade-off is flexibility: complex logic, loops, and error handling are limited or require workarounds.

Zapier is the right choice if you want to connect two apps quickly and you're comfortable with a higher per-task cost for the convenience. Think: "When a new row appears in Google Sheets, send a Slack message." That's Zapier's sweet spot.

Make: Built for visual thinkers

Make uses a visual canvas where you drag modules and draw connections between them. It feels more like building a flowchart than filling in forms. The learning curve is steeper than Zapier (expect 2 to 4 hours to feel comfortable), but you get much more control over data flow, error handling, and branching.

Make is the right choice if you want more complex workflows without paying Zapier prices, and you're willing to invest a few hours learning the interface. It handles multi-branch workflows well and its error handling is more transparent than Zapier's.

n8n: Built for power users

n8n gives you a visual workflow builder similar to Make, but with significantly more power underneath. You can write custom JavaScript or Python in any workflow, execute shell commands, build sub-workflows, create complex branching logic, and handle errors at a granular level. The interface is clean but assumes some technical comfort.

The learning curve is the steepest of the three (expect a full day to feel productive). But once you're past it, there's very little you can't build. n8n is the right choice for workflows that need custom logic, data transformation, or integration with systems that don't have pre-built connectors.

Integrations: Breadth vs Depth

Zapier wins on raw numbers: 7,000+ app integrations. If a SaaS product exists, Zapier probably has a connector for it. This matters when you're working with niche Australian software (like some property management or practice management tools) that only bother building a Zapier integration.

Make offers 1,800+ integrations, covering all the major platforms but with gaps in niche categories. Their integrations tend to expose more functionality per app than Zapier's, giving you more control over what data you can read and write.

n8n has 400+ built-in integrations, but this number is misleading. n8n's HTTP Request node lets you connect to any API, and its code nodes let you build custom integrations for anything. The 400+ built-in nodes are convenience. The real integration count is "anything with an API." For teams with some technical capability, this makes n8n the most flexible option despite having the fewest pre-built connectors.

Data Sovereignty: Where Does Your Data Go?

This is increasingly important for Australian businesses, particularly those handling financial data, health records, or client personal information.

Zapier processes all workflow data through US-based AWS infrastructure. There is no option to choose an Australian or even APAC data centre. Your data transits through and is temporarily stored on US servers.

Make offers US and EU data centres. There's no Australian data centre option. Better than US-only, but your data still leaves the country.

n8n (self-hosted) runs wherever you put it. Host it on an Australian server, and your workflow data never leaves Australian jurisdiction. For businesses subject to the Australian Privacy Principles (APP), or for accounting and legal practices handling sensitive client data, this is a meaningful advantage. n8n Cloud currently uses EU-based servers, so the self-hosted option is the only way to guarantee Australian data residency.

Execution Limits and Throttling

Both Zapier and Make throttle executions based on your plan tier, and both will pause your workflows if you exceed your allocation. This can be a real problem for time-sensitive automations. If your "send invoice reminder on day 14" workflow gets paused because you hit your task limit on day 12, you've got a gap in your process.

n8n self-hosted has no execution limits. Workflows run as often as your server can handle them. For a standard VPS (4 CPU, 8GB RAM, around $25 AUD/month), that's thousands of executions per day without breaking a sweat. You're limited by server capacity, not plan tiers.

When to Choose Each Platform

Choose Zapier if:

• You need simple, 2 to 3 step automations between popular apps
• You have no technical resources and need to be up and running in an hour
• Your automation volume is low (under 500 tasks per month)
• You don't handle sensitive data that requires Australian residency

Choose Make if:

• You want more complex workflows with branching and error handling
• Budget matters and you need more executions per dollar than Zapier
• You're comfortable with a visual builder and a moderate learning curve
• EU data residency is acceptable for your compliance needs

Choose n8n if:

• You need complex workflows with custom logic, code execution, or API integrations
• You process high volumes and don't want per-execution pricing
• Data sovereignty matters and you need Australian-hosted infrastructure
• You have technical resources (in-house or via a partner like SynergAI) to manage the setup

Why SynergAI Uses n8n

Full transparency: SynergAI builds client automations on n8n. We chose it for three reasons.

First, data control. Our clients include accounting practices, mortgage brokers, and professional services firms. Their data, client lists, financial records, communication logs, needs to stay on Australian infrastructure. Self-hosted n8n makes that straightforward.

Second, no execution ceilings. When we build an automation that processes 200 form submissions per day or syncs data across 5 systems every hour, we don't want to worry about hitting a plan limit and having workflows pause mid-process.

Third, flexibility. Many of our client workflows involve custom logic: conditional routing based on business rules, data transformation between systems with different schemas, integration with tools that don't have pre-built connectors. n8n's code nodes and HTTP request capabilities handle all of this.

That said, if a client has a simple Zapier setup that works, we don't rip it out. The best platform is the one that solves your problem. For simple connections between popular apps, Zapier is excellent. For budget-conscious teams with moderate complexity, Make is solid. For everything else, n8n gives us the control and flexibility our clients need.

The Bottom Line

There's no single "best" platform. Zapier is the easiest. Make is the best value for mid-complexity workflows. n8n is the most powerful and the only option that keeps your data in Australia.

If you're just starting with automation, Zapier is a fine first step. If you're ready to build workflows that actually run core business processes, and you want them on infrastructure you control, n8n is worth the steeper setup investment.