n8n vs Make: Which Automation Platform Wins?
Pick n8n when you want to pay per completed workflow execution (one run, regardless of node count) and you may self-host a Community edition at no license fee. Pick Make when you want a visual, credit-based SaaS: most modules consume 1 credit, unused credits expire at the end of the term, and an ongoing Free plan includes 1,000 credits a month.
- n8n, official page checked November 6, 2026: Starter 20€/month billed annually; Pro 50€/month billed annually; Business 667€/month billed annually (self-hosted). Cloud trial: 1,000 executions, 14 days, no card. An official FAQ names Pro-1 at 10,000 executions and Pro-2 at 50,000.
- Make, official pricing and comparison materials checked November 6, 2026: Free $0 / 1,000 credits per month; Core from $9/month starting at 10,000 credits; Pro from $16/month starting at 10,000; Teams from $29/month starting at 10,000. Most actions consume 1 credit; router and error-handler modules do not. Credits expire at term end.
- Neither vendor has an affiliate button on this page. Make is discussed factually only.
By Unfair Advantage · Updated November 6, 2026. Related: n8n review · n8n pricing · n8n vs Zapier.
1. Who should pick which
This is a pairwise decision between execution billing (n8n) and credit-per-module billing (Make). It is not an n8n review in disguise.
Choose n8n when…
- A workflow has many nodes and runs often — you want those nodes not to multiply the invoice.
- You may self-host (Community edition, or a Business/Enterprise license).
- You will write code nodes and talk to arbitrary HTTP APIs.
Choose Make when…
- You want a visual scenario builder billed per module action, with an ongoing Free plan (1,000 credits/month).
- A $9 Core row at 10,000 credits matches a light, few-module scenario volume.
- You do not want to operate a self-hosted runtime.
UA did not create accounts at either vendor. n8n figures come from n8n’s official pricing page, docs, and FAQ. Make figures come from Make’s official pricing page and Make’s own comparison page, checked November 6, 2026. We do not treat Make’s statements about n8n quotas as n8n’s rate card.
2. What you are actually buying
| Question | n8n | Make |
|---|---|---|
| Billing unit | One execution = one complete workflow run, regardless of nodes. | Credits. Most modules consume 1 credit per action; some AI features consume more. Router and error-handler modules do not consume credits. |
| Ongoing free plan | No ongoing Cloud free plan on the materials we fetched (14-day trial). Community edition is free to license if you self-host. | Yes: Free $0 / 1,000 credits per month, 15-minute minimum interval between runs. |
| Paid entry | Starter 20€/mo billed annually (hosted). | Core from $9/mo starting at 10,000 credits. |
| Next published steps | Pro 50€/mo billed annually. Official FAQ: Pro-1 = 10,000 executions; Pro-2 = 50,000. | Pro from $16/mo and Teams from $29/mo, each starting at 10,000 credits (higher credit tiers exist; we cite the starting rows Make publishes). |
| Empty balance | Official table: overage fees capped on Starter/Pro. Trial stops at its 1,000-execution cap. | Scenarios stop until credits are added. Extra credits can be bought (bundles of 1,000 or 10,000) or auto-purchased (10,000 at a time) on Core, Pro, and Teams. |
| Unused balance | Executions are a monthly quota, not a banked wallet you roll over (Assistant credits separately do not roll over). | Credits expire at the end of the term. Extra credits follow the same rule (one month on monthly billing; end of year on annual Pro/Teams). |
3. Real cost by scenario
Scenario A — 1,000 runs of a 10-module workflow
n8n: 1,000 executions, regardless of the 10 nodes. That matches the Cloud trial cap exactly and sits well under the documented Pro-1 size of 10,000. We will not claim it fits Starter, because Starter’s quota was not printed on n8n’s public cards.
Make: if each of the 10 modules consumes 1 credit, 1,000 runs = 10,000 credits — exactly Core’s starting row at $9/month (or Free’s 1,000 credits if you somehow had only one module). A 10-module run on Free would consume the entire 1,000-credit month in 100 runs.
Scenario B — 1,000 runs of a 2-module workflow
n8n: still 1,000 executions — same bill shape as Scenario A. Make: about 2,000 credits, which overflows Free (1,000) and still fits Core’s 10,000 at $9. Short scenarios favor Make’s credit math; long scenarios favor n8n’s execution math.
Scenario C — A workflow every 5 minutes (~8,600–8,900 runs/month)
n8n docs use this example. That volume is under official Pro-1 (10,000 executions). Make: 8,900 runs × N credits per run. At 10 credits per run that is 89,000 credits — far above the 10,000 starting row, so you would buy a higher credit tier on Core/Pro/Teams (Make prices additional tiers on the pricing page; we will not invent a row we did not copy).
Scenario D — You must self-host
n8n Community edition has no license fee. Make’s public materials describe a cloud-first SaaS; this pairwise will not invent an on-prem Make SKU we did not fetch. If self-hosting is the constraint, n8n is the product in this pair.
4. How billing behaves
n8n: pick Cloud (trial → Starter or Pro, euro cards billed annually) or self-host (Community, or Business at 667€/month billed annually). Count complete runs. Watch concurrency and duration caps separately.
Make: pick Free / Core / Pro / Teams / Enterprise. Spend credits as modules fire. Empty credits stop scenarios (webhooks queue up to the published allowance). Unused credits expire. Annual billing is cheaper than monthly, per Make’s own FAQ; Core keeps monthly credit allocation even on annual billing, while Pro and Teams annual plans receive the year’s credits up front.
5. Pitfalls
- Comparing 20€ to $9 as if they bought the same unit.
- Using Make’s comparison page as the source for n8n’s Starter execution quota.
- Assuming n8n Cloud has an ongoing free plan like Make’s 1,000 credits.
- Assuming Make “wins” on a 25-node workflow that runs thousands of times — that is n8n’s billing shape.
- Calling Community edition free total cost of ownership.
6. Decision
| If your situation is… | Pick |
|---|---|
| Many nodes, frequent runs, or you may self-host | n8n |
| Short visual scenarios, ongoing Free plan, no desire to self-host | Make |
| 1,000 runs of a ~10-module scenario | Run Scenario A: Make’s starting paid row is $9 / 10,000 credits; n8n’s cost depends on which Cloud plan actually holds 1,000 executions |
| You actually wanted per-task no-code at Zapier’s catalog | Wrong pairwise page — n8n vs Zapier |
There is no universal cheaper logo. Long workflows favor n8n’s execution meter. Short workflows on an ongoing free or $9 credit row favor Make. Self-hosting favors n8n in this pair. Neither tool has a promotional button here.
7. FAQ
Is n8n cheaper than Make?
It depends on node count and run count. See scenarios A–C. Do not compare 20€ to $9 without naming the unit.
Does Make have a free plan?
Yes. Official materials: $0 / 1,000 credits per month, with a 15-minute minimum interval. n8n Cloud’s materials describe a 14-day trial rather than an ongoing free Cloud plan.
Do you have affiliate links?
Not for either vendor at the time this page was written.
8. Sources
- n8n official pricing page, docs, Cloud FAQ, and Assistant-credits FAQ (checked November 6, 2026)
- Make official pricing page (checked November 6, 2026)
- Make official comparison page “Make vs n8n” for Make’s own published plan stickers (checked November 6, 2026)