COMPARISON · VERIFIED APRIL 2026
n8n vs Make
Fact-checked comparison with verified pricing.
🏆 Quick Verdict
n8n
Both offer free tiers
⭐ Strongest At
Every tool has one thing it does better than its competitors. Here is each one's honest edge:
visual workflow automation with deep branching and data ops.
self-hostable open-source workflow automation.
📊 Quick Specs
Which one should you actually choose?
your daily work is mostly about visual workflow automation with deep branching and data ops. That is the one thing it does better than n8n, and the cost of switching to it is justified only if that strength matches what you actually need.
your daily work is mostly about self-hostable open-source workflow automation. n8n owns this corner of the market — if that does not match your job, the rest of its feature parity with Make probably will not be the deciding factor.
Make and n8n both have legitimate use cases. The honest answer is to start with whichever has a free tier, run your real work through it for a week, then decide based on how it fits your workflow — not on which one looks better in a feature table.
📊 Quick Specs
Pros & Cons
n8n
- Open-source and self-hostable
- 400+ integrations
- Visual workflow builder
- Full data privacy when self-hosted
- Self-hosting requires DevOps skills
- Cloud plans more expensive than Zapier
- UI less polished than Make
- Steeper learning curve
Make
- Visual scenario builder with branching
- More operations per dollar than Zapier
- 1,800+ integrations
- Complex logic without code
- Steeper learning curve than Zapier
- Fewer integrations than Zapier
- Operation counting can be confusing
- Error handling more complex
Bottom Line
n8n (4.4/5) is best for Technical teams wanting open-source, self-hosted workflow automation. Make (4.4/5) is best for Visual workflow automation with more flexibility than Zapier.
Frequently asked questions
Make vs n8n — which one should I pick?
It depends on the job. Make is strongest at visual workflow automation with deep branching and data ops. n8n is strongest at self-hostable open-source workflow automation. Pick Make if its strength matches your daily work, and n8n if the second description matches better. There is no objectively 'better' answer — only the better fit for the specific work you do most often.
Is Make or n8n cheaper?
Make pricing: Free (1,000 ops/mo. n8n pricing: Free (self-hosted. Pricing alone is rarely the right reason to choose between them — the wrong tool at half the price still wastes your time.
Does Make or n8n have a free plan?
Both Make and n8n offer a free tier, so you can try each one before paying for anything. Free tiers always have limits — usage caps, slower models, or fewer features — but they are genuine and not a 'trial.'
Can I use Make and n8n together?
Yes — there is no technical or licensing reason you cannot use Make and n8n side by side. Many people do exactly this: Make for visual workflow automation, n8n for self-hostable open-source workflow automation. The only cost is paying for two subscriptions if you upgrade both.
What does Make do that n8n cannot?
Make's honest edge over n8n is visual workflow automation with deep branching and data ops. n8n cannot match this directly — though it has its own edge (self-hostable open-source workflow automation). If your daily work depends on what Make is uniquely good at, that is the deciding factor. Otherwise feature parity will probably feel close enough.