Zapier vs Make vs n8n vs Power Automate: which one can your team own?

Written October 2026

Short answer: Zapier is the no-code, beginner-friendly one, and it's the one your team can actually own. Make and n8n need more technical know-how. Power Automate makes sense if you live entirely in Microsoft. My aim is always to hand over the keys, which is why I pick Zapier for most small businesses.

My bias, said once: I'm a Zapier Gold Solution Partner, so I build in Zapier most days. I'll tell you exactly where each of the others is the better call.

Hand over the keys: the question that actually matters

Most comparisons ask which tool is cheapest or most powerful. I ask a different question: once the person who built it has gone, can your team run it?

Here's how I work. I build the automations, then I train someone in-house to be the automation lead. Usually that's the person I've already been working with on ClickUp and Zapier. The goal is simple: the founder opens their Zaps and thinks, “yeah, I can actually build the next one of these.” No monthly fee just to keep the lights on.

I know a lot of companies that pay for support because they're in n8n and have absolutely no idea how it works. Same with Make. That's not because those tools are bad. It's because they need a technical person, and too often the technical person was the consultant.

Who this suits: SMEs growing into automation, and bigger businesses where nobody owns automation yet. If you've already got a developer who loves n8n, this section isn't for you, and that's fine.

The comparison table

Last checked 28 October 2026. Prices change, and they're shown in the currency each vendor publishes: Zapier in US dollars, n8n in euros, Power Automate in pounds. Make is in US dollars too, at 10,000 credits a month billed yearly. Billed monthly, Make Core is $16 rather than $11, and at 750,000 credits a month Pro is $747.

Each tool in a nutshell

Zapier

The friendly one. You pick a trigger, add steps, and read the whole thing top to bottom like a recipe. It has the biggest app library of the four, 9,000+, and the built-in tools (Filters, Paths, Formatter, Delay and more) don't use tasks. It also has Tables and Forms (formerly Interfaces, Zapier Help), so small jobs don't need another tool.

Skip it if your data legally has to stay in the EU, or you're running millions of simple steps a month.

Make

The visual one. You build on a canvas, with routes branching off in different directions, which some people love. It bills in credits, its routers and error handlers are free, its Free plan includes 1,000 credits a month, and it lets you host in the EU. In my experience it often works out cheaper per step for high-volume workflows, but it takes more technical know-how to build well, and a lot more to fix when something breaks at 4pm on a Friday.

Skip it if nobody in your team is technical and you don't want to rely on a consultant every month.

n8n

The developer's one. It's open in a way the others aren't: you can self-host the Community Edition, write JavaScript or Python steps, and you pay per full run rather than per step. n8n Cloud is hosted in Frankfurt. For a developer-led team, it's hard to beat.

Skip it if you don't have a developer. In my experience this is the tool where businesses most often end up paying for support just to understand what they've got.

Power Automate

The Microsoft one. If your business runs on Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and Excel, it's already sitting there, and simple flows with Standard connectors may cost nothing extra. Step outside Microsoft and it gets fiddly fast: the ClickUp and Xero connectors I found are both Premium third-party ones. Both are in Preview, and the Xero one needs its own paid licence from the publisher after a 7-day trial.

Skip it if your key tools aren't Microsoft, or you want someone non-technical to own it.

How each one counts usage

Each tool counts differently, and this is where the price on the pricing page and the price on your bill drift apart.

• Zapier counts tasks. A task is each successful action. The trigger is free, and so are Formatter, Paths, Filter, Delay, Looping, Sub-Zap, Digest, Storage, Tables and Forms (zapier.com/pricing). MCP calls count as 2 tasks each.
• Make counts credits. An operation is a module run, and by default one operation is one credit (Make Help). That includes built-in transforms, iterators and aggregators, while routers and error handlers are free (make.com/pricing). A trigger uses one operation each time it checks for new data, even when nothing new has arrived (Make Help). AI modules can use more.
• n8n counts executions. One execution is one full run of a workflow, however many steps it has. Starter includes 2,500 a month, Pro 10,000 and Business 40,000 (n8n.io/pricing, checked 28 October 2026).
• Power Automate counts people or bots. Premium is per user. Process is per bot. Microsoft says an Office user can run 6,000 actions per day across all their flows (Microsoft Learn, checked 28 October 2026).

A worked example (illustrative)

Say you get 300 quote requests a month, and each one runs through 6 paid steps: create the contact, create the deal, draft the quote, send it, log it, notify the team.

• Zapier: 300 × 6 = 1,800 tasks. That needs the 2,000-task Professional tier at $49 a month billed yearly, or $73.50 monthly.
• Make: about 2,100 credits with an instant (webhook) trigger: 1,800 module runs plus 300 trigger runs. With a trigger that polls every 15 minutes, add around 2,880 checks a month. Either way it fits inside Make Core's 10,000 credits at $11 a month (checked 28 Oct 2026, USD, annual billing at 10,000 credits/mo, make.com/pricing), so Make is cheaper than Zapier's $49 on sticker price.
• n8n: 300 executions, well inside Starter's 2,500 at €20 a month billed yearly.
• Power Automate: nothing extra if every connector you need is Standard and you already have a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan. If you need a Premium connector, it's £11.50 per user a month.

On Zapier, the cheapest task is the one you don't use. Move checks into free Filters and Paths, and the 1,800 drops. That's normally where I find the savings. Make still wins on sticker price here. Where Zapier earns the difference is ease of use and hand-over: your team can read it, fix it and build the next one without paying someone to keep it running.

Who should pick what

The solo founder

Zapier. You don't have time to learn a technical tool, and you need something you can fix on a Sunday night. Start on Free or Professional and add as you go.

A 10 to 50 person service business on ClickUp or Xero

Zapier. This is my bread and butter. Zapier connects cleanly to ClickUp and Xero, and someone in your team can learn to own it. In Power Automate, the only ClickUp connector I found is a Premium, independent-publisher one, and the Xero one is a Premium third-party connector too. Both are in Preview, and the Xero one needs its own paid licence from the publisher after a 7-day trial.

A Microsoft-only office

Power Automate, maybe. If everything you use is Microsoft and your flows only need Standard connectors, it may already be in your licence. Microsoft says users on Microsoft 365 plans can only access standard connectors. The moment you need a Premium one, you're paying per user.

A developer-led team

n8n. If you've got developers who want code steps, self-hosting and full control, n8n is brilliant. JavaScript and Python code steps are on every plan, and you can self-host the Community Edition under its Sustainable Use License.

A GDPR-strict sector

It depends where your data has to live. n8n Cloud is hosted in Frankfurt, and you can self-host. Make lets you pick the EU per organisation. Zapier hosts data in AWS servers in the United States, and is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the UK Extension (Zapier). For many UK firms that's fine. For some, it isn't. Check with whoever owns your data protection. My Zapier and GDPR guide goes deeper.

Why Zapier wins for most small businesses

• No code needed. Steps read top to bottom in plain English. I call it a beginner's paradise.
• Built-in logic doesn't use tasks. Filters, Paths, Formatter, Delay and Looping are free inside a Zap.
• 9,000+ apps (zapier.com/apps). Whatever odd tool your business relies on, it's probably there.
• The easiest to read after handover. Which is the whole point.
• Capped bills. If you go over, extra tasks cost more (Zapier quotes 1.25x on annual plans and 2.5x on monthly), and Zaps pause at 3x your plan's limit, so a busy month can't run on forever. Annual billing saves 33%, and Zapier can bill in GBP.

What moving to Zapier actually looks like

If you're in Make, n8n or Power Automate now and nobody understands it, here's how I'd move you, step by step.

1. List what's running. Every scenario, workflow or flow, what starts it, and what it touches. Half the time, some of them can simply be switched off.
2. Rebuild the important ones first. Usually that's leads, quotes and invoicing. I build inside your own Zapier account, so you own everything from day one.
3. Run both side by side for a short while, so nothing falls through the gap.
4. Train your automation lead. One person in your team learns how each Zap works, how to read the history, and how to build the next one.
5. Switch the old tool off. Then stop paying for it.

The order matters more than the speed. A rushed move is how you end up with two tools sending the same invoice.

When I wouldn't use Zapier

I'd rather you hear this from me than find out later.

• Your data must stay in the EU. Zapier hosts in the US. Look at n8n (Frankfurt or self-hosted) or Make's EU option.
• Very high volumes. If you're running huge numbers of simple steps, per-task pricing adds up. n8n's per-execution billing can suit that better.
• You need to self-host. Zapier doesn't offer it. n8n does.
• You're Microsoft-only, with simple flows. Power Automate may already be paid for.

Want the head-to-heads? Read Zapier vs Make, Zapier vs n8n and Zapier vs Power Automate. If you're weighing up a custom build, Zapier, n8n or custom build covers that. And for what I do day to day, see my Zapier consultancy and automation pages.