Compare Make and n8n using the workflow you intend to run. Make bills in credits for actions, while n8n's paid plans meter workflow executions. n8n also offers self-hosting. These differences make the shape of your workflow, your maintenance capacity and your existing app connections more useful than a universal "best" ranking.
At a glance
- Evidence: published documentation, not a hands-on benchmark.
- Make uses credits; n8n paid plans meter executions.
- Measure the same workload in each shortlisted platform.
Evidence note: this is a comparison of published product documentation, checked on 19 October 2026. It is not a hands-on speed, reliability or usability test.
The main differences
| Question | Make | n8n |
|---|---|---|
| What is the main paid usage unit? | Credits consumed by actions; some features consume more than one. | Workflow executions on paid plans. |
| What should you estimate? | Actions, repeated items and AI-related credit use. | Workflow runs, triggers and your applicable execution allowance. |
| What deployment decision matters? | Check whether the hosted service fits your requirements. | Choose between Cloud and self-hosting; check the features of the selected edition. |
| What should a small team test? | Its actual app connections and error-handling path. | Its actual app connections and error-handling path. |
Sources: Make pricing, Make's credit documentation, n8n pricing and n8n hosting documentation.
Which should you shortlist?
Shortlist Make when its hosted workflow approach and connections fit your process. Check how repeated items and AI steps affect credits before choosing a plan.
Shortlist n8n when you want to evaluate its execution-based billing or you have a specific reason to consider self-hosting. A self-hosted setup needs someone responsible for operation and maintenance.
Shortlist neither yet if you have not defined the task or your existing software already does it. A scheduled export and a carefully checked AI draft may be a sensible first experiment.
These are selection criteria, not benchmark results. Trial the same representative task in each shortlisted tool before committing.
How do you compare the cost of the same job?
Use a small workload that resembles a normal month. For a client report, record how often the workflow runs, how many records it reads, which steps repeat and which AI service it calls. Measure the usage shown in each platform after a test run, then allow for failures and retries.
| Cost to record | What belongs in it |
|---|---|
| Platform subscription | The billing term, allowance and relevant plan features. |
| Variable usage | Additional credits or executions, according to the platform and plan. |
| AI usage | Included allowance, platform AI credits or separately billed model API use, as applicable. |
| Operation | Hosting where needed, monitoring, troubleshooting and connection maintenance. |
| Human work | Checking source data, reviewing the output and fixing exceptions. |
Illustrative workload: ten clients receiving four reports each means 40 scheduled reporting runs a month if each report is one run. That is a workload assumption, not a quote for either platform. Loops, trigger design, sub-workflows and retries can change measured consumption.
Two workloads to try
A small reporting job: ten clients, four reports each, five source rows per report. Record the measured credits or executions for the full 40-report month, including any repeated actions. Add the time taken to check 40 drafts.
A record-by-record job: 500 new records a month, each requiring a lookup, an AI draft and a review-queue entry. Test a batch and an individual-record trigger. Do not assume that 500 records consume 500 credits or that both designs have the same execution count.
The first workload tests a predictable schedule. The second exposes the cost of triggers and repeated actions. Use the platform's usage log as the evidence, rather than multiplying an advertised starting price by an assumed number of steps.
What do the published prices tell you?
On 19 October 2026, n8n displayed Starter at €20 per month billed annually, with 2,500 workflow executions. That is an annual billing equivalent, not a £20 monthly commitment. Confirm tax treatment and the currency charged before purchase.
Make's documentation described a free allowance of 1,000 credits a month. Its live pricing selector should be checked for the paid tier and billing term you need; this guide does not insert an unverified paid price.
Check the current n8n plans and current Make plans before buying. Our n8n pricing guide covers the plan structure in more detail. Business is listed as self-hosted only; do not treat its price as an n8n Cloud upgrade.
Does self-hosting make n8n free?
n8n offers a self-hosted Community Edition. That does not remove infrastructure, maintenance, security or model-usage costs, and some features require a paid edition. Compare the total responsibility and cost with the hosted alternative. See n8n's self-hosting guidance.
Looking for an existing design? Read the n8n Templates review. Inspect the permissions, credentials and error paths of any imported workflow before using it with live data.
Can either platform make an unreliable AI output safe?
A platform can help you build checks and approval steps, but it does not make a model's interpretation automatically correct. Check calculations outside the model, keep sources attached to the draft, and decide what happens when an answer cannot be supported.
A practical trial before you buy
- Choose one task and use fictional or approved test data.
- Build the smallest version that creates a draft.
- Run a missing-data case, a duplicate-input case and a failed-connection case.
- Record the platform usage, AI usage and time spent reviewing the result.
- Choose the option your team can operate reliably within its budget.
Use our client-reporting example for your first trial, or prepare a brief for an implementation specialist.
