n8n vs Make: Which Automation Platform Wins?

You've got repetitive tasks eating up your team's time. Someone's suggested looking into automation tools. You start researching and quickly land on two names: n8n and Make. Both are powerful. Both are popular. And both look confusing at first glance.

So which one is actually right for your business?

This post breaks down the n8n vs Make automation debate in plain terms, without the technical jargon. We'll look at what each tool does well, where each one falls short, and how to figure out which fits your situation.

What Are n8n and Make?

Make (formerly Integromat) is a visual workflow builder that connects your apps and automates tasks between them. Think of it as a more powerful alternative to Zapier, with a drag-and-drop canvas that lets you map out complex workflows visually. We've already written about how Make compares to Zapier for business automation if you want that side-by-side breakdown.

n8n is a workflow automation tool with a similar visual interface, but it's built differently at its core. It's open-source, which means you can self-host it on your own server, and it gives you far more control over what you build.

Both tools connect to hundreds of apps. Both can handle multi-step workflows. The differences lie in flexibility, pricing, and how much technical appetite you need to use them effectively.

Pricing: A Tale of Two Models

Make's pricing is based on "operations," which are individual steps that run in a workflow. Their free tier is generous for testing, and paid plans start at around £9/month. Costs can creep up as your workflows grow more complex or run more frequently.

n8n's pricing depends on how you use it. The cloud-hosted version charges per workflow execution, starting at around £18/month. But here's where it gets interesting: if you self-host n8n on your own server, the core product is completely free. You just pay for the hosting infrastructure.

For a growing business processing thousands of automations a month, that self-hosted model can represent significant savings. The trade-off is that someone needs to manage the server, handle updates, and troubleshoot infrastructure issues. That's not always realistic without technical resource in-house.

Ease of Use: Make Has the Edge

If you're not technical, or your team isn't, Make is the more accessible starting point. The visual canvas is intuitive, the error messages are readable, and the documentation is solid. Most business owners can get a basic workflow running within a few hours.

n8n has a steeper learning curve. The interface is clean, but it's clearly built with developers and technical users in mind. Some nodes (n8n's term for workflow steps) require you to write JavaScript expressions to manipulate data. That's fine if you have a developer involved, but it can be a blocker if you're going it alone.

For businesses that want to build and manage automations without ongoing developer support, Make tends to be the more practical choice.

Power and Flexibility: n8n Goes Further

Where n8n pulls ahead is in raw capability. Because it's open-source and self-hosted, there are virtually no limits on what you can build. You can write custom code, connect to private internal APIs, and handle complex data transformations that would hit walls in Make.

n8n is also a strong choice if your business handles sensitive data and you'd rather keep everything within your own infrastructure. A finance company, a healthcare provider, or any business with strict data requirements might prefer knowing that workflow data never touches a third-party cloud server.

Make, by contrast, is a fully managed cloud service. That's convenient, but it does mean your workflow data passes through Make's servers. For many companies that's a non-issue, but it's worth knowing.

Integrations: Both Cover the Essentials

Make has over 1,500 native app integrations. n8n has fewer native integrations, around 400, but its HTTP node means you can connect to virtually any app with an API, even if there's no pre-built connector.

In practice, both tools will cover the apps most growing businesses use: Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce, Google Workspace, Xero, Shopify, and so on. If you're working with niche or custom internal tools, n8n's flexibility is more valuable. For standard business app stacks, Make's library is more than sufficient.

Which One Is Right for Your Business?

Here's a simple way to think about it.

Choose Make if:

• You want something your non-technical team can manage
• You're automating standard business processes (CRM updates, email triggers, report generation)
• You'd rather pay a predictable monthly fee than manage infrastructure
• You want to get up and running quickly

Choose n8n if:

• You have a developer in-house or budget to bring one in
• You're building complex, custom workflows that need fine-grained control
• You handle sensitive data and want full control over where it's stored
• You're running high volumes and want to reduce ongoing tool costs

For most SMEs without dedicated technical staff, Make is the more practical starting point. It's approachable, well-supported, and capable of handling the majority of business automation needs.

The Bigger Picture

Picking the right tool is only part of the challenge. The harder question is knowing which processes are actually worth automating, and how to build workflows that hold up over time rather than breaking every time an app updates.

If you're thinking about where automation fits into your broader operations, our practical guide to AI automation for UK businesses is a good place to start. And if you're specifically trying to win back time from repetitive tasks, we've outlined five ways automation can save your team 10 hours a week with concrete examples.

The n8n vs Make automation choice matters, but it matters less than having a clear picture of what you're automating and why.

One More Thing Worth Knowing

Both tools can be used in combination with AI. You can trigger language model calls, process unstructured data, and build genuinely intelligent workflows in either platform. That's where things get interesting for businesses that want to go beyond simple rule-based automation.

We work with both Make and n8n depending on what a client's situation calls for. There's no universal right answer, which is why we always start with understanding the business before recommending any specific tool.

If you'd like to explore what would actually work for your business, book a free discovery call and we'll walk through it together.