Your inbox is full. Your CRM needs updating. A client just booked an appointment and nobody sent the confirmation email. Meanwhile, you are copy-pasting data between three different apps for the fourth time today. Sound familiar?
For marketing-specific automation setups, check our marketing automation guide.
Key Takeaways
- Zapier is the easiest to use but becomes expensive at scale with per-task pricing
- Make offers the best balance of power and affordability for most small businesses
- n8n is the only self-hosted option, giving you full control over data and no per-task limits
- For simple 2-3 step automations, Zapier is hard to beat on convenience
- For complex multi-step workflows with branching logic, Make or n8n will save you money long-term
Automation platforms fix this. They connect your tools and run workflows on their own. But which one should you actually use?
We have set up all three for clients across Southern California, and each one has a sweet spot. Here is the honest breakdown.
The Quick Answer
If you want the easiest setup and do not mind paying more, go with Zapier. If you want more power for less money and can handle a learning curve, go with Make. If you have a technical person on your team and want full control, go with n8n.
Zapier: The One Everyone Knows
Best for: Business owners who want automation working in 15 minutes.
Zapier is the Honda Civic of automation. Reliable, boring in the best way, gets the job done. You pick a trigger (new form submission), pick an action (add to Google Sheet and send email), and you are done.
Pricing:
- Free: 100 tasks/month, 5 single-step Zaps
- Professional: $19.99/month for 750 tasks
- Professional: $19.99/month for 750 tasks (billed annually)
- Team: $69.50/month per user for 2,000 tasks
What we like:
- 7,000+ app integrations (the most of any platform)
- Setup takes minutes, not hours
- Reliable. Zaps rarely break
- Great documentation and support
What we do not like:
- Gets expensive fast. A busy small business can blow through 2,000 tasks in a week
- Multi-step workflows cost more (Professional plan minimum)
- Limited logic and branching on cheaper plans
- You pay per task, so high-volume workflows get pricey
Real example: We set up a Zapier workflow for a San Diego real estate office that automatically adds new Zillow leads to their CRM, sends a welcome email, creates a follow-up task for the agent, and logs everything to a Google Sheet. Total setup time: 45 minutes. Monthly cost: $49 (Professional plan, about 1,500 tasks/month).
Want to see what AI can do for your business?
Need help choosing and setting up the right platform? See what AI consulting costs or take our readiness checklist.
Book a free strategy session. We will identify your top 3 automation opportunities and give you a clear action plan.
Make (Formerly Integromat): The Power Play
Best for: Businesses that need complex workflows and want to save money.
Make is what you graduate to when Zapier gets too expensive or too limited. The visual workflow builder looks intimidating at first, but it lets you build automations that would require 3-4 separate Zaps in Zapier.
Pricing:
- Free: 1,000 operations/month
- Core: $9/month for 10,000 operations
- Pro: $16/month for 10,000 operations + priority
- Teams: $29/month for 10,000 operations + team features
What we like:
- 5-10x cheaper than Zapier for the same volume
- Visual builder shows your entire workflow at a glance
- Built-in error handling and retry logic
- Complex branching, filters, and data transformation included on all plans
- Operations (not tasks) mean you get more value per dollar
Not sure where to start with AI?
For the bigger picture, read our AI workflow automation guide.
Our free strategy session breaks down exactly which tools and workflows will save you the most time. No pitch, just a plan.
What we do not like:
- Steeper learning curve (plan 2-3 hours for your first workflow vs. 15 minutes on Zapier)
- Fewer integrations than Zapier (1,800+ vs 7,000+)
- Can be slower for simple one-step automations
- Documentation is not as polished
Real example: A dental practice in Escondido was spending $99/month on Zapier for appointment confirmations, review requests, and patient follow-ups. We migrated them to Make for $16/month. Same workflows, same reliability, $83/month saved. Over a year, that is $996 back in their pocket.
n8n: The Self-Hosted Option
Best for: Tech-savvy teams or businesses with a developer on staff.
Still debating build vs buy? Our guide on AI vs custom software helps you decide.
n8n is open-source, meaning you can run it on your own server for free. The trade-off: you need someone who can manage a server. If that sounds like gibberish, n8n is not for you. If you have an IT person, it could save you thousands.
Pricing:
- Self-hosted: Free (you pay for server hosting, typically $5-20/month on DigitalOcean or AWS)
- Cloud Starter: $20/month for 2,500 executions
- Cloud Pro: $50/month for 10,000 executions
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
What we like:
- Self-hosted = unlimited workflows, no per-task pricing
- Full code access means you can build literally anything
- 400+ integrations plus custom API connections
- No vendor lock-in
- Data stays on your servers (great for HIPAA, legal compliance)
What we do not like:
- Self-hosting requires technical knowledge
- Smaller community than Zapier or Make
- Fewer pre-built templates
- Cloud pricing is competitive with Make but not cheaper
- Updates and maintenance are your responsibility (self-hosted)
Real example: A multi-location healthcare group needed patient data to stay on their own servers for HIPAA compliance. Cloud automation platforms were a non-starter. We set up n8n on their private server. Unlimited automations, full data control, $15/month hosting cost.
Head-to-Head Comparison
| Feature | Zapier | Make | n8n |
|---|---|--|--|
| Starting price | $19.99/mo | $9/mo | Free (self-hosted) |
| Free tier | 100 tasks/mo | 1,000 ops/mo | Unlimited (self-hosted) |
See how San Diego businesses are using these platforms in our local automation guide.
| Integrations | 7,000+ | 1,800+ | 400+ (plus custom) |
| Ease of use | Very easy | Moderate | Technical |
| Complex workflows | Limited on cheap plans | Excellent | Excellent |
| Best value at scale | Expensive | Great | Best (self-hosted) |
| Data privacy | Cloud only | Cloud only | Self-host option |
| Setup time (first workflow) | 15 min | 2-3 hours | 4-8 hours |
Want to see what AI can do for your business?
Book a free strategy session. We will identify your top 3 automation opportunities and give you a clear action plan.
Which One Should You Pick?
See our full best AI tools for small business list for tools that pair well with these platforms.
Choose Zapier if:
- You want the fastest setup possible
- Your team is not technical
- You use a lot of niche apps (Zapier probably has the integration)
- Budget is not a primary concern
- You need fewer than 2,000 tasks/month
Choose Make if:
- You want to save 50-80% vs. Zapier
- You need complex, multi-step workflows
- You are willing to invest 2-3 hours learning the platform
- Your monthly task volume is high (10,000+)
- You want better error handling and data transformation
Choose n8n if:
- You have a developer or IT person on your team
- Data privacy or compliance matters (HIPAA, legal)
- You want unlimited automations at a flat cost
- You need custom API integrations
- You want full control over your automation infrastructure
What About Pricing at Scale?
This is where the differences really show. Say your business runs 10,000 automations per month (a mid-size service business with active lead gen, email sequences, and CRM updates can hit this easily).
Zapier: $49-69/month (Professional or Team plan). And if you go over 2,000 tasks, you are upgrading to the next tier or paying overages.
Make: $16/month on the Pro plan. Same 10,000 operations. You are paying roughly 75% less than Zapier for the same volume.
n8n (self-hosted): $5-20/month for server costs. Unlimited operations. At 10,000+ monthly automations, the savings add up to $600-800/year vs. Zapier.
The math is simple. Under 500 automations per month, the cost difference barely matters and Zapier’s ease of use wins. Once you cross 2,000/month, Make or n8n start saving you real money.
Common Automation Workflows We Build for Clients
Regardless of which platform you choose, these are the workflows that save small businesses the most time:
1. Lead capture to CRM. New form submission on your website automatically creates a contact in HubSpot or Salesforce, sends a welcome email, and notifies your sales team on Slack. Saves 30+ minutes per day.
Local service businesses get the most value - see AI for local services.
2. Appointment booking and follow-up. Client books through Calendly or Acuity, gets a confirmation email, a reminder 24 hours before, and a review request 48 hours after. Fully hands-off.
3. Invoice and payment tracking. New invoice in QuickBooks triggers a payment reminder sequence. When paid, it updates your project management tool and notifies the team.
4. Social media content scheduling. New blog post published automatically creates social media posts for LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter with appropriate formatting for each platform.
5. Review generation. After a service is completed, the client automatically receives a text or email asking for a Google review. This one workflow has helped our clients increase review volume by 300%.
Our Recommendation
For most small businesses in Southern California, we recommend starting with Make. It hits the sweet spot between power and affordability. You get complex workflow capability at a fraction of Zapier’s cost.
If your team genuinely cannot spare 2-3 hours to learn Make, start with Zapier. The premium you pay buys simplicity, and for some businesses, that trade-off makes sense.
n8n is the right call for healthcare practices, law firms, or any business where data needs to stay on premises. We have set it up for several compliance-sensitive clients and it works well once configured.
Not sure which fits your situation? We set up automation stacks for businesses every week, and the right answer depends entirely on your team, your tools, and your volume. Book a free strategy call and we will map it out together.
Ready to automate your business the right way? [Book Your Free Strategy Call] and we will build your first workflow together.
Want to see what AI can do for your business?
Book a free strategy session. We will identify your top 3 automation opportunities and give you a clear action plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which automation platform is cheapest for small businesses?
Make is typically the most affordable for small businesses. Its free tier includes 1,000 operations per month, and paid plans start around $9/month. Zapier's free tier is more limited, and n8n is free if you self-host but requires technical setup.
Can I switch from Zapier to Make or n8n later?
Yes, but there is no automatic migration tool. You will need to rebuild your workflows on the new platform. Starting with a documented list of your automations makes switching much easier.
Is n8n secure enough for business use?
Yes. Since n8n can be self-hosted, your data never leaves your own servers. This makes it a strong choice for businesses in healthcare, legal, or finance where data privacy is critical.
