n8n vs Zapier vs Make: which suits a small UK team?

n8n, Zapier, Make and Power Automate at a glance

Each vendor’s own pages were read on 26 October 2026. Plans change, so check them before you choose.

Zapier: the quickest start

Zapier is built around a trigger and actions: when something happens in one app, do something in another. You set it up by picking apps from a list and filling in a form, which makes it the easiest of the four to get going.

It counts use in tasks: an action Zapier completes uses one, and some use more, while triggers and built-in steps such as Filter and Formatter do not count. The free plan allows 100 tasks a month and two-step automations only.

Choose it when speed matters more than control, and your apps are common, well-known services.

Make: visual, with more branching

Make shows each automation as a map of connected steps, so you can see where it splits, loops and joins. That makes it easier to follow when the path depends on the details, such as sending one kind of enquiry to sales and another to accounts.

It counts use in credits: each action uses credits, most of them one, and the free plan gives 1,000 a month.

Choose it when the steps branch, and someone on the team is happy to think in flowcharts.

n8n: run it yourself if you want to

n8n can be used as n8n Cloud, or self-hosted on a server you control; n8n says self-hosting needs technical knowledge to install and configure. On n8n Cloud, use is counted in executions, and an execution is a single run of a whole workflow, however many steps it has.

n8n has its own Sustainable Use License, so read it before you rely on it. Its licence FAQ allows using n8n to help run your own business, and does not allow hosting it as a service in which your clients build their own workflows.

Choose it when you want control over where your workflows run, and you have someone who can look after a server.

Power Automate: if you live in Microsoft 365

Power Automate is Microsoft’s automation tool. It fits most naturally where the work already sits in Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and Excel.

Microsoft licenses it in two main ways: Power Automate Premium per user, and Power Automate Process per bot, with a hosted version that includes a virtual machine run by Microsoft. A Microsoft 365 work account includes basic cloud flows with standard connectors at no cost (Microsoft Learn), and the paid plans have a 30-day free trial.

Choose it when your team already works in Microsoft 365 and whoever looks after your IT knows it.

Which one should you choose? Four questions

1. Where do your apps and data live? If most of it is in Microsoft 365, start with Power Automate; if it is spread across many online apps, look at Zapier or Make.
2. Who fixes it when it breaks? Zapier and Make are the easiest to hand to a colleague who does not code; self-hosted n8n needs someone who can look after a server.
3. How many runs a month? Work out roughly how often the task happens, then compare that with each tool’s allowances on its own website.
4. Must it run on a server you control? If so, look at n8n’s self-hosted version first.

If two tools fit, choose the one the person who will look after it finds easiest. The best tool is the one that still works in six months.

A first workflow to build on any of them

A good first build works in all four tools and takes the same shape:

• Someone sends an enquiry through the form on your website.
• The details become a new row in a shared spreadsheet.
• A named person gets an email alert with the key details, and replies themselves.

It is small, easy to check and useful from the first day. Where a system has no way in for these tools, browser automation can fill the gap: see stop re-typing into client portals. To plan it on a single page, see your first automation.