n8n vs Zapier vs Make: which one an Australian business should actually use.

Which is better: n8n, Zapier or Make?

For most small Australian businesses, Zapier is the easiest to start with, Make is the cheapest for multi-step jobs, and n8n is the best value once you run a lot of automations or want control over where your data lives. If your business runs on Microsoft 365, look at Power Automate first.

All three do the same basic job: when something happens in one app, do something in another. A form is filled in, so a contact is created in your CRM and a quote is drafted. An invoice is paid in Xero, so the job is marked complete. The differences are in how they charge, how much technical skill they assume, and where they run.

We build automations on all of these for clients, and we pick the tool last. The first questions are always what the job is, which systems it touches, and who will look after it when we are gone.

How much do n8n, Zapier and Make cost in Australia?

Zapier's paid plans start at US$19.99 a month billed yearly, about A$28. Make's paid plans start at roughly US$9 to US$12 a month, about A$13 to A$17. n8n Cloud starts at €20 a month billed yearly, about A$32, and the self-hosted Community edition is free. Power Automate Premium is A$22.40 a user a month.

Only Microsoft shows Australian dollars. Zapier sets prices in US dollars and converts at the exchange rate on the day you pay. n8n prices in euros. The Australian figures below are our conversions at the 28 October 2026 rate, so treat them as a guide, not a quote.

Sources: Zapier pricing, n8n pricing, Make's own plan comparison and Microsoft's Australian Power Automate pricing.

Why is the cheapest plan not always the cheapest?

Because each tool counts usage differently. Zapier charges for every action step that runs, Make charges a credit for most steps, and n8n charges once per workflow run no matter how many steps it has. A ten-step job costs ten times more to run on Zapier than a one-step job, but the same on n8n.

Zapier does not count triggers, filters or failed steps, which is fair. But a typical business job is not one step. Take a new enquiry: create the contact, add a deal, send a text, notify the team, log it in a spreadsheet. That is five tasks every time on Zapier. At 300 enquiries a month you have used 1,500 tasks, which is double the starting plan and the next price tier up.

On n8n the same job is 300 executions, because n8n counts a whole workflow run as one execution. Make sits in between: most steps cost one credit, but 10,000 credits a month goes a long way for a small business.

So the rough rule: few, simple automations, Zapier is fine. Many automations with lots of steps, Make or n8n will cost a fraction as much.

What is n8n, and do you need to be technical to use it?

n8n is a workflow automation tool you can run on n8n's cloud or on your own server. It is the most flexible of the three and the best at AI steps, but it assumes more technical comfort. Most owners can build simple flows in it; self-hosting it properly is a job for someone technical.

n8n is the most searched of the three in Australia by a long way, and it is popular for a reason. You can drop in your own code when a built-in step does not exist, call any app with an API, and chain AI steps, like reading an email and deciding what kind of request it is, into a normal workflow.

The free Community edition is the real draw. Run it on a small server and you pay for the server, not per run. The catch is that someone has to keep that server patched, backed up and running. The Community edition also leaves out single sign-on, shared credentials, projects and version control, which matter once more than one person is building.

Is Zapier worth it for a small business?

Yes, if you want something working this afternoon and you only need a handful of simple automations. Zapier has the biggest app library and the gentlest learning curve. It gets expensive fast once your automations have many steps or run hundreds of times a month.

Zapier is where most owners start, and that is not a mistake. It connects to almost everything, including Xero, and the editor reads like plain English. For a sole trader or a five-person office automating three or four things, the starting plan is often all you need.

Where it hurts is scale and complexity. Branching logic, loops over a list of line items, or anything that needs a bit of code is possible but clumsy, and every extra step adds to the bill.

What is Make.com, and who is it for?

Make is a visual automation tool where you build workflows as a map of connected bubbles. It handles complex, branching jobs better than Zapier and costs less per step. It suits a business with someone patient and detail-minded who will own the automations, without needing a developer.

Make sits in the middle on difficulty. It is more powerful than Zapier and easier than n8n, and the visual map makes it easy to see what a workflow does at a glance. It has a well-maintained Xero integration, which matters for most of the businesses we talk to. It is cloud only, so there is no self-hosted option.

Where is my data stored with n8n, Zapier and Make?

Zapier stores data in the United States. Make stores it in the US or the EU, chosen when you set up your account. n8n Cloud stores it in Frankfurt, Germany, while self-hosted n8n stores it wherever you run it, including an Australian server. Power Automate can run in an Australian region.

Sources: Zapier's data privacy overview, Make's help centre on organisations, n8n's pricing FAQ and Microsoft's Power Automate regions page.

For a lot of businesses this does not matter much. For anyone handling health, NDIS, legal, financial advice or defence data, it decides the tool before price does. Ask where the data is allowed to go first, then shortlist.

Should I use Power Automate instead?

If your business already runs on Microsoft 365, probably yes. Basic Power Automate with standard connectors comes with work accounts at no extra cost, it can keep data in Australia, and your IT person already manages the accounts. Premium connectors, including Xero, need a paid licence.

Power Automate is clunkier to build in than Make or Zapier, and it is at its best inside Microsoft: Outlook, SharePoint, Teams, Excel. Reach outside that and you often hit premium connectors. Xero, for example, connects through a third-party premium connector with its own subscription on top. Our guide to Power Automate for small business goes further into what the free version covers.

Which automation tool should my business pick?

Pick by your systems and who will look after it, not by feature lists. Microsoft 365 shop: Power Automate. A few simple jobs and no technical staff: Zapier. Many multi-step jobs and a detail-minded owner: Make. High volume, AI steps, or data that must stay in Australia: n8n, self-hosted.

• You live in Outlook, Teams and SharePoint. Start with Power Automate. You may already own most of it. See how we approach Power Automate builds.
• Three or four simple jobs, nobody technical. Zapier. Pay for the convenience and stop there.
• Lots of jobs with branching and line items. Make. Cheaper per step, and the visual map helps whoever inherits it.
• High volume, AI in the middle, or strict data rules. n8n. Self-host it in Australia if the data has to stay here, and budget for someone to maintain it.
• Mostly about Xero. Check what Xero's own app marketplace already does before building anything. Our Xero integrations guide covers the common ones.

Does the tool matter as much as people think?

Less than you would expect. Automations fail because the process behind them was never written down, nobody owns them when they break, or the software at one end has no way to connect. Any of these tools will do the job well if those three things are sorted first.

The most common question on our sales calls is "can it connect to my software?". Usually the answer is yes. Sometimes it is no, because the software has no public API, and no automation platform can fix that. Check before you pay for anything.

The second thing we see is people reaching for AI when plain automation would do. Moving a field from a form into Xero does not need AI. Deciding whether an email is a complaint or a quote request does. Keeping those separate makes everything cheaper, faster and easier to explain to a client or an auditor.

That is the real work in connecting your business systems: deciding what moves where, who owns it, and what happens when it breaks. Choosing between n8n, Zapier and Make is the last ten minutes of that conversation.