# Make vs n8n 2026: Which Is Actually Cheaper (With Real Numbers)

> **Quick answer:** It depends on volume, and the result is counterintuitive. If you automate little (under ~10,000 operations a month), **Make is cheaper**: $9/mo against the $6.49/mo entry VPS at Hostinger, which renews at $11.99 and leaves the maintenance to you. Self-hosted n8n wins clearly from tens of thousands of executions upward, because its cost is flat while Make’s grows with usage. If you don’t know what Docker is, the answer is Make.
 

Almost every Make vs n8n comparison you’ll find ends the same way: “n8n is free, self-host it and save money.” It’s a half-truth that costs money. The n8n software is free, yes — but the server isn’t, the maintenance isn’t, and the server price you see advertised is not what you’ll pay in year two. We ran the full calculation with today’s pricing from all three providers involved, and the result is that **for a typical small business, self-hosting does not save money**. 

> 🔎 This article contains affiliate links. If you sign up through them we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. [Read our affiliate policy](/en/affiliate-disclosure/).
 

## What each one is, in one line
 

**Make** is a cloud tool for connecting apps to each other — when an invoice lands in your accounting software, send a WhatsApp and log it in a spreadsheet — without writing code. You pay a subscription based on how much you use it. 

**n8n** does the same thing, but you can also **download it and install it on your own server**. That version, the Community Edition, is free. They also sell their own cloud version, for people who want n8n without administering anything. 

The usual confusion is treating “n8n” as one thing. It’s three different options at very different prices, and comparing the wrong pair is what produces the wrong conclusion. 

## The real pricing, with the fine print
 

|  | Make | n8n Cloud | Self-hosted n8n |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Software cost | From **$9/mo** (Core plan, 10,000 credits) | From **€20/mo** (Starter, 2,500 executions) | **€0** |
| Server cost | Included | Included | **$6.49/mo** in year one… |
| Renewal price | $9/mo | €20/mo | **$11.99/mo** from year two |
| Who patches and backs up | They do | They do | **You do** |
| If it breaks on a Sunday | Their on-call | Their on-call | **You** |
| Ease for non-technical users | High | High | **Low**: needs Docker and a command line |
| What limits you | Credits consumed | Executions | Server resources |

 

*Pricing verified 6 September 2026 on the [Make](https://www.make.com/en/pricing), [n8n](https://n8n.io/pricing/) and [Hostinger](https://tumetodosaas.com/go/hostinger) websites. The VPS is the KVM 1 plan (1 vCPU, 4 GB RAM) on an annual term.* 

Look closely at the renewal row, because almost nobody shows it. That $6.49 server is an acquisition price on an annual contract: **it renews at $11.99/mo**, nearly double. Any savings calculation that applies the promotional price forever is inflated. 

## The calculation that decides it: how much you automate
 

Here’s the crux. Make’s cost **grows with usage**; your own server’s cost is **flat**. So there’s no absolute winner — there’s a crossover point. 

| Monthly volume | Make | Self-hosted n8n (year 2) | Winner |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ~1,000 operations | $0 (free plan) | $11.99 | **Make**, by a mile |
| ~10,000 operations | $9 | $11.99 | **Make** |
| ~40,000 operations | ~$29 (higher tier) | $11.99 | **n8n** |
| 100,000+ operations | Keeps climbing | $11.99 (or the next VPS up) | **n8n**, decisively |

 

The crossover sits somewhere between 10,000 and 40,000 operations a month. **Most small businesses don’t come close**: an automation triggered by every invoice, in a business issuing 200 invoices a month, burns a few hundred operations. At that level Make is free or nearly free. 

And there’s a cost that never appears in these tables: **your time**. Self-hosting means applying updates, watching the certificate doesn’t expire, running backups and verifying they still restore. If that takes two hours a month and your hour is worth €40, you’ve “saved” $12 to spend €80. 

## So when is self-hosting worth it?
 

It’s worth it — a lot — in four specific situations: 
1. **High volume.** Past tens of thousands of executions a month, Make’s consumption pricing climbs and flat cost wins.
2. **Data that can’t leave.** If you process medical records, case files or sensitive personal data, keeping everything on your own server simplifies compliance. In some sectors this argument is worth more than the price.
3. **You already have a server and someone to run it.** With a technical person already in the picture, the marginal cost is close to zero.
4. **You want to touch the engine.** n8n lets you run your own code and connect to things with no official integration.
 

If none of those four describe you, self-hosting means taking on a maintenance job in exchange for savings that don’t exist. 

## If you go with each one
 

**If you go with Make**, the $9 Core plan is plenty for a small business, and the free 1,000-operation tier is enough to test properly before paying anything. We walk through a real case step by step in [automating recurring invoices with Make](/en/automate-recurring-invoices-make/), and it fits into the [minimum viable freelancer stack](/en/freelancer-tech-stack-spain/). 

👉 [Try Make for free](https://tumetodosaas.com/go/make) 

**If you go with self-hosted n8n**, you need a VPS. 4 GB of RAM is comfortable for n8n alone; if you’re also running a language model locally, go to 8 GB or more. Hostinger ships a one-click template with Docker already set up, which removes the ugly part of the install. We compare providers in [Hostinger vs SiteGround](/en/hostinger-vs-siteground-2026/). 

👉 [See Hostinger VPS plans](https://tumetodosaas.com/go/hostinger) 

**If you want n8n without administering anything**, their Cloud Starter plan is €20/mo for 2,500 executions. Note that’s considerably fewer executions than the 10,000 credits in Make’s $9 plan. For the same money, Make delivers more unless you specifically need something n8n does. 

## Our verdict
 

**For most of the businesses that read this site — law firms, clinics, estate agents, shops — Make.** Not because it’s better technology, but because the real volume doesn’t justify building and maintaining a server, and because the day something breaks you’ll have nobody to call. 

**Self-hosted n8n** is the right call if you have high volume, sensitive data that shouldn’t leave the building, or a technical person already running servers. In that scenario the savings are real and large. 

We don’t accept “it’s free” as an argument. The software is; the complete system isn’t. 

If you want to see what else you could self-host for the same effort — scheduling, CRM, customer support, document signing — we keep a [directory of open-source projects](/en/tools/ai-directory/) with the RAM each one needs and whether it is still maintained. 

## FAQ
 

**Is n8n really free?** The Community Edition software is, with no limit on workflows or users. What you pay for is the server it runs on and the time to maintain it. 

**What’s the minimum server for n8n?** 4 GB of RAM is enough for n8n alone. At Hostinger the KVM 1 plan is $6.49/mo on an annual term, renewing at $11.99/mo. 

**Can I migrate from Make to n8n later?** Yes, but scenarios don’t import: you rebuild each automation by hand. Budget for that work before switching to save a few euros. 

**Which is better for AI?** n8n has the edge if you want to use models running on your own server, because the model and the automation live on the same machine. For calling the usual paid APIs, both are fine. 

**What if I don’t know what Docker is?** Then the answer is Make, no further discussion. Installing n8n is the easy part; the problem arrives the day it breaks and needs diagnosing. 

*🔎 This article contains affiliate links to Make and Hostinger. [Read our affiliate policy](/en/affiliate-disclosure/).*