Make cheapest cloud entry entry price ~$9/mocheapest
pricing model per-operation
free tier 1,000 ops/mo
self-host No
mcp Both
automation platforms · comparison
Best automation platforms (2026)
Short answer: Make is the cheapest cloud entry (from ~$9/mo, per-operation), n8n is cheapest at scale and the only mainstream pick you can self-host for free, Zapier has the widest app coverage (8,000+ integrations) but bills per task, and Gumloop is built for data-heavy scraping and enrichment. These are automation platforms, not agent builders: they connect apps and run workflows (and increasingly host AI steps), so the real fork is pricing model and self-host. The catch: operations, tasks, executions and credits don't compare one to one, and multi-step flows multiply the count fast. Every plan below is translated into plain math and checked against the vendor's live page.
cheapest entryMake~$9/mo · per-operation
scale + self-hostn8nfree self-hosted
widest integrationsZapier8,000+ apps
- Make · ~$9/mo · cheapest cloud entry
- Zapier · ~$20/mo · widest app coverage
- n8n · €20/mo · scale + self-host
- Gumloop · $37/mo · biggest free tier
Pricing decoded and verified 2026-05-30 against each vendor's live page; volatile figures flagged "verify live".
Dirr is reader-supported. If you sign up through a link here we may earn a commission. It never changes the data or the order. Numbers come from each vendor's live pricing page; volatile ones are marked verify live.
Side by side
Every platform, compared down each row. The best cell per row is marked.
Makecheapest cloud entry
Zapierwidest app coverage
n8nscale + self-host
Gumloopbiggest free tierentry price
~$9/mocheapest
~$20/moverify live
€20/mo
$37/mo
pricing model
per-operation
per-task
per-execution
per-credit
free tier
1,000 ops/mo
100 tasks/mo
self-host free
5,000 credits/momost
self-host
No
No
Yes
No
mcp
Both
Both
Both
Both
Make cheapest cloud entry Zapier widest app coverage entry price ~$20/moverify live
pricing model per-task
free tier 100 tasks/mo
self-host No
mcp Both
n8n scale + self-host entry price €20/mo
pricing model per-execution
free tier self-host free
self-host Yes
mcp Both
Gumloop biggest free tier entry price $37/mo
pricing model per-credit
free tier 5,000 credits/momost
self-host No
mcp Both
// scraped weekly · every cell carries source and date · volatile cells flagged verify live
Real cost, decoded
The one-line gotcha behind each entry price.
Make~$9/moOperations are counted per module, not per scenario, and AI/code modules cost several ops each. A 10-module flow burns 10+ ops every trigger. Full Make pricing →
Zapier~$20/moYou pay per task, meaning per successful action step, not per Zap run, so one multi-step Zap multiplies task usage fast. The headline ~$20/mo only buys 750 tasks and the bill scales steeply with volume. AI features (Zapier Agents at ~$33/mo, Chatbots at ~$13/mo) are separate paid add-ons. Full Zapier pricing →
n8n€20/moBilled per full workflow run, not per step. A 50-step workflow is one execution. Cloud list prices are in EUR, and the cheap path is self-hosting. Full n8n pricing →
Gumloop$37/moPer-node rates vary enormously (standard AI 2, advanced 20, enrichment 60), and loop/bulk nodes multiply by item count, so a data-heavy flow drains the pool fast. Full Gumloop pricing →
Questions
What is the cheapest automation platform?
Make has the lowest paid cloud entry (~$9-12/mo for 10,000 operations). n8n is free and unmetered if you self-host its Community Edition. Zapier starts around $20/mo for 750 tasks, and Gumloop is credit-based with a free tier.
Which automation platforms can you self-host?
n8n (Community Edition) is the main self-hostable pick, free and unmetered on your own server. Make, Zapier and Gumloop are cloud-only.
Make vs Zapier vs n8n: which should I use?
Make is the cheapest visual cloud builder, billed per operation. Zapier has the widest app coverage (8,000+ integrations) but bills per task and gets expensive at volume. n8n is cheapest at scale and the only one you can self-host for free. Gumloop suits data-heavy scraping and enrichment.
How is automation pricing counted?
It varies and does not compare one to one: Make bills per operation (each module step), Zapier per task (each successful action), n8n per execution, and Gumloop per credit. Multi-step flows multiply the count fast, which is why we translate each plan into plain math.