TRANSMISSION_OPEN /n8n-vs-make-cost-analysis

n8n vs. Make.com: The 2026 Cost Analysis for Agencies

INFRASTRUCTURE ECONOMICS // READ_TIME: 4_MIN

We ran the math. If you execute more than 10k operations a month, Make.com is taxing your scale. Here is the breakdown.

The automation market lies to you about "ease of use" to hide the "cost of scale." In 2023, Make.com (formerly Integromat) was the logical step up from Zapier. In 2026, it is a trap for scaling agencies.

The Operation Count Trap

Make charges per operation. A complex client onboarding workflow might trigger 500 operations per run. If you onboard 10 clients a month, that's fine. If you onboard 100, your bill explodes.

> WARN: Cost_trajectory == EXPONENTIAL
> projected_overhead: +400% YoY

The n8n Advantage

n8n charges for the instance, not the execution. Whether you run 1 workflow or 10,000, your server cost remains flat (roughly $20-50/mo on DigitalOcean or Hetzner).

// FINAL_VERDICT

If you are a hobbyist, stay on Make. If you are a Systems Architect building for scale, you must self-host n8n.

Download Agency OS (n8n_v2)