The verdict in three sentences
A 25-person services firm in Dublin running 60,000 automated tasks a month is now paying around 700 EUR a month to Zapier, over 25,000 EUR across three years. Make often cuts that bill by half or two thirds with the same approach, while self-hosted n8n costs 20 to 60 EUR a month in server fees, plus 3,500 to 9,000 EUR of setup and 2 to 4 hours of monthly maintenance. Over three years Make is usually cheapest at flat volume, but n8n wins as soon as volumes grow or clients demand that data stays in the EU under your control.
Why the Zapier bill keeps climbing
Zapier bills per task: every successful action in a Zap counts. A flow that creates a CRM contact, sends an email, updates a sheet and posts to Slack consumes four tasks per trigger. At 15,000 triggers a month you reach 60,000 tasks and the upper tiers of Team or Enterprise. Adding one more step to a high-volume Zap can add 100 to 200 EUR a month without anyone noticing.
| Tool (2026 ballpark) | Billing model | Monthly cost for 60,000 tasks | Data location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zapier Team | per task, tiered | 300 to 900 EUR, here about 700 EUR | Mainly United States |
| Make Pro or Teams | per operation | 100 to 400 EUR, here about 250 EUR | EU option available |
| n8n Cloud | per workflow execution | 50 to 250 EUR | EU (Germany) |
| Self-hosted n8n | server only | 20 to 60 EUR | Your choice, e.g. Dublin region |
| Self-hosted n8n setup | one-off | 3,500 to 9,000 EUR | |
| Self-hosted n8n maintenance | in-house or contractor | 2 to 4 h per month |
Note that a Zapier task and a Make operation are not the same unit: Make counts every module run, filters and routers included. 60,000 Zapier tasks often equal 100,000 to 150,000 Make operations, so audit your real scenarios before comparing.
Three-year total cost
| Item over 36 months | Zapier | Make | Self-hosted n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription or server | 25,200 EUR | 9,000 EUR | 1,440 EUR (40 EUR a month) |
| Scenario migration | 0 EUR | 2,000 to 4,000 EUR | included in setup |
| Setup (server, security, backups) | 0 EUR | 0 EUR | 6,000 EUR |
| Maintenance (3 h a month at 90 EUR) | negligible | negligible | 9,720 EUR |
| Total at flat volume | 25,200 EUR | 11,000 to 13,000 EUR | 17,160 EUR |
| Total if volume doubles in year 2 | about 40,000 EUR | about 17,000 EUR | about 17,200 EUR |
The table is clear. At stable volume, Make is the cheapest option. If the business grows, or a few flows are heavy (catalogue sync, file processing, AI calls), n8n becomes competitive because its cost does not depend on executions.
GDPR, data residency and in-house skills
Dublin is the EU home of many US tech firms, and Irish B2B buyers increasingly send security questionnaires asking where automation data is processed and logged. Self-hosted n8n on an AWS or Azure Dublin region, or on a European provider, keeps payloads and logs inside the EU and simplifies your Article 30 records and Data Protection Commission questions.
The trade-off is real: someone has to update n8n, watch failed executions, manage backups and credentials. Without a technical owner in-house, budget for an external maintenance contract. A poorly maintained n8n means an invoicing flow that silently stops on a Friday night.
For heavier CRM to ERP work, see our article on Salesforce and SAP Business One and our automation and AI services.
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Aoife, managing director of a B2B services firm in Dublin (25 staff), pays 700 EUR a month to Zapier for 60,000 tasks. A new enterprise client requires EU-controlled data processing.
- Zapier over 3 years: 700 EUR × 36 = 25,200 EUR.
- Self-hosted n8n: 6,000 EUR setup, 40 EUR a month server and 3 h maintenance at 90 EUR: 6,000 + 1,440 + 9,720 = 17,160 EUR.
- Saving over 3 years: 8,040 EUR, or 32 %, plus the compliance her client asked for.
- If volume rises to 120,000 tasks in year 2, the saving exceeds 22,000 EUR over the period, with n8n costs barely moving.
FAQ
Can we move from Zapier to n8n without rebuilding everything?
No, workflows must be recreated, but the logic transfers well. Expect 1 to 3 hours per simple Zap and 2 to 4 weeks for about thirty flows.
Is Make GDPR compliant?
Make offers EU hosting and a data processing agreement, which is enough for many SMEs. For sensitive data or strict residency requirements, self-hosted n8n is easier to justify.
What server does n8n need?
A 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM server at 20 to 60 EUR a month comfortably handles 60,000 to 200,000 monthly executions, with PostgreSQL and daily backups.
Who maintains n8n if we have no developer?
A contractor can handle updates, monitoring and failed-flow fixes, averaging 2 to 4 hours a month. The fee depends on how many flows are business-critical.
Should we keep Zapier for some flows?
Sometimes yes: a few low-volume flows to niche apps can stay on an entry-level Zapier plan at about 20 to 70 EUR a month.
Let's scope your project. We audit your Zapier or Make scenarios, price the real three-year cost and plan a migration in 2 to 4 weeks. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
