Automation
Zapier, Make and n8n are automation platforms that connect your apps and move data between them without code. Zapier is the simplest and dearest, from roughly USD 20 per month. Make is cheaper and more visual. n8n is open-source and self-hostable. For most Australian SMEs, start with Zapier or Make, then consider n8n once monthly task volumes exceed a few thousand.
Related service: Business Process Automation · All guides
The core difference is trade-off between ease of use and cost control: Zapier is the easiest to start with and the most expensive at scale, Make sits in the middle, and n8n is the cheapest to run but needs technical setup. All three do the same basic job. They watch for an event in one app, such as a new form submission or a paid invoice, then carry out steps in other apps.
Zapier has around 7,000 app connectors and the clearest interface. If you can describe the task in a sentence, you can usually build it. That simplicity is why it dominates the small-business market.
Make (formerly Integromat) uses a visual canvas where you draw the flow between apps. It handles branching logic, loops and data reshaping more cheaply than Zapier, so it suits multi-step workflows where the same trigger fans out into several actions.
n8n is different in kind. It is open-source, which means you can run it on your own server rather than paying per task. It also lets you drop in custom code where the visual tools run out of road. That flexibility comes with a cost: someone has to host it, update it and fix it when it breaks. For a business without in-house technical support, that someone is an external partner.
For low volumes Zapier or Make is cheapest in real terms, and n8n only wins once you are running high task volumes every month. The reason is how each one charges. At time of writing, Zapier bills per task, with paid plans from roughly USD 20 per month and rising sharply as tasks climb into the tens of thousands. Make also bills per operation but gives you far more operations for the same money, often three to five times as many.
n8n changes the maths. Its cloud plans start lower and its self-hosted version has no per-task fee at all. You pay for the server it runs on, which for most SMEs is around USD 5 to USD 20 per month. On paper that looks unbeatable.
The catch is the work around it. Self-hosting means someone sets up the server, secures it, keeps it patched and restores it when it falls over. If you pay a consultant to do that, the true monthly cost is no longer USD 10. A fair comparison for a typical SME looks like this:
The mistake owners make is choosing n8n for the low sticker price, then spending far more in time and consulting fees keeping it alive. Cheap software is not the same as cheap to run.
Choose n8n over Zapier when task volumes are high, when you need custom logic the simpler tools cannot express, or when data must stay on servers you control. Those three conditions cover most of the genuine reasons to self-host, and if none of them apply, Zapier or Make will serve you better.
High volume is the clearest case. Once you are processing many thousands of tasks a month, Zapier's per-task pricing becomes the largest line in your software budget. n8n removes that ceiling because the self-hosted version does not charge per task.
Custom logic is the second case. Some workflows need a step that no pre-built connector offers, or a calculation the visual tools handle awkwardly. n8n lets you write a short piece of code inside the flow, which keeps the whole process in one place instead of bolting on extra tools.
Data control is the third. If you handle sensitive customer or financial data and want it to stay within infrastructure you own, self-hosting n8n keeps it off a third party's servers. For businesses working toward stricter data handling, that matters.
What should not drive the decision is a preference for owning things or a fear of subscriptions. n8n is only cheaper once you count honestly. If your business has no technical support and runs modest volumes, Zapier's higher fee buys you reliability and time you would otherwise spend maintaining a server. We often recommend clients start on Zapier or Make to prove the workflow earns its keep, then move the heaviest flows to n8n later. Building the automation is the easy part. Keeping it running for three years is where the real cost sits.
The main risks are silent failures, key-person dependence and workflows that break when an app changes, and all three get worse when nobody owns the system after it is built. Automation is not set-and-forget. Connected apps update their interfaces, credentials expire, and a flow that ran fine for months can stop without warning.
Silent failure is the most damaging. An automation that quietly stops sending invoices or updating your CRM can run broken for weeks before anyone notices, and by then the data is a mess to untangle. Good builds include error alerts and logging so a failure surfaces the same day. Many DIY builds skip this because it is not the fun part.
Key-person dependence is the risk owners feel most. If one staff member built the automations in their own account and left, you may not even be able to log in, let alone change anything. That is the exact owner-dependence problem automation is meant to solve, recreated one layer down. Automations should live in a business account, be documented, and be understandable by more than one person.
This is why we treat automation as one step in a sequence, not a one-off project. Before building anything we run a Business Readiness Audit at $1,990 inc GST, fixed scope, with written findings credited toward any engagement within 90 days. It tells you which processes are worth automating and which are too messy to bother with yet. Automation and AI builds then typically run $8,000 to $25,000 + GST, with ongoing care retainers from $1,500 per month so the system keeps working after handover.
Decide by starting from the outcome you want and your team's technical capacity, not from the platform, because the right tool depends entirely on volume, complexity and who will maintain it. The platform is the last decision, not the first.
Work through it in order. First, define the process you want to remove from a person's day and estimate how often it runs. A handful of times a day points to Zapier or Make. Thousands of times a day points to n8n. Second, judge the complexity. Simple trigger-and-action flows suit Zapier. Multi-branch flows with data reshaping suit Make. Flows needing custom code suit n8n. Third, be honest about who maintains it. No technical support means a managed platform, full stop.
A sensible path for most Australian SMEs looks like this:
The platform choice matters far less than picking the right process to automate and building it so it survives without you. A well-chosen Zapier flow beats a badly scoped n8n build every time. If you are not sure which processes are worth automating, that is what the audit is for. It gives you a written plan before you spend anything on a build, so the platform decision is made on evidence rather than on which tool a salesperson pushed hardest.
FAQ
n8n is open-source and its self-hosted version has no per-task fee, but it is not free to run for a business. You pay for the server it runs on, roughly USD 5 to USD 20 per month, plus the time or consulting fees to set it up, secure it, patch it and fix it when it breaks. For a business without technical support, that hidden cost usually exceeds a Zapier subscription.
Zapier, Make and n8n all connect to common Australian business tools including Xero, MYOB, HubSpot and pipedrive, either through built-in connectors or via generic API steps. Zapier has the largest ready-made library at around 7,000 apps. Where a direct connector does not exist, all three can call an app's API directly, though that step is simpler to build on n8n and Make than on Zapier.
A small business can build simple automations itself on Zapier or Make, and for one or two low-risk flows that is often the right call. Hire a consultant when the flows touch money or customer data, when volumes are high, or when a failure would go unnoticed. The value is not the build, which is the easy part, but the error handling, documentation and maintenance that keep it running after launch.
Free, 3 minutes
Twelve questions on owner-dependence, documentation, data quality, customer concentration and management depth. You get your band and verdict on screen immediately. No email needed to see your result.
Reading about it is one thing. Three minutes tells you where your own business actually sits.
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$1,990 inc GST
Fixed price. Two weeks. Written scorecard and roadmap. Fee fully credited toward any engagement commenced within 90 days.
This guide is general. The Business Readiness Audit answers these questions for your business specifically.