You have repetitive workflows that need automating. The question is: do you use Make.com (visual, cloud) or n8n (code-friendly, self-hostable)?
We’ve built production automations with both. Here’s what matters.
TL;DR
| Make.com | n8n | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $9-29/mo | Free self-hosted / $24 cloud |
| Self-host | ❌ | ✅ |
| Code nodes | Limited | Full JS/Python |
| Ease of use | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Integrations | 1500+ | 400+ |
| Best for | Non-devs, fast setup | Developers, custom logic |
Make.com — Visual Power
Make’s scenario builder is the most intuitive automation UI available. Drag modules, connect them, done.
Best use cases:
- Connecting SaaS tools (Notion → Slack → Google Sheets)
- Marketing automation (new lead → email sequence → CRM)
- Anything where you need 1500+ app integrations
The catch: You’re locked into Make’s cloud. If they go down, your automations stop. And at scale, costs add up.
👉 Try Make.com free — 1000 operations/mo included (affiliate)
n8n — The Developer’s Choice
n8n is open-source and self-hostable. Deploy on a $5 VPS and run unlimited automations for free. And crucially — you can write real JavaScript in any node.
// n8n Code node — full JS access
const items = $input.all();
return items.map(item => ({
json: {
...item.json,
slug: item.json.title.toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '-'),
processed_at: new Date().toISOString()
}
}));
Best use cases:
- AI pipelines (call Claude API → process response → publish to WordPress)
- Custom business logic that Make can’t express
- When you want zero vendor lock-in
Self-host on Railway:
# One-click Railway deploy — $5/mo
# Or Docker:
docker run -it --rm --name n8n -p 5678:5678 n8nio/n8n
Our Recommendation
New to automation or non-technical team: Make.com — fastest time to working automation.
Developer building AI pipelines or wanting control: n8n self-hosted — free, powerful, yours.
Tested June 2026. Make.com link is affiliate — thanks for supporting DevVault!