iPaaS Workflow Cost Calculator
Compare exact monthly costs between n8n Cloud, Make.com, and Self-Hosting.
Execution Volume
*Make.com pricing based on Core plan tiers ($10.59 to $188). n8n Cloud pricing based on standard Starter/Pro tiers (€20 to €120 converted to USD). Make charges per node operation; n8n charges per workflow execution.
Stop guessing iPaaS pricing. Paste your n8n workflow JSON to instantly calculate exact monthly costs for n8n Cloud, Make.com, and Self-Hosted n8n servers.
The single most confusing aspect of choosing an automation platform is figuring out the pricing model. You can build the exact same automated workflow in Make.com and n8n, but your monthly bill could be $29 on one platform and $144 on the other.
This discrepancy happens because the two companies use entirely different billing mathematics.
If you are an automation engineer trying to budget for a client project, stop guessing. Paste your raw n8n workflow JSON into our free calculator above. We will instantly parse the node count, factor in your execution volume, and calculate the exact monthly cost across Make.com, n8n Cloud, and a self-hosted VPS.
Make.com "Operations" vs. n8n "Executions"
To understand your automation bill, you must understand the difference between an Operation and an Execution.
How Make.com Charges (Operations)
Make.com charges you for every single step (node) that runs in a workflow. If you have a workflow with 1 Trigger, 1 Filter, 2 HTTP requests, and 1 Slack notification, that is 5 nodes. If that workflow triggers 1,000 times a month, Make.com will bill you for 5,000 Operations.
If your workflow uses an "Iterator" to process an array of 100 items, Make.com will charge you 100 operations for every single node inside that loop. This is why Make.com is incredibly cheap for simple workflows, but astronomically expensive for complex data engineering.
How n8n Cloud Charges (Executions)
n8n Cloud flips the model entirely. They charge you for the Workflow Execution. It does not matter if your n8n workflow has 2 nodes or 150 nodes. It does not matter if you use an iterator to process an array of 500 items. If the workflow triggers successfully, n8n charges you 1 Execution.
This makes n8n Cloud the absolute winner for massive, complex, node-heavy workflows.
The Polling Tax: Why Make.com Punishes Scheduled Workflows
Look at the "Scheduled Polling" toggle in our calculator above. This is the silent budget killer in RevOps.
Not all APIs support instant webhooks. If you want to connect a legacy ERP system to your CRM, you have to build a "Polling" workflow. This means you tell the automation platform: "Run every 5 minutes, ask the API if there is new data. If yes, process it. If no, do nothing."
Running a workflow every 5 minutes equals 8,640 runs per month.
- In Make.com: Even if the API returns zero new data, Make.com still executes the Trigger node 8,640 times. You will burn through an entire $10.59/mo subscription just asking an empty API for data.
- In n8n Cloud: Because n8n charges per execution, running an empty poll 8,640 times would instantly bankrupt your account. Thankfully, n8n has a built-in safety feature: Executions that result in no data (empty triggers) do not count against your n8n Cloud quota.
Note: Our calculator above assumes standard executions that return data, so if you toggle Polling "On", it will add those runs to both platforms' cost estimates to show you the worst-case scenario.
When n8n Cloud is Actually More Expensive Than Make.com
You might look at n8n's "unlimited nodes per execution" model and assume it is always cheaper. This is false.
n8n Cloud is significantly more expensive than Make.com when you have a massive volume of very small workflows.
If you have a simple 2-node workflow (Webhook Trigger -> Slack Notification) that fires 40,000 times a month:
- Make.com Cost: 80,000 Operations = $29/month.
- n8n Cloud Cost: 40,000 Executions = $144/month (Pro Tier).
For high-frequency, low-complexity routing (like catching Shopify orders and sending them to a Google Sheet), Make.com will win the pricing war every single time.
The Hidden Costs of Self-Hosting n8n
The third box on our calculator almost always says $20/month. Because n8n offers an open-source "Community Edition," you can bypass both pricing models entirely by renting a Virtual Private Server (VPS) from Hetzner or DigitalOcean and running n8n via Docker.
With a self-hosted instance, you get unlimited Executions and unlimited Operations. However, you must factor in the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO):
- Server Upkeep: You are responsible for upgrading the Docker image when n8n releases security patches.
- Database Management: If you process 50,000 executions a month, your PostgreSQL execution logs will fill up your $20/mo server's hard drive in weeks, crashing the platform.
- No Enterprise Features: The free self-hosted version lacks native User Management, SAML/SSO, and Log Streaming—features required by enterprise IT departments.
Why we have built this tool?
The biggest point of friction in the iPaaS industry: "Operations" vs. "Executions."
- Make.com charges every time a single node fires.
- n8n charges every time a whole workflow fires, regardless of how many nodes it has.
Because of this, an identical workflow could cost $10 on Make.com and $140 on n8n Cloud—or vice versa.
By building a tool that actually parses your raw n8n JSON to count the nodes and does the math for you, we have create an industry "cost preview".
Planning a massive automation migration? Don't get locked into the wrong pricing tier. Download our free matrix guide on when to use Make.com for routing, n8n Cloud for ETL, and Self-Hosted n8n for enterprise scale.