n8n vs Make vs Zapier: which suits an Irish business?
An Irish business choosing between n8n, Make and Zapier should decide on two things: where the tool keeps your data and how it counts usage. As of September 2026, Zapier stores customer data in the United States and bills for each action step. Make lets you pick an EU data centre and bills for each module run. n8n Cloud is hosted in Frankfurt, priced in euro and bills for each run of a workflow, and n8n can also run on your own server.
Any of the three can be the right tool inside a business process automation project. Every figure here was checked on the vendor’s own page on 30 September 2026.
Zapier, Make and n8n pricing compared
Scroll the table sideways for the full detail
| Zapier | Make | n8n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry paid plan | Professional: $19.99 a month billed annually, 750 tasks | Core: listed at $9 a month, from 10,000 credits | Starter: €20 a month billed annually, 2,500 executions |
| Next plan up | Team: $69 a month billed annually, 2,000 tasks | Pro: listed at $16 a month | Pro: €50 a month billed annually, 10,000 executions |
| Free option | 100 tasks a month, one trigger and one action per Zap | 1,000 credits a month, two active scenarios | Community Edition, free to self-host |
| What is counted | Each action step that completes | Each module run, the trigger included | Each run of the whole workflow |
| Where data is stored | AWS US-East 1, United States | EU or US, chosen once | Frankfurt on n8n Cloud, or your own server |
Sources: Zapier pricing, Make pricing and n8n pricing. Zapier and Make list their prices in US dollars and n8n lists in euro. Zapier’s monthly price rises with the task tier you choose, and Make’s rises with the number of credits.
What does the same workflow cost on each tool?
The three units are different sizes, so the plan prices cannot be compared directly. A worked example shows the gap.
Take a website enquiry form that creates a contact in your CRM, posts a message to the team chat and adds a row to a spreadsheet. That is one trigger and three action steps. Say it runs 500 times a month.
- Zapier counts 1,500 tasks, because each completed action is a task and the trigger is free. That is twice the 750 tasks in the entry Professional tier, so you would pay for a higher tier.
- Make counts about 2,000 credits, one for the trigger and one for each action on every run, which fits inside the 10,000 credits that Core starts from.
- n8n Cloud counts 500 executions, inside Starter’s 2,500. If the workflow grew to ten steps it would still count 500.
The rule we take from this: the more steps a workflow has, the more per-run billing favours n8n, and the fewer it has, the less the unit matters. Steps that call an AI model change the sums again. Zapier says AI by Zapier steps use tasks according to the model tier you choose, and a Code step uses more than one task if its runtime is extended (Zapier task usage). Make says some AI apps use a varying number of credits based on the tokens processed (Make credits).
Where do Zapier, Make and n8n store your data?
Zapier stores customer data in AWS US-East 1 in the United States, and says region-specific data residency is not available unless otherwise agreed (Zapier security).
Make asks you to choose a US or EU data centre when you create your organisation. The location cannot be changed afterwards (Make organisations), so an Irish firm that wants EU hosting has to pick it at sign-up.
n8n Cloud stores data within the EU, on servers in Frankfurt (n8n pricing). Self-hosted n8n keeps workflow data wherever you install it, which can be a server in an EU region that your company controls.
Is Zapier GDPR compliant for an Irish business?
GDPR applies to how your business uses a tool, so no vendor can settle it for you. Two checks cover most of the ground.
- The contract. The Data Protection Commission says a controller and processor “must enter into a legally binding contract” governing the processing (DPC). Zapier publishes its data processing addendum. Read that document, or the equivalent from whichever vendor you choose, and keep a copy.
- The transfer. Data stored in the United States has left the EEA. The DPC’s guidance is that personal data can be transferred to US companies certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework without further safeguards (DPC). Zapier states it has self-certified under that framework (Zapier).
So an Irish business can use Zapier lawfully. The practical test is whether your own clients, contracts or sector require personal data to stay in the EU. If they do, that points to Make’s EU data centre, n8n Cloud or self-hosted n8n.
The workflow tool is one processor among several. Every app it connects handles the same personal data and needs the same two checks. This is a builder’s reading of the rules, and your data protection adviser has the final word.
When is self-hosted n8n worth the work?
Self-hosting is worth it when workflow data has to sit on infrastructure you control, or when run volumes make per-run billing expensive. n8n’s self-hosted edition is released under its Sustainable Use License, which allows use for your own internal business purposes (n8n licence).
The software has no subscription, but running it has a cost: a server, backups, security updates and a named person who sees failed runs. For two or three short workflows a cloud plan is usually cheaper once that time is counted.
Which tool fits which kind of business?
- Zapier fits a handful of short workflows between popular cloud apps, at low volume, in a business with no EU-residency requirement and a team that wants to edit the workflows.
- Make fits a business that wants EU hosting without running a server, and whose workflows have several routes through them.
- n8n Cloud fits long or frequent workflows, euro billing and EU hosting.
- Self-hosted n8n fits a business that needs the data on its own infrastructure and has someone to look after the server.
- Custom code fits a workflow that takes payments, holds customer records or sits inside your own product.
How Loco would approach the choice
We start with the process and leave the tool until later. Adam or Mark walks the workflow with the people who run it and lists every system it touches and the region each one processes in. We then estimate tasks, credits or executions against your own volumes before recommending a tool. If one Zapier or Make workflow your team can set up is enough, we say so.
Our own support inbox runs on the same pattern. Client support email is sorted by rules, and anything uncertain waits for a person.
The integration work we have published is custom code. Loco Digital built the ERP HEADtoHEAD booking engine on Stripe and WooCommerce in 2026. It is set up to bill each booking from the right company in its own currency, which is the kind of payment-carrying job we would keep out of a no-code tool.
Where a step needs a model to read or draft, see AI automation in Ireland; where a workflow ends in your ledger, see Xero, QuickBooks or Sage for automation.
