Use the same workflow to compare Make and n8n: one inquiry arrives, gets saved, reaches the right office and triggers a notification. Then add a retry and a failed destination.
The useful comparison is what that complete workflow costs and how easily your team can recover it. Counting only incoming inquiries misses part of the bill and part of the work.
Compare the billing units
Make publishes credit-based plans. Its pricing page explains standard module actions and separate consumption for features such as code execution. Do not assume that every AI step consumes one credit. n8n prices its plans around workflow executions, with plan-specific limits and features. A workflow execution and a Make credit are different units. Make pricing and n8n pricing explain their current definitions.
Model a representative month before choosing: inquiries received, actions per inquiry, branches, retries, scheduled checks and external API charges. Run a small sample and compare the measured consumption to your estimate. Annual billing discounts should be separated from a monthly commitment.
Test one real workflow
For an agency quote request, a useful pilot is: validate the request, route it to the correct office, save it and notify a responsible person. Use test details, not customer records. Add a duplicate submission and an unavailable destination to the pilot.
Ask the person responsible for the system to find the failed run, explain the error and recover it. An interface that is easy to demonstrate is not necessarily easy for your team to operate.
Self-hosting changes the responsibilities
n8n provides a self-hosted option under its Sustainable Use License. It is source-available with restrictions, rather than unrestricted open-source software. Check the intended use against the license documentation.
Self-hosting means someone owns updates, credentials, backups, monitoring and recovery. A low server bill does not include that work. Hosted and self-hosted systems both need appropriate access controls; neither choice establishes compliance by itself.
When custom development deserves a quote
Consider a custom integration when the necessary workflow cannot be expressed reliably in the available tools, or when a documented cost model supports the maintenance commitment. Include implementation, operational support and changes to connected APIs. Do not choose custom code solely because a short demonstration looks inexpensive.
For a website project, bring the existing tools and the desired handoff to the scope conversation. We confirm available access before promising an integration.
