CentriWebThe main Zapier alternatives are Make, n8n (in its cloud or self-hosted form), Microsoft Power Automate for businesses already on Microsoft 365, the workflows built into your CRM, and a system built and looked after for you. Which one is cheaper for you turns on how many steps your workflows have, how often they run, and who will maintain them, so this guide groups the options by who does the upkeep.
A disclosure: CentriWeb builds most client automations in n8n, which is one of the options below. All plans, prices and limits come from each vendor’s own pages as at November 2026. Check their pages for current prices.
First, check whether Zapier itself can cost less
A climbing bill is often a counting problem, and fixing it can be quicker than moving every workflow. Zapier’s help page on task usage says triggers, Filter, Paths and Formatter steps do not use tasks, and neither do failed actions. Successful action steps do. Before you switch, look for these:
- Zaps that act on everything. A filter at the start that stops irrelevant records costs nothing and can cut tasks on every run.
- Monthly billing. On Zapier’s pricing page, the 750 task Professional tier is $19.99 a month billed annually and $29.99 billed monthly. If your use is steady, annual billing costs less.
- Overage on a monthly plan. With pay-per-task on, extra tasks are charged at 2.5 times the base task rate on monthly plans and 1.25 times on annual plans. Repeated overage usually means the next tier is cheaper.
- Zaps nobody uses. Old automations keep running long after the reason for them has gone.
The page shows bare “$” amounts and bills in other currencies converted on the payment date, so confirm the currency you will pay in. Our Zapier pricing guide walks through counting your tasks.
Zapier alternatives compared
| Option | What it is | How it charges | Who maintains it | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRM workflows | Automations inside the CRM you already pay for | Usually part of the CRM plan | You or your team | Follow-ups and tasks that stay inside the CRM |
| Power Automate | Microsoft’s automation tool | Per user or per flow licence | You or your team | Businesses on Microsoft 365 |
| Make | Visual cloud automation | Credits, most modules use one | Someone comfortable with logic | Branching flows and data reshaping |
| n8n Cloud | Visual automation hosted by n8n | Executions, one per full run | Someone technical | Long, frequent workflows |
| Self-hosted n8n | n8n on your own server | Free licence; you pay for the server and upkeep | A technical person or partner | High volume, control over data location |
| Built for you | Automations designed and looked after by a partner | Build and support fees | The partner | Workflows that carry revenue |
Options you maintain inside tools you already pay for
Your CRM’s built-in workflows
Most CRMs can send follow-ups, create tasks, move deals and send reminders without a separate tool. If a Zap only moves data from one part of your CRM to another, or sends an email the CRM could send, it may be paying tasks for something you already own. Fewer tools also means fewer places for things to break.
Microsoft Power Automate
If your business runs on Microsoft 365, you may already have some Power Automate rights. Microsoft’s licensing documentation says Microsoft 365 licences allow cloud flows with standard connectors, with a daily limit of 6,000 actions per user, and do not include premium connectors. Microsoft’s pricing page lists Power Automate Premium at $15.00 per user a month, paid yearly, for premium connectors and desktop automation. That page also notes the prices are for marketing purposes and may not match actual list price, so confirm yours. Our Power Automate vs Zapier comparison goes through it.
Self-serve cloud tools: Make and n8n Cloud
Make
Make’s pricing page says most actions use one credit, including reading from an app, searching, creating and updating records, and transforming data. Routers and error handlers do not. The Free plan has 1,000 credits a month. Paid plan prices did not load when we opened the page, so check Core, Pro and Teams there. Make suits a business whose workflows branch and loop, with someone who likes working through logic. The Make vs Zapier comparison has a worked example.
n8n Cloud
n8n’s pricing page charges by execution: one run of a whole workflow, however many steps it has. When we opened it, the page showed Starter at 20€ a month with 2,500 executions and Pro at 50€ a month with 10,000, both billed annually. It showed euro amounts for us, and the currency may differ by where you view it from, so confirm it there. The page says hitting the execution quota does not stop workflows, and data on n8n’s hosted plans is stored in Frankfurt, Germany.
Per-run pricing helps most when workflows are long. A twelve-step workflow is twelve tasks a run in Zapier and one execution in n8n. It suits less when the person maintaining it is not technical, because n8n expects comfort with data formats and the odd bit of code. Our n8n vs Zapier comparison covers the trade-off in more detail.
Self-hosted: n8n on your own server
n8n’s community edition is free to self-host. n8n’s licence FAQ says a business can use it for its own internal workflows, and can have someone build and maintain those workflows for it, as long as the business is not hosting n8n as a service for others to build their own.
Free software is not a free system. You pay for a server, and someone has to install updates, keep backups, secure it and watch it. n8n’s own installation guide says self-hosting requires technical knowledge, recommends it for expert users, and recommends n8n Cloud if you are not experienced at managing servers. Mistakes can mean lost data or downtime. Self-hosting suits a business with high volume, a reason to control where data sits, and a technical person or partner who owns the upkeep.
Built and looked after for you
The last group is not a tool. A partner designs the workflows, picks the platform, builds the alerts and fixes things when connected apps change. You pay for the build and the support instead of watching task counts. This fits better when automations carry enquiries, bookings or payments, several systems are involved, and nobody in the business wants to own them. It is the work our automation service does.
It does not suit everyone. If you run a few short Zaps, enjoy managing them yourself, or a standard plan covers your volume, you will spend less staying self-serve. A tidy-up of your current Zaps may be all you need.
How to choose and switch
- List every Zap with its steps, monthly runs and who relies on it.
- Retire and tidy first. Turn off what is not needed and add filters before comparing tools.
- Check what you already own. Move anything your CRM or Microsoft 365 can do natively.
- Price the rest on each vendor’s current page using your step and run counts.
- Name the maintainer. Choose the tool that person can use, not the one with the lowest headline price.
- Rebuild one at a time and run old and new side by side before cancelling.
There is no import between these tools, so moving means rebuilding. Plan for that time when you weigh the savings.
A quick way to weigh the move
Work out three figures with your own numbers. First, what Zapier costs you a month after the tidy-up. Second, what the alternative would cost at your current step and run counts, from its pricing page. Third, the hours to rebuild and test each workflow, priced at what that time is worth to you or what a partner would charge. If the monthly saving takes years to repay the rebuild, stay put and tidy instead.
Also price the upkeep. A tool that saves a little each month but needs an hour of someone’s attention every week has not saved anything. Our guide to automation ROI sets out the sums, and the cost of a workflow that stops quietly belongs in them too.