DIY automation with Zapier, Make, or n8n is the cheaper line on a software bill — but the real cost is the hours your team spends learning the platform, wiring the workflow, and fixing it when a connected app changes. A hired agency costs more upfront and nothing in staff time. Which is cheaper depends on the workflow's complexity, not the sticker price.
What Do Zapier, Make, and n8n Actually Cost?
Here's what each vendor's own pricing page actually states, read September 13, 2026 (prices read 2026-09-13). Zapier publishes exact figures: a Free plan at $0/month with 100 tasks included, a Professional plan starting from $19.99/month, and a Team plan starting from $69/month for 25 users, with Enterprise custom-priced (Zapier, 2026). Make lists a Free plan at $0/month with 1,000 credits, then Core from $12/month, Pro from $21/month, and Teams from $38/month, each priced for 10,000 credits a month, with Enterprise custom-priced (Make, 2026). n8n's cloud plans are priced in euros: Starter at 20€/month, Pro at 50€/month, and Business at 667€/month, all billed annually, alongside a free, self-hostable Community Edition (n8n, 2026).
| Tool | Free tier | Paid plans start at | Billing unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zapier | $0/month, 100 tasks (Zapier, 2026) | $19.99/month (Professional); $69/month (Team, 25 users) (Zapier, 2026) | Per task |
| Make | $0/month, 1,000 credits (Make, 2026) | $12/month (Core); $21/month (Pro); $38/month (Teams) — each at 10,000 credits (Make, 2026) | Per credit (one credit per module action) |
| n8n | Free, self-hosted Community Edition (n8n, 2026) | 20€/month (Starter); 50€/month (Pro); 667€/month (Business), billed annually (n8n, 2026) | Per workflow execution |
None of those numbers include the part that actually decides whether DIY is cheaper: the hours it takes to build and then maintain the automation. Someone has to map the logic, connect each app's API or OAuth flow, test the edge cases, and come back to fix it every time a connected app changes its interface or deprecates a field. For a single two-step workflow — a form triggering an email — that's an afternoon, not a project. For a workflow that touches a CRM, invoicing, and email at once, with different branches for different outcomes, it can be a multi-week undertaking, and every hour of it is unpaid staff time a monthly subscription price doesn't show.
DIY (Zapier/Make/n8n) vs Hiring an Automation Agency: Comparison Table
The honest comparison isn't the software price against nothing — it's the software price plus your own build-and-maintain time against a fixed project cost with someone else doing, and owning, the build.
| DIY (Zapier/Make/n8n) | Automation agency | |
|---|---|---|
| Software cost | $0 to roughly $69/month on the small-business tiers, depending on tool (Zapier, 2026; Make, 2026; n8n, 2026) | No separate monthly software bill from the agency |
| Build time | Yours — hours to weeks depending on complexity | Handled by the agency, typically live within days to a couple of weeks |
| Maintenance | Yours — fixing broken connections when an app changes | Owned by the agency as part of the build or a support plan |
| Best fit | One simple, low-volume workflow with a technical owner who has spare time | Multiple systems (CRM, invoicing, email) wired into one workflow with real business logic |
| Pricing model | Recurring monthly subscription, scales with usage | Typically a one-time build — talk to Skyline about your specific workflow |
When DIY With Zapier, Make, or n8n Is the Better Choice
DIY is the better choice in a specific, narrow case: one simple workflow — a form submission creating a CRM contact, or a paid invoice triggering a Slack message — built by someone who already knows the tool, has an afternoon to spend on it, and doesn't mind being the one who fixes it later. Zapier and Make's free tiers make that kind of workflow effectively free to test. Where DIY stops paying off is the moment the workflow needs to touch more than two systems, include real branching logic for different outcomes, or run reliably enough that a broken connection doesn't silently drop a lead. At that point the 'free' software plan is still charging you — just in hours instead of dollars, and usually more of them than an agency quote would have been. A rough rule of thumb: if you can't sketch the whole workflow on one napkin in five minutes, budget real hours for building it, not an afternoon.