n8n
vs MakeFree to self-host and cheapest at scale; billed per full run, not per credit.
alternatives
The cheapest alternative to Make is Manychat ($14/mo (Essential)). If you want to self-host, n8n can run on your own infrastructure. Below: the strongest alternatives, ranked, with the real reason to switch.
Pricing decoded and verified 2026-05-30 against each vendor's live page; volatile figures flagged "verify live".
Make is visual no-code automation with the cheapest cloud entry; pay per operation. The drawback: Operations are counted per module, not per scenario, and AI/code modules cost several ops each. A 10-module flow burns 10+ ops every trigger.
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Ordered by how cleanly they replace Make.
Free to self-host and cheapest at scale; billed per full run, not per credit.
A flat $20/mo platform fee with unlimited runs (AI tokens metered separately) makes budgeting more predictable than Make's per-credit burn.
Built around multi-agent "teams" with a transparent dual meter.
Biggest free tier (5,000 credits/mo) and strong for data-heavy flows.
The most hands-off "AI employee" with voice/phone, if you want done-for-you.
Jasper positions itself as the agent workspace built for modern marketing teams, an AI marketing execution platform that turns strategy into on-brand content at scale. It centers on 100+ purpose-built marketing agents, a Canvas collaboration surface, and brand-voice controls that keep output aligned to your guidelines.
Positions itself as "the first AI-native GTM (go-to-market) platform." Originally an AI copywriting tool, Copy.ai pivoted to a marketing and sales operations platform built around Workflows (codified multi-step processes) and Copy Agents (autonomous agents that run prospecting, content, enrichment, and outreach across a team).
The "AI Search Growth Engine", a marketing and SEO agent platform that unifies traditional SEO with AI search visibility (GEO). It tracks brand mentions across up to 10 AI platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Grok, and more) and runs agents to fix the content and citations that drive that visibility.
Website visitor identity resolution and AI audience activation platform for Shopify and e-commerce brands. Its X-Ray pixel de-anonymizes site visitors across devices and browsers, and the Alfred AI Audience Agent trains on first-party data to build and sync addressable audiences into Klaviyo and Meta for email and ad retargeting.
All-in-one cold email outreach and sales engagement platform with an AI Sales Agent (AI SDR), a B2B lead database (SuperSearch), unlimited email-account warmup, deliverability and inbox-placement tooling, a native CRM, and AI campaign generation. It is built for sending cold email at volume across many sending accounts.
Apollo.io is an end-to-end AI sales platform combining a 230M+ contact and 30M+ company B2B database with prospecting, enrichment, multichannel sequencing, a dialer, and conversation intelligence. Its AI layer (Apollo AI assistant and outbound automation) drafts personalized emails, scores and prioritizes leads, and surfaces signals so reps can run outreach from one tool instead of stitching together separate data, sequencing, and dialer products.
Cold email outreach and AI outbound platform built around deliverability infrastructure (unlimited mailboxes, automated warmup, per-campaign IP rotation) plus autonomous SmartAgents that research leads, write personalized emails, and manage replies. It targets high-volume senders and agencies running multiple client workspaces.
No-code chat marketing automation platform for building AI-assisted chatbots and automated conversation flows across Instagram DM, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, TikTok, SMS, and email from one interface. Trigger-based flows (comments, story replies, keywords, links) turn social engagement into captured leads and sales conversations.
All-in-one AI video creation platform. Its Video Agent turns a text prompt or script into a finished, share-ready avatar video (1080p/4K) without cameras, crews, or editing, plus AI avatars, digital twins, and 175+ language translation with lip sync.
Rox is an AI revenue operating system ("Revenue OS") that deploys a swarm of autonomous AI agents per customer account to run the full revenue cycle, prospecting, enrichment, outreach, meeting prep, conversation intelligence, pipeline/deal management, and account expansion. It sits on top of your existing CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot) and data warehouse rather than replacing them, so reps get agents that do the work while data stays where it lives.
The incumbent no-code automation platform with the widest app coverage (8,000+ integrations), priced per task (each successful action step). Now layering on AI via Zapier Agents, Copilot, and Chatbots.
The baseline against every option, decoded.
| tool | entry price | pricing model | free tier | self-host | mcp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Make baseline | ~$9/mo | per-operation | 1,000 ops/mo | No | Both |
| €20/mo | per-execution | self-host free | Yes | Both | |
| $20/mo | flat + usage | 1,000 runs/mo (free plan) | Yes | Both | |
| $29/mo | dual-meter | 200 actions/mo | No | Both | |
| $37/mo | per-credit | 5,000 credits/mo | No | Both | |
| $49.99/mo | per-credit | 400 credits/mo | No | Both | |
| $39/seat/mo (Creator, billed annually; $49 month-to-month) | per-seat tiers + custom enterprise | None. 7-day trial (Pro), card required | No | None | |
| $29/mo (Chat, monthly) or $24/mo billed annually ($288/yr) | hybrid per-seat + workflow credits | 2,000 words/mo, no card | No | None | |
| $79/month (Starter) | per-plan monthly subscription (annual ~20% off) | No permanent free tier; free trial available with no credit card required | No | Server | |
| $600/month (Starter, 3,000 visitor resolutions) | tiered subscription by visitor resolutions + overage | 7-day trial, 500 resolutions, no card | No | None | |
| $47/mo (Growth Outreach, billed monthly) | Tiered subscription, sending plan plus separate credit plan | No free plan. 14-day trial, no card | No | None | |
| $0 (Free) / $49 per seat/mo billed annually | per-seat subscription + credit-based usage | Yes, permanent Free plan: $0, ~100 data credits/mo | No | Server | |
| $39/month (Base, monthly) | flat monthly tiers · send + credit caps | 14-day trial, no card | No | None | |
| $14/mo (Essential) | Freemium, contact-scaled subscription tiers plus per-contact overage | Yes. Free plan: 25 contacts, 4 automations, 2 channels | No | None | |
| $29/mo (Creator, monthly) / $24/mo billed annually | Freemium with credit-based subscription tiers (monthly credits + seat add-ons), plus pay-as-you-go API | Yes. Free plan: $0/mo, 3 videos/month up to 1 min each, 720p/1080p, watermarked. | No | Server | |
| Free (Starter); paid Core $50/mo | usage-based (Agent Actions) + custom enterprise | Free Starter, ~2,000 Agent Actions/mo | No | Both | |
| ~$20/mo | per-task | 100 tasks/mo | No | Both |
Dirr is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Make. Tool names and logos are the property of their respective owners. Figures are decoded from public pricing and dated; verify volatile prices on the vendor site before buying.
The cheapest alternative to Make is Manychat ($14/mo (Essential)). For self-hosting, n8n can run on your own infrastructure. The right pick depends on whether you optimize for price, control, or hands-off automation.
Yes. n8n is free if self-hosted, and Gumloop's free tier gives 5,000 credits/mo. Most listed tools have a free plan to test before paying.
Common reasons: Operations are counted per module, not per scenario, and AI/code modules cost several ops each. A 10-module flow burns 10+ ops every trigger.