Zapier Alternatives for Small Businesses: Make, n8n, Activepieces and More

Zapier is the easiest automation tool to start with, and for many small businesses it stays the right choice. People usually look for an alternative for one of three reasons: the bill grows with every step, they need features the free plan doesn’t include, or they want to keep data on their own servers. This guide compares the main options on those three points, using each vendor’s official pages.

Why the way usage is counted matters most

Every platform meters usage differently, and that changes your bill more than the headline price.

Platform	What it counts	What that means
Zapier	Tasks	Each successful action step counts as a task.
Make	Credits	Most module actions use 1 credit; some AI features use more.
n8n	Executions	One run of a workflow counts once, however many steps it has.
Activepieces	Credits	One run costs 1 credit regardless of step count; AI steps cost more.
Power Automate	Per user or per bot	Flows run “within service limits” under a yearly license.

A workflow with eight steps that runs 500 times a month is about 4,000 actions on a per-step model, but only 500 runs on a per-run model. If your automations are long, a per-run model is usually cheaper.

Zapier: the baseline

Zapier’s free plan includes 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps only. Multi-step Zaps start on the Professional plan, listed from $19.99 a month, and the Team plan (from $69 a month) adds shared connections, a shared workspace and SAML SSO. Zapier also sells separate Agents and Chatbots plans. Its strength is the size of its app catalog and how quickly non-technical people get results.

Make: visual and detailed

Make builds “scenarios” on a visual canvas with routers and detailed data mapping. The free plan includes 1,000 credits a month, and paid plans are Core, Pro, Teams and Enterprise. Most actions use one credit, and router and error-handler modules use none. Make is a good fit for people who think visually and want more control than Zapier without writing code. Companies with fewer than 20 employees may qualify for its Start-up Plan (50% off Business).

n8n: per-run pricing, code and self-hosting

n8n counts executions, not steps. Cloud plans are Starter (€20 a month billed annually, 2,500 executions) and Pro (€50 a month billed annually, 10,000 executions), with a free trial that needs no card. You can also self-host: a standard self-hosted version is on GitHub, and paid self-hosted plans add features. n8n suits technical teams with long workflows, custom JavaScript or Python, or data-control requirements. Our n8n pricing guide walks through the options.

Activepieces: open source with a simple meter

Activepieces is open source at its core and offers self-hosting on every plan. A run costs one credit regardless of step count. The free plan includes 1,000 credits, unlimited flows and up to five users; Plus is $20 a month for 10,000 credits, and Team is $200 a month for 50,000 credits. Its catalog and community are smaller than Zapier’s, so check that your key apps are supported.

Microsoft Power Automate: for Microsoft 365 shops

Power Automate fits businesses that already run on Microsoft 365, Outlook, Teams and SharePoint. The Premium plan is $15.00 per user per month, paid yearly, and includes cloud flows, attended desktop flows (automating Windows apps) and premium connectors. Per-bot plans cover unattended desktop automation. If you don’t use Microsoft 365, it’s rarely the simplest choice.

IFTTT: simple personal and smart-home automations

IFTTT connects apps and devices with “Applets.” The free plan allows a limited number of Applets with one trigger and one action each; Pro allows up to 20 Applets with multiple actions, and Pro+ adds unlimited Applets, queries and filter code. It’s useful for simple personal or smart-home tasks, but most business workflows outgrow it quickly.

One to avoid for new projects: Pipedream Workflows

Pipedream’s own documentation states that Workflows are shutting down on March 31, 2027 (its Connect product is not affected). Don’t build new business workflows there.

How to choose in 15 minutes

1. List your top three automations and count their steps and monthly runs.
2. Pick by situation:
   • Few, short automations and no technical help → stay on Zapier or try Make.
   • Long workflows, AI steps or custom code → n8n or Activepieces.
   • Data must stay on your servers → n8n or Activepieces self-hosted (and budget time for maintenance).
   • Everything already lives in Microsoft 365 → Power Automate.
3. Rebuild one real workflow on your top choice’s free plan or trial and check the usage it reports after a week.

For a head-to-head on the two most common choices, see Make vs n8n and Zapier vs Make vs n8n. If you’re designing your first workflow, start with how to build a business automation workflow.