n8n is a free Make alternative for automating work between your apps, with branches, loops and AI steps, and its code is public. Make’s price rises as your scenarios run more often; self-hosted n8n has no usage limit.
| App | Good for | Code | Import from Make | Ease of use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 n8n | Busy or complex automations, with branches, loops and AI steps | Code Fair-code | Import from Make No | Some setup |
 Activepieces | Simple to medium automations, closest to how Zapier feels | Code Open source | Import from Make No | Easy |
 Automatisch | Short two- or three-step flows for a small team | Code Open source | Import from Make No | Easy |
Make, formerly Integromat, is a visual automation tool. You drag apps onto a canvas and join them into scenarios, with routers for branches and iterators for lists, which makes it more flexible than a simple trigger-and-action tool.
The usual reason to look elsewhere is cost as usage grows. Make's plans are priced by how much your scenarios run, so a scenario that checks for new data every few minutes, or handles long lists, uses up a plan quickly. Every record also passes through Make's servers. A self-hosted tool such as n8n gives you the same kind of canvas on your own server, for one fixed cost however often your workflows run.
Automate work between your apps, with no limit on runs.
The closest match to Make's visual canvas. Workflows are drawn as connected blocks, with branches, loops, error paths and code steps, and AI agents are built in. It suits the same people who like Make's flexibility.
Zapier-style automations between your apps, on your own server.
A simpler, step-by-step builder. It covers most everyday scenarios with less to learn than Make, though very large scenarios with many routes are easier to manage in n8n.
Simple if-this-then-that flows between your business apps.
Best for short, linear flows. It has far fewer ready-made connections than Make and no visual canvas, so it suits small teams with simple needs.
Make scenarios cannot be imported into any of these apps, so they are rebuilt by hand. n8n's canvas works the most like Make's, which makes it the easiest to rebuild in: routers become IF or Switch blocks, and iterators become loops. Rebuild the busiest scenarios first, test each one with real data, then turn the Make scenario off.
Start with n8n. If you want something simpler, try Activepieces. All 3 are free to self-host. Activepieces and Automatisch are open source; n8n (fair-code) publishes its code under a licence that limits reselling it as a service.
Yes. Both build automations on a visual canvas of connected blocks, with branches and loops. n8n can also run on your own server, where it has no limit on how often workflows run.
No. Make is only available as a hosted service. n8n, Activepieces and Automatisch are the self-hosted options in this list.
Yes, the apps are free. To run them you need Cloudgate and a server. Use hosted Cloudgate, which can also provide the server, or install Cloudgate on a server of your own for free. Cloudgate's plans and prices are at cloudgate.octabyte.io/pricing. One server can run several apps.
No. Cloudgate installs the app on your server and gives it a secure web address. You use it in your browser.
