We build with all three of these platforms, so this isn't a sales pitch for any of them. Each is excellent at something and frustrating at something else. The right choice depends far more on your business than on the tools.
Pricing and licensing change often. This guide describes how each platform charges rather than quoting prices, and was checked in October 2026.
The short answer
- You live in Microsoft 365? Start with Power Automate.
- You want the quickest visual builder and a huge app library? Choose Make.
- You want full control, self-hosting or heavy AI workflows? Choose n8n.
Side by side
| n8n | Make | Power Automate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Technical teams, AI agents, data control | Fast visual workflows across many web apps | Businesses built on Microsoft 365 |
| Hosting | Self-host on your own server, or n8n's cloud | Make's cloud (with a choice of regions) | Microsoft's cloud, inside your tenant |
| How it charges | Self-hosting is free under its fair-code licence; cloud plans charge by workflow executions | Credits: each module run uses one credit; Make's own AI features can use more | Standard connectors with many Microsoft 365 licences; premium connectors and desktop automation need paid licences |
| Learning curve | Medium to high | Low to medium | Low for simple flows, steep for complex ones |
| Desktop and legacy apps | Limited | Limited | Strong, through desktop flows (RPA) |
| AI agents | Strong, flexible agent and LLM nodes | Good, growing | Good inside the Microsoft ecosystem |
| Data control | Highest when self-hosted | Depends on region and plan | Stays in your Microsoft tenant |
n8n
What it's great at: complex logic, AI agents and keeping data on infrastructure you control. Self-hosted on a small server, it can run a lot of automation for very little money.
Watch out for: you own the server, the updates, the backups and the security. Self-hosting suits teams with someone technical; otherwise use n8n's cloud.
Pick it if: you're building AI-heavy workflows, want to avoid per-task pricing, or have strict rules about where data lives.
Make
What it's great at: building and understanding workflows visually. Its scenario editor shows data moving step by step, which makes it the easiest of the three to debug and hand over.
Watch out for: costs grow with volume. Since August 2025, Make bills in credits: a module run uses one credit, but Make's built-in AI features can use more. Busy scenarios that poll every minute or loop over large lists can get expensive.
Pick it if: you connect lots of web apps, want results quickly and your volumes are moderate.
Power Automate
What it's great at: anything inside Microsoft 365. Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Excel and Dynamics are first-class citizens, and its desktop flows can drive old Windows applications that have no API at all.
Watch out for: licensing. Standard connectors are available to many Microsoft 365 users, but premium connectors and desktop flows need a Power Automate Premium licence, and unattended bots need a separate Process licence per bot. Check this before you design, not after.
Pick it if: your team lives in Outlook and Teams, IT prefers everything inside Microsoft, or you need to automate desktop software.
How to decide in five questions
- Where does your work live? Mostly Microsoft 365 points to Power Automate. Lots of different web apps points to Make or n8n.
- Who will maintain it? No technical person in-house means Make or Power Automate. A developer on hand means n8n becomes attractive.
- How much volume? High volume tips the maths towards self-hosted n8n.
- Are there desktop or legacy systems? That's Power Automate's desktop flows, or a dedicated RPA tool.
- Where must the data stay? Strict requirements favour self-hosted n8n or your own Microsoft tenant.
Can you mix them?
Yes, and many businesses should. A common pattern:
- Power Automate handles approvals in Teams and anything in SharePoint.
- n8n runs the AI-heavy work and connects to everything else.
- The two talk through webhooks.
The rule: one platform per job, and write down which job lives where, so nobody has to guess later.
The mistake that matters more than the tool
Most automation projects fail because the process was never clear, not because the wrong platform was picked. Before choosing a tool, write the process down: what comes in, what gets decided, what happens next, and when a person must step in.
Want a second opinion?
We build on n8n, Make and Power Automate, and we'll tell you honestly which fits your work. Book a call or join our community, the ai nerds, for monthly hands-on workshops.