n8n bills per workflow run, Zapier per successful action, Make per module run per item, so the same automation can be cheapest on any of the three. A head-to-head built on each vendor own published definitions: two worked workflow shapes where the cost ordering flips, how polling interacts with billing, what self-hosting really costs, and which governance features sit behind which tier.
Is n8n Dead in 2026? What Visual Automation Is Still For
n8n ships releases most working days and raised $180m in late 2025, so dead is the wrong word. What LLMs killed is the middle of the market. A clear-eyed look at n8n fair-code licence, its real project health, per-execution vs per-task billing, and a checklist for deciding whether an automation belongs in a visual tool, a hosted platform, or code.