Zapier for integration breadth. Make for visual scenarios + cheapest entry. n8n for self-hosting. Lindy for agent-first UX. Pick by your team size, integration depth, and compliance requirements.
This is the 2026 head-to-head for the four most-used workflow automation platforms with AI agent capabilities. For a broader comparison including Tines AI, Relay Agents, and Fixie see our best low-code AI agent builders post.
The 30-second comparison
| Zapier Agents | Make.com | n8n | Lindy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Largest integration catalog | Visual scenarios at lowest cost | Self-host + OSS | Agent-first UX for individuals |
| Entry price | $20/mo Pro | $9/mo Core | $0 OSS / $20 cloud | $49/mo Starter |
| Integrations | 7,000+ apps | 2,000+ apps | ~400 native + webhooks | ~80 deep |
| Visual builder | Step-by-step | Best in class (canvas) | Workflow + DAG | Conversational |
| AI agent depth | Medium | Medium | Strong (multi-agent nodes) | Strong (agent-first) |
| Self-host | No | No | Yes (Apache 2.0) | No |
| Best feature | Catalog size | Operations-per-dollar value | OSS + AI agent nodes | Approval gates + agent UX |
When each one wins
Pick Zapier for raw integration breadth
Zapier Agents is the easiest sell when your team already uses Zapier for non-AI automation. The 7,000+ app catalog is genuinely unmatched — any SaaS you use is probably already there.
Entry tier $20/month (Pro, 750 tasks). Team tier $70/month adds shared workflows. AI agent features are real but shallower than Lindy or Relay.
Best fit:
- Teams already on Zapier with broader automation needs
- Workflows that span many narrow apps (CRM + ESP + project mgmt + niche tools)
- Quick wins where "it just works" matters more than depth
Pick Make.com for cheapest entry + visual scenarios
Make.com is the budget pick. $9/month Core tier with 10,000 operations and AI agent nodes included. Visual canvas builder is the cleanest of the four.
Best fit:
- Teams testing the AI-automation waters on a small budget
- Workflows with branching logic where the canvas is genuinely better than step-by-step
- Solo developers wanting a visual tool without Zapier's pricing
Tradeoffs: AI feature set is smaller than purpose-built agent platforms. Operations math gets opaque at heavy use — every step in a scenario costs ops.
Pick n8n for self-hosting + open source
n8n Agents is the only OSS option here (Apache 2.0 fair-use). Run anywhere, self-host on your own infrastructure, fork the code if you want. Multi-agent + AI agent nodes are first-class.
Cloud tier $20/month Starter. Self-host is free; you pay your infrastructure costs.
Best fit:
- Compliance requirements (data can't leave your network)
- Cost at scale (per-operation pricing on competitors gets expensive past 100K runs/month)
- Engineering-led teams who'll write custom nodes
- Multi-agent workflows (parallel agents, supervisor patterns)
Pick Lindy for agent-first UX
Lindy is the most polished agent-first UX. The "no-code agent builder" framing is real — non-engineers build working agents for inbox, calendar, CRM in an hour.
$49/month Starter (5,000 credits, all integrations). $199 Pro for heavier use.
Best fit:
- Solo professionals or small teams
- Inbox + meeting + CRM-hygiene workflows (Lindy's sweet spot)
- Use cases where the agent needs strong conversational handling
- HITL workflows (Lindy's approval gates are well-designed)
A practical decision matrix
| If you are... | Pick |
|---|---|
| A solo founder testing AI automation | Make.com ($9) |
| A small team already on Zapier | Zapier Agents ($20 Pro) |
| A solo professional with inbox/meeting workflows | Lindy ($49) |
| A team with compliance requirements | n8n self-hosted ($0 + infra) |
| A team at heavy automation scale | n8n cloud or self-hosted |
| A team building complex branching scenarios | Make.com Pro ($16) |
Integration depth comparison
The integration count is meaningful but not the whole story. Quality matters as much:
| Platform | Native integrations | Webhook fallback | Depth (avg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zapier | 7,000+ | ✅ | Shallow on long-tail (single trigger per app) |
| Make.com | 2,000+ | ✅ | Medium (multiple triggers + actions per app) |
| n8n | ~400 native | ✅ (unlimited) | Deep (community-built nodes are full) |
| Lindy | ~80 deep | Limited | Deepest (each integration handcrafted) |
If your workflows touch 50 niche SaaS apps, Zapier is the only realistic option. If they touch 10 apps deeply, Lindy or n8n win.
Pricing reality at scale
For 5 typical workflows running 24/7:
| Platform | Workflows | Monthly cost | Cost per workflow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zapier Pro | 5 | $20 | $4 |
| Make.com Core | 5 | $9 | $1.80 |
| n8n cloud Starter | 5 | $20 | $4 |
| n8n self-hosted | 5 | ~$5 infra | $1 |
| Lindy Starter | 5 | $49 | $10 |
For 100 workflows at scale:
| Platform | Monthly cost | Cost per workflow |
|---|---|---|
| Zapier Team | $70 | $0.70 |
| Make.com Pro | $16–50 (depends on ops) | $0.16–0.50 |
| n8n self-hosted | $20–50 infra | $0.20–0.50 |
| Lindy Pro | $199 | $2 |
The cost gap grows wider at scale — n8n self-hosted is dramatically cheaper than Zapier or Lindy past a certain volume, but you pay in operational complexity.
What about Relay, Tines, Fixie?
Three other platforms worth mentioning:
- Relay Agents — strongest human-in-the-loop story. Pick over Zapier if approval gates are common in your workflows.
- Tines AI — purpose-built for SecOps + ITOps. Strong free community tier.
- Fixie — open framework for building agents from scratch (not low-code). For engineering teams that want a framework, not a product.
See best low-code AI agent builders for the broader comparison.
The hybrid pattern most teams converge on
In practice, most mature teams in 2026 run two of these:
- Zapier or Make for the long tail of small workflows (high integration breadth)
- n8n or Lindy for the workflows that matter most (depth + customization)
The cost of running both is usually under $100/month for a small team — worth it because the workflows have different shapes.
The verdict
For most teams in 2026:
- Solo professional inbox + meetings → Lindy
- Team using Zapier already → Zapier Agents
- Cheapest entry to AI automation → Make.com
- Compliance / self-hosted → n8n
- Mature multi-stage GTM workflows → n8n self-hosted + Zapier or Make for tail apps
For our full ops + automation catalog see /category/ops.