Make vs n8n vs Power Automate: Which to Choose?
Make, n8n, and Power Automate are three leading workflow automation platforms with different strengths. Power Automate is the best fit if your team works in Microsoft 365, SharePoint, or Dynamics and needs native integration with those tools. n8n is ideal for technical teams that want full control, self-hosting, and the ability to write custom code inside workflows. Make sits in between: more powerful than simple tools like Zapier, fully hosted, and accessible to non-developers who need complex multi-step logic.
Make, n8n, and Power Automate each target different users. Your choice depends on technical skill, Microsoft stack usage, and hosting preferences.
Power Automate: best for the Microsoft ecosystem
Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow) is Microsoft’s automation platform, built into the Microsoft 365 and Power Platform ecosystem. Its primary strength is first-party integration with Microsoft services:
- SharePoint lists and document libraries
- Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive
- Dynamics 365 and Dataverse
- Azure services
For organisations already living in Microsoft 365, Power Automate is the natural choice for automations that touch those services. You can trigger a flow from a Teams message, approve a SharePoint document, or send a notification to Outlook with minimal configuration.
The main limitations are cost and complexity for non-Microsoft integrations. Premium connectors (which cover most third-party SaaS apps and HTTP requests) require a separate per-user license. The flow designer has improved over the years but can feel cumbersome for complex branching logic. See our article on n8n vs Power Automate for a deeper look at those two platforms specifically.
n8n: best for technical teams and self-hosting
n8n is an open-source automation platform that can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure or used as a managed cloud service. Its key differentiators are:
- Full self-hosting capability: run it on any server, VPS, or container platform
- JavaScript code nodes: write custom logic inline without leaving the workflow
- Open-source: you can inspect the code, contribute, or build custom integrations
- Transparent pricing: the cloud service charges a flat monthly fee rather than per-operation
n8n is best suited to technical teams who need automation logic that exceeds what click-based tools can express. If your automation requires parsing complex JSON, calling an API with custom authentication, or running logic that would need ten chained modules in other tools, n8n’s code node lets you write it directly.
The trade-off is that n8n requires more initial setup and comfort with technical concepts. Non-technical users will find the interface less forgiving than Make or Power Automate.
Make: best for non-developers who need power
Make (formerly Integromat) occupies the middle ground: more capable than simple tools like Zapier, fully hosted with no infrastructure to manage, and accessible to non-technical users.
Make’s scenario canvas is visual and easy to follow. Branching, error handling, and looping over arrays are all available through UI controls. The operation-based pricing model can be economical for high-frequency, low-module-count automations.
Make is a good fit for operations teams, marketing teams, and automation consultants who need multi-step logic but are not comfortable writing code. It integrates with over 1,500 apps and covers the common SaaS tools most businesses use.
A direct comparison
| Criterion | Make | n8n | Power Automate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-hosting | No | Yes | No |
| Custom code | No | Yes (JavaScript) | Limited (expressions) |
| Microsoft integrations | Good | Good | Excellent |
| Pricing model | Per operation | Flat / self-hosted free | Per user + connector tier |
| Learning curve | Low-medium | Medium-high | Medium |
| Best for | Ops/marketing teams | Technical teams | Microsoft shops |
When each platform wins
Choose Power Automate when your automations primarily touch Microsoft 365 services and your organisation already pays for the Power Platform license.
Choose n8n when you need self-hosting for compliance or cost reasons, want to write custom code in your automations, or have a technical team comfortable with configuration.
Choose Make when you need more logic than Zapier provides but do not want to manage infrastructure or write code. It is the fastest path to complex automations for non-technical users.
Our tip: Before comparing platforms, write down the three automations you want to build and the specific apps they connect. Then check whether those apps are available as standard (not premium) connectors on each platform. The connector tier can make a significant cost difference.
Frequently asked questions
Can you self-host Make or Power Automate?
No. Both Make and Power Automate are cloud-only, hosted services. You cannot run them on your own infrastructure. n8n is the main platform in this category that supports full self-hosting. If data sovereignty, compliance requirements, or cost at scale are priorities, n8n on your own server or a managed VPS is the only option among these three that gives you complete infrastructure control.
Which automation platform has the most integrations?
Power Automate has the deepest integrations with the Microsoft ecosystem including Teams, SharePoint, Outlook, Dynamics, and Azure services. Make and n8n both support over 1,000 integrations with third-party apps. For non-Microsoft tools, all three cover the major SaaS platforms. The real differentiator is not the count but the quality and depth of specific connectors you need. Always verify that the specific actions you need are available, not just that the app is listed.
Is Power Automate included in my Microsoft 365 subscription?
A basic version of Power Automate is included with most Microsoft 365 plans, covering standard connectors and personal automations. Premium connectors, which include most enterprise SaaS tools and HTTP requests to custom APIs, require a separate Power Automate license per user. Check the connector classification before building a workflow that relies on premium connectors, as the licensing cost can be significant at team scale.