All three do the same job: when something happens in one application, they do something in another, without you writing code each time. What decides between them is where they run and who looks after them. Zapier and Make are services you use from the vendors’ own sites. n8n can be used that way, on a service run by the project, or installed by you on a server of your own. Interweb sells none of the three.
The difference that matters
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A service hosted by the vendor |
n8n on your VPS |
| Who looks after it |
The vendor. |
You do. |
| To get started |
Create an account and connect the applications. |
You need the server and must install the program. |
| Where your data passes |
Through the vendor’s infrastructure, on their terms. |
Through your server, which you choose. |
| If it stops |
It is the vendor’s business. |
It is yours: updates, memory, backups. |
| Costs and usage limits |
On the vendor’s page, and they change: check there. |
The server is your cost, and the program has its licence: check the project’s site. |
How to decide
| 1 |
How many connections will you have? If it is one or two, used now and then, a hosted service is the quickest to get working.
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| 2 |
What data passes through? If it is customer data, read the vendor’s terms on where and how they keep it, and see whether that fits what you promised in your own terms. See personal data protection on your website.
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| 3 |
Who will look after it? An n8n on your VPS needs someone to update it, take backups and understand servers. If you have no such person, the hosted service saves you work.
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What does not change from one tool to another is the essential part: a trigger, one or more actions, credentials, testing and error handling. Whoever learns to design a workflow in one learns it in all. Before choosing, also ask what happens if the vendor changes its terms, and whether you can export your workflows to take them with you.
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No tool replaces knowing the process. Before you choose, write down in three lines what happens, what should happen and who is told if it fails. Automating a muddled process gives you the same muddle, faster. See which tasks are worth automating first.
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Try a harmless workflow first, one that only reads and notifies, before giving it the power to message customers or delete data. You can change tool later: what stays is the design of the process.
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Want to run n8n on a server of your own? See the VPS plans and pick the system when you order.
See the VPS servers
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