Methodology: How This Model Calculates Costs
Workflow automation platforms do not bill using identical units of measurement. Evaluating them purely on the sticker price of their starting plan leads to severe budget surprises as workloads expand. This calculator models the true cost using four mathematical principles:
1. Credit vs. Execution Architecture
Make (formerly Integromat) bills on individual standard chargeable module actions (modeled as simplified one-credit steps in this calculator). Note that filters and router modules are not inherently chargeable under Make's official rules (filtering a bundle does not consume credits). However, credits per operation vary across modules, particularly specialized AI actions and premium connectors (see official Make documentation at Make Credits Help and Make Pricing). In our default baseline, 1,000 monthly workflow runs consisting of 5 standard chargeable steps consume 1,000 × 5 = 5,000 credits.
n8n Cloud bills on full workflow executions. Whether your workflow has 2 steps or 40 steps, one completed workflow trigger constitutes a single execution. In the same baseline, 1,000 workflow runs consume exactly 1,000 executions.
2. Retry Dynamics & Polling Overheads
When external APIs fail, workflows frequently rerun. In this model, the retryPercent field simulates additional full workflow executions (Math.ceil(runs × (1 + retryPercent / 100))). On successful workflow runs, the initial trigger step is already accounted for within runs × steps. The additional pollingCredits input solely models empty or idle polling checks (e.g., checking an inbox or database on a 5-minute interval when zero records are returned) where credits are consumed without triggering a successful workflow run.
3. Plan Ceilings & Annualized Illustrations
Cloud automation plans are tiered buckets, not linear pay-as-you-go meters. When your modeled usage exceeds a plan's capacity (for instance, if your workflow requires 12,000 credits on Make's 10,000-credit tier, or 3,000 executions on n8n's 2,500-execution Starter tier), this engine does not multiply the rate linearly. It marks the quote as Quote Exceeded and instructs you to enter a customized quote for the larger plan tier. Furthermore, multiplying monthly equivalent figures by 12 is an annualized illustration (monthly × 12) rather than an actual annual contract commitment for every custom quote.
4. The Total Cost of Self-Hosting (TCO)
Self-hosting n8n on a virtual private server eliminates per-execution software charges under the n8n Sustainable Use License for internal business use. However, true infrastructure cost includes hardware, disk, backups, and ongoing engineering maintenance. Our baseline models a small virtual machine at $6/month combined with 1 hour of engineering maintenance per month at $20/hour, yielding a baseline of $26/month. To prevent unwarranted recommendations, self-hosting is marked as Unconfirmed and excluded from recommendations unless you confirm your capacity assumption.
Deep Dive Editorial Guides
Explore our detailed operational breakdowns: