Workflow automation
Start with Zapier for straightforward app connections, Make for visual branching and data transformation, or n8n when you have a developer and want to self-host.
Researched separately by GPT-6 Astra and Claude Opus 5.5.
Reference scenarios: a five-person team, from 1,000 simple sync events a month to workflows with loops and self-hosted deployments.
For building straightforward app connections one trigger and action at a time, consider Zapier. Make describes Zapier's guided setup: choose a trigger, connect an action and map the fields. That makes it a useful starting point for an operator building their first workflow. Test your exact Google Sheets new-row trigger, Slack channel action and failure recovery. Task-based billing also depends on how many actions each workflow performs.
For seeing branches, loops and data transformations on one visual canvas, consider Make. Zapier describes Make's routers, iterators, aggregators and transformation tools. These provide a useful starting point for designing multi-step workflows. Complex flows take time to configure and maintain. Run the same sample and record how loops, retries and polling affect usage before comparing bills.
For teams with a developer who can maintain a self-hosted system and custom API connections, consider n8n. Both Zapier and Make describe n8n's self-hosting option. Make also points to HTTP Request and code nodes for connecting custom systems. Your team takes on deployment, upgrades, backups and monitoring. Check licensing, authentication and access to internal systems before adopting it.