Daily reporting automation: cost of a scheduled multi-step report
The cheapest verified option is Make (Free) at $0.00/mo.
A scheduled run each morning that pulls data from several tools and emails a summary.
Prices checked 2026-10-16. Open this in the calculator →
Assumptions
- 31 runs a month (one per day), scheduled, no webhook.
- 9 billable actions per run: five data pulls, two calculations, one sheet update, one email.
- 2 extra Make modules per run (an iterator and an aggregator).
- This workload is 279 Zapier tasks, 372 Make credits or 31 n8n executions a month.
- Cheapest verified option: Make (Free) at $0.00/month, $0.00 over 24 months.
- The priciest ranked option is n8n Cloud at $22.42/month: $269.04 more per year than the cheapest.
Cheapest
Make Free: $0.00/mo
Your workload in each vendor's unit: 279 Zapier tasks · 372 Make credits · 31 n8n executions per month (annual billing).
| # | Option | Plan | Per month | Per year | 24-mo TCO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Make cheapest | Free | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| 2 | Zapier | Professional 750 tasks | $19.99 | $239.88 | $479.76 |
| 3 | n8n Cloud | Starterlist €20.00 | $22.42 | $268.99 | $537.98 |
Prices in USD, excluding sales tax/VAT.
Self-hosted n8n Community shown, never ranked
The software is free with no execution cap. Infrastructure cost is Not published by vendor (only a single secondary source so far). Self-hosting is cheaper than the cheapest ranked option (Make, $0.00/mo) only if your server plus your time costs less than that.
The catch, per option
- Zapier — Professional 750 tasksOverage: Pay-per-task overage is opt-in. Upper bound, estimated at 1.25x the plan's base rate (about $0.0333 per task; Zapier product update). Zaps pause at 2,250 tasks (3x the plan). Never used to rank.
- Every successful billable action is a task; triggers and built-in steps (Filter/Formatter/Path) cost 0 tasks.
- Free is two-step only (trigger + 1 action, no built-in steps, no webhooks).
- Make — FreeOverage: Scenarios stop at the credit limit; upgrade, buy credit packs or go Enterprise. No overage dollar amount is modeled.
- 1 credit per module action including the trigger read; Router and error handlers are free and are not entered (1 trigger + 9 billable actions + 2 extra modules per run).
- When credits run out, scenarios stop; unused credits expire.
- n8n Cloud — Starter
- One execution = one whole workflow run, so step count does not change the price.
- No auto-overage on Starter/Pro-1: upgrade or one-time reset.
- Priced in EUR; converted with the exchange rate you set.
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