Invoice processing automation: cost per month
For 640 runs a month with 7 billable actions each, the cheapest verified option is Make (Core 10,000 credits) at $9.00/mo.
Incoming invoices parsed, matched to purchase orders and posted to accounting.
Prices checked 2026-10-16. Open this in the calculator →
Assumptions
- 640 invoices a month, one run per invoice.
- 7 billable actions per run: fetch the file, extract fields, match the purchase order, create the bill, attach the PDF, update the tracker, notify approvers.
- 1 extra Make module per run (an iterator over line items).
- This workload is 4,480 Zapier tasks, 5,760 Make credits or 640 n8n executions a month.
- Cheapest verified option: Make (Core 10,000 credits) at $9.00/month, $216.00 over 24 months.
- The priciest ranked option is Zapier at $89.00/month: $960.00 more per year than the cheapest.
Your workload in each vendor's unit: 4,480 Zapier tasks · 5,760 Make credits · 640 n8n executions per month (annual billing).
| # | Option | Plan | Per month | Per year | 24-mo TCO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Make cheapest | Core 10,000 credits | $9.00 | $108.00 | $216.00 |
| 2 | n8n Cloud | Starterlist €20.00 | $22.42 | $268.99 | $537.98 |
| 3 | Zapier | Professional 5,000 tasks | $89.00 | $1,068.00 | $2,136.00 |
Prices exclude VAT/sales tax.
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, $9.00/mo) only if your server plus your time costs less than that.
The catch, per option
- Zapier — Professional 5,000 tasksOverage: Pay-per-task overage is opt-in. Upper bound, estimated at 1.25x the plan's base rate (about $0.0223 per task; Zapier product update). Zaps pause at 15,000 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 — Core 10,000 creditsOverage: 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 + 7 billable actions + 1 extra modules per run).
- When credits run out, scenarios stop; unused credits expire.
- Same volume on Pro: $16.00/mo; Teams: $29.00/mo.
- 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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