Short answer
Choose Zapier for simple app-to-app connections. Choose Make when the team wants to understand workflows visually. Choose n8n when you need more control, self-hosting, custom conditions and technical integrations.
The biggest difference
The difference is not only the number of integrations. More important factors are data control, pricing model, error handling, logic flexibility and who will maintain the automation after launch.
When should you avoid the simplest tool?
If the process is critical, touches customer data, has many exceptions or requires error tracking, a tool chosen only because it is quick at the start may limit future development.
- many decision paths
- APIs and webhooks
- sensitive data or GDPR
- error logging required
How Showflow chooses the platform
Implementation starts with a process map. Only then do we choose a tool: sometimes a simple scenario is enough, sometimes n8n is needed, and sometimes a custom internal app with background automations is the better choice.