Zapier is the default pick for most readers because it has the widest app coverage and a free plan with 100 tasks a month, while Make is the budget pick at $9 a month for 10,000 credits. The billing unit matters more than the headline price: Zapier counts tasks, Make counts credits, n8n counts whole workflow runs, and Lindy and Gumloop count AI credits. Make charges the same 10,000 credits on Core, Pro and Teams at entry, so moving up a Make plan changes features, not volume, which is a detail most roundups skip.
AI workflow platforms connect apps, move data between tools, and add AI steps that can draft text, extract data, or make simple decisions inside a workflow. The right choice depends on how much work you run each month and how many steps each workflow has. A tool that charges per step can cost far more than a tool that charges per whole run, even when the monthly price looks lower.
On this page
Best ai workflow platforms: comparison table
Swipe the table sideways on a phone to see every column.
| # | Name | Best for | Starting price | Free plan / trial | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zapier | Widest app coverage for small teams | $19.99 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 2 | Make | Low cost visual workflows | $9 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 3 | n8n | Technical teams and self-hosting | €20 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 4 | Workato | Enterprise integration and AI agents | $75 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 5 | Microsoft Power Automate | Microsoft 365 teams | $15 per user/month | Yes | Visit |
| 6 | UiPath | Enterprise RPA with AI agents | $25 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 7 | Lindy | AI teammates for inbox and meetings | $29.99 per user/month | Free trial (7 days) | Visit |
| 8 | Gumloop | AI agents for batch work | $37 per month | Free trial (14 days) | Visit |
The 8 best best ai workflow platforms, in detail
Zapier
Best for: Widest app coverage for small teams
Zapier connects apps with Zaps, each made of a trigger and one or more actions. The free plan costs $0 and includes 100 tasks a month, with two-step Zaps only and checks every 15 minutes. Professional starts at $19.99 a month billed annually, or $29.99 billed monthly, for 750 tasks a month, and adds multi-step Zaps, premium apps, webhooks, filters and paths, plus checks every 2 minutes.
- Team starts at $69 a month billed annually for 2,000 tasks and up to 25 users, with shared Zaps and SAML single sign-on.
- AI by Zapier steps cost 1x, 3x or 5x tasks depending on the model tier, so an AI-heavy Zap can use its task allowance much faster than a simple Zap.
- Choose Zapier when breadth of apps matters most, and count tasks per run before you pick a task tier.
Pros
- Free plan with 100 tasks a month
- multi-step Zaps and webhooks on Professional
- AI steps with model tier pricing
Cons
- Free plan allows only two-step Zaps
- Professional starts with only 750 tasks a month
Make
Best for: Low cost visual workflows
Make builds visual scenarios from modules, and each module that runs uses one credit. The free plan costs $0 and includes 1,000 credits a month, 2 active scenarios, and a 15-minute minimum interval. Core starts at $9 a month billed annually, or $10.59 billed monthly, for 10,000 credits, with unlimited active scenarios, a 1-minute interval, and access to the Make API.
- Pro starts at $16 a month billed annually for the same 10,000 credits, and adds priority execution, custom variables and full-text log search.
- Teams starts at $29 a month billed annually for the same 10,000 credits, and adds team roles and shared scenario templates.
- You move up a Make plan for features and team controls, not for more included volume at the entry tier.
- Choose Make when you want a visual builder at a low entry price.
Pros
- Free plan with 1,000 credits a month
- Core includes unlimited active scenarios
- every plan starts with 10,000 credits
Cons
- Core, Pro and Teams all start with the same 10,000 credits, so volume does not rise with the plan
n8n
Best for: Technical teams and self-hosting
n8n bills per execution, and one execution is one full run of a workflow, no matter how many nodes it contains. That is a real cost advantage for long workflows with many steps. n8n Cloud Starter costs €20 a month billed annually, or €24 billed monthly, for 2,500 executions a month, with 5 concurrent executions and 1 shared project.
- Pro costs €50 a month billed annually for 10,000 executions, with 20 concurrent executions and 3 shared projects.
- The self-hosted Community Edition has no licence fee, although you still need a server and you manage updates yourself.
- Business costs €667 a month billed annually for 40,000 executions and is self-hosted only, with SSO, Git and environments.
- Choose n8n when your team has technical help and your workflows have many steps.
Pros
- One execution covers a whole workflow run, no matter how many steps it has
- Community Edition is free to self-host
- unlimited users and workflows on Cloud plans
Cons
- Starter allows only 1 shared project and 5 concurrent executions
- Business is self-hosted only
Workato
Best for: Enterprise integration and AI agents
Workato sells recipes, its name for workflows, plus AI agents and an API platform on higher editions. The self-service Free plan costs $0 and includes a one-time grant of 50,000 credits, not a monthly allowance. Pro starts at $75 a month for 2,500 credits a month, with up to 3 users per workspace.
- Higher Pro tiers cost $100 for 3,500 credits, $275 for 10,000 credits, $780 for 30,000 credits, and $1,275 for 50,000 credits a month.
- Unused credits do not roll over.
- Standard, Business MCP, Enterprise MCP and Workato ONE are quote-only editions, and they add environments, SSO, role controls, data pipelines and agen
- Workato does not publish how many credits each recipe step or agent action uses.
Pros
- Free plan with a one-time grant of 50,000 credits
- Pro allows up to 3 users per workspace
- enterprise editions add SSO and audit controls
Cons
- Pro starts with only 2,500 credits a month
- enterprise editions have no published price
Microsoft Power Automate
Best for: Microsoft 365 teams
Microsoft Power Automate builds cloud flows and desktop flows inside the Microsoft Power Platform. Many Microsoft 365 plans include flows with standard connectors, with a limit of 6,000 Power Platform requests per user every 24 hours. Power Automate Premium costs $15 per user per month billed annually, and adds premium and custom connectors, attended desktop RPA, AI Builder credits, process mining, and a limit of 40,000 actions per user per day.
- Process costs $150 per bot per month billed annually for unattended automation, and Hosted Process costs $215 per bot per month billed annually with M
- Choose Power Automate when your work already lives in Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and Excel, and check which connectors are premium before you count on
Pros
- Premium includes premium connectors and attended desktop RPA
- standard connector flows are included with many Microsoft 365 plans
- 40,000 daily actions on Premium
Cons
- Premium connectors and desktop RPA need the Premium licence
- unattended bots need the Process licence at $150 per bot/month
UiPath
Best for: Enterprise RPA with AI agents
UiPath is an enterprise automation platform that covers attended and unattended RPA, document understanding, process mining, test automation and AI agents. Automation Cloud Basic starts at $25 a month, and it is a pilot tier with limited users and 2 robots on a single tenant in the European region. Standard and Enterprise have no published price and are quoted by sales, with region choice, agents, and governance controls such as audit trails and custom roles.
- The Community Edition costs $0 and suits individual developers learning the platform, with limited AI use.
- Running costs can also come from Platform Units, which meter AI agent runs, model calls and document pages separately from the tier price.
- Choose UiPath when you need robots that drive desktop apps at scale, and treat Basic as a pilot, not as a production fleet.
Pros
- Basic starts at $25 a month
- Community Edition costs $0
- platform covers RPA, document understanding and AI agent orchestration
Cons
- Basic is hosted in the European region only and allows only 2 robots
- Standard and Enterprise have no published price
Lindy
Best for: AI teammates for inbox and meetings
Lindy builds AI teammates that work in Slack, manage inboxes, join meetings, and run scheduled routines across connected tools. Lindy starts with $50 in credits that last 7 days, with no card needed for that start. Plus costs $29.99 per user per month with 3,000 credits per user and 2 connected inboxes.
- Pro costs $99.99 per user per month with 15,000 credits and 3 inboxes, and adds computer use.
- Max costs $199.99 per user per month with 35,000 credits and 5 inboxes.
- Credits from each seat pool across the workspace and reset each cycle, while top-up credits cost $10 per 1,000 and do not expire.
- Lindy says an everyday task can use from about 2 to 250 credits, so a Plus seat can run out fast on heavy work.
Pros
- Credits pool across the workspace
- Pro adds computer use and live onboarding
- top-up credits cost $10 per 1,000 and do not expire
Cons
- No standing free plan
- Plus does not include computer use
- plan credits reset each cycle and do not roll over
Gumloop
Best for: AI agents for batch work
Gumloop is a no-code builder for AI agents that run workflows across apps, with approvals, a company knowledge base and a browser. Pro starts at $37 a month and includes 20,000 credits a month, made up of 7,400 base credits plus 12,600 bonus credits, with unlimited agents, seats and teams. A credit is indexed at $0.005, and model tokens, third-party tool calls and compute are charged at provider list prices, plus an 8% orchestration fee on Pro.
- The fee rises to 16% when you bring your own model key.
- New accounts start with a 14-day free trial of Pro, and the trial needs a card and converts to a subscription unless you cancel in time.
- Agents stop when the 20,000 credits run out, unless you turn on pay-as-you-go billing at $0.005 per credit, which is off by default.
- Enterprise is custom priced and adds SAML, SCIM, audit logs and a virtual private cloud option.
Pros
- Pro includes unlimited seats, agents and teams
- Pro includes 20,000 credits a month
- access to more than 35 models
Cons
- No standing free plan
- unused credits do not roll over
- an 8% orchestration fee applies on Pro
How we chose
We chose platforms that build AI workflows across apps, with a published entry price or a clear quote-only enterprise route, and with an official pricing page or official billing docs we could check on 2026-11-12. We compared the billing unit, the entry allowance, the free or trial terms, and the limits that force an upgrade, such as task caps, credit caps, concurrent runs, shared projects, and region limits. We did not test any tool hands-on. Prices can change, so check the linked pricing page before you buy.
Pick by volume and budget
| Monthly volume | Lowest entry price in this list | Best fit from the list |
|---|---|---|
| Under 100 tasks a month | $0, Zapier free plan | Zapier, for 100 tasks and two-step Zaps |
| 1,000 credits a month | $0, Make free plan | Make, for 1,000 credits and 2 active scenarios |
| 2,500 workflow runs a month | €20 a month, n8n Starter | n8n, for 2,500 executions with unlimited steps per run |
| 10,000 credits a month | $9 a month, Make Core | Make, for 10,000 credits and unlimited scenarios |
| 10,000 workflow runs a month | €50 a month, n8n Pro | n8n, for 10,000 executions and 20 concurrent runs |
| 20,000 AI credits a month | $37 a month, Gumloop Pro | Gumloop, for 20,000 credits and unlimited seats |
| Enterprise governance | Quote only, UiPath Standard or Workato Standard | UiPath or Workato, after a written quote |
Frequently asked questions
How much does the cheapest AI workflow platform cost?
Make Core starts at $9 a month billed annually for 10,000 credits, and Make also has a free plan with 1,000 credits a month. Zapier Professional starts at $19.99 a month billed annually for 750 tasks, and n8n Cloud Starter starts at €20 a month billed annually for 2,500 executions. The cheapest option depends on the billing unit, because those three allowances are not the same amount of work.
Which is the best AI workflow platform for a small team?
Zapier is the best default for a small team that wants the widest app coverage and a simple setup, with a free plan at 100 tasks a month. Make is the best budget pick at $9 a month for 10,000 credits, and n8n is the best pick for a technical small team with long workflows, because one execution covers a whole run.
Which is best for Microsoft 365 teams?
Microsoft Power Automate is the best pick for Microsoft 365 teams, because standard connector flows are included with many Microsoft 365 plans, and Premium costs $15 per user per month billed annually. Premium adds premium connectors, attended desktop RPA and a 40,000 daily action limit. Unattended bots need the Process licence at $150 per bot per month.
Which is best for AI agents rather than simple automation?
Lindy is the best pick for AI teammates that handle inbox, scheduling and meeting work, starting at $29.99 per user per month with 3,000 credits. Gumloop is the best pick for AI agents that run batch work across apps, starting at $37 a month with 20,000 credits and unlimited seats.
Do any of these platforms have a free plan?
Yes. Zapier has a free plan with 100 tasks a month, Make has a free plan with 1,000 credits a month, Workato has a free plan with a one-time grant of 50,000 credits, and n8n and UiPath have free Community editions. Power Automate includes standard flows with many Microsoft 365 plans. Lindy starts with $50 in credits for 7 days, and Gumloop offers a 14-day trial of Pro.
What is the main cost trap in AI workflow pricing?
The main trap is the billing unit. Zapier AI steps cost 1x, 3x or 5x tasks by model tier, Make charges one credit per module run, and Lindy says one everyday task can use from 2 to 250 credits. Gumloop adds an 8% orchestration fee on Pro, and its credits do not roll over. Count steps and runs per month before you choose a plan.
Sources
- https://zapier.com/
- https://zapier.com/pricing
- https://www.make.com/
- https://www.make.com/en/pricing
- https://n8n.io/
- https://n8n.io/pricing
- https://www.workato.com/
- https://www.workato.com/pricing
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/products/power-automate
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/products/power-automate/pricing
- https://www.uipath.com/
- https://www.uipath.com/pricing
- https://www.lindy.ai/
- https://www.lindy.ai/pricing
- https://www.gumloop.com/
- https://www.gumloop.com/pricing
Prices and features were read on each company’s own website in November 2026. They change often, so confirm the current offer on the official site before you sign up or buy.