Keep distinct jobs visible when
Each platform supports a different workflow, owner, permission boundary, or recovery path that you still need.
Documentation-backed decision method
Keep the work visible before you judge the subscriptions.
Use one named workflow to inspect where two automation subscriptions overlap, what each documented billing unit means, and what must be checked before any account change.
Private browser worksheet
Start with one duplicated job.
The calculation stays in this browser tab. It asks for a combined monthly bill, not a price-card guess, and shows workload estimates rather than a recommendation.
Private worksheet
See the duplicated workload before you decide.
Enter three current numbers. This browser-only worksheet returns your combined spend alongside comparable workload units. It does not estimate savings because current plan allowances, retries, and contract terms are not part of the input.
Your working estimate
Your bill and duplicated workload
Enter three current values, then calculate.
- Zapier task estimate
- Make standard-action credit estimate
- n8n Cloud execution estimate
- Annualized combined spend
Assumptions: the same duplicated executions are counted across both subscriptions. Zapier tasks and Make credits are workload estimates only; the Make figure assumes standard actions. n8n Cloud is shown as workflow executions. Check each vendor’s current billing rules before relying on a plan or invoice decision.
Decision conditions
Use the conditions; make the decision yourself.
Review consolidation when
The same workflow is duplicated, the output and recovery path are equivalent, and the remaining platform has a documented export or fallback.
Continue observing when
Usage is changing, seasonal work is underway, or the current billing period does not represent a normal month.
Investigate before deciding when
Retries, premium actions, failed runs, data retention, or contract terms could change the billing unit or operational consequence.
Pair-specific guides
Use the comparison that matches the overlap.
Three documented pairs
01
Zapier vs. Make: audit one overlapping subscription
Translate one duplicated workflow into documented Zapier tasks and Make standard-action credits, then keep exit and account-boundary checks separate.
02
Zapier vs. n8n Cloud: audit one overlapping subscription
Translate the same duplicated workflow into Zapier tasks and n8n Cloud workflow executions without treating Cloud and self-hosted n8n as the same offer.
03
Make vs. n8n Cloud: audit one overlapping subscription
Translate one duplicated workflow into Make credits and n8n Cloud executions while keeping Cloud scope, exit evidence, and unknowns visible.
Written decision framework
The free method still works without the worksheet.
Record the work, translate the billing unit, then inspect the exit path before drawing a conclusion. The calculator only makes those same assumptions easier to see.
- 01Name the job.
Capture the trigger, downstream actions, owner, permissions, and manual fallback for one workflow that appears in both subscriptions. - 02Translate the workload.
Keep the documented billing units separate. A task, credit, and workflow execution are not interchangeable prices. - 03Check the boundary.
Review the current account allowance, billing settings, branches, retries, premium actions, and any seasonal change before interpreting a normal month. - 04Keep the exit evidence.
Confirm what must be exported, rebuilt, reviewed, retained, or recovered before treating a subscription as a consolidation candidate.
Verification and limits
Use documentation for facts; use a safe test for behavior.
SOURCE
What the guides can show
Current public billing language, plan boundaries, export paths, cancellation paths, and clearly labeled editorial calculations. They cannot show your account state or predict an invoice.
TEST
What needs a controlled check
Retries, imports, exports, connections, retained history, recovery, and plan-specific outcomes need an owner-controlled test with synthetic data before they support a live decision.
For that separate, non-ranked test process, see the Automation Platform Comparison Test Method. More browser-private working files are available in the free tools.
Repeat the audit without rebuilding the record
Keep the evidence behind the next subscription decision.
Keep this audit’s monthly bill and duplicated execution count with the invoice evidence, renewal date, and exit steps in the Solo Ops Control Kit. At the next renewal, reopen the maintained record to review cost changes and consolidation conditions instead of finding the numbers and rebuilding the calculation.