COMPARISONS
Hosted, or run it yourself
One page per pair. The short answer first, then a table of both tools side by side, and the full cost of self-hosting where that is an option — licence, server, and hours.
Automation
How the platform charges, what a task really is, and what changes if you move off it.
EXPLAINER
What is a Zap?
Triggers, actions, filters, and paths: how the pieces connect, with a real example.
EXPLAINER
How Zapier pricing actually works
What counts as a task, what happens at your limit, and why annual billing saves 33%.
HEAD TO HEAD
Zapier vs Make
Tasks vs credits, app catalog size, and where each platform actually wins.
HEAD TO HEAD
Zapier vs n8n
Every action step billed against whole runs, or nothing on your own server. Four workloads priced.
THREE-WAY
Zapier alternatives, actually different
Make changes the pricing unit. n8n changes who owns the infrastructure.
HEAD TO HEAD
Make vs n8n
A credit for every module pass against one execution per run. Five workloads priced on both clouds.
Databases
The spreadsheet-database layer most automations read from and write to.
HEAD TO HEAD
Baserow vs NocoDB
MIT with paid feature gates against fair-code with everything free — the January 2026 licence split decides it.
DEEP DIVE
Baserow self-hosted
No row or user caps — the limits are licence gates and your hardware. Server sizing with numbers.
EXPLAINER
Airtable self-hosted
There is no self-hosted Airtable. What a move to Baserow or NocoDB keeps and what it loses.
HEAD TO HEAD
Airtable vs Baserow
Closed and cloud-only against MIT-licensed and free to self-host.
HEAD TO HEAD
Airtable vs SeaTable
10,000 free rows per base against Airtable's 1,000, and German data centres.
HEAD TO HEAD
SeaTable vs Notion
Pages with databases inside against a grid of typed records. Row limits, data location and self-hosting.
HEAD TO HEAD
Notion vs AppFlowy
A hosted workspace against one you can install, where the free server holds a single seat.
Monitoring
Watching whether any of it is still running.