n8n, Zapier, and Make are the three most common automation platforms used to connect apps and build workflows without writing custom software from scratch. For a Nigerian business, the right choice comes down to three things: how complex your workflows need to be, whether pricing in dollars matters at your scale, and whether you plan to manage it yourself or have an agency build and maintain it for you.
All three do fundamentally the same job — trigger an action in one app based on an event in another, with logic in between. WhatsApp message received, lead added to CRM, invoice paid, appointment booked. The differences show up in cost, flexibility, and how much technical comfort is required to build and maintain the workflows.
Zapier
Zapier is the most established and easiest to start with. It has the widest range of pre-built app integrations and a genuinely simple interface for straightforward, linear automations — "when X happens, do Y."
- Best for: simple, low-volume automations and businesses that want the fastest possible setup with minimal technical involvement
- Watch out for: pricing scales quickly with task volume, and in dollar terms this adds up fast for a Nigerian business running high message volumes; complex multi-branch logic can get clunky
Make (formerly Integromat)
Make sits between Zapier and n8n in complexity. It offers a visual, flowchart-style builder that handles branching logic and more complex scenarios more gracefully than Zapier, at generally better pricing for the same volume.
- Best for: businesses that need more complex logic than Zapier comfortably handles but still want a visual, non-technical interface
- Watch out for: still a subscription priced in dollars or euros, and the learning curve is steeper than Zapier's
n8n
n8n is the most flexible and technical of the three. It can be self-hosted (running on your own or your agency's server), which removes per-task pricing entirely and gives far more control over complex, custom workflows — including direct integration with AI models, custom code steps, and workflows that would be expensive or impossible on the other two platforms.
- Best for: businesses building sophisticated automation — AI-powered WhatsApp bots, multi-step lead qualification, custom CRM logic — where long-term cost control and flexibility matter more than a beginner-friendly interface
- Watch out for: genuinely requires technical setup and maintenance; not something most business owners should build and manage themselves without support
How to Choose
Choose Zapier if
you have one or two simple automations to run, low volume, and want to set it up yourself this week without external help.
Choose Make if
you need moderate complexity — a few connected steps and some conditional logic — and want a balance of ease and capability without full technical overhead.
Choose n8n if
you are building serious automation infrastructure — AI-driven WhatsApp bots, lead qualification systems, invoice automation tied to multiple tools — and want a partner to build and host it rather than paying escalating per-task fees indefinitely.
What We Use and Why
At Harzotech, most of the AI automation workflows we build for clients — WhatsApp bots, lead qualification, invoice reminders, CRM automation — run on n8n, self-hosted, because it gives Nigerian businesses predictable costs (not scaling with every dollar-denominated task) and the flexibility to integrate AI models directly into the workflow logic. For simpler, lower-stakes automations, we sometimes recommend Zapier or Make if a client wants to manage it themselves going forward.
The platform matters less than getting the workflow logic right in the first place — a badly designed automation on any platform creates more problems than it solves. This is the core of our AI automation work: designing the right logic first, then building it on whichever platform fits your budget and technical comfort.
Not sure which platform fits your business? Book a free consultation and we will recommend the right tool based on your actual workflows, not a generic answer.