Same automation, three platforms: Zapier's free tier killed it, n8n finished it

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A developer built an identical CSV-filtering automation on Zapier, Make, and n8n to compare how each platform handles real workloads beyond pricing tables. Zapier's free tier imposes a hard one-second runtime cap on code steps, causing the automation to fail not due to faulty logic but due to a platform-level ceiling that cannot be engineered around. Make allowed the automation to run but its visual editor became unworkable mid-build, costing significant time without producing a finished result. Self-hosted n8n completed the task without any runtime restriction, though that comes with its own trade-offs, including server maintenance and self-managed upkeep. The key finding is that runtime limits and builder reliability — factors rarely covered in standard tool comparisons — can determine whether an automation is viable before a single line of logic is written.

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