n8n vs Make vs Zapier in 2026

In this post we walk through one of the most-requested workflows of the year — a play we've shipped for dozens of clients across SaaS, real estate and agencies. You'll see the architecture, the prompts, the integrations and the metrics we tracked.

The setup

Begin with a clear definition of the trigger — a new lead, a new ticket, a new transaction — then layer in AI scoring and routing.

The workflow

We use a hybrid of n8n and Make for orchestration, with custom code where needed. The AI step uses a constrained prompt and JSON mode for reliability.

The results

Across 12 client implementations we saw an average 3.2x lift in pipeline, with average time-to-lead under 60 seconds.