Tines vs n8n vs Make: Best Enterprise AI Workflow Platform in 2026

By Deepak Bagada, CEO at SaaSNext. I evaluated Tines, n8n, and Make across 50 enterprise workflow automation scenarios in July 2026, comparing pricing, AI agent capabilities, MCP support, security compliance, and ease of use.

Enterprise workflow automation in 2026 presents three strong but fundamentally different choices. Tines brings native AI agents, MCP server support, and ISO 42001 certification to security operations. n8n offers open-source flexibility with 90K+ GitHub stars and LangChain integration for custom AI pipelines. Make provides the broadest app ecosystem (2,000+ integrations) at the lowest entry price. This comparison evaluates all three on the dimensions that matter for enterprise teams: AI agent capabilities, MCP support, security compliance, pricing at scale, and integration breadth.

What Is Tines Tines is a no-code intelligent workflow platform built for security operations and IT teams. Founded 2018 in Dublin by former DocuSign security engineers, Tines has grown to a $300M valuation with SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and ISO 42001 certifications. The platform treats incident response, phishing triage, vulnerability management, and SOC 2 evidence collection as composable workflows on a visual Storyboard. Tines launched native AI Agent action (AWS Bedrock / BYO LLM), MCP server support (build and consume), and a free Community Edition with 1 builder, 3 flows, unlimited runs, unlimited integrations, and SSO.

What Is n8n n8n is an open-source workflow automation platform (fair-code license, 90K+ GitHub stars) that lets teams build complex automations with a visual interface or programmatically. It supports 400+ nodes, webhook triggers, conditional logic, error handling, and AI capabilities through LangChain integration. n8n can be self-hosted (free) or used via n8n Cloud (starts at $24/month). The AI nodes support OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, Ollama, and Hugging Face models. n8n's community node marketplace extends the platform with 2,000+ additional integrations contributed by the open-source community. Technical teams choose n8n for its developer-friendly approach, direct database access, and ability to run custom JavaScript/Python code within workflows.

What Is Make Make (formerly Integromat) is a visual no-code automation platform with 2,000+ app integrations. It uses a scenario-based workflow builder with drag-and-drop modules, data transformation tools, and webhook support. Make starts at $9/month for 1,000 operations and scales to enterprise at custom pricing. The AI modules support OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, and custom LLM endpoints. Make excels at marketing, sales, and operations automation with pre-built templates for common business processes. The visual interface is the most approachable of the three for non-technical users.

Head-to-Head Comparison: AI Agent Capabilities Tines has the most mature native AI agent implementation. The AI Agent action sits directly on the Storyboard alongside deterministic actions, making hybrid AI+deterministic workflows trivial to build. Tines also supports MCP server creation and consumption, enabling AI assistants to trigger and interact with workflows. n8n supports AI through LangChain integration nodes and direct LLM calls. The flexibility is higher (you can build custom agent logic) but the learning curve is steeper. Make offers AI modules but they are simpler LLM call wrappers without the agent orchestration capabilities of Tines or the LangChain depth of n8n.

Head-to-Head: Security and Compliance Tines holds SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 42001 (AI management system), GDPR, and CCPA certifications. The ISO 42001 certification is unique among workflow platforms and positions Tines for regulated industries that need audited AI governance. n8n offers self-hosting for full data control but does not hold specific compliance certifications (you own compliance in your own infrastructure). Make is SOC 2 compliant but does not match Tines' certification depth.

Head-to-Head: Pricing Tines Community Edition is free with 1 builder, 3 flows, unlimited runs and integrations. Enterprise starts at approximately $50K/year. n8n is free self-hosted with unlimited everything. n8n Cloud starts at $24/month for 5K workflow executions. Make starts at $9/month for 1K operations, Pro at $16/month for 10K operations, and custom enterprise pricing.

Which Platform Should You Choose Choose Tines if you are a SecOps or ITOps team that needs AI-native agent workflows, MCP server support, enterprise compliance certifications (SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 42001), and a free tier for evaluation. Choose n8n if you need self-hosted automation with maximum flexibility, community-driven integrations, LangChain AI pipelines, and your team has technical skills to manage infrastructure. Choose Make if you are a marketing, sales, or operations team that needs the broadest app ecosystem at the lowest price, and your workflows follow standard patterns without custom AI agent orchestration.

Limitations Tines Community Edition is limited to 1 builder and 3 flows — fine for evaluation but restrictive for production. Tines is SecOps-focused; marketing and sales teams may find fewer pre-built templates compared to Make or Zapier. n8n requires technical expertise for self-hosting and LangChain AI integration is powerful but complex. Make AI capabilities are limited compared to Tines and n8n.

FAQ Q: Which platform is cheapest for enterprise use? A: n8n self-hosted is free. Tines enterprise starts around $50K/year. Make enterprise is custom but typically lower than Tines. Q: Which platform has the best AI agent support? A: Tines has native AI Agent action with MCP support. n8n has LangChain integration for custom pipelines. Make offers basic AI LLM modules. Q: Are these platforms HIPAA/GDPR compliant? A: Tines has ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II. n8n self-hosted can be configured for compliance. Make is SOC 2 compliant. Q: Can I build MCP servers in these platforms? A: Only Tines supports building and consuming MCP servers natively on the Storyboard. Q: Which platform is easiest for non-technical users? A: Make has the most approachable visual interface. Tines Storyboard is also visual but SecOps-focused. n8n requires more technical familiarity.