# DIY versus turnkey.

> n8n or Make on your own versus a commissioned turnkey system: the real cost — licence, hosting, maintenance hours, and what breaks when an API changes.

_n8n or Make on your own versus a commissioned system — what each one actually costs._

n8n and Make look free, or close to it, at first glance. The real cost only shows once you count the hours of the person maintaining them, and what happens at 3am when something breaks.

Definition
## Two different things with the same result on screen.

n8n and Make are do-it-yourself automation tools — a visual editor where you connect blocks: "when an email arrives, do this." A turnkey system is a finished solution that someone else designs, builds and maintains for you, usually on the same or similar technology underneath.

At first glance the result looks the same — data moves from one system to another without manual intervention. The difference is who carries the risk when something goes wrong, and who pays with their time when a supplier's API changes without warning.

We disclose it up front: auwo sells turnkey systems, not n8n or Make subscriptions. So read the comparison below with that in mind, and check the numbers against your own case.

The cost
## What you actually pay in each case.

Costn8n/Make DIYTurnkey system

Licence/hostingFor example ~€20–70/month for a plan or a serverIncluded in the monthly maintenance fee

Building itThe owner's or an employee's hours — usually underestimatedA one-off price, agreed in advance

Maintenance when an API changesFalls on the same person, whenever they have timePart of the monthly contract

What happens if that person leavesThe knowledge usually leaves with themStays with the contractor, by agreement

The numbers in the first column look low because they leave out the hours of the person building and patching the flow — and those are usually the larger part of the real cost.

When DIY wins
## Honestly — n8n/Make wins here.

For a technically capable owner or employee with a simple, one-off flow — for example "move a new form row into Google Sheets" — n8n or Make wins almost every time. The tool is ready today, the cost is negligible, and the risk of failure is small and easy to fix on the spot.

DIY also wins while the process itself is still changing every week — you pay little while the process settles, instead of commissioning a system for something that will look different tomorrow. If that is your situation, also see when not to automate at all — sometimes the answer is neither.

When the system wins
## When DIY breaks down.

DIY tools break down at scale and at criticality. A flow that checks invoices against orders and has to run every day without exceptions is a different bet from a one-off data transfer. When a supplier's API, an accounting program or a chain's portal changes, someone has to notice it and fix the flow — and without a contracted maintainer, that usually waits for the owner on a Friday evening.

A turnkey system also wins when no one in the company has the time or the wish to learn a visual editor — the cost then is a predictable monthly sum, not the unpredictable hours of a busy person. For an example of what a finished document system looks like, see Documents.

Example
## What it looks like in practice.

Illustrative example3 → 1
A company builds its own n8n flow that pulls orders from a chain's portal and writes them into Excel. It works well for months, until the portal changes its file format — the flow stops quietly, and the mistake is only noticed when an order is missing from the records. The owner spends an evening fixing it, instead of three staff waiting for an answer on something else.

The numbers above are illustrative, not the result of a specific client case. They show the type of risk, not a guaranteed outcome — with a turnkey system the same portal change goes through contracted maintenance instead of the owner's own time.

Practical
## How to judge your own case.

Three questions before you choose: how many times a month will the flow need touching because of an outside change; what happens if it stops for a day while the owner is busy with something else; and how many hours a month you already spend maintaining it yourselves. If the answers point to "rarely", "nothing serious" and "few hours" — DIY wins. If they point the other way, a written card from an AI audit shows specifically what moving to a turnkey system would cost, instead of leaving you to guess.

You do not need to decide once and for all — many companies start with n8n or Make for the first simple flow, and move to a turnkey system only once the number of flows and their criticality grow enough to justify a monthly maintenance contract. See the AI audit for a written assessment of your specific case.

## Чести въпроси

**В: Is n8n/Make cheaper than a turnkey system?**

О: On paper — yes, the monthly licence is low. In practice the cost depends on the hours of the person who builds and maintains it, which are rarely counted as a cost.

**В: When is n8n or Make the better choice?**

О: For a simple, one-off flow and a technically capable owner or employee — almost always. The tool is ready immediately, and the risk is small.

**В: What happens when a supplier's API changes?**

О: With a DIY flow, someone in the company has to notice and fix it. With a turnkey system this is part of the monthly maintenance contract.


Източник: https://auwo.ai/en/n8n-make-diy-vs-turnkey-system · auwo, Бургас · Заявете AI одит — 190 €: https://auwo.ai/odit