Research Question
The user sought to automate email sequences triggered by submissions from multiple WPForms on a WordPress site, with conditional logic such as discounts for same-day payment requests, handling 10-20 leads per week (~80 executions/month). A comparison between Make and n8n was requested to determine the best low-volume platform.
Key Findings
- WPForms supports native triggers on Make ("Watch New Form Entries", select specific form ID) and Zapier ("New Form Entry"); one workflow per form recommended for separate sequences (e.g., courses vs. events).
- Workflow assumptions: 7 steps per workflow (trigger → filter/condition → discount calc → email1 → delay → email2 → log), 3 workflows, ~560 operations/month.
- Make: Beginner difficulty, free tier fits (1,000 operations/month), cloud-only, 2,518 integrations including native WPForms, routers/delays for sequences; pricing page https://www.make.com/en/pricing.
- n8n: Intermediate difficulty, free self-hosted (unlimited executions, ~$7/month infrastructure), cloud Starter at $24/month (2,500 executions), open-source (51,000 GitHub stars), 407 integrations; pricing page https://n8n.io/pricing.
- Both platforms fit free tiers for 80 executions/month; cost of doing nothing estimated at $12,000/year manual labor.
- No pre-built templates found for "WordPress form lead email sequence", "wordpress form email sequence discount", or "wordpress multiple forms email sequence".
- Prices verified as of 2026-03-23.
Recommendation
Make is recommended for this WPForms automation due to its beginner-friendly visual builder, native form triggers, built-in routers/filters/delays for conditional sequences, and zero-cost free tier with no infrastructure needed. Use n8n self-hosted only if custom code (e.g., JavaScript for discounts) or data privacy requires it, assuming server management capability; setup time ~1 hour vs. Make's 0.5 hours. Caveat: Confirm email provider (e.g., Mailchimp) integration; test with real form submissions.
Details
WPForms Platform Support
| Form Plugin | Best Platforms | Trigger Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| WPForms | Make, Zapier | "Watch New Form Entries" / "New Form Entry" | Make/Zapier native/free. Power Automate premium. |
Make vs. n8n Cost Comparison (~80 execs/mo, 7 steps/workflow, 3 workflows)
| Platform | Difficulty | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost | Free Tier Fit | Key Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Make | Beginner | $0 (Free) | $0 | Yes (1K ops/mo) | Cloud no-code; 2,518 integrations. |
| n8n | Intermediate | $0 (self-host) / $24 (cloud Starter) | $0 / $240 | Yes (self-host unlimited; cloud 2.5K execs) | Open-source; needs DevOps (~$7/mo infra). |
Make Pricing Tiers (Cloud, Key Excerpts)
| Tier Name | Monthly Price | Included Units | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1,000 operations | No-code builder, 3,000+ apps, routers/filters. |
| Core 10K | $10.59 | 10,000 operations | Unlimited scenarios, API access. |
n8n Pricing Tiers (Key Excerpts)
| Tier Name | Monthly Price | Included Units | Deployment | Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community | $0 | Unlimited | Self-hosted | All integrations, community support. |
| Starter | $24 | 2,500 executions | Cloud | 1 shared project, forum support. |