The five-line pick
You need a stack that runs lead follow-up, booking, and inbox work for a realtor, insurer, or trade shop, and you do not want to rebuild it from scratch every month.
Already selling to local businesses that need CRM, SMS, and booked appointments in one place? Start with HighLevel.
Want visual workflows that connect the apps they already use, without hosting a server? Make is the fit.
Comfortable with a more technical builder, AI agent nodes, and paying per full workflow run? Use n8n Cloud, or self-host the free Community Edition if you want to run it yourself.
Need an AI teammate for Slack, inbox, and meetings more than a CRM or a workflow canvas? Lindy is the pick. Skip it if the client mainly needs pipelines and mass follow-up.
Who each one is for
- HighLevel suits freelancers delivering managed marketing and follow-up for local businesses (real estate, insurance, trades) who need CRM, funnels, SMS, calling, calendars, and AI conversation or voice tools in one login. Skip it if you only need a few app-to-app automations and no CRM.
- Make suits people who think in visual scenarios: "when a form fills, update the sheet, text the lead, book the call." Skip it if you need a full white-label CRM agency platform.
- n8n suits builders who want agents and workflows with more control, code steps when needed, and billing by whole workflow executions rather than per step. Skip Cloud if you refuse to host anything and also refuse a hosted bill; then you are stuck between Make and HighLevel.
- Lindy suits you when the job is an always-on teammate (Slack, inbox, meetings, drafts) rather than building client CRM pipelines. Skip it as the hero stack for a multi-client local-business delivery practice.
Pricing shape (checked 2026-10-01)
| Entry paid shape | Heavier shape | What you actually buy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| HighLevel | Agency Starter $97/mo (or $970/year): 3 sub-accounts | Unlimited $297/mo ($2,970/year); Agency Pro $497/mo ($4,970/year) | Unlimited contacts and users; phone, email, and AI usage billed separately; optional AI Employee add-ons from $50/mo per sub-account |
| Make | Free: 1,000 credits/month | Paid plans scale by monthly credits | Credits for module actions; AI features may use more than one credit. Confirm current prices on Make pricing before you buy. |
| n8n Cloud | Starter €20/mo billed annually | Pro €50/mo billed annually; Business €667/mo billed annually | Unlimited users and workflows; price by monthly workflow executions; Community Edition free if you self-host |
| Lindy | Plus $29.99/user/mo (3,000 credits) | Pro $99.99/user/mo (15,000); Max $199.99/user/mo (35,000) | Per-seat credits in a shared pool; Enterprise is sales-quoted |
HighLevel, n8n, and Lindy figures above are from their official pricing pages. Phone, email, and AI usage on HighLevel are billed separately.
How to choose in 20 seconds
- Client needs CRM + SMS + booking + funnels under your brand → HighLevel.
- Client already has tools; you only need to connect them → Make.
- You want agent nodes, code when stuck, and self-host option → n8n.
- The "agent" is really an inbox and Slack teammate for you or one client team → Lindy.
Building custom agent logic in a repo is a different job. For that pick, see AI coding agents for solo builders.
Sources
- Make pricing: https://www.make.com/en/pricing
- n8n pricing: https://n8n.io/pricing/
- HighLevel pricing: https://www.gohighlevel.com/pricing
- Lindy pricing: https://www.lindy.ai/pricing
- Coding-agents cross-link: https://usesoloai.com/agents/ai-coding-agents-for-solo-builders/