We run workshops through our Shopify store and need to automatically send calendar invites to customers after they complete their purchase. The problem is that Shopify’s built-in confirmation emails don’t support file attachments, so we have to use a third-party automation service.
Right now we’re using Calendar Event Builder to create the actual calendar files. But I’m stuck choosing which automation platform to use for connecting everything together. Here are the main options I’m looking at:
Zapier: Has ready-made workflows that look super simple to set up, but the pricing gets expensive when you have lots of orders
Make.com / Pipedream: These seem like they offer better value for money compared to Zapier
n8n: Running it on our own servers would save money long-term, but I’m concerned about having to manage and update it ourselves
Has anyone else built something similar? Which tool did you end up going with and what made you choose it over the others?
We tested several platforms for corporate training events and went with Make.com about six months ago. Main reason? Transparent pricing - no nasty surprises when bookings surge during busy periods. Their Shopify module handles webhooks cleanly, calendar invites generate consistently, and we don’t get those annoying timeouts we had elsewhere. Docs are actually decent, which is huge when you’re troubleshooting at 2am before a big event. One heads up - error handling isn’t as smooth as Pipedream’s. Give yourself extra time to test edge cases like partial refunds or order changes.
zapier’s overrated for this stuff. we switched to make.com last year - way cheaper once you hit 100+ orders monthly. learning curve wasn’t bad, took me a weekend to nail the shopify webhook setup. haven’t tried n8n though, seems like overkill unless you’re really tech-savvy.
build it yourself if u’ve got dev skills. shopify webhooks are pretty simple and most email apis handle attachments. took me like 2 days to code something similar for our webinars with node.js. no monthly fees, no platform limits - just runs on a $5/month vps.
All those platforms suck when you scale up. I was in your exact spot two years ago with our training workshops.
Zapier’s pricing killed us. Make and Pipedream were solid but clunky for something this simple. n8n looked good but I didn’t want another server to manage.
Latenode changed everything. Way cheaper than Zapier, and the visual builder actually makes complex automations manageable. Got our Shopify webhook running in minutes, calendar integration handles .ics files automatically.
Best part? No weird API limits or billing spikes when orders surge. Debugging is crystal clear - you can trace every step when things break.
We’re doing 500+ workshop bookings monthly and it just works. Worth checking out if you want something between expensive big names and self-hosted headaches.
Been running this exact setup for our cooking classes for 18 months. Started with Pipedream and love it. Free tier handles tons of volume before you pay, and their Shopify integration works great. Setup’s easy - Shopify webhook triggers the workflow, grabs order details, creates calendar invite via API, then emails it out. The debugging tools sold me - you can see exactly where things break when orders mess up. Way better than other platforms that are total black boxes. Zero reliability issues too, which was my biggest worry ditching Zapier.
Switched to n8n 8 months ago for our fitness workshop business - wish I’d done it way earlier. Yeah, setup was more work than cloud options, but the savings are huge. We’re doing 300+ orders monthly and only pay server costs. What sold me was complete control over data flow. No API limits, no surprise price hikes from third parties. Community workflows are great too - grabbed a Shopify-to-calendar one that barely needed tweaking. If you can handle basic server stuff (or know someone who can), go for it. Best part? Your automation costs won’t explode when you scale.