Home › Comparisons › Zapier vs Make
Zapier vs Make: the free plans aren't remotely comparable
One gives you 100 units a month and won't let you build past two steps. The other gives you 1,000 and lets you build whatever you like. That gap runs through the whole comparison.
Zapier
vs
Make
The short answer
Choose Make if cost or complexity matters. Its free plan allows 1,000 credits a month against Zapier's 100 tasks, places no limit on how complex a scenario can be, and its entry paid plan is $9/month for 10,000 credits against Zapier's from $19.99.
Choose Zapier if you want the path of least resistance. It has the larger app library, the simpler interface, and far more tutorials written about it — which matters more than people admit when you're stuck at 11pm.
The honest caveat: Zapier meters in "tasks" and Make in "credits", and they are not the same unit. Directional comparisons are fair; precise per-unit maths is not, and anyone presenting it as exact is overreaching.
The free plans
This is where the two diverge most sharply, and it's the part worth understanding before you invest time learning either.
| Free plan | Zapier | Make |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly allowance | 100 tasks | 1,000 credits |
| Workflow complexity | Two-step onlyone trigger, one action | No complexity limitrouters and filters included |
| Workflows | Unlimited Zaps | Unlimited scenarios |
| App library access | Yes | 3,000+ apps |
| Run frequency | Standard | 15-minute minimum interval |
| Also included | Tables, Forms, Copilot | Visual builder, support |
The two-step limit is the one that stings. On Zapier's free plan you get a trigger and a single action — "when a form is submitted, add a row". The moment you want "…and then send a Slack message", you need the Professional plan. Make's free tier lets you build a scenario with routers, filters and as many modules as you like; you'll simply consume credits faster.
So Zapier's free plan is best understood as a demonstration, and Make's as a small but genuinely usable allowance.
Paid pricing
| Zapier | Make | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 — 100 tasks/mo | $0 — 1,000 credits/mo |
| Entry paid | Professional from $19.99/mo | Core $9/moat 10k credits/mo |
| Next tier | Team | Pro $16/moat 10k credits/mo |
| Team tier | Team | Teams $29/moat 10k credits/mo |
| Enterprise | Yes | Custom pricing |
| Annual discount | Save 33% | Yes |
| Unit of billing | Tasks | Credits |
A limitation we should name: Make publishes its plan prices against a selectable credit volume, so the $9 / $16 / $29 figures above are all quoted at 10,000 credits per month. Zapier's Professional plan is published as "starting from $19.99" and its price also scales with the task tier you choose. We could not pin Zapier's price at an equivalent volume from its pricing page, so we are not presenting a like-for-like cost per unit — only each platform's published entry point. Treat the comparison as directional.
What we can say with confidence: Make's entry paid plan is under half Zapier's published starting price, Make's free allowance is ten times larger by unit count, and Make imposes no complexity ceiling where Zapier's free tier does.
Tasks and credits aren't the same thing
Worth understanding, because it's the reason most comparisons of these two are subtly wrong.
- A Zapier task is counted when a Zap step successfully processes an item. As of 2026, Zapier states that AI steps, code and SDK usage all follow the same task-based model.
- A Make credit is consumed by each module action in a scenario — adding a spreadsheet row, fetching Gmail data, each counts one.
They're conceptually similar — a unit of work — but the way each platform counts steps, filters and internal operations differs enough that "1,000 credits = 1,000 tasks" is not a safe assumption. The practical advice: build your actual workflow on both free plans and watch the meter for a week. That's the only comparison that reflects your real usage, and it costs nothing.
Beyond price
Where Zapier wins
- App library. The largest in the category, and the long tail matters — obscure tools are far more likely to have a Zapier integration than a Make one.
- Simplicity. The linear trigger-action model is easier for non-technical people. Make's visual canvas is more powerful and more intimidating.
- Documentation and community. Whatever you're trying to do, someone has written a Zapier tutorial for it.
- Bundled tooling. Tables, Forms, Copilot and an MCP layer are included rather than separate products.
Where Make wins
- Cost, clearly, at both free and entry-paid levels.
- Complexity handling. Routers, filters and branching are available from the free plan; the visual canvas suits workflows with real logic.
- Scheduling control. Core lets you schedule down to the minute; the free plan's 15-minute floor is the trade for $0.
- Unlimited active scenarios from Core up.
Questions we get asked
Which should a beginner pick?
Zapier, if the automation is simple and you value being able to Google your way out of trouble. Make, if you're comfortable with a visual builder and want room to grow without the bill growing with you. Both free plans cost nothing to try, and the honest answer is that a week on each tells you more than any article.
Is Zapier's two-step free limit really that restrictive?
Yes. Almost every useful automation has three or more steps — a trigger, a condition, and an action. Two steps means one trigger and one action with no logic between them. Treat Zapier's free plan as a trial rather than a tier you can live on.
Can I move my automations between them?
Not automatically — there's no export/import path between the two, so migrating means rebuilding each workflow by hand. That's the real switching cost here, and it's a reason to spend a little time choosing rather than defaulting to the name you've heard of.
Do you earn from either of these?
Not currently — we hold no affiliate account with Zapier or Make, so this page earns nothing today. If that changes we'll update this disclosure, and the comparison won't change with it.
The verdict
Make, for most people who are cost-conscious or building anything with logic in it. Ten times the free allowance, no complexity ceiling, and an entry plan at less than half Zapier's published starting price.
Zapier, if you value the ecosystem. The largest app library and the best documentation are worth paying for when your time is the scarce resource, and for genuinely simple automations the extra power of Make is capability you'll never use.
Because there's no migration path between them, this is one of the few decisions in this category worth a week of actual testing. Build your real workflow on both free plans and watch the meter — it's free, and it beats any comparison table including this one.
Pricing read from zapier.com and make.com on 16 September 2026, in USD. Make's figures are quoted at its 10,000 credits per month tier; Zapier's Professional plan is published as "starting from $19.99" and we could not establish its price at an equivalent volume, so no per-unit cost comparison is presented. Under our methodology this comparison is at the "researched, not tested" level. Found something out of date? Tell us.
