Zapier vs Make: Which Automation Tool Wins? (2 Clear Picks)

Prices checked: November 2026

You have a pile of apps that don’t talk to each other, and you’re tired of copying the same details from one to the next. Zapier and Make both fix that. The real question is which one fits your business and your budget.

Zapier connects 9,000+ apps and starts at $19.99 a month on annual billing. Make connects 3,500+ apps, starts at $9 a month on annual billing and includes unlimited users on every plan.

We read both official pricing pages in November 2026, compared the plan limits side by side and picked a winner in each area that matters to a small business.

Here’s how they compare, and which one to pick.

Zapier vs Make at a Glance

Tool	Best for	Free plan	Starting price
Zapier	Non-technical owners who want fast, simple automations across 9,000+ apps	Yes (100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps), plus a 14-day Professional trial	$19.99/mo (Professional, annual)
Make	Budget-minded teams building bigger, multi-step workflows	Yes (1,000 credits a month, 2 active scenarios)	$9/mo (Core, annual)

Feature	Zapier	Make
5-person team	$69/mo (Team plan, 2,000 tasks)	$9/mo (Core, unlimited users); $29/mo with team roles
Usage at entry price	750 tasks a month	10,000 credits a month
Free trial	14 days of Professional, no card	No trial listed; free plan instead
Apps	9,000+	3,500+
Fastest schedule	Every 2 min (Professional); 1 min (Team)	Every 1 min on all paid plans
AI features	Copilot on every plan; Agents and Chatbots are add-ons	Maia, AI Agents (beta) and AI Toolkit on every plan
Switching in	No built-in import from Make found	No built-in import from Zapier found
Support	Email; live chat from the 2,000-task tier; priority on Team	Technical support on paid plans; priority guidance on Teams

Prices checked November 2026. Prices use annual billing unless noted (Make says annual billing saves 15% compared with monthly). The 5-person team price uses the cheapest plan that lets 5 people share one account: Zapier Free and Professional are for 1 user, so a team needs Zapier Team at $69 a month, while every Make plan includes unlimited users. Zapier tasks and Make credits are counted differently, so they are not a like-for-like match.

Zapier: Overview

Best for: Non-technical owners who want to connect everyday apps quickly with simple, step-by-step automations

Zapier is the best-known no-code automation platform. You build each automation, called a Zap, as a simple list of steps: when something happens in one app, do something in another. Its pricing page lists integrations with more than 9,000 apps.

A 3-person agency could send every new form lead into its CRM, post it in Slack and create a follow-up task, all in one Zap. Triggers and checks for new data never count against your task limit; only successful actions do.

Key Capabilities

• Zap workflows: Multi-step Zaps with filters, paths and Formatter steps on paid plans.
• 9,000+ app integrations: Premium apps and webhooks are included on every paid plan.
• Copilot: Describe what you want in plain English and Copilot drafts the Zap, on every plan.
• Tables and Forms: Store data and collect form entries inside Zapier, included on all plans.
• Zapier MCP: Lets AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT take actions in your connected apps.

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Make: Overview

Best for: Cost-conscious owners and small teams who want visual, multi-branch workflows with room to grow

Make (formerly Integromat) lets you build automations, called scenarios, on a visual canvas. You drag modules onto the screen and connect them like a flowchart. Its pricing page lists 3,500+ apps, and every plan includes unlimited users.

Make bills in credits, and most module actions use 1 credit. A 5-person online shop could route new orders, update a Google Sheet and alert the right person in Slack on the $9 Core plan, with 10,000 credits a month and every teammate logged in.

Key Capabilities

• Visual scenario builder: A drag-and-drop canvas with routers and filters on every plan.
• Scheduling down to the minute: Paid plans can run scenarios every minute, with unlimited active scenarios.
• Maia by Make: Build automations and AI agents by describing them in a chat, on every plan.
• Make AI Agents (beta): Build agents with Make’s AI Provider or your own LLM key.
• Make Code App: Run JavaScript or Python on paid plans, at 2 credits per second of run time.

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Pricing: Zapier vs Make

Make is much cheaper for the same amount of work. As of November 2026, Make Core costs $9 a month on annual billing for 10,000 credits, or $0.90 per 1,000 credits. Zapier Professional costs $19.99 a month on annual billing for 750 tasks.

• Solo owner with a few simple automations: Zapier Free (100 tasks) or Make Free (1,000 credits) may be all you need.
• Solo owner automating daily work: Make Core ($9) gives you far more room than Zapier Professional ($19.99).
• Team of 5: Make costs $9 to $29 a month because users are unlimited. Zapier needs its Team plan at $69 a month.

One fair caveat: the units differ. Zapier never charges for triggers or for checking new data, while Make counts each module action as a credit. Even so, Make’s entry plan gives you more than 13 times the units for less than half the price.

Winner: Make, because the same budget runs many more automations, and you never pay per seat.

Ease of Use

Zapier is built for people who have never automated anything. You pick a trigger app, pick an action app, match a few fields and switch it on. Copilot can even draft the whole Zap from one sentence.

Make’s canvas is powerful, but it takes longer to learn. Routers, iterators and data mapping make sense after a few scenarios, and many new users say the first week feels harder than Zapier. Maia, Make’s AI assistant, now lets you build by chat to soften that curve.

Winner: Zapier, because a non-technical owner can get a working automation live in minutes.

AI Features

Make includes Maia, Make AI Agents (beta), the AI Toolkit, AI Content Extractor and AI Web Search on every plan, Free included. Steps that use Make’s AI Provider may use more than 1 credit.

Zapier includes Copilot on every plan, and AI steps now follow the same task-based pricing as everything else. Zapier Agents and Chatbots are sold as separate add-ons. Both tools offer an MCP server, so assistants like Claude can trigger your workflows.

Winner: Make, because its AI agents and AI tools come inside every plan instead of as add-ons.

Workflows and Automation Power

Make handles complex logic better. Its canvas shows branches and error handling visually, a single run can last up to 40 minutes on paid plans, and Core processes files up to 100 MB (250 MB on Pro). Every paid plan can run scenarios every minute.

Zapier covers most small business jobs with multi-step Zaps, filters and paths on paid plans. Professional checks for new data every 2 minutes and Team every minute. The Free plan is limited to two-step Zaps.

Winner: Make, because it gives you more control over complex, high-volume workflows.

Integrations

Zapier’s pricing page lists 9,000+ apps, the biggest library of any automation tool. If you use niche software, such as an industry CRM or a small booking tool, Zapier is more likely to support it.

Make lists 3,500+ standard apps, which covers the big names like Google Workspace, Slack, Shopify and HubSpot. Both tools can also reach most other apps through webhooks or HTTP requests.

Winner: Zapier, because it connects more than twice as many apps.

Free Plan, Trial and Support

Zapier enrolls every new account in a 14-day Professional trial with no credit card. Email support is available, live chat starts at the 2,000-task Professional tier, and the Team plan adds priority support.

Make lists no trial, but its Free plan never expires. Free users get 90 days of expert access to get started, paid plans get technical support from Make’s expert team, and Teams adds high-priority guidance from dedicated consultants.

Tie: Zapier’s trial makes it easier to test the full product, while Make’s free plan and paid support go further for the money.

Which Should You Choose?

• If you’ve never automated anything, pick Zapier and use the 14-day trial.
• If you rely on niche or industry apps, pick Zapier, after checking its app directory.
• If your budget is tight, pick Make Core at $9 a month.
• If 3 or more people need access, pick Make, because every plan includes unlimited users.
• If your workflows run thousands of times a month, pick Make Pro for priority execution.
• If you want AI agents without paying for add-ons, pick Make.

Not Sold on Either?

n8n, Pabbly Connect and Activepieces handle the same jobs, and n8n can even run on your own server. Compare them in our guide to the best AI automation tools.

FAQs

Final Thoughts

Sign up for both free plans this week and rebuild your most-used automation in each. If Make’s canvas clicks for you, its pricing will save you money every month; if it doesn’t, Zapier’s 14-day trial gets you running fast.

Still comparing tools? See our picks for the best AI automation tools, or read the AI tool stack to run a one-person business.