The two most-chosen automation platforms, head to head: Zapier, the 7,000-app giant everyone knows, against Make, the visual powerhouse that costs a fraction at volume.
Same job — connecting your apps — very different bills.
| Zapier | Make | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free (100 tasks/mo); Pro from $19.99/mo (annual) | Free (1,000 credits/mo); Core from $9/mo |
| Pricing model | Per task (every action step = 1) | Per operation credit (every module step = 1) |
| Integrations | 7,000+ apps — largest catalog in the category | Smaller app catalog than Zapier |
| Ease of use | Simplest builder; first automation in minutes | Visual canvas with real logic; steeper learning curve |
| Advanced logic | Paths and filters, relatively basic branching | Routers, filters, error handling, iterators built in |
| Self-hosting | No — cloud SaaS only | No — cloud SaaS only |
| Best for | Non-technical users, fastest setup, widest app coverage | Power users who want visual logic at low cost |
The automation platform everyone knows: connect 7,000+ apps with no code.
Free (100 tasks/mo); Professional from $29.99/mo billed monthly ($19.9
Try Zapier →Visual automation with real branching logic — the power user's value pick.
Free (1,000 credits/mo); Core from $9/mo, Pro from $16/mo, Teams from
Try Make →Pick Zapier when time-to-first-automation and app coverage matter most. Pick Make when your workflows have real branching logic or run at volume — the price gap widens fast as usage grows. Verify current plan limits on both official pricing pages before committing.
At comparable usage, yes — Make's Core plan starts at $9/mo with 1,000 credits, while Zapier's Professional starts at $19.99/mo (annual). Both count steps, so map your monthly volume against each pricing page.
No — Zapier's 7,000+ app catalog is unmatched. Make covers the mainstream apps well but niche tools are more likely to be missing.
Yes — most Zapier workflows rebuild cleanly as Make scenarios, and Make's visual canvas often makes the logic clearer. Budget a few hours per complex workflow for testing.