Short answer
Pick Zapier if you want the shortest path from idea to a running automation: it connects 9,000+ apps and a Zap is a simple list of steps. Pick Make if your automations branch, loop or run often: you lay each scenario out on a visual canvas, the free plan includes 1,000 credits a month, and paid plans start at $9 a month for 10,000 credits. Zapier costs more per run and asks less of you. Make costs less and takes longer to learn.
Make vs Zapier at a glance
| Make | Zapier | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | People who think in diagrams and need branching logic | Anyone who wants an automation running today |
| Free plan | 1,000 credits a month | 100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps |
| Paid from | $9 a month for 10,000 credits | $19.99 a month billed annually for 750 tasks |
| What is counted | Credits: most steps use 1; some AI features use more; routers and error handlers are free | Tasks: each successful action; triggers, filters and paths are free |
| Going over the limit | Extra credits in bundles of 1,000 or 10,000, with auto-purchase on Core, Pro and Teams | Pay per task at 1.25x on annual plans or 2.5x on monthly, up to 3x the plan |
| Builder | A visual canvas: routers, iterators and aggregators | A list of steps, with Paths for branches |
| Integrations | 3,000+ apps, plus custom apps for any public API | 9,000+ apps |
| AI agents | Make AI Agents, built and debugged inside the scenario builder | Zapier Agents, counted in activities and billed separately |
| MCP | Make MCP server | Zapier MCP on every plan; one tool call uses 2 tasks |
| Seeing everything you run | Make Grid, a live map of your automations, on paid plans | A shared workspace on the Team plan |
| Extras | Data stores; the Maia assistant | Tables, Forms and Copilot |
| Hosting | Cloud only | Cloud only |
Pricing
Make
- Free$01,000 credits a month, with no time limit.
- CoreFrom $9/moMake's starting price for 10,000 credits a month. Annual billing is cheaper than monthly.
- ProFrom $16/moStarting price for 10,000 credits a month.
- TeamsFrom $29/moStarting price for 10,000 credits a month.
- EnterpriseCustomAdds Enterprise apps and priority support.
Checked Nov 11, 2026 on make.com
Zapier
- Free$0100 tasks a month. Two-step Zaps only, checked every 15 minutes.
- ProfessionalFrom $19.99/moBilled annually; $29.99 monthly. 750 tasks. Multi-step Zaps, webhooks, premium apps, 1 seat.
- TeamFrom $69/moBilled annually; $103.50 monthly. 2,000 tasks, 25 seats, shared connections, SAML SSO.
- EnterpriseCustomUnlimited seats, SCIM, annual task limits.
Checked Nov 11, 2026 on zapier.com
Compare a real automation, because the units differ. A trigger and five actions that runs 1,000 times a month uses 5,000 Zapier tasks, which is the $89 a month Professional tier on annual billing. In Make the same run uses about six credits, so around 6,000 credits a month, inside the 10,000 that the $9 Core plan starts with. Make counts the trigger and Zapier does not. Make's starting prices are the ones its own site lists; annual billing is cheaper than monthly.
Credits against tasks
Both are priced by use, in different units.
Make counts credits. Most steps in a scenario use one credit: reading, searching, creating, updating or deleting data, and transforming or iterating over it. Some AI features use more. Router and error handler modules use none. Make's docs note that a single run can use anywhere from two credits to thousands, depending on how much data it loops over.
Zapier counts tasks. A task is counted each time an action completes successfully. Triggers are free, and so are built-in tools such as Filter, Paths, Formatter, Delay and Looping. Failed actions are not counted.
The units look similar and the prices are far apart. Zapier's free plan has 100 tasks a month and Make's has 1,000 credits. Zapier Professional starts at 750 tasks for $19.99 a month on annual billing. Make's paid plans start at 10,000 credits.
The builder
A Zap is a list: when this happens, do that, then that. Paths add branches. Copilot builds a draft from a description. The simplicity is why Zapier is the usual first automation tool.
A Make scenario is a diagram. Modules sit on a canvas, a router splits the flow into branches, an iterator walks through a list, and an aggregator puts the results back together. You can see the whole shape of the logic at once, which matters when an automation has grown ten branches.
If your automations are a trigger and two actions, Zapier's list is faster. If they are flowcharts, Make's canvas is clearer.
Apps
Zapier says it connects 9,000+ apps and Make says 3,000+. In practice both cover the well-known tools, and the difference shows with niche software. Check your own stack before you choose. Both can also call any service with a public API, through webhooks and HTTP steps in Zapier and custom apps or HTTP modules in Make.
AI agents and MCP
- Make has Make AI Agents, which you build, run and debug inside the scenario builder, and an MCP server that lets other AI tools call your scenarios. Make Grid, on paid plans, draws a live map of all the automations in your organization.
- Zapier has Zapier Agents, counted in activities and billed apart from tasks, plus AI steps inside Zaps. Zapier MCP is on every plan and connects an AI client to your apps. Each tool call uses two tasks.
Running over
When you pass your limit, Make sells extra credits in bundles of 1,000 or 10,000, and Core, Pro and Teams can buy 10,000 automatically before they run out. Extra credits expire after a month on monthly subscriptions.
Zapier has pay-per-task. With it on, your Zaps keep running at 1.25 times the task price on annual plans or 2.5 times on monthly plans, and stop at three times your plan. With it off, they stop at the limit until the next cycle.
Which to pick
Pick Make if
- Your automations branch, loop or merge data.
- You run a lot of steps and watch the bill.
- You want a real free plan: 1,000 credits a month.
- You want a map of every automation your team runs.
Pick Zapier if
- You want a working automation in ten minutes.
- You need an app that only Zapier connects.
- Your automations are short: a trigger and one or two actions.
- You also want simple tables and forms in the same tool.
Also consider
- BriefkinWe make thisWhatever runs the automation, its result tends to land in a channel nobody reads. A workflow can post its result as a card on a Briefkin board with one HTTP request, next to your coding agents' sessions, so the weekly report and the agent that is waiting on you sit on the same screen.See how it works
- n8nSelf-hostable, with code steps and pricing per workflow run. See n8n vs Zapier.
- A scheduled AI agentFor jobs that need judgment, such as a weekly summary, a prompt on a schedule can replace a long workflow. See our Claude Code routines guide.
- More n8n alternativesActivepieces, Windmill, Pipedream and scheduled AI agents, compared in one list.
Questions
Is Make cheaper than Zapier?
For most multi-step automations, yes. Make's paid plans start at $9 a month for 10,000 credits, and Zapier Professional starts at $19.99 a month billed annually for 750 tasks. They count differently: Make charges a credit for most steps, and Zapier charges a task for each successful action but not for triggers or filters.
Which has the bigger free plan?
Make. Its free plan includes 1,000 credits a month with no time limit. Zapier's free plan includes 100 tasks a month and is limited to two-step Zaps.
Which is easier to learn?
Zapier. A Zap is a list of steps, and most people build one in minutes. Make's canvas takes longer to learn and is easier to follow once an automation branches.
Which has more integrations?
Zapier says it connects 9,000+ apps. Make says 3,000+. Both can call any service that has a public API.