Zapier vs Make: which one can your team actually run?

Written October 2026

Short answer: Make is often cheaper per step. Zapier is the one your team can actually run after I've gone. If you want to hand over the keys and have a non-technical person build the next automation themselves, pick Zapier. If you're technical and watching every credit, Make is a fair choice.

My bias, said once: I'm a Zapier Gold Solution Partner, so I build in Zapier most days. Here's exactly why I pick it, and when I'd pick Make instead.

Where Make is genuinely better

Credit where it's due. Make is good, and for some teams it's the better pick.

• Price per unit. Make bills in credits, and by default one operation is one credit (Make Help). Routers and error handlers don't use credits, and the Free plan includes 1,000 credits a month (make.com/pricing). For high-volume, technical workflows it can work out cheaper. On sticker price it's cheaper too: at 10,000 credits a month, Core is $11 a month, Pro $20 and Teams $36 (checked 28 Oct 2026, USD, annual billing at 10,000 credits/mo, make.com/pricing).
• Branching on a canvas. Make's visual builder is great for people who like to see the whole flow at once, with routes going off in different directions.
• An EU data centre option. Make supports two data centre locations, the US and the EU, chosen per organisation (Make Help). Zapier hosts data in the US.

Zapier vs Make: the comparison table

How tasks and credits actually count

This is where most comparisons go wrong, so here's the plain version.

Zapier counts tasks. A task is each successful action. The trigger (the thing that starts the Zap) is free. And a long list of built-in tools don't use tasks at all: Formatter, Paths, Filter, Delay, Looping, Sub-Zap, Digest, Storage, Tables and Forms, which used to be called Interfaces (zapier.com/pricing, Zapier Help).

Make counts credits. An operation is a module run, and by default one operation is one credit. The trigger counts too: a trigger module uses one operation each time it checks for new data, whatever it finds (Make Help). Built-in transforms, iterators and aggregators use credits as well, while routers and error handlers are free (make.com/pricing). AI modules can use more credits, based on the AI tokens they use.

A worked example (illustrative)

Say you get 300 quote requests a month, and each one runs through 6 paid steps: create the contact, create the deal, draft the quote, send it, log it, notify the team.

• Zapier: 300 × 6 = 1,800 tasks. The trigger is free. That needs the 2,000-task Professional tier at $49 a month billed yearly, or $73.50 monthly (checked 28 October 2026).
• Make: 300 × 6 module runs = 1,800 operations. With an instant (webhook) trigger, add 300 trigger runs, so about 2,100 credits. With a trigger that polls every 15 minutes, add around 2,880 checks a month instead, even on quiet days. Either way it fits inside Make Core's 10,000 credits at $11 a month (checked 28 Oct 2026, USD, annual billing at 10,000 credits/mo, make.com/pricing). On Zapier the same workflow is $49 a month, so Make is cheaper on sticker price.

Here's the bit people miss. On Zapier, the cheapest task is the one you don't use. Move a check into a free Filter or Path, and the task count drops. That's usually where I find the savings in a task audit.

Why Zapier still wins for a growing team

Zapier is the no-code, UX-friendly one. I call it a beginner's paradise, and I mean that as a compliment. Make and n8n need more technical know-how to build and, more importantly, to fix.

• No code needed. Every step reads top to bottom in plain English.
• Built-in logic doesn't use tasks. Filters, Paths, Formatter and Delay are free inside a Zap.
• 9,000+ apps. If your business uses it, there's a good chance Zapier connects to it (zapier.com/apps).
• The easiest to read after handover. This is the one that matters most.

Hand over the keys

My aim with every build is to hand over the keys. I want the owner to open their Zaps and think, “yeah, I can actually build the next one of these.” No monthly support fee just to keep things ticking over.

I know a lot of companies that pay for support because they're in Make or n8n and have no idea how it works. That's not a dig at Make. It's what happens when a tool needs a technical person, and the technical person was the consultant.

So I build, then I train someone in your team to be the go-to person for automation. Usually that's whoever I've been working with day to day.

Skip Zapier if your data has to stay in the EU, you're running very high volumes of simple steps, or you have a developer who'd rather be in Make.

Zapier pricing in plain English

All checked on zapier.com/pricing on 28 October 2026, in US dollars. Zapier can also bill in GBP.

• Free: 100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps.
• Professional: $19.99 a month billed yearly for 750 tasks ($29.99 monthly), or $49 billed yearly for 2,000 tasks ($73.50 monthly).
• Team: from $69 a month billed yearly, for up to 25 users.
• Going over: extra tasks cost more (Zapier quotes 1.25x on annual plans and 2.5x on monthly), and Zaps pause at 3x your plan's limit, so a busy month is capped rather than open-ended. Check the exact rate in your Billing settings.
• Annual billing saves 33%, and new accounts get a free 14-day Professional trial, no card needed.

Like for like, Make is cheaper on sticker price. On the worked example, Make Core is $11 a month against Zapier's $49, both billed yearly in USD. Billed monthly it's $16 against $73.50. At high volume Make stays cheap: at 750,000 credits a month, Core isn't offered and Pro is $747 a month billed yearly. Where Zapier earns the difference is ease of use and hand-over. A non-technical owner can read it, fix it and build the next one after I've gone, so you're not paying someone every month to keep it running. Count the steps, count the trigger checks, and remember which Zapier tools are free.

When I'd pick Make

• Your data must be hosted in the EU, and that's non-negotiable for you.
• You have someone technical in-house who'll own it long term.
• You're running big volumes of simple steps and every credit counts.

And if you're already in Make, it works, and someone in your team understands it, stay put. Switching for the sake of it is a waste of money. The time to move is when you're paying someone every month just to keep the lights on, or nobody in the business can explain what a scenario does.

If none of those are you, I'd pick Zapier. If you're also weighing up n8n or Power Automate, my four-way round-up covers all of them, and Is Zapier worth it? goes deeper on pricing.

Want to see how I build for clients? Have a look at my Zapier consultancy.