Zapier and Make both let you connect apps and automate work without writing a full application. They look similar on the surface, yet they count usage differently, price differently and describe their AI features differently. Those differences decide your bill and how easy the tool is to live with.
This article sets out what to compare and what the official pages say. It is a framework with researched facts, not a ranking, and it is deliberately cautious where the pages were thin: Make’s pricing page we could read did not list plan prices, so we compare the pricing model rather than dollar figures for Make.
How we researched this: we did not run hands-on tests for this article. It is based on the vendor’s own documentation and public sources, checked on 11 November 2026. Features and prices change, so confirm details on the vendor’s site before you buy.
Key takeaways
- Zapier meters usage in tasks, where each successful action counts, while Make meters usage in credits, where most actions use 1 credit.
- Zapier lists Free, Professional (from $19.99 per month), Team (from $69) and Enterprise plans on its pricing page; Make references Free, Core, Pro, Teams and Enterprise plans but showed no prices on the page we read.
- Both vendors describe AI agents and an MCP server, and both state a large app count: Zapier says 9,000+ apps and Make says 3,500+ (each page also gives a conflicting figure elsewhere).
- Check what does not count toward usage: Zapier excludes triggers and some built-in steps, and Make says router and error handler modules do not consume credits.
- Run your busiest real workflow through each tool’s free plan and count usage before you choose.
Why compare these two
Automation tools are easy to start and expensive to leave. Once a business depends on twenty workflows, moving them is a project. A short, careful comparison before you build is worth more than a long one after.
The central risk is the bill. Both tools charge by usage, and a workflow that loops over a hundred rows can use a hundred times the usage of one that handles a single record. Understanding how each tool counts usage is therefore the most useful thing you can do before choosing.
If you are still deciding whether to use one of these or a third option, read our earlier guide, Zapier vs Make vs n8n: how to decide. If you are new to automation, how to build your first AI workflow without code is a gentler start.
Quick overview table
| Item | Zapier | Make |
|---|---|---|
| How it describes itself | “The world’s most connected AI platform”, with a no-code automation platform at its core | An AI automation platform for building and managing AI agents and automations visually |
| Usage unit | Tasks, from 100 to 2M per month | Credits; most actions use 1 credit, and some advanced AI features may use more |
| Plans named | Free, Professional, Team, Enterprise | Free, Core, Pro, Teams, Enterprise |
| Free plan | $0, 100 tasks per month, two-step Zaps | 1,000 credits per month |
| Paid pricing shown on page we read | Professional from $19.99, Team from $69 per month | No plan prices shown on the page we read |
| App count stated | 9,000+ apps (hero banner says 10,000+ connections) | 3,500+ apps (a later section says 3,000+ native apps) |
Prices are in US dollars as shown on the vendor page. Checked on 11 November 2026. Confirm on the vendor page before you buy.
Criteria that matter
- Usage accounting. What counts, what is free, and what happens at the limit.
- Workflow complexity. Simple two-step links, or multi-branch flows with loops and error handling.
- Apps you need. Whether your specific tools are supported, and how deep the integration goes.
- AI features. Whether you want AI inside workflows, agents, or access from an assistant.
- Control and safety. Admin settings, audit logs and data handling.
- Total cost at your volume. Not the starting price.
How usage is counted
Zapier
Zapier’s pricing page says each successful action uses a task. It says polling for new data, triggers, Tables, Forms, Filter, Formatter, Path and Delay steps do not use tasks. One MCP tool call uses two tasks. You choose a monthly task tier from 100 up to 2M, or a custom limit, and the page says higher tiers cost less per task. If you turn on pay-per-task billing, usage continues at a higher per-task rate after you reach your limit; with it off, Zaps pause until the next period.
Make
Make’s pricing page says credits are the billing unit. Most actions use 1 credit, and some advanced AI features may use more. Router and error handler modules do not consume credits. The Free plan includes 1,000 credits per month. The page says credits expire at the end of the term, that extra credits expire after one month on monthly plans or one year on annual Pro and Teams plans, and that extra credits are sold in bundles of 1,000 or 10,000 at the subscription’s fixed price.
The page also gives a usage allowance per 10,000 monthly credits: 5 GB of data transfer, 10 MB of data storage, 10 MB of incomplete-execution storage (2 GB maximum) and a 667-webhook queue (10,000 maximum). These secondary limits are easy to miss, and they matter if your workflows move large files.
Why it matters
The two systems measure different things. A Zapier task is a successful action. A Make credit is generally one action too, but the exclusions differ, so the same workflow can produce different usage counts in each. Only a test with your own workflow will show you which is cheaper for you.
Pricing models and plans
| Zapier plan | Price shown | What the page says |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 forever | 100 tasks per month, two-step Zaps |
| Professional | From $19.99 per month | Multi-step Zaps, unlimited premium apps, webhooks, 14-day free trial with no credit card |
| Team | From $69 per month | Up to 25 users, shared app connections, SAML SSO |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited users, advanced admin controls |
Zapier says annual billing lowers the monthly cost by 33 percent and non-profits get 15 percent off paid plans, excluding pay-per-task charges. The page also lists separate products: Agents (Free with 400 activities per month; Pro at $400 billed annually, about $33.33 per month, with 1,500 activities), Chatbots (Free with 2 chatbots; Pro $160 billed annually; Advanced $800 billed annually) and an SDK that is free during beta. These are priced separately from the core automation plans.
| Make plan | Price shown | What the page says |
|---|---|---|
| Free | No price shown, plan referenced | 1,000 credits per month |
| Core, Pro, Teams | No prices shown on the page we read | Credits are the billing unit; auto-purchase of 10,000 credits available on Core, Pro and Teams |
| Enterprise | Not shown | Referenced as a plan |
Make’s page says annual prepayment is cheaper than monthly billing, that eligible companies with fewer than 20 employees may get 50 percent off Business through its Start-up Plan, and that NGOs and non-profits should contact Make. If you downgrade, scenarios using higher-plan features stop, your card is charged immediately, and unused credits carry over for one month or one year. When a paid plan is cancelled, it runs to the end of the billing cycle or annual term, then the organisation reverts to Free.
Because we could not read Make’s prices, we cannot say which tool is cheaper. Open Make’s pricing page and Zapier’s side by side and price your own volume. Our guide to reading an AI tool’s pricing page lists what to check.
Integrations and building style
Zapier says it integrates with 9,000+ apps, though the hero banner of the same page says “Over 10,000+ connections”. Make says it connects to 3,500+ apps out of the box and that anything with an API can be added as a custom integration, while a later section of its page gives 3,000+ native apps. Counts of this kind are marketing figures, and they include apps of very different depth.
The better test is whether the specific apps you use are supported and whether the actions you need exist. List your five key apps and check each action in both tools.
On building style, Make’s page describes a visual workflow builder where you can build by prompting, drag and drop, or MCP, with observability across your stack and custom code in JavaScript or Python when needed. Zapier’s pricing page emphasises multi-step Zaps, webhooks and paths. We did not read enough documentation to compare the editors themselves, so this is a point to test.
Automation that fails quietly is costly. Whichever you choose, read how to review automations so they do not break silently, and consider a simple first project such as automating weekly reports with no-code tools.
AI agents and MCP
Both vendors now describe AI features beyond simple AI steps.
| Feature | Zapier (per its AI page) | Make (per its homepage) |
|---|---|---|
| Agents | AI agents for multi-step work; an embedded agent uses approved tools and instructions, then hands off to deterministic steps | AI Agents: you set goals, provide tools and define limits, with visible reasoning |
| MCP | Zapier MCP connects AI tools such as Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT and Gemini to 9,000+ apps through 30,000+ actions, with managed authentication, admin controls and audit logs | An MCP server to build and run automations from Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini |
| Chatbots | AI chatbots with templates for FAQs, lead qualification and IT helpdesk | Not described on the page we read |
| AI governance | Admins can restrict which LLM providers teams use, run PII, prompt injection and toxicity checks on AI steps, and bring their own model | Governance to manage access and compliance, described briefly |
These are the vendors’ own claims, and we have not verified how well any of them work. Agents that act on your behalf can make mistakes, so keep humans in the loop for anything that sends messages, moves money or changes records. Our guide on choosing between a chatbot and an AI agent explains the difference, and how to check AI output for mistakes shows how to review results.
Governance, security and privacy
For a team, governance matters as much as features. From the pages we read:
- Zapier lists SAML SSO on Team and unlimited users and advanced admin controls on Enterprise. Its AI page describes admin controls over which LLM providers can be used, checks for PII and prompt injection, and audit logs for MCP.
- Make mentions a governance feature for access and compliance and lists Enterprise as a plan, but we could not open its security or trust pages, so we cannot compare certifications or data residency.
We could not read either vendor’s trust page. Before you connect systems that hold customer data, check where data is stored, how long run logs are kept, and what the vendor says about AI processing. Our guides on protecting company data when using AI tools and evaluating vendors on privacy provide questions to ask.
Who each suits
Zapier may suit you if
- You want a published, easy-to-read price ladder to start with, from a free plan to team plans.
- You want AI agents, chatbots and an MCP layer from the same vendor and are happy to pay for them separately.
- You like the idea of a very large app catalogue, and you have confirmed your apps are in it.
Make may suit you if
- You prefer a visual builder with the option of custom code and detailed observability.
- You want a credit-based model where routers and error handlers do not consume credits.
- You are prepared to open the pricing page and calculate your own cost, because the page we read gave no plan prices.
Look elsewhere if
You need to self-host, need fixed-price unlimited runs, or have strict regulatory requirements that neither vendor’s documentation answers. Our earlier article on Zapier, Make and n8n looks at an alternative.
How to run your own test
We have not built workflows in either tool for this article, so here is a method for your own trial, following how to test an AI tool before you pay for it.
- Pick your busiest workflow. Choose one that runs often and has at least one branch.
- Build it in both free plans. Keep the logic identical.
- Run a fixed batch. For example, 50 records through each.
- Record usage. Tasks in Zapier, credits in Make.
- Scale up. Multiply by your real monthly volume and compare with the price tiers.
- Break it on purpose. Send bad data and see how each tool reports errors.
- Time the build. Note how long each took, and how easy it was to fix.
Use comparing AI tools side by side fairly to keep this unbiased.
Decision checklist
- Do I know what counts as usage in each tool, and what does not?
- Have I priced my real monthly volume on each pricing page?
- Are all my key apps and actions supported?
- Do I need AI agents, and have I planned human review for them?
- Have I checked admin, audit and data terms for my plan?
- Do I know what happens when I hit the limit: pause, overage or upgrade?
- Have I tested a failure case?
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, Zapier or Make?
We cannot say. Zapier’s page shows prices from $19.99 for Professional, but the Make page we read showed no plan prices. Price your own volume on both.
What is a task in Zapier?
Per Zapier’s pricing page, each successful action uses a task, while triggers, polling and several built-in steps do not. One MCP tool call uses two tasks.
What is a credit in Make?
Make says credits are the billing unit and most actions use 1 credit. Some advanced AI features may use more, and router and error handler modules do not consume credits.
Do both have free plans?
Yes. Zapier lists a free plan with 100 tasks per month and two-step Zaps. Make lists a Free plan with 1,000 credits per month.
Can AI assistants control these tools?
Both describe MCP support. Zapier says its MCP connects assistants such as Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT and Gemini to its apps; Make says its MCP server lets you build and run automations from Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini.
Is switching later hard?
We found no migration guidance on the pages we read. Expect to rebuild workflows by hand, so keep documentation of what each workflow does.
Conclusion
Zapier and Make solve the same problem with different usage meters and different price presentations. The facts that decide the choice are your volume, your apps, your need for AI agents and your governance requirements. Count usage in a real trial, then compare it with the live price pages.
For more context, read Zapier vs Make vs n8n: how to decide and how to choose an AI tool.
Sources
- Zapier pricing, accessed 11 November 2026
- Zapier apps, accessed 11 November 2026
- Zapier AI, accessed 11 November 2026
- Make pricing, accessed 11 November 2026
- Make homepage, accessed 11 November 2026
