Zapier vs Make: which is better for small business?
Short answer: Zapier if you want the easiest setup and you're connecting a few tools with simple steps. Make if your workflows have more steps and branches and you care about the monthly bill, since it's usually cheaper for the same work. And before either one, check whether your tools already connect on their own.
Both are good tools. The one that wins is the one you'll actually keep running, so here's how I'd think about it. Hope this helps.
Founder, Handled. Greenville, SC. Updated October 2026, 7 min read.
The short version
Same job, connecting apps so data moves without you copying and pasting. Different personalities.
| Category | Zapier | Make |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Beginners, simple two or three step automations | Multi-step workflows with branches, people watching the bill |
| Free plan | 100 tasks a month | 1,000 credits a month |
| Paid from | Pro: $19.99 a month billed yearly, $29.99 monthly | Core: $9 a month billed yearly, $10.59 monthly, for 10,000 credits |
| How it counts | Tasks: each action step that runs | Credits: each module action, usually one credit each |
| Learning curve | Low. Pick a trigger, pick an action | Medium. A visual canvas, like a flowchart |
| My pick | Your first few automations | Once you have real volume or messy logic |
Prices checked October 2026. Make switched from counting "operations" to counting "credits," so a lot of older comparisons (including an older version of this page) are out of date. Double-check both pricing pages before you sign up.
Zapier: the easy on-ramp
Been around the longest and connects to more apps than anyone.
Zapier works like a recipe. "When this happens in one app, do that in another." You build it as a list of steps, top to bottom, and it reads like plain English. If you need to connect two tools, Zapier almost certainly supports both.
Free: 100 tasks a month. Fine for testing, tight for a real business.
Pro: from $19.99 a month billed yearly, or $29.99 billed monthly. The price climbs as you add tasks.
Team: from $69 a month billed yearly, or $103.50 billed monthly, for shared workspaces and more people.
- Easiest to learn. Most people get their first automation running in one sitting.
- The biggest app library. If you use niche industry software, Zapier gives you the best odds of a ready-made connection.
- Help docs and templates. Whatever you're trying to do, somebody has probably written a tutorial for it.
- Every action step is a task. A Zap with three actions that runs 100 times uses about 300 tasks. That's how people blow through a plan without noticing.
- Messy logic feels bolted on. Lots of "if this, otherwise that" branches get hard to follow in a straight list.
- Cost grows with volume. The cheap plan is cheap until your business gets busy.
Make: more power, smaller bill, steeper start
Used to be called Integromat. You build on a canvas instead of a list.
In Make, a workflow is called a scenario, and you build it by dragging little modules onto a canvas and connecting them, like drawing a flowchart. It looks busier at first. Once it clicks, splitting a workflow into branches or looping through a list is a lot easier to see than in Zapier.
Make now charges in credits. Each module action usually uses one credit (some AI and code modules use more).
Free: 1,000 credits a month. Core: $10.59 a month. Pro: $18.82 a month. Teams: $34.12 a month. Those prices are for 10,000 credits a month, billed monthly. Paying yearly brings them down to $9, $16 and $29.
- You can see the whole thing. Branches, filters and error paths are all on the canvas, so debugging is easier.
- More room for the money. 10,000 credits for about $11 goes a long way for a small business.
- Reshaping data is built in. Formatting dates, splitting names and simple math happen inside the modules, without extra steps.
- The first afternoon is rough. Plan on a few hours before you're comfortable.
- Loops eat credits. If a scenario processes 50 records one at a time, every module after the loop runs 50 times.
- Smaller library than Zapier. Mainstream tools are covered. For niche software, check Make's app list before you commit.
Which one should you pick?
Zapier or Make is step two. Here's the full order.
A lot of tools already talk to each other without Zapier or Make in the middle. Your CRM, your booking tool and your email tool may have a built-in connection or built-in automations you've never turned on. Look there first. It's free, and there's nothing extra to break.
- Zapier if you're new to this, the steps are simple, or you use a niche app.
- Make if your workflows branch and loop, or the Zapier bill keeps climbing.
- Both is fine too. Plenty of people keep a few easy Zaps and put the heavy stuff in Make.
If the glue between your tools has become its own job, or the connection you need doesn't exist in either library, that's when building it properly makes sense. A good sign you're there: a Zap or scenario breaks and nobody on the team knows how to fix it.
What the pricing pages don't lead with
The number that matters is how fast you hit the cap, not the starting price.
Count your steps, not your automations. On Zapier, each action step that runs is a task. On Make, each module action is usually a credit. A five-step workflow that runs 200 times a month is roughly 1,000 of either, which is ten times Zapier's free plan and all of Make's.
Watch for loops. Anything that processes a list one item at a time multiplies your usage by the length of the list.
Scheduled checks can cost something even when there's nothing new. A scenario that checks every few minutes can use credits just to look.
The honest way to compare: write down your three busiest workflows, count the steps, guess how many times a month each runs, and plug that into both pricing pages. Ten minutes, and you'll know.
Questions people ask me
Got one that isn't here? Ask me on a free call →
Is Make cheaper than Zapier?
Usually, yes. Make's free plan gives you 1,000 credits a month and its Core plan is $10.59 a month for 10,000 credits, or $9 billed yearly. Zapier's free plan gives you 100 tasks a month and Pro starts at $19.99 a month billed yearly, or $29.99 billed monthly. The two count usage differently, so run your own workflow through both calculators before you decide.
Can I switch from Zapier to Make?
Yes, but nothing moves automatically. Each Zap gets rebuilt as a Make scenario by hand. Start with the one that costs you the most, run the old and new versions side by side for a week, then turn the old one off.
Which is better for beginners?
Zapier. You pick a trigger, pick an action, and you're done. Make's visual canvas is more powerful but takes longer to feel normal. If you've never automated anything, start with Zapier.
Do I need Zapier or Make if I have GoHighLevel?
Maybe not. GoHighLevel has its own workflows for follow-ups, reminders and review requests. You'd only add Zapier or Make to connect it to a tool it doesn't talk to on its own. Learn the built-in workflows first.
What's the best free automation tool?
For most small businesses, Make's free plan goes further: 1,000 credits a month versus Zapier's 100 tasks. n8n's community edition is free if you host it yourself, but that means running your own server. And check whether the tools you already pay for connect to each other natively, because that's free too.
When you don't need me
If a handful of Zaps or scenarios run quietly and you rarely think about them, you're done. Skip the call if one of these fits.
You need one or two simple automations. Form to spreadsheet, new sale to a Slack message. Sign up for Zapier and build it this afternoon.
Your tools already connect. If the built-in integration does the job, you don't need Zapier, Make, or me.
Your automations run and you understand them. If nothing's breaking and the bill is fine, leave it alone.
What changed
- October 2026 (later): Make prices corrected from its pricing page. At 10,000 credits, Core is $10.59, Pro $18.82 and Teams $34.12 billed monthly ($9, $16 and $29 billed yearly). The earlier $12, $21 and $38 figures were wrong.
- October 2026: rewritten top to bottom. Make now charges in credits instead of operations, so its pricing was updated (Core is $12, not $9) and the old operations math was removed. Zapier Pro and Team prices updated. Removed a made-up agency example, unsourced savings estimates, and app counts I couldn't confirm.
- March 2026: first published.
Sources
Every price and outside fact on this page comes from the sources below, checked October 12, 2026. Prices change often, so check before you buy.
More from the resource library
Zapier vs n8n
Easy cloud tool vs run-it-yourself.
Make vs n8n
Two visual builders, one you host yourself.
GoHighLevel vs HubSpot
Two CRMs people overpay for.
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Booking tools, side by side.
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Email tools with automation built in.
What Small Businesses Spend on Software
Add up the apps before adding another.
Start with what you have. Build what's missing.
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