Make vs Zapier: which automation platform suits you?

Make vs Zapier is the first choice you face when you want to connect your tools. Both platforms link apps without programming: when something happens in app A, the platform does something in app B. They can do a lot of the same things, but they think differently and scale differently. In this article we set out the differences, so you know which one suits your situation, and when neither is the right choice.

What do Make and Zapier do?

Make and Zapier are automation platforms that turn events in one app into actions in another. A new form becomes a row in a spreadsheet, a new order a message to the team, a new contact in your CRM the start of an email sequence.

Both work with a trigger, the event that starts the automation, and one or more actions. Both have ready-made integrations with thousands of apps, including Webflow, HubSpot and Airtable. The difference lies in how you build, how much logic you can fit in and how costs add up.

What are the strengths of Zapier?

Zapier is the most accessible platform: you have a working automation in a short time, even without a technical background. It is designed to keep complexity out of sight.

• Ease of use. The interface guides you step by step through trigger and actions.
• Largest app library. There is a good chance your tools are in it, including lesser known ones.
• Templates. Many common integrations are ready to use.
• Reliability. For simple, linear automations it works without hassle.

The downside: a Zap is essentially a straight line from trigger to actions. Branches and loops are possible, but more limited and less clear. And because you pay per executed task, it adds up quickly at high volumes.

What are the strengths of Make?

Make is more flexible and better suited to complex processes, because you build automations as a visual flowchart with branches and loops. What you build, you can also see.

• Visual scenarios. A complex process can be followed at a glance.
• Real logic. If this, then that, otherwise something else. Loop through lists, catch errors, split routes.
• Data manipulation. Merge fields, do calculations, process JSON and arrays without workarounds.
• Cost structure. At high volumes Make is generally cheaper than Zapier for comparable work.

The downside: the learning curve is steeper and the interface can feel busy at first. And for the odd niche app a ready-made integration may be missing, although you can often solve that with a direct API call.

What do the costs of Make and Zapier depend on?

The costs mainly depend on how often your automations run and how many steps each run has. Zapier charges per task, Make per operation, and both work with monthly bundles. An automation that does three steps a few times a day therefore costs something very different from one that runs fifteen steps hundreds of times a day.

Other factors include whether you need premium integrations, how often an automation has to check for new data and how many people work in the account. So do not look at the entry plan, but calculate with your expected volume over a year.

When do you choose Zapier?

Choose Zapier if your automations are simple, you want to start quickly and your team wants to manage them without technical knowledge.

• Your automations follow a fixed line: trigger, a few actions, done.
• You use an app that only Zapier supports.
• Volume is limited, so the cost per task does not weigh heavily.
• Your organisation already uses it and it works well.

When do you choose Make?

Choose Make if your processes contain branches, checks or data processing, or if volume is high.

• One event leads to different routes, depending on conditions.
• You have to edit data, not just move it.
• You process many records and want to keep costs manageable.
• You want to see what happens in one scenario, instead of in separate automations that depend on each other.

An example: an order comes in. The system checks whether it is a new or existing customer. New customers go into the CRM and receive a welcome sequence, existing customers are updated and for an important customer the account manager gets a notification. After that, the invoice, confirmation and stock update always follow. In Zapier that becomes a series of separate Zaps that have to connect to each other. In Make it is one scenario with branches, easier to build and maintain.

When is neither the right choice?

Neither is the right choice when the automation is really the core of your business process, with a lot of logic, sensitive data or high volumes. Then an automation platform turns into a collection of scenarios that nobody can oversee any more.

In those cases we build the logic in a dedicated backend, such as Supabase or Xano, with a database as the central source. Make or Zapier may then remain for separate integrations at the edges. For systems without a standard integration we build custom system integrations.

Which one do we use?

We use Make as our default for integrations, because the combination of flexibility, overview and cost structure fits best with what we build. But we are not dogmatic. If an organisation already works happily with Zapier, we build on that.

Moving from Zapier to Make is work, but not a big project. The logic stays the same, only the structure differs. Start with the automations that cost the most or most often hit limits, and simply leave simple Zaps running. Right at the beginning? Then first read workflow automation: where do you start?

Not sure which platform suits you, or want us to build the automations? Read how we approach workflow automation or get in touch.