Make and Zapier are the two names most teams consider when they want to connect apps without writing glue code, and both have moved to usage-based pricing with a free tier in front of it. Make's page shows Free at $0 with up to 1,000 credits a month and no time limit on the plan, then Core at $9 per month, Pro at $16 and Teams at $29, each priced at the same 10k credits per month level used for comparison on the page. Its credit definition is explicit: anything an action touches, including fetching a row from a Google Sheet or pulling Gmail account data, counts as one credit.
TL;DR
Both platforms now sell a free tier and then meter usage, but they meter different things. Make prices plans by credits: Free handles up to 1,000 credits a month with no time limit, Core is $9 per month priced for 10k credits, Pro is $16 and Teams is $29, all at the 10k-credit level, and its page states that a single action such as fetching a Gmail row counts as one credit. Zapier prices plans by tasks: Free includes 100 tasks a month with unlimited Zaps, Tables and Forms, Professional starts from $19.99 per month and Team from $69 per month, and its separate AI products are priced on their own, Agents Pro at $400 billed annually and Chatbots Pro at $160 billed annually. Make is cheaper per unit of automation volume; Zapier has 9,000 plus app integrations to Make's 3,000 plus.
Zapier's page starts with a free forever plan of $0 that includes Zaps, Tables and Forms with 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps, then Professional from $19.99 per month and Team from $69 per month. Its AI products sit alongside the automation plans rather than inside them: Agents Pro is $400 billed annually, shown as $33.33 per month, for up to 1,500 automated behaviours a month, while Chatbots Pro is $160 billed annually at $13.33 per month for 5 chatbots with 10 custom knowledge sources each and Chatbots Advanced is $800 billed annually at $66.67 per month for up to 20 chatbots.
The integration counts are the other axis worth knowing before you choose. Zapier advertises 9,000 plus app integrations and its MCP server is actively used, with the page counting 3.39M plus MCP tool calls completed and 450K plus agents built, and it documents connecting to assistants such as Claude through its MCP endpoint. Make advertises 3,000 plus integrations on its pricing page alongside its visual workflow builder, routers and filters, and an AI-agent builder that can also be driven by prompt. In practice the decision usually comes down to volume shape rather than integration count: a team running thousands of simple triggers a month gets a lower bill on Make's credit model, while a team that needs a niche app on the long tail of Zapier's directory, or MCP access from an assistant, is better served by paying Zapier's per-task rate.
| Feature | Make | Zapier |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | $0 with up to 1,000 credits/month and no time limit on the plan | $0 forever with 100 tasks/month, unlimited Zaps, Tables and Forms |
| Entry paid plan | Core $9/month at the 10k-credit level | Professional from $19.99/month |
| Middle plan | Pro $16/month at 10k credits | Team from $69/month for collaborative automation |
| Team plan | Teams $29/month at 10k credits, aimed at streamlined team automations | Included in the Team tier from $69/month |
| Usage unit | Credits, where a single action such as fetching a sheet row counts as one credit | Tasks, counted per automated step run |
| Free-tier limits beyond volume | 15-minute minimum interval between runs on Free | 100 tasks/month cap with unlimited Zaps on the free plan |
| Integration catalogue | 3,000 plus apps listed on the pricing page | 9,000 plus app integrations with governed access |
| AI product pricing | Agent and automation building described in product terms; no separate published rates on the pricing page | Agents Pro $400 billed annually ($33.33/month, up to 1,500 behaviours/month); Chatbots Pro $160 annually ($13.33/month, 5 chatbots); Chatbots Advanced $800 annually ($66.67/month, up to 20 chatbots) |
| MCP and assistant access | Not advertised on the pricing page | MCP server with 3.39M plus tool calls completed and documented Claude connection |
| Compliance and SSO | Not listed on the pricing page | SOC 2 Type II and SOC 3, GDPR and CCPA, SAML SSO with SCIM, AI model opt-out on Enterprise |
| Best fit | High-volume, cost-sensitive automations on mainstream apps | Teams that need the widest app catalogue, MCP access and documented compliance |
Pick Make if
Make's case is arithmetic. Core is $9 per month priced for 10k credits, roughly half Zapier's $19.99 Professional entry, and the free plan allows 1,000 credits a month with no time limit rather than a trial. Because a credit is defined as one action, including a sheet row or a Gmail fetch, teams with many small steps can size their bill honestly instead of guessing. Pro at $16 and Teams at $29 keep the ladder shallow, and the visual builder with routers and filters is built for the multi-branch scenarios that consume credits anyway. The two things you give up are integration breadth, roughly a third of Zapier's catalogue, and the MCP and compliance documentation that Zapier publishes on its pricing page.
Pick Zapier if
Zapier is worth the higher entry price when the integration you need is on the long tail, because 9,000 plus apps is roughly three times Make's catalogue, or when an assistant needs to call your tools: its MCP server counts 3.39M plus tool calls and its page documents connecting Claude in a few steps. Compliance documentation is also more explicit, with SOC 2 Type II and SOC 3, GDPR and CCPA, SAML SSO with SCIM and an AI model opt-out on Enterprise, which matters to buyers who have to answer a security questionnaire. Budget carefully for the AI products, though. Agents Pro is $400 billed annually for up to 1,500 behaviours a month and Chatbots Pro is $160 billed annually, and both sit outside the automation plan you were quoted.
Neither Make nor Zapier publishes third-party review data we are willing to restate as fact, and we did not run either product ourselves. Every figure here is taken from the two vendors' own pricing pages as published when this comparison was written. If a plan price or credit definition has moved since, tell us and we will re-check it.
On published entry prices, Make: Core is $9 per month priced for 10k credits a month, against Zapier Professional from $19.99 per month. Both have free plans, with Make allowing up to 1,000 credits a month and Zapier 100 tasks a month, so the free tiers are not equivalent either.
Make's pricing page states that anything an action touches counts as one credit, giving the example of fetching a row from a Google Sheet or Gmail account data. Zapier counts tasks per automated step run. Both meters therefore scale with the number of steps your workflows execute.
Zapier advertises 9,000 plus app integrations with governed access. Make advertises 3,000 plus apps on its pricing page alongside its visual builder, routers and filters.
On Zapier the AI products are separate purchases: Agents Pro at $400 billed annually for up to 1,500 automated behaviours a month, Chatbots Pro at $160 billed annually for 5 chatbots and Chatbots Advanced at $800 billed annually for up to 20. Make presents AI agents and automations as part of the platform and prices them through the same credit model rather than a separate published rate.
Zapier, on documented evidence: its pricing and product pages describe an MCP endpoint, count 3.39M plus MCP tool calls completed and give step-by-step instructions for connecting Claude. Make's pricing page does not advertise an MCP capability.
Make's free plan has no time limit and allows up to 1,000 credits a month, but it enforces a 15-minute minimum interval between runs. Zapier's free plan is free forever with 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps. Both are volume-capped rather than time-limited.
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