Make or Zapier? Pick by how you like to build.
Make draws your automation as a diagram. Zapier lays it out as a list of steps. Cedric is a third answer, for the job that changes every time. Checked on make.com and zapier.com, 25 September 2026.
- Pick Make if you want to see the whole flow. Its scenario builder is a visual canvas with routers and filters, and Core costs $9 a month billed annually.
- Pick Zapier if app coverage decides it. It lists 9,000+ apps to Make's 3,000+, and a Zap of one trigger and a few actions is the easiest place to start.
- Make charges a credit for most module actions, reads included. Zapier charges a task per successful action, and triggers, filters and formatting are free.
- Both draft a workflow from a description, Maia on Make and Copilot on Zapier. Someone still owns and maintains what comes out.
- Cedric skips the workflow. You ask in a sentence, he does the job, and a person approves anything he would send, change or spend.
What Make and Zapier are
Make calls itself "the visual AI automation platform". What you build is a scenario, a workflow of modules you drag onto a canvas and join. Routers split the flow into branches, filters decide which items pass, and iterators and aggregators handle lists. Make says it connects 3,000+ apps and lets you build "visually, in code, or with a prompt".
Maia by Make builds scenarios from a conversation, and Make AI Agents run agents across the same apps. Make is part of Celonis and lists SOC 2 Type II and SOC 3 on its homepage.
Zapier builds in a straight line where Make builds on a canvas. A Zap starts from one trigger and runs its actions top to bottom, with Filter, Paths and Formatter steps between them. Tables, Forms, Canvas, Agents, an MCP server and an SDK sit around the Zap, and Copilot drafts Zaps on every plan, Free included. Zapier counts 9,000+ apps and 3 million+ businesses.
You feel the difference in the editor. Make's diagram suits people who think in branches and data shapes. Zapier's list suits people who want to get from trigger to result fast. In both, someone designs the logic before anything runs.
Side by side
Make from make.com and its pricing page, Zapier from zapier.com and its pricing page, both on 25 September 2026. Cedric's column is from the Cedric features page.
| Make | Zapier | Cedric | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How a run begins | A schedule, webhook or app event | The trigger at the top of a Zap | A request in chat, or a schedule said in words |
| How you build | Modules on a canvas, joined by routers and filters | A trigger, then actions in a list | Connect your tools, then ask |
| Suits | People who like to see every branch | People who want the shortest path | Whoever has the job to hand off |
| Apps | 3,000+ | 9,000+ | 3,200+, of which 15 have built-in playbooks |
| Billing unit | A credit per module action, reads included | A task per successful action; triggers free | Credits for the work done |
| When the balance runs out | Scenarios stop until you add credits | Pay-per-task, or Zaps pause | Top-ups, which never expire |
| Team size | Unlimited users, Free plan included | Team plan: 25 users | One plan, no seats |
| Where you use it | The Make editor | The Zapier editor | Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Telegram, or a browser tab |
| Before a send or spend | What the scenario was built to do | What the Zap was built to do | He waits for a person's yes |
Read 25 September 2026. Make Free has 1,000 credits; Core is $9 a month billed annually ($10.59 monthly) for 10,000 credits; Pro $16 ($18.82); Teams $29 ($34.12); Enterprise on request. Zapier Free has 100 tasks; Professional runs $19.99 a month on a yearly bill or $29.99 month to month; Team $69 or $103.50; Enterprise on request.
Make or Zapier: how to choose
Start with the app list. Write down every tool the automation has to touch and look each one up in both directories. With 9,000+ apps against 3,000+, Zapier is the likelier to have an odd one. If both have everything, move on.
Next, look at the shape of the logic. A flow that branches four ways, loops over spreadsheet rows and merges the results reads more easily as a Make diagram. A straight line is quicker in Zapier, such as a new form entry that becomes a contact and a channel post. A colleague will also follow it later without a tour.
Then count the steps, because the meters charge for different things. Take a trigger and four actions, run 1,000 times a month with one item each. Make counts about 5,000 credits, since each module action costs one and reads count. Zapier counts about 4,000 tasks, because the trigger is free.
Some parts cost nothing on either side. Make's Router and error handlers are free, and so are Zapier's Filter, Paths and Formatter. Run your real flow through both calculators before you trust a headline price.
One message
A morning you cannot draw in advance
Lena Brunner9:14 AM
@Cedric what should I do today?
CedricAPP9:15 AM
Three meetings, then two clear hours from 15:00. In order: the red staging build, since everyone testing onboarding needs it, then Maya's ad access, Devin's two fixes, and the slow report page in the clear hours. One decision is yours: which address the client mails go out from. I read your calendar and two channels, not your DMs.
In Make
A scheduled scenario could gather today's events, new mail and failed builds into one message, with an AI module to summarize. Ranking a build that blocks four people above a newsletter is a rule you would write.
In Zapier
A scheduled Zap can post the same digest. Putting the items in order, each with its reason, is logic someone designs and keeps current.
In Cedric
Lena asked one question. The reply put the build first and said why, named the decision that was hers, and said what he had read.
Why this one is hard to draw
No two mornings have the same shape. This one had a broken build, a colleague blocked on access, two small fixes and a decision only Lena could make. Tomorrow it might be one customer escalation and nothing else. A scenario or a Zap can collect the inputs on a schedule, but the order and the reasons come from reading what is there.
Make and Zapier fit when the procedure is known and should repeat exactly. Cedric fits when deciding the procedure is the job. Say "every morning at 8:30" once and the plan lands before Lena opens her laptop.
Credits, tasks, and credits again
Make bills in credits. Most module actions cost one, reads included, while features on Make's own AI provider can cost more and code runs at 2 credits a second. Credits on a monthly plan expire at the end of the month. On an annual plan they last 12 months.
Zapier bills in tasks, and only a successful action uses one. Triggers, polling and failed actions are free, as are Filter, Formatter, Paths, Delay, Looping, Digest, Storage, Tables and Forms. AI steps, code and some connectors can cost more than one task. Past the limit, pay-per-task keeps Zaps running at a higher rate, or they pause if you switched that off.
Cedric's credits pay for work done, not for steps in a design. You start with 100,000 free, no card needed. Starter is $19 a month for 40,000 credits, Max starts at $99, and unused plan credits roll over for a month.
For a fixed flow at volume, a per-step meter is the better fit. Cedric's meter suits irregular work that would otherwise land on someone's desk. The whole ladder is on the pricing page.
Where Make or Zapier is the better choice
If the logic is complicated and fixed, choose Make. Branches, loops and aggregations are easier to build and debug on a canvas where every path shows.
If the app you need is rare, choose Zapier. Its directory is three times the length of Make's.
If you need single sign-on without an enterprise contract, choose Zapier, whose Team plan includes SAML SSO. Make lists SSO on Enterprise. If you want ten people building without a seat discussion, Make's unlimited users settle it.
If the job copies records between two systems on every event, with nobody involved, either one does it well and cheaply. Many teams keep a workflow tool for those pipes and hand Cedric the jobs that start with reading the situation.
FAQ
For branching logic and a low entry price, Make is often the better fit. For the widest app coverage and the simplest start, Zapier is. Check that both connect to every tool you use, then price your longest flow on both.
At entry level, yes. Make's Core plan costs less than half of Zapier's Professional on either billing cycle, read 25 September 2026. At scale it depends on your flows, because Make charges for reads and Zapier's triggers and built-in tools are free.
Yes, with no time limit. It includes 1,000 credits a month, two active scenarios and a 15-minute minimum between runs. Zapier's free tier is 100 tasks a month on two-step Zaps.
Credits replaced operations as Make's billing unit. Make's help center says one operation equals one credit by default, so a module action that cost one operation now costs one credit. Some AI features and code cost more.
Yes. Keep the workflow tool on the pipes it runs well, and ask Cedric for the jobs that need a read first. Cedric also runs recurring jobs of his own, set in a sentence. The recurring work guide shows how.
Zapier, if you need more apps. For a self-hosted tool or an agent builder, the n8n alternatives page sorts six tools by what each one is for.
Ask for the job you cannot draw in advance.
100,000 free credits, no card. Ask for today's plan in one line.
100K credits ($50) through Slack, Teams, Discord, Telegram or WhatsApp, 50K ($25) with Google. No card needed.