Make vs Zapier for small business

Automation tools are one of the best-value purchases a small business can make. Every time you copy an order into a spreadsheet, paste a lead into your CRM or forward an invoice to your accountant, you are doing work a robot could do. Make and Zapier are the two best-known no-code tools for connecting apps like this. Both can save hours a week; they just suit different people.

We checked the pricing and plan details below on each company's official pricing page in October 2026. Both list prices in US dollars. Zapier says it can bill in 19 local currencies including GBP, with prices converted from USD at the time of payment.

Make vs Zapier at a glance

Ease of use

Zapier is the easier of the two to start with. You pick a trigger app and event, pick an action, map a few fields and switch it on. The editor reads top to bottom like a recipe, and Zapier now includes an AI Copilot that can draft a Zap from a plain-English description (free plans have a daily message limit, according to its pricing page).

Make uses a visual canvas. Each app action is a circle, and you drag lines between them. For a two-step automation this feels like more effort than Zapier. For anything with branches, such as "if the order is over £100 send it to Slack, otherwise just log it", the canvas becomes an advantage because you can see the whole flow at once. Make's router module splits a scenario into paths, and its pricing page notes that router and error-handler modules do not consume credits.

Our honest take: a non-technical owner will get their first Zapier automation running faster, while someone comfortable with spreadsheets will feel at home in Make within a few hours.

Pricing: credits vs tasks

This is where the two differ most, and it is worth taking a few minutes to understand.

Zapier counts tasks. According to its pricing page, a task is counted each time Zapier successfully completes an action step; triggers, polling and Zapier's own built-in tools (Formatter, Filter, Paths, Delay and others) do not count. You choose a plan level (Free, Professional, Team) and a monthly task tier. The free plan gives 100 tasks a month and is limited to two-step Zaps. If you exceed your tier on a paid plan, you can turn on pay-per-task billing so automations keep running at an overage rate.

Make counts credits. Its pricing page explains that each module action in a scenario consumes credits, usually one, while some AI features may use more. The free plan includes 1,000 credits a month. Credits expire at the end of the billing term, and you can buy extra credits if you run short. Make also advertises a Start-up Plan for companies with fewer than 20 employees, offering a discount on its Business plan if you qualify.

In practice, Make tends to be cheaper for high-volume or complex automations, and Zapier's free plan is more restrictive for anything beyond simple two-step jobs. But your real cost depends on how many steps your workflows have and how often they run. The safest approach is to build your top two or three automations on each free plan, watch the usage counter for a week, and multiply up.

App coverage

Zapier's catalogue is much bigger: 9,000+ apps against Make's 1,000-plus (both figures from their official pricing pages, Oct 2026). Mainstream small-business tools such as Shopify, Google Sheets, Gmail, Slack and ClickUp are typically available on both, but always confirm the specific triggers and actions you need. Zapier's lead matters most if you rely on a niche industry app, a local booking system or a newer startup tool. Before choosing, search each tool's app directory for every app you need.

Both tools also let you connect to apps without a ready-made integration using webhooks or HTTP requests, but that needs a little technical confidence. On Zapier, webhooks are a paid-plan feature.

AI features

Both platforms have added AI in two ways: AI that helps you build automations, and AI steps inside automations (for example, summarising a customer email, categorising a support request or drafting a reply). Zapier also sells AI Agents and Chatbots as add-ons with their own pricing and free tiers. Make offers AI modules and notes on its pricing page that some AI features use more credits than standard actions. For most small businesses the AI steps are the useful part: they let you automate jobs that used to need a human to read something first.

Example automations for a small business

• New Shopify order → Google Sheet row + Slack message. Easy in both. Zapier is quicker to set up; on Make the run uses a few credits.
• Website enquiry → AI categorises it → route to the right person. Needs branching. Comfortable on Make's free plan; on Zapier needs Paths, a paid feature.
• Weekly digest of unpaid invoices emailed to you. Both handle scheduled runs; Make's scheduling and data aggregation tools make this neat.
• New ClickUp task when a client signs a proposal. Both connect to ClickUp and common e-signature tools.

Who should pick which?

Choose Make if…

• You want to keep monthly costs low as automations grow.
• Your workflows need conditions, loops or multiple paths.
• You like seeing the whole process as a diagram.
• All the apps you use are in Make's catalogue.

Choose Zapier if…

• You want the fastest route from idea to working automation.
• You depend on a niche app that only Zapier supports.
• Your automations are mostly simple two- or three-step jobs.
• You'd rather pay a bit more than learn a new interface.

Bottom line

For most small businesses watching costs, Make offers more automation per pound, which is why it sits in our top three. Zapier remains the friendliest option and the safest bet for unusual apps. Both have free plans, so there is no reason not to try your most important workflow on each before deciding.

Frequently asked questions

Prices and plan limits change frequently. We note the date we checked each fact; always confirm on the vendor's official pricing page before buying. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.