Zapier and Make solve the same problem for a solo founder: connect the apps the business already uses so that a sale, a form submission or an email triggers the next step without anyone touching it. They differ in price, in what the free plan allows, and in how usage is counted, which is where most of the real cost difference hides.
One thing to know before reading: this site earns a commission when a reader signs up for Make, and nothing from Zapier. Both are compared on the same terms, and every figure is read from the vendor's own page on October 6, 2026 and linked to it. Make's affiliate terms, as sent to this site the same day, give every new user who signs up through an affiliate link their first month on the Pro plan free.
The short answer
For a founder who needs one or two simple hand-offs between apps and nothing more, Zapier's free plan is the easiest start: unlimited Zaps, Tables and Forms, but only two-step Zaps and 100 tasks a month. The moment a workflow needs a third step or more volume, Zapier's Professional plan starts from $19.99 a month, while Make's Core plan is $9 a month billed annually, or $10.59 billed monthly, for 10,000 credits.
Make's free plan is also the more generous of the two: up to 1,000 credits a month and 2 active scenarios, against Zapier's 100 tasks and two-step limit. On the paid tiers Make is the cheaper tool; Zapier earns its price with the larger app catalogue, 9,000+ apps against Make's 3,000+.
Free plans side by side
| Zapier Free | Make Free | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $0 a month |
| Monthly allowance | 100 tasks | Up to 1,000 credits |
| Workflow size | Two-step Zaps only | No step limit stated; 2 active scenarios at a time |
| How often it checks for new data | Polling every 15 min | 15-minute minimum interval between scheduled runs |
| Other stated limits | Unlimited Zaps, Tables and Forms | 5-minute maximum run time, 5 MB maximum file size, 512MB data transfer |
The two allowances are not the same unit, so 1,000 credits is not simply ten times 100 tasks. The next section explains how each is counted.
A task is not a credit
Zapier's help centre defines a task as any successful action that runs in Zapier, and states that only successful actions count toward task usage. Its example: a Zap with two actions that runs ten times uses 20 tasks. Once the plan's limit is reached, tasks are held until the end of the billing cycle unless pay-per-task billing is on, and that billing is capped at 3x the plan's task limit.
Make bills in credits. Since August 27 credits are the billing unit, and most actions consume 1 credit. The catch is in how actions multiply. Make's operations page shows a trigger returning 10 form responses: the trigger costs 1 operation, then each following module runs once per response, so three modules cost 30, for 31 per run. Built-in tools that transform, aggregate or iterate data consume credits too; only the Router module and the error-handler modules (Rollback, Break, Resume, Commit, Ignore) are free.
Both tools multiply by records: Zapier's pricing page says each contact a Zap creates uses one task, and its help centre counts two tasks when two new leads are sent to a CRM. Ten records through three steps is therefore 30 tasks on Zapier and 31 credits on Make, so record volume alone does not separate them. The differences the vendors state are elsewhere: Zapier never charges a task to check for new data or for Filter, Paths, Formatter, Delay, Looping or Digest steps, while Make counts 1 credit for every trigger check and for its built-in transform, aggregate and iterate tools. Count the modules, including the built-in ones, before comparing the two allowances.
Paid plans and the billing toggle
| Zapier | Make | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | Professional, listed as Starting from $19.99 a month and sold in task tiers (the page's selector runs 100, 750, 1.5K, 2K tasks a month and upward) | Core, $9 a month billed annually or $10.59 billed monthly, for 10,000 credits a month |
| Next tier | Team, Starting from $69 a month | Pro, $16 a month billed annually or $18.82 billed monthly, for 10,000 credits a month |
| Annual discount | Pay yearly toggle labelled Save 33% | Pay annually toggle labelled Save 15% or more |
| Polling or scheduling on paid plans | 2 min on Professional, 1 min on Team | 1-minute minimum interval on every paid plan |
Zapier's page labels its paid prices Starting from and prints a single figure beside a Pay monthly / Pay yearly (Save 33%) toggle; the page text does not say which billing period the $19.99 reflects, though Zapier's FAQ confirms that pre-paying for a year is discounted compared to monthly payments, so check the toggle before budgeting. Make's page shows the annual rate on the card and its pricing data gives the monthly rate beside it, which is why both appear above.
Running out mid-month works differently. On Make, scenarios stop when credits run out until credits are added, and extra credits bought in bundles of 1,000 or 10,000 carry a 25% premium over the plan's per-credit price: on the $9 plan one credit costs $0.0009, so 1,000 extra credits cost $1.125 and 10,000 cost $11.25. On Zapier, pay-per-task billing lets a Zap keep running up to 3x the plan limit; with it off, Zaps are held until the next cycle.
App catalogues
Zapier advertises 9,000+ apps. Make's integrations page describes a library of over 3,000 pre-built apps and adds that any app with an API can be connected through its HTTP app. If a niche tool the business depends on is only in Zapier's catalogue, that settles the choice regardless of price; check both directories for the specific apps before deciding.
Where Zapier is still the right call
- The workflows are two steps each and well under 100 runs a month: Zapier's free plan costs nothing and needs no learning curve.
- A required app exists only in Zapier's catalogue.
Verdict
On price Make wins at every paid level a solo founder is likely to reach, and at the free level, where both tools cost $0, it offers the larger allowance: a free plan with 1,000 credits and no step limit stated, then $9 a month billed annually for 10,000 credits, against Zapier's 100 free tasks limited to two steps and a Professional plan starting from $19.99. Zapier remains the better choice when a needed app is only in its catalogue or when the workload is tiny and simple. In either case, count the modules and the records each run will process before trusting the headline allowance. On Make the trigger's check costs one operation and every later module then runs once per record, built-in tools included; only the Router and error-handler modules are free. Zapier charges a task for every successful action on every record, but nothing for triggers, Filters, Paths or Formatter steps.