Documentation-based comparison
Make versus Zapier
Compare documented scope and conditions. Unknowns remain unknown; different billing units do not establish a cost winner.
| Requirement | Make | Zapier |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $9 | From $29.99/mo |
| Who it is for | Visual workflows (scenarios) that define how apps communicate and pass data between them. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Make pricing page: plans, plan table and credits FAQ | No-code automations that move data between 9,000+ apps to automate repetitive work. A Zap consists of a trigger and one or more actions. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier pricing page: plan comparison, FAQ and Agents plans |
| Coverage limits | Active scenarios: 2 on Free, unlimited on paid plans; Minimum interval between scheduled runs: 15 minutes on Free, 1 minute on paid plans; Maximum run time: 5 minutes on Free, 40 minutes on paid plans Plan-table columns are Free, Core, Pro, Teams and Enterprise. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Make pricing page: plans, plan table and credits FAQ | Every successful action uses its own task, so the monthly need is actions per run multiplied by runs per month. Failed actions do not count. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier pricing page: plan comparison, FAQ and Agents plans |
| Usage definition | Each module action, such as reading a record, writing a spreadsheet row or posting a message, uses one credit; Reading, searching, creating, updating and deleting data, transforming it, aggregating rows and iterating rows all count; One scenario run can use from two to thousands of credits Router and error-handler modules (Rollback, Break, Resume, Commit, Ignore) use no credits. Make Code App steps use 2 credits per second of execution time. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Make pricing page: plans, plan table and credits FAQ | Trigger steps, Filter and Paths steps, failed or halted actions and skipped steps use no tasks; Tables, Forms, Formatter, Delay, Looping, Sub-Zap, Digest, Zapier Manager and Storage steps use no tasks; Zapier Agents use a separate activity quota, not tasks; Example: a Zap with two actions that runs ten times uses 20 tasks A task is any successful action. Some steps cost more: each lead routed by Lead Router uses 5 tasks and each Zapier MCP tool call uses 2. Zaps, AI steps, code, MCP and the SDK share one task allowance per account. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier help: how task usage is measured |
| Included volume | Unused credits expire at the end of the term; Extra credits expire after one month on monthly subscriptions, or at the end of the year on annual Pro and Teams subscriptions With yearly billing, prepaid credits last 12 months instead of expiring each month. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Make pricing page: plans, plan table and credits FAQ
| Task tiers from 100 to 2M tasks a month, plus a custom task limit. The page does not print which tier each plan's starting price buys. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier pricing page: plan comparison, FAQ and Agents plans
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| Trigger polling | An operation is any module run, including one that only checks for new data; A polling trigger such as Watch New Rows uses one operation per check, however many records it returns; Each later module runs once per returned record (bundle), so records multiply its operations By default one operation is one credit (Make help on credits). Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Make help: operations and bundles
| Polling checks never use tasks; only successful actions do. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier help: how task usage is measured
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| Premium integrations | Every plan, including Free, includes the visual builder, routers and filters and 3,500+ apps. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Make pricing page rendered: plan cards in the default billing view
| Premium apps are available only on paid plans. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier pricing page: plan comparison, FAQ and Agents plans
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| Hosting responsibility | An on-prem agent lets scenarios reach local networks and apps such as SAP. The plan that includes it is not clear from the page text. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Make pricing page: plans, plan table and credits FAQ | Not verified |
| AI charges | Make's AI Provider is available on all plans in Make AI Agents and Make AI Toolkit; Credits are charged by input and output tokens and the model chosen; Small and Medium tiers: 18,080 input or 2,260 output tokens per credit; Large tier (GPT-5 mini): 3,616 input or 452 output tokens per credit With your own OpenAI or Anthropic connection (paid plans), Make charges credits per operation and the provider bills the tokens. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Make help: credits, fixed and AI credit usage | AI by Zapier steps and their tool calls use 1 task on standard models or with your own model provider (you also pay the provider), 3 tasks on advanced models and 5 on premium models. Tool calls are not available on the standard tier. Zapier MCP tool calls use 2 tasks each. Zapier says rates may change with notice. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier task usage rates for steps, AI, code and MCP
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| Overage charges | When credits run out, scenarios stop until credits are added; Incoming webhooks queue up to the plan webhook queue size; Extra credits come in bundles of 1,000 or 10,000 at a price set in your subscription; Core, Pro and Teams can auto-purchase 10,000 credits before running out Make notifies at 75% and 90% of purchased credits. The bundle price is not published on the pricing page. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Make pricing page: plans, plan table and credits FAQ
| Tasks beyond the plan limit are charged separately through pay-per-task billing; Pay-per-task stops at three times the plan task limit; further runs are held until the billing cycle ends; Without pay-per-task, new Zap runs are held at the task limit until the billing cycle resets Pay-per-task tasks cost more than plan tasks; the rate depends on plan and billing cycle and is shown only in account billing settings. It is on by default for accounts created after January 2024. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier help: how task usage is measured |
| Coverage note | At the shown price; credit tiers from 20k to 8M+ cost more. | Agent activities are a separate quota from Zap tasks. |
