Make.com (formerly Integromat, rebranded in 2022) is the automation platform that professionals in the automation industry use — and the one most enterprise customers encounter when working with automation agencies.
It’s not the most familiar name. It’s not the easiest entry point. It is, for the majority of small business automation use cases above the very basic, the right platform.
Here’s the honest assessment.
What Make actually is
Make is a visual, cloud-hosted automation platform. You build “scenarios” — Make’s term for automated workflows — on a canvas where each step is a circular “module” connected to the next by lines that represent data flow.
The visual metaphor is important: you can see exactly how data moves through your automation. When something breaks, you can see which module failed. When you’re designing a complex flow, you can see the full logic at once — not scroll through a vertical list.
Make handles:
- Triggers: New form submission, new email, new CRM contact, scheduled time
- Actions: Create records, send emails, post messages, update databases
- Logic: Filters (only continue if X is true), routers (send to branch A or B), iterators (process each item in a list)
- Data transformation: Text manipulation, number formatting, date calculations, JSON parsing
- AI calls: Native GPT-4 and Claude modules within any workflow
What Make does better than Zapier
Complex workflow logic
Zapier uses a linear step-by-step builder. Complex logic — branching paths, loops, multiple data sources — gets unwieldy in a linear list. Make’s canvas keeps complex flows readable and debuggable.
The router module in Make is a good example: you define multiple paths, each with filter conditions, and the data flows to the right path based on the conditions. In Zapier, this requires separate automations or the multi-step Paths feature that can be hard to maintain.
Data transformation
Passing data between apps often requires reformatting it. An API might return a date in one format; your CRM expects another. A response might include a nested object that you need to flatten. Make’s built-in text, number, and JSON transformation functions handle these cases cleanly. Zapier requires formatter steps that add operations and complexity.
AI integration quality
Make’s OpenAI and Anthropic modules allow sophisticated AI integration within workflows:
- Send text to GPT-4 or Claude
- Receive the response and parse specific data from it
- Use that data in subsequent modules
- Handle the AI response differently based on its content
Building an AI-powered customer support triage system — new email → AI classifies intent → route to appropriate response → log in CRM — is a straightforward Make scenario. It’s harder to build this cleanly in Zapier.
Pricing efficiency
| Usage level | Zapier | Make |
|---|---|---|
| ~1,000 operations/month | $19.99/month | $9/month |
| ~5,000 operations/month | $49/month | $9/month |
| ~15,000 operations/month | $69/month | $16/month |
| ~50,000 operations/month | $99+/month | $29/month |
At every usage level above the free tier, Make is significantly cheaper than Zapier for equivalent operations.
What Make doesn’t do as well as Zapier
App integration count: Make has 1,400+ integrations. Zapier has 6,000+. The vast majority of mainstream business apps are in Make’s library, but niche apps are more likely to have Zapier integrations first. Check your specific apps before committing.
Initial ease of use: Zapier’s linear builder is faster for total beginners. Make’s canvas requires a few hours of orientation. This matters less over time but affects the first week of use.
Consumer familiarity: More people have heard of Zapier. If you’re working with clients or team members who need to use the automation platform independently, Zapier’s broader recognition sometimes reduces onboarding friction.
The learning path
Week 1: Complete Make’s Academy beginner courses (free, 2-3 hours). Build one simple two-module scenario to get comfortable with the canvas.
Week 2: Build your first real business automation. Recommend starting with: new form submission → CRM contact creation → welcome email send.
Week 3-4: Add complexity. Introduce a router (if lead source is paid ad, route to high-priority sequence; otherwise, route to standard sequence). Add an AI module.
Month 2+: Build your full automation library. After initial familiarity, each new scenario takes a fraction of the time the first ones did.
Make pricing tiers
| Plan | Price | Operations | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1,000/month | Testing and learning |
| Core | $9/month | 10,000/month | Most small businesses |
| Pro | $16/month | 10,000/month + faster | Higher execution speed needs |
| Teams | $29/month | 40,000/month | Higher volume businesses |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Large organizations |
For 95% of small businesses, the Core plan at $9/month is sufficient. The Pro plan matters for scenarios where execution speed is a business requirement (real-time customer-facing automations where a 30-second delay is unacceptable).
Who Make is the right choice for
- Businesses building more than 3-5 automations (beyond this, Make’s economics clearly beat Zapier)
- Any automation involving AI integration (GPT-4 or Claude within workflows)
- Workflows requiring complex data transformation or branching logic
- Agencies building automation for clients (Make’s scenario sharing and team features are strong)
- Businesses that want a platform their automation will grow into rather than outgrow
For related reading, see our Make vs Zapier comparison, our Make vs n8n comparison, and our guide on What Is No-Code AI? How Business Owners Are Building Automations Without Developers.
Book a free automation audit and we’ll show you what a Make-powered automation system looks like for your specific workflow — and what’s achievable in your first 30 days of implementation.