The full review
What is Make?
Make is a visual workflow automation platform that lets a business wire together the apps it already runs on, without writing much code. The vendor describes it as the visual AI automation platform, pitching it as a way to connect any app, data source, or AI model, then build automations and AI agents visually, in code, or with a prompt. Work is organized into scenarios: chains of modules that pull data from one service, reshape it, and push it into another, and the vendor says you can build them by prompt, drag-and-drop, or via MCP.
The vendor reports a library of 3,000+ pre-built apps, with Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, Slack, NetSuite, monday.com, and OpenAI among those listed. Founded in 2015 and now part of Celonis, Make reports more than 400,000 organizations across 200+ countries using the platform.
Building scenarios on the Make canvas
Routers and filters let a single scenario branch down several paths, so one incoming webhook can create a CRM record, notify a channel, and drop the rest when a condition fails. Scenario inputs and outputs turn a workflow into something reusable, and subscenarios let you chain smaller flows into larger systems rather than maintaining one sprawling diagram.
Debugging is a genuine strength here. Real-time execution monitoring shows runs as they happen, and the execution log records each module step, so tracing a failure means reading the actual data that moved rather than guessing. Teams that need custom logic can drop into the Make Code App to run JavaScript or Python inline.
Make has pushed hard into agentic automation. Make AI Agents, currently in beta, run on goals and prompts instead of hardcoded branches, selecting a route at runtime; the vendor emphasizes step-by-step logs and reasoning so every action stays inspectable. Agents are built directly on the canvas, which the vendor says is as easy as building workflows.
A wider toolkit surrounds them. Maia by Make builds automations and agents through natural conversation, while the Make AI Toolkit and AI Content Extractor cover routine jobs like structured extraction from files, and AI Web Search in beta pulls live data into a run. Make MCP Server connects outside AI clients to your Make scenarios through the Model Context Protocol, alongside an AI app catalog the vendor numbers at 350+ on its pricing page and 400+ on its AI automation page.
Make Grid and operational visibility
Make Grid is the vendor's answer to sprawl: a live map of every agent, app, and workflow that, combined with real-time analytics, is pitched as a way of spotting bottlenecks, preventing errors, and maximizing performance as your AI landscape grows. Relation trees visualize how linked scenarios depend on each other, and an analytics dashboard tracks performance over time. On governance, Make offers audit logs, custom roles, private spaces, two-factor authentication, and company single sign-on, alongside GDPR, SOC 2 Type II, and SOC 3 compliance.
Plans, credits, and room to scale
Billing runs on credits, where each module action counts as one. The Free plan is genuinely usable for learning, though it caps you at two active scenarios with a fifteen-minute minimum interval between runs. Core lifts the scenario cap, tightens scheduling to one-minute granularity, and unlocks the Make API. Pro adds priority scenario execution, custom variables, and full-text execution log search. Teams introduces team roles plus shareable scenario templates, while Enterprise layers on custom functions, enterprise app access, an on-prem agent for reaching local networks, credits overage protection, and 24/7 support.
Who should choose Make
Make suits operations, marketing, and IT teams who want serious automation without pulling a developer into every integration. The visual model works especially well for people who think in diagrams, and the credit-based ladder scales sensibly from a solo builder on Free to a department on Teams.
It is a weaker fit for engineering teams who would rather express workflows as version-controlled code, or for organizations that need control over where the platform itself runs, since the pricing page lists Make's hosting as AWS in the EU and North America. High-volume, high-frequency workloads also deserve a credit-consumption estimate before you commit, because per-action billing climbs quickly at scale.
Strengths
- Exceptional value: 10,000 credits for $9/mo vs Zapier's 750 tasks at $19.99/mo — far more volume per dollar
- Visual drag-and-drop canvas with routers, iterators, aggregators, and per-module error handling
- Make AI Agents (beta) and Make Grid included on all paid plans, with support for your own LLM API key
- Genuinely usable free plan: 1,000 credits/mo with access to the full 3,000+ app catalog
Watch out for
- Steeper learning curve than Zapier; error messages can be cryptic for non-technical users
- AI modules and Make Code burn credits at variable rates (code costs 2 credits/second), making AI-heavy workflow costs hard to predict
- Extra credits beyond your plan carry a 25% surcharge (policy standardized Nov 2025)
- Free plan is limited to 15-minute minimum intervals; near-real-time scheduling requires a paid plan
Key features
| Feature | What it does |
|---|
| Visual scenario builder | Drag-and-drop canvas for multi-step workflows with routers, filters, iterators, and per-module error handlers |
| 3,000+ app integrations | Native connectors plus generic HTTP/webhook modules for any REST API |
| Make AI Agents (beta) | Build AI agents on the visual canvas using Make's AI provider or your own LLM key; 2026 release added reasoning panel and multimodal inputs |
| Make Grid | Auto-generated visual map of your entire automation landscape, rolled out to all paid users |
| Make Code and data stores | Run JavaScript/Python inside scenarios (2 credits/sec) and persist data in built-in stores |
| Execution logs and API | Detailed run history with full-text log search on Pro+; Make API access from Core plan up |
How Make compares
| Alternative | How it differs |
|---|
| Zapier | Easier to learn with a larger app catalog, but far pricier per task ($19.99/mo for 750 tasks vs Make's 10,000 credits for $9) |
| n8n | Fair-code alternative you can self-host for near-zero run costs; requires more technical skill and infrastructure |
| Microsoft Power Automate | Better fit for Microsoft 365-centric enterprises; weaker third-party app breadth than Make |
Head-to-head: Make vs Zapier · Make vs n8n
Frequently asked questions
Is Make free?
Yes. Make's Free plan costs $0 and includes 1,000 credits per month, access to all 3,000+ app integrations, the full visual scenario builder, and routers and filters. The main limits are the low credit volume and a 15-minute minimum interval between scheduled runs. Paid plans start at $9/month (billed annually) with 10,000 credits.
How much does Make cost?
All paid plans include 10,000 base credits per month: Core is $9/month, Pro $16/month, and Teams $29/month billed annually — about $10.59, $18.82, and $34.12 respectively on monthly billing. Credit volume scales via a slider (up to 300,000 on Core, 8 million on Pro). Enterprise pricing is custom. Annual billing saves 15% or more.
Make vs Zapier: which is cheaper?
Make is much cheaper per unit of work: $9/month buys 10,000 credits, while Zapier's Professional plan starts at $19.99/month (annual) for 750 tasks. Zapier counters with a bigger app catalog and a gentler learning curve. For complex, high-volume workflows Make usually wins on cost; for quick two-step automations Zapier is faster to set up.
What are Make credits?
Credits replaced operations as Make's billing unit on August 27, 2025, converting 1:1. Each standard module execution — trigger, filter, HTTP call, app action — costs one credit. Make Code costs 2 credits per second, and AI-native modules consume credits at variable rates based on model and token usage. Paid plans start at 10,000 credits monthly; extra credits carry a 25% surcharge.
Does Make have AI agents?
Yes. Make AI Agents (beta) are included on all plans — you build agents on the visual canvas using Make's built-in AI provider or your own LLM API key. The 2026 next-generation release added a reasoning panel, multimodal inputs (documents, images, audio), and shareable agent libraries. AI modules consume credits at variable rates, so agent-heavy scenarios cost more.
Make ratings on other platforms
Independent user ratings from third-party review sites, linked here for transparency.
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