Make does much the same job as Zapier for a fraction of the cost: $9 a month on yearly billing buys 10,000 credits, against 750 tasks for $19.99 on Zapier. Zapier is easier to learn, connects more apps and documents its AI tools more clearly.
On price, this is not close. According to third-party trackers that checked Make's pricing page in September and October 2026, Core costs $9 a month on yearly billing for 10,000 credits, and most actions use one credit. Zapier's Professional plan costs $19.99 a month on yearly billing for 750 tasks, and 10,000 tasks costs $129 a month. Make's routers and error handlers use no credits at all, so the gap widens as workflows branch.
The editors suit different minds. Make's canvas shows the whole scenario at once, which makes branches, loops and error handling easier to follow than in Zapier's step list. Zapier's editor is the easiest of any automation tool for a non-technical person, and its app catalogue is the largest. Make sits between Zapier and n8n on learning curve: harder than the first, gentler than the second.
Both bills have small print. Make's credit costs vary: custom code costs two credits per second of run time, AI steps using its built-in provider can cost more than one credit, and unused credits expire at the end of the term. Moving up a Make tier buys features rather than credits. Zapier's overage runs at 1.25 times the base rate on annual plans and 2.5 times on monthly ones, and its agents are billed on a separate meter, in activities rather than tasks.
Zapier is ahead on AI documentation. Its pricing page puts Agents, Copilot, Canvas and MCP on every plan, with stated allowances such as 400 agent activities a month on Free. Make lists AI agents, the Maia assistant and an MCP server, but its pricing page does not say clearly which plans include what. If you need an assistant acting in your apps today with known limits, Zapier is the safer bet. For conventional automations built by someone willing to learn a canvas, Make is the better buy.