Zapier vs Make: Which Automation Platform Fits Non-Tech Teams?

Non-tech teams choosing between Zapier and Make face a clear trade-off. Zapier offers broader app connectivity and step-by-step setup. But Make provides better cost efficiency and handles logic more naturally, although it requires more upfront learning.

This comparison breaks down when to choose each platform, key differences in pricing and capabilities, and how Logic can work with either one as the intelligence layer for complex decision-making automation.

Quick Comparison Overview

Understanding how Zapier and Make differ in their core approach helps teams make informed decisions before diving into features.

These differences become more significant as teams scale their automation practice. Simple processes perform similarly on both platforms, but complex processes with multiple decision points reveal differences in cost and capability.

When to Choose Zapier: Speed and Connectivity

Zapier's step-by-step wizard reduces setup decisions through pre-built templates and guided configuration. Teams can build their first automation in minutes without consulting documentation, which matters for businesses needing quick wins to justify automation investment.

The 8,000+ integration advantage becomes significant when your business relies on diverse tools. Niche SaaS applications and industry-specific platforms often appear in Zapier's directory before other automation platforms. Sales teams can sync data between their CRM, email, calendar, and proposal software without custom development.

Zapier handles straightforward linear processes, capturing leads in a CRM, sending notifications when specific events occur. Marketing and sales teams can deploy these automations without engineering involvement, which works when your processes follow predictable patterns with few exceptions. Setup still requires learning Zapier's visual interface and connector limitations, but for small businesses running simple workflows, that learning curve beats waiting for engineering cycles.

When to Choose Make: Cost-Efficiency and Conditional Logic

Make becomes valuable when processes involve multiple decision points. The canvas displays all branches simultaneously, making it easier to understand how different conditions affect the overall workflow. Teams can see at a glance what happens when a high-value lead comes in versus a standard inquiry.

The pricing advantage also becomes clear at higher volumes. A workflow running 15,000 times monthly with multiple steps costs $99+ with Zapier but just $16 with Make. Make's per-operation pricing model scales more efficiently than Zapier's per-task approach, making it the stronger choice for high-volume automation.

Make also supports non-standard integrations through webhook connections and custom API calls rather than pre-built modules. That flexibility comes with complexity: teams typically invest two to four weeks learning the platform before building sophisticated automations. If your engineering or operations team has that time and technical comfort with visual programming, Make provides capable workflow automation that scales efficiently.

Feature Comparison: Make vs Zapier

Process Complexity

Zapier maintains a linear structure with basic branching through Paths and limits workflows to just 100 steps. Make supports unlimited steps with native loops, branching, and sophisticated error handling where the canvas displays all branches simultaneously. For non-technical teams, Zapier's simplicity wins for straightforward automations, but teams managing multiple workflows, data processing pipelines, or conditional routing quickly hit Zapier's limits.

Ease of Use

Zapier's wizard-based approach guides users through setup decisions step-by-step, reducing configuration choices during initial setup. This helps teams build their first automation quickly, though it offers less flexibility for users who already understand automation concepts. Make requires understanding workflow structure and module relationships upfront, creating a steeper initial learning curve. Teams that invest the learning time often find the canvas approach more intuitive for managing complex workflows with multiple branches.

But both platforms share a common limitation: as automations grow to include multiple conditional branches and business rule exceptions, maintaining workflows becomes increasingly complex regardless of interface. For teams where decision rules are complex or change frequently, platforms like Logic offer a different approach: writing rules in plain English rather than configuring conditional logic across workflow builders.

Pricing Models

Zapier charges per task at $19.99 monthly (billed annually) for 750 tasks, where each complete workflow run counts as one task regardless of steps. Make charges per operation at $9 monthly for 10,000 operations, where each individual action counts separately.

A workflow that adds a lead to your CRM, sends a Slack notification, creates a calendar event, updates a spreadsheet, and triggers an email runs as 1 task in Zapier but 5 operations in Make. Running 500 times monthly uses 500 tasks in Zapier or 2,500 operations in Make, with both fitting within entry-level tiers at $19.99/month and $9/month respectively.

The pricing gap widens at higher volumes. Complex automations with 10+ steps running thousands of times monthly favor Make's model, while simple 2-3 step workflows benefit from Zapier's approach.

Data Transformation

Zapier offers basic transformation through the Formatter module for text manipulation and date formatting, while Make provides built-in transformations including JSON parsing, math functions, and array manipulation without requiring additional modules.

These transformations matter when automations need to restructure API responses, calculate values mid-workflow, or process batches of records. Make handles these scenarios natively, while Zapier often requires workarounds or third-party tools for anything beyond simple formatting.

Testing and Debugging

Zapier lets you test each step and view recent runs with basic error logs. Make offers more detailed capabilities including running workflows with sample data and examining detailed logs showing exact data passed between modules. When workflows fail, Make's visibility into data flow between modules helps non-technical users identify issues faster. Zapier's simpler testing works well for straightforward automations but provides limited insight when multi-step workflows break midway through execution.

Integration Breadth

Zapier provides 8,000+ pre-built integrations while Make offers 3,000+ apps plus an HTTP module for connecting any API directly. This means that even when pre-built integrations aren't available in Make, teams can still build connections without leaving the platform.

For teams using mainstream SaaS tools (Salesforce, Slack, Google Workspace, Shopify), both platforms provide good coverage. For niche tools or custom internal systems, Make's HTTP module offers flexibility that Zapier can only match through custom code or webhooks, features that require technical knowledge most no-code users lack.

Intelligent Decision-Making Capabilities

Both platforms have introduced AI agents in beta that add decision-making intelligence to workflows. Zapier's AI Agents can make contextual decisions and perform web research based on natural language instructions. Make's AI Agents, launched in April 2025, use natural language to understand goals and make context-aware decisions that allow workflows to adjust dynamically.

These features work best for specific use cases like research and data analysis, but they're still maturing. For teams with sophisticated business logic that changes frequently or requires consistent rule enforcement, Logic provides a more robust approach. Rather than training AI agents within your workflow builder, Logic lets you write explicit decision rules in English that execute reliably every time, with business teams maintaining full control over how those rules evolve.

{{ LOGIC_WORKFLOW: enrich-and-score-leads | Automate complex decision criteria: enrich and score sales leads }}

Choosing the Right Workflow Platform

Simple processes with one to three steps work well in Zapier's guided interface, while moderate complexity with four to ten steps works with either platform depending on whether you prioritize speed or power. When processes involve multiple decision paths and conditional routing, Make's support for unlimited steps and native branching becomes essential, as Zapier's linear structure with a 100-step limit cannot accommodate these requirements.

The number of business rules in your process reveals where both platforms struggle. Processes with few or no rules suit either platform well, but when you're managing many complex rules that change frequently, maintaining them in visual builders becomes challenging. Updating approval thresholds or routing logic means rebuilding parts of workflows regardless of which platform you choose.

This is where decision automation platforms like Logic provide a different approach. Rather than configuring rules through visual workflow builders, business teams write decision criteria in plain English while AI handles the execution. Logic works standalone as a complete automation solution or integrates via APIs with workflow tools. Teams can use Zapier and Make for system connectivity and data routing while Logic handles business decision-making.

After engineering completes Logic’s initial API integration, operations teams own business rules completely and can update without depending on engineering. This works especially well for teams where business rules change frequently, approval processes require complex conditional logic that's difficult to maintain in visual builders, or operations teams need independent control over decision criteria.

Moving Beyond Simple Workflows

As automation practices mature, many teams discover they need different tools for different purposes. Workflow platforms like Zapier and Make handle routing data and connecting systems, while decision automation platforms handle complex business logic that changes frequently. For teams managing rule-heavy processes, platforms like Logic work alongside your existing workflow tools, keeping business logic maintainable as your needs evolve.

Schedule a demo to see how Logic transforms plain English process documents into decision automation that integrates with Zapier, Make, and other workflow platforms.