Make.com, formerly Integromat, lets you connect apps and automate work on a visual canvas instead of in code. It has a reputation as the cheaper, more flexible alternative to Zapier, and for many people that’s true. It’s also billed in credits, counted per step, and some of those steps cost credits even when nothing happens. This review works out what your credits actually cover, so you can pick a plan without surprises.
No commission here, yet. Make runs an affiliate program that anyone with a Make account can join, but I haven’t joined it. Every Make link on this page is a plain link. If that changes, this note will say so.
The receipt
Make.com in five lines
| Time | A simple automation in an afternoon; complex ones take real practice |
| Cost | Free for 1,000 credits a month; paid from $12 a month for 10,000 |
| Output | Powerful, flexible workflows across 3,000+ apps |
| Real earning path | Building automations for small businesses |
| Overall | 7.3/10 |
A good buy if… you want to automate real business processes cheaply, you’re willing to spend a few evenings learning, and you can design around how credits are counted.
Look elsewhere if… you need something a non-technical team can set up in ten minutes, or your workflows are long chains that run often. A tool that bills per run can work out cheaper for those.
What I looked at, and how I scored it
I haven’t used Make on paid client work. This review is built from sources you can check: Make’s pricing page, its help center articles on credits, AI billing, blueprints and cancelling, its 2025 announcements on credits and plan changes, its affiliate and partner terms, 357 G2 reviews and 171 Trustpilot reviews (read for patterns), and the pricing pages of Zapier and n8n. Everything was checked on 29 September 2026. The credit examples are my own arithmetic from Make’s published rules.
| What I scored | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of use | 7/10 | The visual builder is liked; the learning curve and error messages aren’t |
| Output quality | 8/10 | Routers, filters, error handling and 3,000+ apps make it very capable |
| Value for money | 8/10 | Cheap per step if you avoid polling and watch AI token use |
| Trust and support | 6/10 | An established company, but reviewers report bugs and slow support |
The overall 7.3 is the average of the four (7.25, rounded). If your experience with Make is different, tell me and I’ll update this.
Five things the pricing page doesn’t spell out
- Empty checks still cost credits. A trigger uses one credit every time it runs, whether or not it finds anything new. A scenario that checks for new data every minute uses about 43,200 credits a month on the trigger alone, more than four times the 10,000 on a Core plan. Checking every 15 minutes uses about 2,880. Instant triggers such as webhooks only run when something actually happens.
- Credits are counted per step and per item. An action module uses one credit for each bundle it processes, so deleting 10 rows costs 10 credits. Routers, filters and error handlers are free, which rewards designing smart branches rather than extra steps.
- AI steps cost more than one credit. Since 27 August 2025, when credits replaced operations, Make’s own AI tools and AI Agents charge one credit per operation plus extra credits based on the tokens used. Since November 2025, every paid plan can instead connect your own AI provider and pay for the tokens there. The Make Code app uses two credits per second of run time.
- Unused credits expire, and top-ups cost more. Credits expire at the end of each term. Extra credits cost 25% more than the credits in your plan, and they expire on the same schedule.
- Cancelling isn’t a refund. When you cancel, you keep your plan until the end of the billing period and then drop to the free plan. Unused credits don’t come with you. Make’s Master Services Agreement also says subscription fees are “non-cancelable and non-refundable once Services are ordered”, so test on the free plan before paying for a year.
What Make.com does
- A visual scenario builder: you chain modules on a canvas and branch with routers and filters.
- 3,000+ app integrations, plus webhooks and an HTTP module for anything else.
- AI features: Make AI Agents, the AI Toolkit, a content extractor and web search, or connections to AI apps such as ChatGPT through your own account.
- For teams and developers: Make API access from Core, error handling, scenario templates and team roles on Teams.
Make.com pricing in 2026
| Plan | Monthly price | Credits a month | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1,000 | 2 active scenarios, runs at most every 15 minutes, 5 MB files |
| Core | $12 | 10,000 | Unlimited scenarios, 1-minute interval, Make API |
| Pro | $21 | 10,000 | Priority execution, full-text log search, custom variables |
| Teams | $38 | 10,000 | Team roles, shareable scenario templates, priority guidance |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | 24/7 support, overage protection |
These are monthly-billing prices for the smallest credit tier. Make says annual billing saves “15% or more”. You can buy larger credit tiers on each plan: since November 2025, Core tops out at 300,000 credits a month and Pro goes up to 8 million.
What 10,000 credits actually cover
| Scenario | Credits a month | Fits in 10,000? |
|---|---|---|
| One trigger checking every minute (trigger only) | 43,200 | No |
| One trigger checking every 5 minutes | 8,640 | Barely, with little left over |
| One trigger checking every 15 minutes | 2,880 | Yes |
| Webhook lead intake: 30 leads a day, 6 steps each | 5,400 | Yes |
The practical takeaway: on monthly billing, a credit costs $1.20 per thousand on Core, $2.10 on Pro and $3.80 on Teams, and top-ups are 25% dearer. Core is plenty for a few event-driven automations. The fastest way to overspend is a scenario that checks every minute for something that happens twice a day.
Make.com vs Zapier vs n8n
| Tool | Entry price | How usage is counted | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Make.com | Free for 1,000 credits; $12 a month for 10,000 | Per module action and per item | Visual, branching workflows on a budget |
| Zapier | Free for 100 tasks; Professional from $19.99 a month billed yearly | Per task | The quickest setup for non-technical teams |
| n8n | Free to self-host; cloud from €20 a month billed yearly for 2,500 executions | Per whole workflow run, however many steps | Long workflows, technical users, self-hosting |
The counting model matters more than the headline price. A 12-step workflow that runs once is 12 credits on Make but one execution on n8n. A simple two-step job that runs constantly favors Make.
What users say
- G2: 4.6 out of 5 from 357 reviews. Users praise how powerful and visual it is, the range of integrations and the price compared with competitors. Complaints are about the steep learning curve, unclear error messages, unpredictable credit use, and credits spent while testing.
- Trustpilot: 2.7 out of 5 from 171 reviews, with 50% five-star and 35% one-star. Fans like the free tier and the flexibility. Critics describe a complicated setup, bugs after updates, hard-to-reach support, a slow interface and some account security incidents.
The split looks like skill level. People comfortable with logic and data love it, and people expecting a point-and-click app get frustrated. Make is owned by Celonis, the process-mining company, so it isn’t a fly-by-night tool.
Pros and cons
Strong points
- Very capable visual builder
- Routers, filters and error handlers are free
- Low price per step on Core
- Bring your own AI key on any paid plan
- Free training with certification
Weak points
- Polling triggers burn credits
- Steep learning curve
- Credits don’t roll over
- Top-up credits cost 25% more
- Support complaints on Trustpilot
Is Make.com worth it?
For most small businesses and freelancers, yes, as long as you design around the credit rules. Use instant triggers, keep AI steps on your own API key, and stay on Core until you actually run out. Do that and it’s one of the cheapest ways to automate serious work. Ignore those rules and a single badly scheduled scenario can eat a month’s credits in a week.
Can you earn with Make.com?
Yes. The realistic route is building dull but valuable automations for small businesses, like enquiry handling, invoicing and reminders, for a setup fee plus a small monthly care plan. Upwork’s hiring guide puts AI automation engineers at $35 to $60 an hour. My separate guide covers pricing, finding clients, and the fine print of Make’s 35% affiliate program.
Related reading: Systeme.io review · Manychat review
Make.com FAQ
Is Make.com free?
Yes. The free plan gives 1,000 credits a month, two active scenarios, and runs at most every 15 minutes. It’s enough to learn on and to run one or two light automations.
What is a credit in Make?
Each module action uses a credit, such as adding a spreadsheet row. Triggers use one credit per run even when they find nothing, action modules use one credit per item they process, and routers, filters and error handlers are free.
Do Make.com credits roll over?
No. Credits expire at the end of each term, and extra credits you buy expire on the same schedule.
How much do AI features cost in Make?
With Make’s own AI provider, AI steps cost one credit per operation plus credits based on tokens used. On any paid plan you can connect your own AI provider instead, and then you pay that provider for tokens directly.
Is Make cheaper than Zapier?
The entry prices favor Make: $12 a month for 10,000 credits, against Zapier’s Professional plan from $19.99. But the two count usage differently, so model your own workflow on both free plans before you decide.
Can I get a refund from Make?
Generally no. Make’s Master Services Agreement says subscription fees are non-cancelable and non-refundable once ordered. Cancelling stops the next renewal, and you keep your plan until the end of the billing period.
Update log: 29 September 2026: first published, with prices, credit rules and ratings checked that day.
Sources
- Make pricing
- How features use credits and credits and custom AI providers
- Make: introducing credits (August 2025)
- Make: adjustments to plans and pricing (November 2025)
- Make: cancel your subscription and Master Services Agreement (refunds, section 5.1)
- Make affiliate program
- Make on G2 and on Trustpilot
- Zapier pricing and n8n pricing
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