If you have started researching business automation, you have almost certainly come across both Make.com and Zapier. They sit at the top of every "best automation tools" list, and for good reason: both connect hundreds of apps and let you build automated workflows without needing to write code.

But they are not interchangeable. They are designed differently, priced differently, and suited to different types of work. This guide covers the practical differences so you can make an informed choice for your business.

What they have in common

Both Zapier and Make.com are cloud-based automation platforms. You connect your apps (CRM, email, accounting software, forms, spreadsheets) and build workflows that move data between them automatically. The core promise is the same: stop copying data between tools by hand, and stop manually triggering actions that can run on their own.

Both platforms support hundreds of integrations, including the tools most Australian small businesses use: Xero, MYOB, Zoho CRM, HubSpot, Gmail, Outlook, Google Sheets, Slack, Teams, Stripe, and most major form tools.

Both offer a free tier for basic testing, and both have paid plans aimed at small and medium businesses.

Where they differ

Interface and complexity

Zapier uses a linear, step-by-step interface. You pick a trigger (something that starts the workflow), then add one or more actions (things that happen next). It is easy to learn and works well for simple two-to-five step workflows.

Make.com uses a visual canvas. Your workflow looks like a diagram: nodes connected by lines, with branches, routers, filters, and parallel paths visible at a glance. It is harder to learn than Zapier, but the payoff is that complex workflows remain readable. When you have a workflow with ten nodes and three decision branches, Make.com lets you see the whole thing. In Zapier, the same workflow is a long list.

For simple automations (submit form > add to CRM > send email), the difference does not matter much. For anything more complex, Make.com's canvas is significantly easier to work with.

Pricing

This is where the difference becomes most significant for small businesses.

Zapier charges based on the number of "tasks" per month. A task is one action step in a workflow execution. If a workflow has three steps and runs once, that is three tasks. Zapier's free plan includes 100 tasks per month. The Starter plan is around USD $19.99/month for 750 tasks. The Professional plan is USD $49/month for 2,000 tasks. Volume goes up from there.

At moderate automation volumes, most businesses outgrow the Starter plan quickly. Two or three active workflows, each running several times per day, can consume 2,000 tasks in a week.

Make.com charges based on "operations," which count similarly. But Make.com's free plan includes 1,000 operations per month, and the Core plan (around USD $10.59/month billed annually) includes 10,000 operations. The Pro plan is around USD $18.82/month for 10,000 operations with additional features.

At equivalent volumes, Make.com is typically three to five times cheaper than Zapier. For businesses with multiple active workflows running frequently, this gap compounds quickly.

Data handling and transformation

Make.com has significantly stronger data transformation capabilities. It has a built-in JSON parser, array and text functions, iterator and aggregator modules (for processing lists of data), and the ability to route different data to different paths within a single workflow.

Zapier handles simple data transformation well, but for anything more complex (extracting data from an API response, reformatting dates, working with arrays), it requires workarounds or additional third-party tools.

If your automations involve working with structured data (processing rows from a spreadsheet, extracting fields from a form submission, transforming data from one format to another), Make.com is considerably more capable.

App integrations

Both platforms support hundreds of integrations. Zapier has a larger total number of integrations (often cited as 7,000+), partly because it has been around longer and has a larger marketplace. Make.com's library is smaller but covers all the major platforms.

For most Australian small businesses, the relevant integrations are the same on both platforms. The edge cases where Zapier has an integration Make.com does not are usually niche tools with small user bases. If you are using standard business software, it will almost certainly be on both.

Support and documentation

Zapier's documentation is extensive, well-organised, and has been built up over many years. Community forum answers are easy to find via Google. If you are building something yourself and hit a problem, there is a high chance someone else has documented the solution.

Make.com's documentation has improved significantly but is not as deep as Zapier's for edge cases. The community is active but smaller. Getting help for unusual problems takes slightly more effort.

Which one should you use?

Choose Zapier if:

  • Your automations are simple (two to four steps, no branching logic)
  • You want to build them yourself without a steep learning curve
  • You are only running a handful of workflows at low frequency
  • Someone on your team already knows Zapier

Choose Make.com if:

  • Your workflows are more complex (multiple branches, data transformation, loops)
  • You are expecting to run workflows at moderate to high volume
  • You want more capability per dollar
  • Someone else is building and managing the automations for you

If you are working with an automation consultant who builds for you, Make.com is almost always the better choice. The visual canvas makes it easier to explain what a workflow does to a non-technical client, and the pricing model holds up better as the business scales. For a real example, see how we used Make.com to build a Shopify order sync for a homewares retailer, or how Zapier handles lead routing for a real estate agency.

A note on Power Automate

For businesses already in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem (Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Excel), Microsoft Power Automate is worth considering alongside both. It integrates more deeply with Microsoft tools than either Zapier or Make.com, and it is included with many Microsoft 365 business plans. See the broader platform comparison guide for more on this.

Getting the right setup for your business

The platform is a detail. The more important question is what you want to automate, why, and what the return looks like. An Automation Assessment answers that question before you commit to any platform or spend any money building.

If you have already decided and want to start building, join the waitlist and we can scope the work together.