Make vs Zapier: credits vs tasks, costed on the same workflow

Credits vs tasks: the difference that decides

Make counts one “credit” per module that runs, trigger included. Zapier counts one “task” per successful action: the trigger, filters and polling checks do not count. So Zapier counts fewer units for the same work, but its first paid tier holds far fewer of them: 750 tasks a month for $29.99, while Make’s holds 10,000 credits for $16. Both price lists are in US dollars.

Neither can be self-hosted. What separates them after that: where your data is stored, what polling costs, and the app catalog. This page analyzes both vendors’ public pricing and documentation, recorded on the date shown.

The same workflow on both

Take a lead form on your website. Each entry arrives by webhook (an instant trigger) and sets off four actions: add a row to a spreadsheet, create a contact in the CRM, send an email, post a message in a team chat.

At 1,000 entries a month.

• Make: 1,000 × (1 trigger + 4 actions) = 5,000 credits. The free plan (1,000 credits a month) is not enough; Core’s first tier, quoted above, covers it.
• Zapier: 1,000 × 4 actions = 4,000 tasks. The free plan is out at any volume: it is limited to two-step Zaps and does not include webhooks. You need the 5,000 tier of Professional, the fourth tier of that plan.

At 10,000 entries a month.

• Make: 50,000 credits, which means Core’s 80,000 tier.
• Zapier: 40,000 tasks, which means Professional’s 50,000 tier.

Monthly volume	Make	Zapier
1,000 runs of 4 actions	5,000 credits (Core, 10,000 tier)	4,000 tasks (Professional, 5,000 tier)
10,000 runs of 4 actions	50,000 credits (Core, 80,000 tier)	40,000 tasks (Professional, 50,000 tier)
What the first paid tier covers	2,000 runs of this workflow	187 runs of this workflow

The prices for these tiers are in the two tables below. At both volumes, Make’s tier is the cheaper of the two. The cost calculator redoes the math with your own numbers.

Make volume tiers

Plan	Monthly volume (credits)	Monthly price	Monthly price, billed annually
Free	1,000	$0	$0
Core	10,000	$16	$11
Core	20,000	$28	$20
Core	40,000	$46	$37
Core	80,000	$81	$65
Core	150,000	$134	$107
Core	300,000	$236	$189
Pro	10,000	$28	$20
Pro	20,000	$51	$36
Pro	40,000	$84	$67
Pro	80,000	$134	$107
Pro	150,000	$208	$166
Pro	300,000	$348	$278
Pro	500,000	$531	$425
Pro	750,000	$747	$598
Pro	1,000,000	$969	$775
Pro	1,500,000	$1,395	$1,116
Pro	2,000,000	$1,783	$1,426
Pro	2,500,000	$2,201	$1,761
Pro	3,000,000	$2,567	$2,054
Pro	4,000,000	$3,332	$2,666
Pro	5,000,000	$4,081	$3,265
Pro	6,000,000	$4,798	$3,838
Pro	7,000,000	$5,531	$4,425
Pro	8,000,000	$6,227	$4,982
Teams	10,000	$51	$36
Teams	20,000	$94	$66
Teams	40,000	$157	$126
Teams	80,000	$254	$203
Teams	150,000	$394	$315
Teams	300,000	$660	$528
Teams	500,000	$1,009	$807
Teams	750,000	$1,419	$1,135
Teams	1,000,000	$1,813	$1,450
Teams	1,500,000	$2,549	$2,039
Teams	2,000,000	$3,172	$2,538
Teams	2,500,000	$3,894	$3,115
Teams	3,000,000	$4,461	$3,569
Teams	4,000,000	$5,700	$4,560
Teams	5,000,000	$6,902	$5,522
Teams	6,000,000	$8,208	$6,566
Teams	7,000,000	$9,354	$7,483
Teams	8,000,000	$10,652	$8,522

Zapier volume tiers

Plan	Monthly volume (tasks)	Monthly price	Monthly price, billed annually
Free	100	$0	$0
Professional	750	$29.99	$19.99
Professional	1,500	$58.50	$39
Professional	2,000	$73.50	$49
Professional	5,000	$133.50	$89
Professional	10,000	$193.50	$129
Professional	20,000	$283.50	$189
Professional	50,000	$433.50	$289
Professional	100,000	$733.50	$489
Professional	200,000	$1,149	$769
Professional	300,000	$1,599	$1,069
Professional	400,000	$1,899	$1,269
Professional	500,000	$2,199	$1,499
Professional	750,000	$2,999	$1,999
Professional	1,000,000	$3,299	$2,199
Professional	1,500,000	$4,499	$2,999
Professional	1,750,000	$4,799	$3,199
Professional	2,000,000	$5,099	$3,389
Team	2,000	$103.50	$69
Team	5,000	$178.50	$119
Team	10,000	$253.50	$169
Team	20,000	$373.50	$249
Team	50,000	$598.50	$399
Team	100,000	$898.50	$599
Team	200,000	$1,499	$999
Team	300,000	$1,799	$1,199
Team	400,000	$2,099	$1,399
Team	500,000	$2,699	$1,799
Team	750,000	$3,299	$2,199
Team	1,000,000	$3,749	$2,499
Team	1,500,000	$5,099	$3,399
Team	1,750,000	$5,699	$3,799
Team	2,000,000	$5,999	$3,999

When the order flips: polling

A polling trigger checks on a fixed schedule whether anything is new. On Make, each check uses 1 credit, even when it finds nothing. On Zapier, triggers use no tasks, polling included.

Go back to the 1,000-entry workflow and swap the webhook for a polling trigger. Zapier stays at 4,000 tasks. Make goes from 5,000 credits to 6,880 with a check every 15 minutes, to 12,640 every 5 minutes (Core’s 20,000 tier) and to 47,200 every minute (the 80,000 tier).

The extreme case: watching an inbox every 2 minutes for a message that shows up only 100 times a month, with a single action. Zapier counts 100 tasks, inside the Professional quota. Make counts 21,600 checks and 100 actions, or 21,700 credits: Core’s 40,000 tier. The allowed intervals differ too: 15 minutes on both free plans, 1 minute on Make’s paid plans, 2 minutes on Zapier Professional and 1 minute on Zapier Team.

What else uses units

• Bundles on Make. An action module uses 1 credit per bundle it processes: if a step returns 20 rows, the next module uses 20 credits.
• Free steps. On Zapier, Filter, Paths, Formatter, Delay and Looping steps use no tasks. On Make, routers, filters and error handlers use no credits.
• Code. “Make Code” uses 2 credits per second of execution and is not included in the free plan. Code by Zapier counts as 1 task per run, plus 1 task for each 30-second block beyond the included run time.
• Going over. On Make, scenarios stop until credits are added; an extra credit costs the plan’s credit price plus 25%. On Zapier, paid plans switch to pay-per-task billing up to 3 times the quota, then Zaps are paused. The vendor’s pages contradict each other on the rate for those extra tasks: the exact rate is shown in the account’s billing settings.

The guide to tasks, credits, operations and executions covers both rules in detail, with their sources.

Where your data lives

On Make, each organization picks a data center in the US or the EU when it is created and cannot change it afterwards. The vendor adds that an EU data zone does not guarantee that all AI processing stays in the EU: Maia and Make AI Web Search are processed in the United States.

For Zapier, the answer recorded is: AWS servers in the United States; no EU-only storage option ("Zapier does not support this option") source. The vendor states that it is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. If you handle data for European customers and need it stored in the EU, that is the clearest gap between the two.

AI, agents and MCP

• Make: “Make AI Agents,” in beta, is included on every plan. An agent uses 1 credit per operation, plus token-based credits when it goes through Make’s AI provider; with a connection to your own provider (paid plans), you pay that provider for tokens.
• Zapier: an AI by Zapier step, reserved for paid plans, counts as 1, 3 or 5 tasks depending on the model tier. Zapier Agents is a separate add-on, counted in “activities” rather than tasks.
• MCP: both include it on every plan. Zapier counts 2 tasks per successful tool call; how Make counts MCP calls was not recorded.

What does not separate them, and what is left

• Self-hosting: neither. If that matters, see n8n vs Make and n8n vs Zapier.
• A free plan: both have one, but they are not alike. Make gives 1,000 credits and 2 active scenarios, with routers and filters. Zapier gives 100 tasks and an unlimited number of Zaps, limited to two steps, with no filters or webhooks.
• Users: Make’s free plan does not cap them; Zapier’s Free and Professional plans have 1 user, and Team includes 25.
• The catalog: Zapier lists more than 9,000 apps, with “premium” apps reserved for paid plans. On Make, the pages contradict each other: “3,500+ apps” on the plan cards, “more than 1,000” in the FAQ. Check that your apps are there before doing any math.
• A free trial: every new Zapier account gets a 14-day free trial of Professional with no credit card; Make’s pricing page mentions no trial of its paid plans, only the free plan.

For other options, see the Zapier alternatives and the Make pricing and Zapier pricing pages.