Zapier vs Make in 2026: Which Automation Tool Is Worth the Credits?
TL;DR The Zapier vs Make debate is won by Make on the spreadsheet: Core is $9/mo annual for 10,000 credits against Zapier Professional's $19.99/mo annual for 750 tasks — 13× the billable units for less than half the price. Zapier wins everything around the spreadsheet: 9,000+ apps, the gentlest builder, failure-free billing, and a team plan with SSO at $69/mo. In our five-workflow build, Zapier…
In the 2026 battle between Zapier and Make, Make emerges as the clear winner for spreadsheet-based automation. At just $9 per month for 10,000 credits, Make offers nearly 13 times the billable units for less than half the cost of Zapier's entry-level Professional plan at $19.99 per month for 750 tasks. While Zapier leads in the number of apps (9,000+) and has a gentler builder, failure-free billing, and a team plan with SSO at $69 per month, Make's strengths lie in its spreadsheet capabilities, lower cost, and a more flexible billing model.
The key difference between the two platforms is their unit billing structure. Zapier charges for successful action steps, while Make charges for every module action, including polls. This means that Make charges significantly less per unit — $0.0009 per action compared to Zapier's $0.027. Additionally, Zapier allows overdraws at 1.25 times the base rate on annual billing, while Make stops scenarios when credits run out until a top-up is purchased.
In a test setup of five workflows, Make proved to be 18% cheaper than Zapier at the tested volume, with 10,000 credits costing just $9 compared to Zapier's $49. Make also had fewer failures (2.1% vs 1.4%) and faster build times (34 minutes vs 31 minutes) for simple linear workflows. However, Make's branching capabilities, such as routers, iterators, and aggregators, made it more powerful for complex scenarios, though they required more time to set up.
When it comes to AI features, Zapier charges for AI steps based on the task count, while Make includes AI agents, the toolkit, and the MCP server in its paid plans, with no additional costs. Zapier's AI features can significantly increase costs for agent-heavy scenarios, while Make offers a more integrated AI experience at a lower price point.
In conclusion, for spreadsheet-based automation tasks, Make provides superior value with its lower cost, efficient billing structure, and robust branching capabilities. While Zapier excels in app breadth and speed to first success, Make's strengths make it the better choice for businesses looking to optimize their automation costs and improve workflow efficiency.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
