You’re up to your neck in repetitive tasks. Every time the same actions: data from here to there, sending notifications, moving files. Make (formerly Integromat) wants to help you get rid of that with a visual platform where you connect apps together without writing code.
Who’s behind Make?
Make is a European company that was founded in 2012 under the name Integromat. In 2021 came the rebranding to Make, with the goal of becoming more accessible to a broader audience. The platform focuses on no-code automation with a strong emphasis on visual workflow building. Where many competitors offer linear automations, Make chooses a flexible approach where you can build complex branches and parallel processes.
The company grew rapidly in recent years, especially among users who became frustrated with Zapier’s pricing. The visual ‘scenario builder’ became Make’s trademark – you literally see how data flows through your workflow. Thousands of companies and freelancers now work with the platform for everything from simple notifications to complex data synchronizations.
Who is Make for?
Make is ideal for freelancers and SMBs who want more than simple “if this, then that” automations. If you have workflows with multiple branches, conditions, and data transformations, that’s where Make really shines. The visual interface makes complex logic clear and organized.
The platform suits people who are willing to invest some time in learning the tool. You don’t need to be a programmer, but some technical affinity helps. Especially when working with JSON data or arrays, you’ll notice that some logical thinking ability isn’t a luxury.
Not suitable for those who want to automate simple linear tasks without a learning curve. You’d probably finish faster with Zapier in that case. Also for large enterprises without a custom plan, Make can be limiting – although they do offer enterprise solutions, you need to contact them for that.
What can Make do?
Make offers an extensive set of capabilities that go far beyond basic automation. The power lies in the combination of features:
- Visual workflow builder – You build scenarios by dragging and connecting modules. You literally see every step on your screen, including the data flowing through it. I use this daily and it makes debugging much easier than with tools where everything is in a list.
- 1600+ integrations – From Google Workspace to Slack, from Shopify to custom APIs. Most popular tools are included, and if something is missing you can always use webhooks or HTTP requests. In practice, you almost always find what you need.
- Routers and filters – This is where it gets interesting. You can split your workflow into multiple paths based on conditions. For example: new lead comes in, router checks the value, high-value leads go to CRM and get direct notification, low-value leads only go to spreadsheet.
- Error handling – You can set what should happen if a step fails. Retry, alternative route, notification, or just continue. This prevents your entire workflow from crashing due to one error.
- Webhooks – Both incoming and outgoing. You can have Make listen to events from other apps, or push data to external systems. Useful for real-time synchronization.
- Scheduling – Set when your scenarios run. Every 15 minutes, daily at 9 AM, or only on weekdays. On the free plan you’re limited to a minimum 15-minute interval, which is too slow for some use cases.
- Data transformation – Built-in functions to manipulate data: format text, convert dates, filter arrays, parse JSON. You can perform quite complex operations without external tools.
- Datastore – Make has its own databases where you can store data temporarily or permanently. Useful as a staging area or for maintaining states between runs.
- Unlimited steps – While some tools limit you in the number of actions per workflow, with Make you can keep adding modules endlessly. Just watch your operations, as every step counts toward your limit.
What does Make cost?
Make has a free plan that’s actually quite generous for an automation tool. You get 1,000 operations per month, 2 active scenarios, and a minimum interval of 15 minutes. An operation is every action a module performs – so retrieving data, sending, transforming, everything counts. For small projects or learning the tool, this is fine.
The Core plan costs $1.59 per month (or $1 with annual billing). You get 10,000 operations, unlimited scenarios, and an interval starting from 1 minute. This is often the first paid plan people upgrade to when they get serious about using Make.
Pro costs $1.82 per month, or $1 if you pay annually. This gives you 10,000 operations, but also access to premium apps and features like full-text search in execution history. For those working professionally with automation, this is often the sweet spot.
Teams is the most expensive standard plan: $1.12 per month or $1 with annual billing. Also 10,000 operations here, but now with team features like shared scenarios and collaborative management. Useful when you’re working on workflows with multiple people.
Important to know: you can purchase additional operations with any plan if you reach your limit. The price per additional 10,000 operations varies by plan. In my experience, operations are consumed faster than you think, especially when working with loops or polling. A scenario that runs every 15 minutes and has 5 steps already consumes 480 operations per day.
There is no separate trial period for paid plans. The free plan serves as a permanent trial version with which you can test almost everything. Only some premium integrations and features are reserved for paid plans.
What should you watch out for?
The learning curve is real. Where Zapier guides you through simple steps, Make more or less throws you in the deep end. The visual interface is great once you understand it, but the first time you need to set up a router or map arrays can be quite frustrating. I also spent hours struggling with data mapping before it clicked.
Operations add up surprisingly fast. Especially if you have scenarios with loops or polling. A simple scenario that checks for new items every fifteen minutes quickly consumes hundreds of operations per day – even if there’s nothing new. You need to think carefully about your intervals and filters to stay within your limit.
Data mapping of complex structures is a thing. If you have to work with nested arrays or JSON, it quickly becomes a puzzle. Make does show preview data, but with complex API responses you sometimes really need to figure out which field is where. A bit of technical insight helps enormously.
Support is inconsistent. On the cheaper plans it can take days before you get an answer. The community is fortunately active and there are many tutorials, but if you have an urgent problem, that can be frustrating. I usually solve problems myself through the community forum or YouTube tutorials.
There is no mobile app for managing scenarios. You can receive notifications through the mobile app, but building or modifying workflows must be done from desktop. For those who work a lot on the go, that’s a shortcoming.
Some users complain about difficulties when canceling subscriptions. The process wouldn’t always be equally clear, and support doesn’t always respond quickly to cancellation requests. Something to keep in mind if you’re considering a paid plan.
Make alternatives
Make is not the only player in automation land. Depending on your needs, these alternatives might be a better fit:
- Zapier – Simpler interface but significantly more expensive at scale. Choose this if you want to automate simple tasks without a learning curve and budget isn’t an issue. The onboarding is smoother and you’ll be productive faster for basic automations.
- n8n – Open source and self-hosted alternative. Choose this if you want complete control over data and hosting, and are technical enough to manage a server yourself. Cheaper in the long run, but requires more technical knowledge.
- Power Automate – Microsoft’s automation tool with deep integration into the Microsoft ecosystem. Choose this if you’re heavily invested in Office 365, Teams and Azure. The integration with Microsoft products is naturally better than with Make, but for other tools Make is often more comprehensive.
Frequently asked questions
Here I answer the most frequently asked questions about Make:
What is an operation?
An operation is every action that a module in your scenario performs. Retrieving data from Google Sheets? That’s one operation. Sending an email? Another operation. A router that sends data to three different paths? That counts as one operation for the router itself, plus all actions in each path. It adds up quickly, especially in complex workflows.
Where is my data stored?
When registering, you can choose between datacenters in the EU (Ireland) or the United States. This choice determines where your scenarios and temporary data are stored. Note: you cannot change this later without creating a new account.
Is there a free trial for paid plans?
No, Make does not have a separate trial for paid plans. The free plan serves as a permanent trial version that allows you to test most features. You are limited to 1,000 operations per month and 2 active scenarios, but that’s enough for getting familiar with the tool.
Can I use Make without programming knowledge?
Yes, but some logical thinking ability helps. You don’t need to write code, but for more complex workflows you do need to understand how data flows and how conditions work. If you’ve ever worked with Excel formulas or understand basic if-then logic, you’ll get quite far.
What happens if my scenario fails?
Make offers various error handling options. You can set a scenario to automatically retry, take an alternative route, or simply stop with a notification. In the execution history you can see exactly where and why something went wrong, including the data at that moment. Useful for debugging.
Conclusion
Make is a powerful automation tool that excels in complex workflows and visual clarity. The price-quality ratio is excellent, especially compared to Zapier. I’ve been using it myself for years and am satisfied with the capabilities, despite the learning curve.
Choose Make if you’re willing to invest time in learning the tool and have workflows that require more than simple linear automations. The visual interface and flexibility make it worthwhile. Stick with Zapier if you mainly have simple tasks and don’t want to deal with a learning curve. For those who want to get serious about automation without paying top dollar, Make is a strong choice.
