Make (formerly Integromat) is the automation platform that power users switch to when Zapier gets too expensive or too limiting. It offers a visual workflow builder with genuine programming logic – loops, error handling, parallel branches, and complex data transformations – at roughly half the cost of Zapier for equivalent workloads.
For UK businesses that need more than simple two-step automations, Make fills the gap between no-code simplicity and full custom development. This review covers pricing, strengths, limitations, and whether Make is the right choice for your business in 2026.
- Make starts free with 1,000 operations/month and paid plans from $9/month (approximately £7) - roughly half the cost of Zapier for equivalent automation complexity and volume
- Complex multi-step workflows cost 5-10x less than Zapier for the same functionality - Make’s visual scenario builder handles loops, error handling, and data transformation natively
- Best for businesses that have outgrown simple 2-step automations and need conditional logic - routers, iterators, and HTTP modules give Make capabilities that Zapier only offers on enterprise plans
- 1,800+ app integrations is fewer than Zapier’s 8,000+ but covers all major UK business tools - Xero, HubSpot, Slack, Google Workspace, and Shopify are all supported with pre-built modules
- Self-hosting is not available, with all data routed through EU and US servers - for UK businesses with strict data residency needs, n8n’s self-hosted option is the alternative
Make Pricing for UK Businesses
Make uses an operations-based pricing model. Each action within a scenario counts as one operation – but unlike Zapier, Make counts more granularly, so a single webhook trigger plus five actions equals six operations, not one task. The trade-off is significantly lower per-operation costs.
| Plan | Monthly Price (USD) | Approx. GBP | Operations/Month | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | £0 | 1,000 | 2 active scenarios, 15-minute intervals |
| Core | $9 | £7 | 10,000 | Unlimited scenarios, 1-minute intervals |
| Pro | $16 | £13 | 10,000 | Custom variables, priority execution, full-text log search |
| Teams | $29/user | £23/user | 10,000/user | Team roles, shared scenarios, SSO |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Dedicated infrastructure, SLA, custom integrations |
All prices shown are for annual billing. Monthly billing costs approximately 30% more. Like Zapier, Make bills in US dollars, so UK businesses face currency fluctuation. Additional operations can be purchased in packs if you exceed your monthly limit.
Cost comparison: A business running 50 multi-step workflows processing 5,000 operations per month would pay approximately £13/month on Make’s Pro plan. The equivalent workload on Zapier’s Professional plan would cost approximately £55/month – over four times more.
What Make Does Well
Make’s strengths become apparent as soon as your automation needs move beyond simple if-this-then-that workflows.
Visual Workflow Builder
Make’s drag-and-drop canvas shows your entire workflow as a visual flowchart. You can see every branch, loop, and error handler at a glance. This makes it significantly easier to debug complex automations compared to Zapier’s linear step-by-step view. For workflows with five or more steps, Make’s visual approach is genuinely superior.
Powerful Data Transformation
Make includes built-in tools for parsing JSON, XML, and CSV data, manipulating arrays, performing mathematical calculations, and reformatting dates and text. These operations are free – they do not count towards your operations limit. In Zapier, equivalent transformations require paid Formatter steps or workarounds.
Error Handling
Make lets you define what happens when a step fails: retry, ignore, break the workflow, or route to an alternative path. You can set up error handlers at every stage of a scenario. This level of control is critical for business processes where a failed step should not silently stop the entire workflow – invoice processing and order management being obvious examples.
Cost Efficiency at Scale
Make’s pricing structure rewards high-volume automation. Operations are cheaper than Zapier’s tasks, and internal processing steps (data transformation, routing, filtering) do not count as operations. For businesses processing thousands of records monthly, Make typically costs 40-60% less than Zapier for equivalent functionality.
Where Make Falls Short
Make’s power comes with trade-offs that matter for some businesses.
Steeper Learning Curve
Make’s interface is more complex than Zapier’s. The visual canvas, while powerful, can be overwhelming for non-technical users. Expect 2-4 hours of learning time before building your first useful scenario, compared to 15-30 minutes with Zapier. For teams without any technical confidence, this barrier may not be worth the cost savings.
Smaller App Library
Make connects to over 3,000 apps – less than half of Zapier’s 8,000+. Most mainstream business tools (Xero, HubSpot, Shopify, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365) are well supported, but niche or UK-specific apps may not have native integrations. Make does offer HTTP modules for connecting to any API, but this requires technical knowledge.
No Self-Hosting Option
Like Zapier, Make is cloud-only. Data passes through Make’s servers (EU-based, which is better for UK GDPR compliance than Zapier’s US servers). However, businesses with strict data residency requirements or those in regulated industries may need n8n’s self-hosting option instead.
Execution Time Limits
Free and Core plans limit scenario execution to 5 minutes. Complex scenarios that process large datasets or wait for external API responses can hit this limit. The Pro plan extends this to 40 minutes, but it remains a constraint for very long-running processes.
Make vs Zapier: Detailed Comparison
This is the comparison most UK businesses need to make. Both platforms are excellent – the right choice depends on your team’s technical ability and the complexity of your workflows.
| Factor | Make | Zapier |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (paid) | ~£7/month | ~£16/month |
| Mid-tier cost (10K operations) | ~£13/month | ~£55/month |
| App integrations | 3,000+ | 8,000+ |
| Ease of use | Medium – visual but complex | Easy – guided step-by-step |
| Error handling | Comprehensive – per-step handlers | Basic – retry or stop |
| Data transformation | Built-in, free | Paid Formatter steps |
| Complex logic | Routers, iterators, aggregators | Basic paths |
| Data residency | EU servers | US servers |
| Best for | Power users, complex workflows | Non-technical teams, simple automations |
Bottom line: If your team can handle a 2-4 hour learning curve, Make will save you money on almost every automation. If nobody on your team is comfortable with slightly technical tools, Zapier’s simplicity is worth the premium.
Who Should Use Make?
Make is the right choice for UK businesses that match most of these criteria:
- At least one person comfortable with slightly technical tools (spreadsheet power users, for example)
- Workflows with more than three steps or conditional logic
- High-volume automations (1,000+ operations per month)
- Budget-conscious businesses that want Zapier-level functionality at lower cost
- EU data residency preferred for GDPR compliance
- Need for robust error handling and retry logic
If your needs are simpler (two-step automations between popular apps, non-technical team, fewer than 500 operations monthly), Zapier is the easier option. If you need full self-hosting, open-source flexibility, or developer-level control, n8n is worth evaluating.
Getting Started with Make
Start with the free plan (1,000 operations/month, 2 active scenarios) to test whether Make suits your workflow. The most effective first automations for UK businesses are:
- Multi-step lead processing: Website form → enrich with company data → score lead → create CRM record → notify sales team → add to email sequence
- Invoice automation: Email attachment received → parse PDF → extract line items → match to purchase order → push to Xero or QuickBooks
- Report generation: Pull data from CRM + accounting + marketing tools → transform and aggregate → generate formatted report → email to stakeholders weekly
- Inventory sync: Shopify sale → update stock in warehouse system → reorder if below threshold → notify operations team
Make’s free tier is generous enough to run 2-3 of these automations for a small business before needing to upgrade. For businesses processing higher volumes, the Core plan at approximately £7/month represents excellent value compared to alternatives.
Make pricing starts at £7/month with superior error handling and visual workflows. Detailed comparison vs Zapier for UK businesses.
