Zapier and Make for SMEs: glue with a meter running

At some point someone in your business got tired of typing form data into the CRM by hand and built a Zap. That was a good decision. Today there may be twenty Zaps or scenarios, and one person knows how they fit together.

This article belongs to our series of comparisons: the same six questions for every tool. We read the prices and features on Zapier’s and Make’s own pages on 14 October 2026; the sources are listed at the end.

What you use today

Zapier says it connects more than 9,000 apps. It counts in tasks: every successful action step costs one. Pro, for one person, starts at USD 19.99 a month; a team needs the Team plan, with 2,000 tasks for USD 69.– a month billed yearly and USD 103.50 billed monthly.

Make connects more than 3,500 apps and counts in credits: most modules cost one, and a single run can use anything from two to thousands. The Teams plan with 10,000 credits costs USD 29.– a month billed yearly and USD 34.12 billed monthly, for any number of people. Both give prices in USD excluding tax.

Where Zapier and Make are strong

For clearly defined workflows (A workflow specifies what information goes in, what happens to it and who checks the result.) between cloud (The cloud means computers in a provider’s data centres on which programs run and data is kept, instead of on your own device.) services, both are excellent. A new form entry, a new contact in the CRM, a message in the team chat, a row in the spreadsheet: that takes an hour to build and then runs for years. Filters, branches, schedules and webhooks are included, and both offer AI steps and AI agents (An AI agent carries out several steps of a defined task. A person decides before it sends anything outside your firm or spends money.).

Both now speak MCP (MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard for connecting an AI harness to other software and data sources.), the open protocol through which AI uses tools. With Zapier MCP, Claude (An AI assistant is a chat program such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Perplexity: you write in plain language, and a language model answers.) or ChatGPT can trigger actions in your apps, for example; each call costs two tasks. Make offers scenarios as tools for AI, and both can call other MCP servers (A server is a computer that runs all the time and provides services to other devices, such as email, files or a website.) in turn, in beta.

On privacy, Make scores with a choice between a data centre in the EU and one in the US. Both have SOC 2 reports and data processing agreements (A data processing agreement (DPA) sets out how a service provider handles personal data it receives on your behalf.).

Where Zapier and Make stop

• The meter keeps running. Every step costs, and AI steps on Zapier up to five tasks. As your volume grows you move up a tier; extra tasks on Zapier carry a surcharge, and on Make scenarios stop when the credits run out.
• Cloud to cloud only. Zapier says it runs only in the cloud. Make offers an agent for local networks only on Enterprise. The MS Access database in the office or files on the server are hard to reach this way.
• Rules, not judgement. A Zap follows the pattern someone built. A delivery note with an unusual layout, or an email that wants two things, does not fit, and the work lands back with a person.
• The knowledge sits in the account. The workflow lives as a diagram with the provider. You can export Zaps on Zapier from the Team plan; Make exports scenarios as blueprints, without the connections. Whoever built the Zap is often its only documentation.
• The data lives with the service. Zapier stores data in the US and, it says, offers no European option. On Make you choose the EU or the US once, when the account is opened; it cannot be changed later.

Zapier or Make connected to our platform

The first way throws nothing away. Your Zaps and scenarios keep running, and the platform takes over what they do not do well. The connection works both ways through MCP: a Zap calls the platform when a document has to be read or a decision prepared. And the platform’s AI agents use Zapier MCP or your Make scenarios as tools when an app is only connected there.

That brings judgement into the workflow. The document processing reads the delivery note with the unusual layout; if it cannot read a document reliably, the workflow flags it for a person instead of guessing. The platform prepares a message to the outside or a payment and sends it only once a person has decided. Every step is in the log (A log records what a program or an AI agent did and when, so that afterwards you can trace who triggered what and what happened.), with the state before and after.

For five people: Operator System (Operator System is our package for teams at CHF 3'500.– to 5'000.–: the shared base with workflows for the team and connected systems.) as the shared base, CHF 3'500.– to 5'000.– once, with six months of Business seat (The Business seat is one person’s access to our platform (open alpha); Pro Setup includes three months, and with Operator System it is six per person.) per person; then CHF 199.– per person per month, or CHF 169.– billed yearly. You keep paying for Zapier or Make, probably for fewer steps.

The whole system

In the whole system, your workflows are not diagrams in someone else’s account but workflows with instructions as files: in one person’s vault (The vault is a folder of your working files on your computer; we create it from the vault template.) or in the shared project repository (A Git repository is storage for files that records every change with its date and author; GitHub is a well-known service for it.), with versions and someone who accepts changes. A workflow records what goes in, which steps follow and where a person checks.

Workflows start with a short command (A command starts a defined workflow. In Pro Setup, we set up three to five commands for your work.), with an incoming email or on a schedule. They run on your device, on a computer in your office, on our platform or with a cloud provider, as the quote sets out. A workflow running on a computer in the office also reaches the Access database and the folder on the server. If a run breaks off, the platform resumes it without sending a message twice. We have already connected Bexio, Abacus and a transport management system, for example.

The platform runs on our own infrastructure in Switzerland and is in open alpha (Open alpha means the platform is at an early stage: we use it ourselves, and it changes all the time.); we run our own company on it. For five people: Operator System plus one Pro Setup (Pro Setup is our recommended package at CHF 1'490.–: vault, workflows with AI agents, first integrations, an introduction session and three months of Business seat.) per person, CHF 10'950.– to 12'450.– once, with 60 days of follow-up support (Follow-up support means that questions and adjustments by email and phone are included for 30 days (Pro Setup) or 60 days (Operator System) after handover.), then the Business seats and model usage (Model usage means accessing an AI provider’s language model. The cost is not included in the setup price.). Zapier or Make can stay where an app is only connected there.

Our verdict

For simple cloud-to-cloud routes, nothing is cheaper. If your workflows consist of clear rules and someone enjoys maintaining them, stay with Zapier or Make. Not every repetition needs AI, and a Zap for USD 69.– a month is nothing to be ashamed of.

But once documents have to be read, exceptions judged or approvals obtained, the Zap becomes a building site. Then the first way is the smallest step: your Zaps stay, and the platform supplies the judgement. The whole system pays off when workflows should also reach local software, when you do not want to pay per step, and when the knowledge of your workflows should belong to you rather than to an account.

Before you decide, it is worth looking at the workflow itself: ‘Where does the time go?’ shows how to record it.