Both Zapier and Make charge by usage, but they count different things. Comparing sticker prices tells you little. What matters is how many units your automations use in a month.
This article explains the counting rules from each vendor's published pages, checked October 20, 2026, and works through examples. We do not state per-tier prices for the paid plans because the pages we read did not show them.
The counting rules
| Zapier | Make | |
|---|---|---|
| Unit | Task | Credit |
| What counts | An action your Zap successfully completes | Each action a scenario performs, mostly 1 credit |
| What is free | Filters, Paths and Formatter steps | Router and error-handler modules |
| Free plan | 100 tasks/month | 1,000 credits/month |
| Entry paid plan | From $19.99/month for 750 tasks | Paid prices not shown on the pricing page we read |
Zapier says AI steps are the exception: the default model uses one task per run, Advanced steps use three and Premium steps use five. Make says some AI features use more credits.
Worked example: form to CRM
A contact form sends a new lead to your CRM and a Slack channel, then adds a row to a spreadsheet. That is three actions per submission.
100 form submissions a month
Roughly 300 units in either tool.
- Zapier
- 300 tasks (3 actions x 100)
- Make
- About 300 credits, plus any trigger credits
- Free plan fits?
- Zapier no (100 tasks), Make yes (1,000 credits)
On Zapier, 300 tasks is above the free plan's 100 and within the 750-task Professional tier. On Make, 300 credits fits easily inside the free 1,000. We say "plus any trigger credits" because the Make page we read did not say whether the trigger module counts; check this in the product.
Worked example: with a filter
If a filter only lets qualified leads through, say 40 of the 100, the actions after the filter run 40 times.
100 submissions, 40 qualified
Filters save units, more so on Zapier.
- Zapier
- 120 tasks (3 x 40); filter is free
- Make
- About 120 credits plus the earlier modules
Zapier's filter does not count as a task. That is one reason to put filters early in a Zap.
Worked example: AI step
Adding one AI step on Zapier's default model costs one task per run. On Premium it costs five. For 100 runs that is 100 or 500 additional tasks, so an AI step can matter more than the other steps put together.
What to do before you pay
- List your automations and the actions in each.
- Multiply by how many times each runs in a month.
- Add AI steps separately.
- Compare the total with the free plans first.
- Check live pricing for the tier that covers your total.
Make also changed its extra-credit pricing in November 2025: extra credits now cost 25% more than plan-included credits. Buying a bigger plan is cheaper than paying for overage.
Which one should you choose?
If your total is under about 1,000 units a month and you can build in Make, its free plan may cover you. If your total is small and you prefer simplicity, Zapier's 100 tasks may be enough to start. For the broader comparison, see Zapier vs Make vs n8n.
How we compared
We used vendor-published definitions and examples of our own. These counts are illustrations, not measurements from running the tools.
Frequently asked questions
Do failed runs cost units?
Zapier says a task is an action that completes successfully. Make says each action a scenario performs uses credits; check how errors are billed in your plan.
Is there a cheaper option for high volume?
n8n counts executions rather than steps. See the three-way comparison.