Total Cost of Ownership: Make.com vs Zapier Over 3 Years

Choosing between Make.com and Zapier is not just a feature comparison. It is a financial decision that compounds over time. The platform you select today will determine your automation costs for years to come, and the difference between the two can range from modest to staggering depending on your usage patterns and growth trajectory.

We have built hundreds of automation workflows on both platforms and have watched businesses outgrow their initial pricing tiers in ways they did not anticipate. This article breaks down the real total cost of ownership for each platform across three realistic business scenarios, going beyond the sticker price to include hidden costs that most comparisons ignore.

Understanding the Pricing Models

Make.com and Zapier use fundamentally different pricing units, which makes direct comparison tricky. Zapier charges based on tasks, where each action in a workflow counts as a task. Make.com charges based on operations, which work similarly but tend to be more granular and efficient in how they count usage.

Here is the critical difference: a single Zapier Zap that triggers on a new order, looks up customer data, creates an invoice, and sends a notification uses 4 tasks. A comparable Make.com scenario performing the same actions might use 4 operations, but Make.com operations are significantly cheaper per unit. At the Professional tier, Zapier tasks cost roughly $0.012 each, while Make.com operations cost approximately $0.0034 each.

That three-to-one cost ratio per operation becomes the foundation of the TCO difference. But pricing is just one dimension. Let us build out the full picture.

Scenario 1: Small Business (500 Automation Runs per Month)

A small e-commerce business running basic automations: order notifications, inventory updates, and weekly reporting. Starting at 500 runs per month with 20 percent annual growth.

• Zapier (Professional plan): $49/month in Year 1 (750 tasks included). By Year 3, growth pushes usage to 860 runs/month, still within tier but approaching limits. 3-year platform cost: $1,764.
• Make.com (Pro plan): $16/month in Year 1 (10,000 operations included). Usage stays well within limits through Year 3. 3-year platform cost: $576.
• 3-year savings with Make.com: $1,188

At the small business level, the difference is meaningful but not transformative. Both platforms are affordable. The real gap emerges as usage scales.

Scenario 2: Mid-Market Business (5,000 Runs per Month)

A growing wholesale distributor with automated order processing, inventory sync across three warehouses, customer communications, and financial reconciliation. Starting at 5,000 runs per month with 30 percent annual growth.

• Zapier (Professional plan): $99/month for 2,000 tasks is insufficient. Need Team plan at $299/month (50,000 tasks). By Year 2, growth requires upgrading to handle increased volume. By Year 3 at 8,450 runs/month, still within Team plan but with multi-step zaps consuming 3 to 5 tasks each, actual task consumption is 15,000 to 25,000/month. 3-year platform cost: $10,764.
• Make.com (Pro plan): $16/month handles the base volume easily with 10,000 operations. By mid-Year 2, upgrade to Teams plan at $34/month for 10,000 operations with more complex scenarios. 3-year platform cost: $936.
• 3-year savings with Make.com: $9,828

Three-year total cost of ownership comparison across three business size scenarios, showing how the gap widens at scale.

Scenario 3: Enterprise Operations (20,000 Runs per Month)

A multi-channel e-commerce operation with complex order routing, real-time inventory sync, automated invoicing, CRM updates, and reporting dashboards. Starting at 20,000 runs per month with 25 percent annual growth.

• Zapier (Company plan): Starts at approximately $599/month. Multi-step workflows with 4 to 6 actions each mean actual task consumption of 80,000 to 120,000 tasks/month. By Year 3, volume growth requires higher-tier pricing. 3-year platform cost: approximately $38,000.
• Make.com (Teams/Enterprise plan): Starts at $34/month to $99/month depending on operations needed. Make.com's operation-based pricing handles complexity far more efficiently. 3-year platform cost: approximately $3,500.
• 3-year savings with Make.com: approximately $34,500

Hidden Costs Most Comparisons Miss

Platform subscription is only one component of TCO. Several hidden costs affect both platforms differently:

Development and maintenance time. Make.com's visual scenario builder enables more complex logic within a single scenario, reducing the number of separate automations to maintain. Zapier's linear Zap structure often requires multiple Zaps to achieve what a single Make.com scenario handles. More Zaps mean more maintenance overhead, estimated at 15 to 25 percent higher ongoing management time for Zapier at equivalent complexity levels.

Error handling and recovery. Make.com includes built-in error handling with retry logic, break functions, and error routes at no additional cost. Zapier's error handling is more limited, often requiring additional Zaps or third-party tools to achieve robust error management. We estimate this adds 10 to 20 percent to the effective cost of Zapier implementations for mission-critical workflows.

Premium app connectors. Both platforms charge for premium integrations, but the pricing structures differ. Zapier requires higher-tier plans for premium apps, while Make.com generally includes more integrations across all plan levels. For businesses using Salesforce, NetSuite, or other enterprise tools, this difference can add $100 to $300 per month to Zapier costs.

When you factor in development time, maintenance overhead, error handling, and premium connector costs, the total cost gap between Make.com and Zapier typically widens by an additional 20 to 40 percent beyond platform subscription alone.

When Zapier Still Makes Sense

Despite the cost advantage, Make.com is not the right choice for every situation. Zapier has a gentler learning curve, making it better suited for non-technical teams who need to build simple automations without developer support. If your automation needs are basic, your volume is low, and you value ease of use over cost efficiency, Zapier's premium can be justified.

Zapier also has a larger app ecosystem, with over 6,000 integrations compared to Make.com's 1,800 plus. If you depend on niche apps that only Zapier supports, switching is not practical regardless of cost savings.

Making the Right Choice for Your Business

The decision between Make.com and Zapier should be driven by three factors: your current automation volume, your expected growth rate, and the complexity of your workflows. For simple, low-volume use cases, either platform works fine and the cost difference is minimal. For complex, high-volume operations, Make.com's cost advantage is substantial and grows over time.

If you are currently on Zapier and spending more than $200 per month, it is worth modeling your usage on Make.com to see the potential savings. And if you are just starting your automation journey, choosing Make.com from the beginning avoids a costly migration later. Read our detailed feature-by-feature comparison of Make.com vs Zapier.