Make review

Integromat, renamed, and still the one that shows the data moving

Make, which you may remember as Integromat, is the hosted automation platform that competes with Zapier on being visual. Where Zapier lists steps top to bottom, Make lays your automation out as a canvas of modules with data flowing along the connections between them. For anything with branches, routers, or loops, that view makes the logic much easier to follow.

It is also the best free option here for anyone who will not run their own server. The free tier is a real free-forever plan, not a trial, and it allows multi-step scenarios rather than capping you at two steps the way Zapier's free plan does.

The connector catalogue is deep, close to Zapier's, and the builder handles complex data transformations well. This is a serious tool with a friendly free door.

Worth it if you will not run a server

• Non-technical builders who want a strong free hosted tier and no server to manage
• Visual thinkers who want to see data move through a flow rather than read a step list
• Anyone building branching, multi-path scenarios that a linear builder makes awkward

1,000 operations free, then priced from $9 a month

As of July 2026, the free plan gives you 1,000 operations per month across 2 active scenarios, the full app catalogue, and the visual builder. The binding limits are that operation count, the two-scenario cap, and a 15-minute minimum interval between scheduled runs.

The catch lives in the word operation. Make counts one operation per module call, so a scenario with several steps consumes several operations each time it fires. A 1,000-operation budget is generous for simple two-module scenarios and tight for anything elaborate, so estimate against your real scenario, not the headline.

The operation meter, and the two smaller limits behind it

Multi-step scenarios eat operations quickly, and the jump to paid, while cheap at $9 a month for Core, comes sooner than the 1,000 number implies. This is the thing people underestimate.

There is no self-hosting. Unlike n8n or Activepieces, you cannot take Make onto your own infrastructure, so your data and your future pricing sit with the vendor.

The 15-minute minimum interval on the free plan also means near-real-time automations need a paid tier, where the interval drops to one minute.

The best free automation you can use without a server

If you want the best free automation tool that requires zero server work, Make is it. The visual canvas is genuinely nicer for complex logic, the free tier is real, and it beats Zapier's free plan on headroom. Watch the operation meter, since that is what quietly moves you onto a paid plan, and if you would rather own your stack for nothing, self-hosted n8n or Activepieces is the alternative.