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Last Updated: October 8, 2026
Make review: what it is
This Make review is for the small business owner who spends hours moving information between apps, like copying form entries into a spreadsheet, sending the same follow-up emails, or updating a CRM by hand. Make is a visual automation platform. You connect apps on a drag-and-drop canvas, set the steps and conditions, and Make runs the workflow for you, including steps that use AI models. We researched and evaluated it as a strong pick for owners who want powerful automations they can see and adjust.
How Make saves you a hire
Much of what an operations assistant does is glue work: moving data from one system to another, sending routine notifications, and keeping records in sync. It is necessary, repetitive, and expensive to pay someone to do.
Make handles that glue work. The visual builder connects thousands of apps, with routers and filters for branching logic. Scheduling runs workflows as often as every minute on paid plans. AI features, including Make AI Agents, an AI Toolkit, and options to use your own AI model keys, add steps like summarizing, classifying, or drafting. Maia by Make can even build an automation from a description. This is business process automation at a small business price.
Best for
Make is best for small businesses, freelancers, and small teams with repetitive processes across several apps who want more control than simple one-step automations offer. It fits owners automating lead capture and follow-up, e-commerce stores syncing orders and inventory, and teams starting to add AI steps to their workflows.
Strengths
- Visual builder. See every step of an automation on one canvas, with routers and filters for logic.
- Thousands of apps. Connect popular tools like Slack, HubSpot, Canva, and OpenAI, plus HTTP and API calls.
- AI in the workflow. Make AI Agents, an AI Toolkit, and support for your own AI model keys.
- Build by describing. Maia by Make helps create automations through conversation.
- A free plan to start. Build and run simple automations at no cost.
- Room to grow. Faster scheduling, longer runs, team roles, and shared templates on paid plans.
What it costs
Make has a free plan with a monthly credit allowance and a limit on active automations, enough to build and run a couple of simple workflows. Paid plans are priced by credits, which are used as automations run, and step up from an entry plan with unlimited active automations and minute-level scheduling to plans with priority execution and team features. Some AI steps use more credits than standard steps. Yearly billing costs less than monthly. Plans change, so check Make’s website for current pricing and terms before you subscribe.*
Is Make right for you?
Here is the honest fit test. If you repeat the same steps across your apps every week and want them to run on their own, with room to add logic and AI, Make is built for exactly that. That describes most small businesses that run on more than a few apps.
The time to choose something else is if you only need a few straightforward app-to-app automations and want the simplest possible setup. A budget-focused tool like Pabbly Connect, covered in our Pabbly Connect review, is built for that job.
For everyone else, Make’s value is control. You can see every step, change it in minutes, and keep adding automations as your business grows.
The offer
Reader note, as of October 2026: Make offers a free plan with a monthly credit allowance.*
Bottom line
Make is the practical way for a small business to automate the glue work between its apps without hiring an operations assistant. It connects your tools visually, runs workflows on schedule, and adds AI steps where they help. Start on the free plan with the one task you repeat most, and build from there.
Compare it with the rest of the field in our roundup of the best AI automation tools, and build the rest of your stack with the full AI Tool Guide for solopreneurs and small business.
* Pricing, plans, limits, and terms are set by Make and can change at any time. Check Make’s website for current pricing and terms before you buy.
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