Side-by-side comparison · Automation & Workflows
Activepieces vs Make vs Parabola
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Small teams who like how Zapier works but want to own their automations or avoid per-task pricing.
Pick it if: Marketers and operators who've outgrown simple automations and want to see what their workflows are doing.
Pick it if: Operations and finance teams at ecommerce and logistics businesses who live in spreadsheets.
Overview
| Attribute | Activepieces | Make | Parabola |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | A Zapier-style automation builder that's open source and charges per run, not per step. | Draw automations as a flowchart, with branches and loops, for less than Zapier charges. | Automates messy operations data jobs like reconciliations, reports and invoice audits. |
| Pricing model | Open source | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $20/mo flat | From $9/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Activepieces | Make | Parabola |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0 | 4.3Winner | 4.0 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Activepieces | Make | Parabola |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | – | – |
| Desktop app | No | No | – |
| Browser extension | No | Yes | – |
| API access | Yes | Yes | – |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | Yes | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | – | – | – |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | Yes | No | – |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | No | – |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | – |
| Capabilities score | 10/ 17 | 9/ 17 | 6/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Activepieces | Make | Parabola |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Small teams getting started, or anyone who will self-host. | Free Free Learning the canvas and running a couple of light scenarios. | BasicOur pick Free One person automating their own reports. |
PlusOur pick $20/mo flat A small business running automations every day. | CoreOur pick From $9/mo billed yearly One person automating a small business. | Business Custom Operations and finance teams. | |
Team $200/mo flat A larger team that needs SSO and roles. | Pro From $16/mo billed yearly Anyone whose automations have become business-critical. | ||
Ultimate Custom Companies with heavy volume or strict security needs. | Teams From $29/mo billed yearly A team sharing scenarios and connections. | ||
Enterprise Custom Companies that need SSO, audit logs and an uptime guarantee. | |||
| Which plan to pick | The Free plan is unusually generous, so start there. Move to Plus when you want monthly credits instead of a daily cap and the option to use your own AI keys. Self-host only if someone on the team is happy running a server. | Core is enough for most small businesses, and 10,000 credits goes a long way when routers and error handlers are free. Move to Pro if a failed run costs you money and you want priority execution and better logs. | Start on the free Basic plan to rebuild one report you do every week. If the team needs to share and govern Flows, ask for a Business proof of concept, which is free if it doesn't prove value. |
Key features
| Attribute | Activepieces | Make | Parabola |
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Pros and cons
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Activepieces | Make | Parabola |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Activepieces, Make or Parabola?
Make scores highest overall in our ratings (Activepieces 4.0/5, Make 4.3/5 and Parabola 4.0/5). Activepieces is best for zapier-style automations on a budget and Giving AI assistants access to your apps. Make is best for multi-step marketing workflows and branching logic and filters. Parabola is best for inventory and order reconciliation and shipping and parcel invoice audits.
Which is cheaper, Activepieces, Make or Parabola?
Activepieces: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo flat. Make: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $9/mo. Parabola: It's free to use.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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