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Side-by-side comparison · Automation & Workflows

Zapier vs Make vs Manus

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Zapier

4.2

From From $19.99/mo

Best overall

Make

4.3

From From $9/mo

Manus

3.7

From From $20/mo

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Zapier

4.2
Easiest to use

Pick it if: Anyone who's sick of copying data between apps and has never written a line of code.

Make

4.3
Best overallBest value

Pick it if: Marketers and operators who've outgrown simple automations and want to see what their workflows are doing.

Manus

3.7

Pick it if: People who want to hand off whole tasks and don't want to build the automation themselves.

Overview

AttributeZapierMakeManus
In one lineWhen something happens in one app, Zapier does the next step in another. No code needed.Draw automations as a flowchart, with branches and loops, for less than Zapier charges.A general-purpose agent that takes a goal and works through it in its own browser.
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemiumFreemium
Starting priceFrom $19.99/moFrom $9/moFrom $20/mo
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeZapierMakeManus
Overall rating4.24.3Winner3.7
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
5.0
4.0
4.5
FeaturesHow much it can do, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.5
4.5
4.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.0
4.5
3.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
3.0
4.5
3.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.5
4.0
3.5

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeZapierMakeManus
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Mobile app–– Yes
Desktop app No No Yes
Browser extension Yes Yes Yes
API access Yes 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 No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes Yes Yes
Understands images–– Yes
Makes images No No Yes
Makes video No No Yes
Writes code Yes No Yes
Runs agents or automations Yes Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style No No No
Works in many languages– Yes Yes
Capabilities score9/ 179/ 1715/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeZapierMakeManus
Plans

Free

Free

Testing one or two simple automations.

Free

Free

Learning the canvas and running a couple of light scenarios.

Free

Free

Quick questions and seeing what it can do.

ProfessionalOur pick

From $19.99/mo billed yearly, or $29.99/mo

One person running real automations for a business.

CoreOur pick

From $9/mo billed yearly

One person automating a small business.

ProOur pick

From $20/mo, less with yearly billing

Anyone who wants to hand off real research and build jobs.

Team

From $69/mo billed yearly, or $103.50/mo

A team that shares Zaps and app connections.

Pro

From $16/mo billed yearly

Anyone whose automations have become business-critical.

Pro (higher tier)

From $40/mo, less with yearly billing

Heavier users and anyone publishing websites with it.

Enterprise

Custom

Large companies with security and compliance needs.

Teams

From $29/mo billed yearly

A team sharing scenarios and connections.

Team

From $20/seat/mo

Teams that want shared credits and admin controls.

Enterprise

Custom

Companies that need SSO, audit logs and an uptime guarantee.

Enterprise

Custom

Large organisations.

Which plan to pickStart on Free to confirm your apps connect, then move to Professional on yearly billing. Buy the smallest task tier and let Zapier tell you when you are close to the limit, because it is easy to overestimate how many tasks you need.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.Try the Free plan for a week to get a feel for how many credits a real task uses, then move to the $20 Pro tier. Only go higher if you run out most months or you want it to publish websites for you.

Key features

AttributeZapierMakeManus
Standout features
  • 8,000+ app connections
  • Copilot builder
  • Multi-step Zaps with paths
  • Tables, Interfaces and Chatbots
  • Agents
  • Zap history and replay
  • Visual canvas
  • Routers, filters and iterators
  • Run history you can replay
  • AI Agents
  • Make Grid
  • HTTP and webhooks
  • Autonomous agent
  • Wide Research
  • Slides, websites and docs
  • Scheduled automations
  • My Browser
  • Mobile and desktop apps

Pros and cons

AttributeZapierMakeManus
Pros
  • Fastest to learn of any automation tool here
  • Connects to far more apps than anyone else
  • Copilot builds a working Zap from a plain-English description
  • Reliable, with clear run history when something fails
  • Tables, Interfaces and Chatbots cover simple internal tools
  • Much cheaper per step than Zapier
  • Branching, loops and filters are built in, not bolted on
  • Run history shows exactly what happened at every step
  • Routers and error handlers do not use credits
  • Generous free plan for learning
  • You describe the result, not the steps
  • Strong at research, reports and first-draft decks
  • Scheduled tasks turn it into a hands-off research assistant
  • Apps for phone, desktop and browser
Cons
  • Per-task pricing gets expensive fast, and every step counts as a task
  • The free plan is too limited to run anything real
  • Zaps run in a straight line, so branching and loops are clumsier than in Make
  • Each extra product (Tables, Interfaces, Chatbots) has its own limits and costs
  • Steeper learning curve than Zapier, especially around data mapping
  • Credit usage is hard to predict until you have run a scenario for a while
  • Fewer apps than Zapier, and some apps have thin coverage
  • Pricing page is hard to read, and the headline prices assume yearly billing
  • Credits are hard to predict and one big task can drain the monthly allowance
  • Output needs checking, and it can waste credits on dead ends
  • Not suited to automations that must run the same way every time
  • Few direct app connections compared with the automation tools
  • Pricing page does not load without JavaScript, so plan details are hard to confirm

Who each one is for

AttributeZapierMakeManus
Best for
  • Sending form submissions to spreadsheets
  • New lead alerts in Slack or email
  • Syncing contacts between tools
  • Connecting niche apps nobody else supports
  • Multi-step marketing workflows
  • Branching logic and filters
  • Processing batches of records
  • Automation on a budget
  • Multi-step research with a report at the end
  • Lead lists and data gathering
  • Scheduled recurring tasks
  • Quick prototypes and slide decks
You'll find it used by
  • Marketers
  • Solo founders
  • Ops teams
  • Agencies
  • Marketers
  • Ops teams
  • Agencies
  • Consultants
  • Founders
  • Marketers
  • Researchers
  • Consultants

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability. The "Visit" buttons may use affiliate links, which never affect a score.

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