Power Automate vs Zapier vs Make vs bespoke: workflow automation compared
Easy Insight Team ·
If your business runs on Microsoft 365 and standard connectors cover the job, start with Power Automate. Zapier is the quickest way to join up popular cloud apps. Make suits branching, data-heavy workflows at a lower cost per step. Bespoke code wins when the process is core, high-volume or needs proper testing. Prices below are as of October 2026.
How do the four options compare at a glance?
The three platforms all do the same basic thing: when something happens in one system, do something in another, without writing code. Where they differ is in how they charge, which apps they connect to best, and how much control they give you when something goes wrong. Bespoke automation is the fourth option: a developer writes the integration as a small piece of software you own.
| Power Automate | Zapier | Make | Bespoke code | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charges by | User or flow, per month | Tasks (successful action steps) | Credits (almost every module action) | Build and maintenance time; small hosting cost |
| Entry price, as of Oct 2026 | Included with Microsoft 365 for standard connectors; Premium £11.50/user/month | Free for 100 tasks; Pro from $19.99/month for 750 tasks (annual) | Free for 1,000 credits; Core $9/month for 10,000 credits (annual) | No licence; a fixed build price |
| Best at | Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Teams, Dynamics, desktop apps | Popular SaaS apps, fast set-up | Branching logic, reshaping data, volume | Core processes, high volume, strict testing |
| Watch out for | Premium connectors and per-user licensing | Cost climbs fast with steps × runs | Every module step uses credits | Up-front cost; you need someone to maintain it |
Sources: Power Automate pricing (GBP, paid yearly, excluding VAT), Zapier pricing and Make pricing (both USD), all read on 21 October 2026. Zapier bills in local currency at the exchange rate on the payment date, so a sterling bill moves with the dollar.
What does Microsoft 365 already include?
More than many businesses realise, and less than some assume. According to Microsoft Learn's guide to Power Automate licences (updated 17 October 2026), Microsoft 365 licences carry "seeded" Power Automate rights: users can create and run cloud flows with standard connectors, up to 6,000 actions per user per day. Standard connectors cover most of the Microsoft estate, including SharePoint, Outlook, Teams and Excel Online.
Three things are not included:
- Premium connectors. Many line-of-business systems, such as SQL Server and Salesforce, sit behind premium connectors. Microsoft 365 rights do not cover them.
- Desktop automation (RPA). Driving an old desktop application by simulating clicks and keystrokes needs a Premium licence for attended runs, or a Process licence for unattended ones.
- Higher limits. Premium raises the daily limit to 40,000 actions per user; a Process licence gives one flow 250,000 actions a day.
As of October 2026, Power Automate Premium is £11.50 per user per month and Process is £115.30 per bot or flow per month, both paid yearly and excluding VAT. Microsoft Learn's licence comparison (updated 22 September 2026) sets out the rule that matters most: each person who builds or runs flows with premium connectors needs a Premium licence, unless the flow itself carries a Process licence, in which case anyone in the organisation can use it.
How do Zapier and Make count usage differently?
This is where most comparisons go wrong, because a "task" and a "credit" are not the same unit.
Zapier counts tasks. A task is a successful action step. Triggers do not count, and neither do failed actions or Zapier's built-in tools such as Filter, Formatter, Paths and Delay. The free plan allows 100 tasks a month and only two-step Zaps. Pro starts at $19.99 a month on annual billing for 750 tasks ($29.99 billed monthly), and Team at $69 a month for 2,000 tasks with up to 25 users. If you run over, Zapier either pauses your Zaps or bills the extra tasks at 1.25 times the base rate on annual plans and 2.5 times on monthly plans, depending on your setting.
Make counts credits. Credits are now Make's billing unit, and almost every module action in a scenario uses a credit, including reading from the trigger app or webhook, searching, and transforming data. Routers and error handlers are the exceptions. The free plan includes 1,000 credits a month. At 10,000 credits a month on annual billing, Core is $9, Pro $16 and Teams $29 a month. When credits run out, scenarios stop until you add more, and incoming webhooks queue up to a limit.
The practical difference: Zapier's built-in steps are free, so a workflow heavy on filtering and formatting can be cheaper there than it looks. Make charges for those steps but starts from a much lower price per unit.
What does one workflow actually cost on each?
Here is a worked example, using our own arithmetic on the published prices above. A web enquiry form triggers a five-step workflow: look up the contact in the CRM, create or update the record, add a row to a tracking spreadsheet, and post a message to the sales channel. It runs 1,000 times a month.
| Option | Usage per month | Plan needed | Approximate monthly cost (Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power Automate, all standard connectors | About 165 actions a day | Microsoft 365 rights | £0 extra |
| Power Automate, CRM on a premium connector | Same | Premium for the flow owner, or Process on the flow | £11.50 (one user) or £115.30 (Process) |
| Zapier | 4,000 tasks (trigger not counted) | Pro, above the 2,000-task tier | Between $49 (2,000 tasks) and $129 (10,000 tasks), annual billing |
| Make | 5,000 credits (trigger counted) | Core, 10,000 credits | $9, annual billing |
| Bespoke | No per-run charge | Hosting only | Low, but the build is paid up front |
Two lessons come out of this. First, if your systems are Microsoft-native, the cheapest automation may already be paid for. Second, the per-run platforms are cheap at this volume but scale linearly: ten times the runs is roughly ten times the bill on Zapier, while Make's credit tiers rise more gently. Multiply your own steps by your own runs before signing up for anything.
When does bespoke automation make more sense?
In our view, bespoke code is worth considering when one or more of these applies:
- The process is how you make money. Order handling, pricing or fulfilment logic deserves version control, tests and a rollback plan, which no-code tools offer only partly.
- Volume is high or growing fast. Per-task pricing that is trivial at 1,000 runs a month can become a real line item at 100,000.
- The logic keeps breaking. Deeply nested branches in a visual builder are hard to read, hard to hand over and easy to break with one edit.
- You need proper error handling. A no-code step that fails quietly can lose an order. Custom code can retry, alert and log in ways you choose.
The trade-off is the up-front build and someone to maintain it. Our guide to build vs buy for SME software covers that decision in more depth, and our post on integrating a website with your CRM and ERP explains the integration patterns either route uses. A common middle path is to prove the workflow on a platform first, then rebuild it as code once it has earned its keep.
What about data protection?
All three platforms process the data that passes through your workflows, and that often includes personal data: names, emails, order details. The ICO's guidance on international transfers explains that sending personal data to a provider outside the UK needs adequacy regulations or appropriate safeguards. Before customer data flows through any of these tools, check where the vendor processes it, what its data processing agreement says, and whether a higher plan offers a different hosting region. Our post on GDPR and AI for UK SMEs covers the wider obligations.
How do you choose?
A short decision path, which is our view rather than a rule:
- Mostly Microsoft 365? Start with Power Automate and standard connectors. Pay for Premium only when a premium connector or desktop automation earns it.
- A mix of popular cloud apps and a need to move fast? Zapier is the quickest to set up, and the free tier is enough to test the idea.
- Complex branching or high step counts? Make is usually cheaper per run and handles data reshaping well.
- Core, high-volume or fragile? Talk to a developer about a bespoke build.
Whichever you pick, start with a process worth automating. Our list of ten SME processes worth automating first is a good shortlist, and our guide to AI ROI for small businesses shows how to check a saving is real. If you want help choosing or building, our AI automation service covers both routes, and the AI practice overview explains how we work.
Frequently asked questions
Is Power Automate free with Microsoft 365?
Partly. Microsoft 365 business licences include Power Automate with standard connectors, such as SharePoint, Outlook, Teams and Excel Online, up to 6,000 actions per user per day. Premium connectors and desktop automation need a paid licence, from £11.50 per user per month (paid yearly, excluding VAT, as of October 2026).
Which is cheaper, Zapier or Make?
For most multi-step workflows, Make. As of October 2026 its Core plan is $9 a month on annual billing for 10,000 credits, while Zapier's Pro plan starts at $19.99 a month for 750 tasks. They count differently, though: Zapier does not charge for triggers or built-in filters, and Make charges for almost every step, so model your own workflow first.
When should a small business build bespoke automation instead?
In our view, when the workflow is core to how you make money, runs at high volume, needs logic that a no-code tool makes fragile, or must be tested and audited like any other software. Bespoke costs more up front, but there is no per-task bill and no exposure to a vendor's price changes.
Does it matter where Zapier or Make process our data?
Yes, if the workflow carries personal data. Under UK GDPR, sending personal data to a provider outside the UK is a restricted transfer, which needs adequacy regulations or appropriate safeguards. Read each vendor's data processing terms and hosting options before customer data flows through it.
Easy Insight is a UK consultancy for AI, web, apps and data — senior specialists only, no juniors.
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