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Make can handle complex AI and traditional automations, while Zapier is easier to use and provides more integrations (currently over 7,000).
If you need automations to reduce busy work around email, meetings, and tasks for your sales funnel, then Lindy is another strong option. It specializes in AI automations and is more affordable than Make or Zapier.
Read on to learn more about:
- Quick comparison of Make, Zapier, and Lindy’s capabilities
- Overview of each platform, capabilities, pros and cons, and pricing
- How to choose between Make vs. Zapier vs. Lindy
- Why you should go with Lindy
Let’s now look closely at the similarities and key differences between these automation platforms.
Make vs. Zapier vs. Lindy: At a glance
While each platform operates differently and has unique pros and cons, Make, Zapier, and Lindy all have one feature in common: They’re all no-code platforms. This means you won’t need any coding or technical skills to use them — they all employ easy-to-understand, drag-and-drop interfaces.
Make Review
Make is a powerful visual automation platform that lets you connect apps, transfer data, and automate workflows across several thousand apps. Its drag-and-drop interface gives you granular control over data flows and individual steps.
If you’re an e-commerce brand, connect your Shopify account with your fulfillment system and automatically create individual shipping labels in Shippo for each order. You’ll also be able to track your inventory count, so whenever it runs below a set threshold, Make will alert your warehouse team with a draft purchase order.
The company recently released AI capabilities, which allow you to generate summaries, classify inputs, or further automate processes using several LLMs.
Features
- Sometimes, errors occur when integrating different apps. Make comes with a unique error-handling capability: For instance, if data from your CRM doesn’t update your newsletter mailing list, Make will flag this specific step and show you where the error occurs, allowing you to fix it quickly.
- Make AI allows you to select your LLM: The platform offers many LLMs, like ChatGPT 4 and o1, Perplexity, and several others. This means you can pick a higher-level AI model if you need to execute tasks that require higher-level reasoning.
- You’ll automate tasks (which make calls Operations) by creating customizable Scenarios: Each step can include filters, routers, iterations (loops), and conditional logic, allowing for complex automations. If you’re a company with a niche product and onboard each client differently, you’ll be able to craft bespoke data transfer at every step.
Ideal users and pricing
Make has plans for nearly any business in most industries. Because of its granular customization capabilities, it’s an ideal option for teams that need specialized control over how data is transferred between apps.
Free ($0/month)
The Free plan provides access to Make's no-code visual workflow builder and supports integration with over 2,000 apps. You’ll get 1,000 monthly operations and can have up to 2 active scenarios.
This plan also gives you limited access to AI features, allowing you up to 30 AI prompts weekly. It allows for an unlimited number of users, so every member of your team can give it a go.
Core ($9/month)
The Core plan is a cost-effective way to automate simple workflows. It provides unlimited active scenarios, a minimum one-minute interval between scheduled scenario executions, and access to the Make API.
Pro ($16/month)
The Pro plan is built for individuals and teams who need powerful, flexible automations. Key features include custom variables, priority scenario execution, and full-text execution log search to speed up troubleshooting.
Most notably, it offers Relation Trees, a feature that lets you map out how data elements relate to each other across modules, making it easier to build and debug complex, granular workflows.
Teams ($29/month)
Designed for departments implementing automation across multiple users, the Teams plan adds functionalities like multiple teams and permissions, high-priority scenario execution, and the ability to create and share scenario templates.
Each user is allocated 10,000 operations per month, with the option to purchase additional operations as required. You’ll also be able to create and share specialized scenario templates, so other departments can create recurring automations quickly.
Enterprise (contact sales)
Tailored for organizations integrating automation into key business functions, the Enterprise plan offers better security, support, and permissions. You’ll also get features like audit logs, 24/7 customer support, and longer execution log storage.
Pros
- Make’s Scenario builder uses a straightforward system to clearly map out each step of your automation, allowing even the tech-allergic to build complex workflows with advanced logic and API calls.
- Make offers more operations per dollar than other automation platforms, mainly because specific scenarios can include multiple actions within a single operation.
Cons
- While Make integrates with OpenAI and other LLMs, access to high-level AI models like GPT-4 o1 is restricted to the Enterprise plan.
- Although it might appear cheaper, triggers (which just wake up your app — they aren't the actual automations) are counted against your monthly operations' quota. These can add up quickly.
Zapier Review
Zapier is essentially the OG automation app. The platform connects with several third-party apps, allowing for sequential automations between apps. For instance, you can use Zapier to automatically download attachments you receive in emails directly to your computer without even opening your inbox.
The platform lets you create zaps, made up of 2 components: Triggers and actions. The trigger is your starting point — it wakes your zap up, such as when you receive a new email in Gmail. The action follows as a result of the trigger. For example, after receiving that email in Gmail, a new task is automatically created in Asana.
Although it started as an integration platform, Zapier recently released a robust suite of AI tools. You can build your own customized AI agents that you can command to fetch data from apps you currently use.
Features
- Zapier recently released AI-fueled features with 3 major functionalities: Agents for fetching information across third-party integrations, Canvas for drawing up and implementing workflows, and chatbots that you can embed in your website for customer support.
- Featuring over 7,000 integrations, you’ll most likely be able to connect with nearly any third-party application that you currently use. Connect your website to your CRM for quick form organization. Then, automatically send Slack messages to your sales team, notifying them about a new lead in CRM.
- If you’re a techie, you can insert your own JavaScript and Python commands to execute complex commands, like retrieving precise entries in a database or tidying up messy, raw data.
Ideal users and pricing
Zapier provides 4 pricing plans, suitable for entrepreneurs just starting out to large, established companies with multi-member teams. Its many integrations make it a feasible choice for nearly any business, except for medical companies storing sensitive patient data — Zapier is not HIPAA-compliant.
Free plan
Automate 100 tasks per month. Zapier counts tasks as successful actions, such as when you trigger Zapier to send payment information from QuickBooks to your revenue app. With the free plan, each task can only have 2 steps (one trigger and one action), so you’re limited to executing simple tasks.
Professional plan ($19.99/month)
Start by automating 750 tasks monthly, using multiple steps (Zapier doesn’t specify a limit). You’ll also get webhooks, which allow you to execute more complex tasks, like sending data to a specific URL as an action or receiving data from an external source as a trigger.
The professional plan also allows you to increase your monthly tasks to 1,500 for another $20, for a total of $39.99.
Team plan ($69/month)
Zapier’s Team plan is designed for growing teams that need collaboration tools. You’ll get shared app connections, the ability to edit automations in real-time, and role-based permissions for a team of up to 25 users.
Each user gets access to advanced features like multi-step Zaps and webhooks. The plan starts at 2,000 monthly tasks, but you can increase the total number of tasks to 100,000.
Enterprise plan (Contact sales)
Zapier’s Enterprise plan is built for large organizations needing customized automation, security, and control. It includes enterprise security features like advanced admin permissions, single sign-on (SSO), custom data retention, and audit logs.
It also provides unlimited automations and a dedicated customer success manager.
Pros
- Zapier excels at automating simple tasks between different apps — and with an extensive library of premade templates, creating automations can be done quickly.
- With 7,000 integrations, Zapier can easily connect to more third-party platforms than nearly any other automation platform.
Cons
- Charges per task, so high-volume workflows can get expensive.
- Zapier doesn’t allow you to choose a specific LLM that’s best suited for complex automations. This could be an issue if you need to execute high-level tasks with an advanced model like ChatGPT o1.
Lindy Review
Lindy is an automation platform that lets you build customized AI agents called Lindies. Start off with a simple drag-and-drop interface, add your favorite AI model, and build your automations using a flowchart format. Or, for even quicker results, pick from Lindy’s extensive library of premade templates and use powerful workflows quickly.
Unlike Zapier and Make, Lindy was designed specifically with AI automations at its core (it’s relatively new). This means adding advanced AI agents into your workflows is more intuitive. Whether you're trying to save time on email, optimize meetings, or simplify your daily tasks, Lindy brings efficiency and versatility to your digital workspace.
Plus, it’s more affordable than the large players for many use cases.
Features
- Lindies can read, sort, and prioritize your emails. They can draft relevant replies, based on previous interactions and company knowledge, ensuring your communication stays clear, timely, and organized.
- Let Lindy handle the tedious parts of meetings like taking notes and scheduling. Your agent can join virtual calls, automatically record and transcribe conversations, and extract insights and share summaries or action items on your channel of choice. It can also schedule your meetings based on your availability.
- Lindy is HIPAA-compliant (unlike Zapier or Make), making it a viable option for medical businesses that store and transfer sensitive client data.
- Lindy also integrates with several third-party platforms, like HubSpot, Notion, Airtable, Slack, and many others. Your Lindy can scrap data about a specific product you want to purchase and transfer all the metrics you deem relevant to a Google Sheet or Airtable database for storage.
Pricing and ideal users
Lindy is great for businesses of all sizes and in most industries, including healthcare, insurance, e-commerce, and others.
Free
Automate up to 400 tasks monthly (400 credits), and pick your own large language model. You’ll also be able to build a knowledge base of up to 1 million characters. For example, you could use it to build a chatbot and add your FAQs, so customers could quickly get support.
Pro Version ($49/month)
Get up to 5,000 automates per month and build a knowledge base of up to 20 million characters. This version also gives you access to webhooks for deeper integrations, Lindy Meeting recording, and other features.
You’ll also be able to make and receive up to 30 non-current phone calls in English. Need more automations? Lindy offers an additional 1,000 for an extra $10/monthly.
Business Version ($299/month)
For larger businesses and organizations that are scaling, the Business version allows for up to 30,000 tasks, premium actions, and a knowledge base, just like the Pro Plan. You’ll also get unlimited concurrent phone calls in over 30 languages and priority support from the Lindy Staff.
Pros
- Lindy’s makes building AI agents simple, featuring an intuitive no-code drag-and-drop interface. And if you have any questions, check out the Lindy Academy for step-by-step tutorials about building various Lindies.
- Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, Lindy has affordable pricing plans to accommodate your needs.
Cons
- Lindy offers tons of premade templates and automations, which can make it challenging to select the precise one for you.
Make vs. Zapier vs Lindy – which should you choose?
Selecting the right tool is dependent on your business needs and technical prowess. Use our checklist to help you decide:
Do you need only simple automations between apps?
If you only need to create simple automations between platforms manually, go with either Zapier or Make. While Zapier is more expensive, it has nearly double the integration capabilities, meaning you most likely won’t have any issues connecting third-party apps and transferring data.
Do you need HIPAA or SOC 2 compliance?
Both Lindy and Zapier are SOC 2 compliant, meaning they can store sensitive customer information and payment data. Make, however, has only completed a SOC 2 Type 1 audit, so businesses with strict compliance needs should verify before proceeding.
However, if you’re a medical company, Lindy is the way to go — it’s HIPAA-compliant, out of the box. Zapier and Make do not offer HIPAA compliance.
Are you looking for AI services beyond automated workflows?
Lindy builds full-on AI agents that can make and receive phone calls, respond to customer support chats using a knowledge base, summarize PDFs, and more. You can even choose your own LLM (like ChatGPT or Claude) for different tasks.
While both Zapier and Make recently added AI agent functionality, these platforms are still in beta and don’t allow model selection or deeper customization.
Frequently asked questions
Can you use Zapier and Make with Lindy?
Yes — you can use Zapier and Make alongside Lindy. For example, you can use Zapier to transfer data from lesser-known CRM to a Google Sheet, then hand the workflow over to Lindy to write an email, schedule a call, notify folks on Slack, and more. In this way, Lindy can act as the “AI brain,” while Zapier or Make are the “bridges” for obscure tools.
Which tool is best for businesses with complex workflows?
Make is crafted for complex workflows for AI or traditional, and its interface gives you fine-grained control over logic, conditions, and data routing. Yet, if you’re in need of AI reasoning to capture and interpret user intent, scrape web data, or automate nuanced conversations, Lindy is a better fit.
Although Zapier can now handle more complex automations, it’s still a platform that aims to create simple automations for a general audience.
Can Lindy replace Make and Zapier?
Yes, Lindy can. Like Make and Zapier, Lindy integrates with many third-party applications for data transfer and triggering automations. It also lets you create agents that perform AI-first tasks like inbound/outbound phone calls, replying to emails, scheduling meetings, and more.
If your workflows involve natural language understanding, advanced LLM selection, or HIPAA compliance, Lindy can replace Make and Zapier entirely. However, if you rely on particular app integrations (especially rare or industry-specific ones), Zapier or Make can still play a role.
Build smarter, autonomous agents with Lindy
While Make is a solid choice for creating complex workflows, and Zapier integrates with nearly everything and the kitchen sink, Lindy is still your best option if you aim to build workflows and put them on autopilot.
Here’s how Lindy can amplify your productivity:
- Handle phone calls: Lindy lets you set up inbound and outbound AI voice agents quickly that can make calls, record calls (where it’s legal), take notes and forward them to your CRM, escalate difficult customer services cases to a human, and much more.
- Affordability: After the free version, which lets you automate 400 tasks, you can get Lindy for only $49/month. This plan enables you to automate up to 5,000 tasks and use AI features, like a phone agent for inbound/outbound calls.
- Information extraction: Pinpoint and extract precise information from long documents faster than Liam Neeson does bad guys in the Taken series. Lindy can extract insights, write summaries, or answer questions across nearly any files and websites.
Stop automating your tasks the manual way, and sign up for Lindy today for free.
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