Make Free Plan: What You Actually Get Before Paying
The Make free plan costs $0 and includes 1,000 credits a month, the visual builder, and 3,500+ apps. Limits: two scenarios and a 15-minute floor.
By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-10T10:27:47+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-10T10:27:47+00:00
The Make free plan costs $0 and gives you 1,000 credits a month, the full visual workflow builder, and access to more than 3,500 apps. It is a real plan, not a timed trial. It has no expiry date and asks for no card. The catch is capacity. You can run only two scenarios at a time. Scheduled runs check for new data every 15 minutes at most. This article sets out exactly what the free plan includes, where it stops, and when an upgrade makes sense.
What the Make free plan includes
Make is a visual automation platform. You build scenarios by connecting apps in a drag-and-drop canvas. A scenario watches for a trigger, then runs a chain of steps. The free plan includes the same builder as the paid plans. That matters. You learn the real product, not a cut-down demo.
The official pricing page lists the following on the free plan:
- 1,000 credits a month. Each module action in a scenario costs one credit.
- No-code visual workflow builder. The full canvas, with routers and filters.
- 3,500+ apps. Google Sheets, Gmail, Slack, HubSpot, and thousands more.
- Unlimited users. Anyone in your organisation can build.
- Customer support for the first 90 days. Expert access while you get started.
- Make AI Toolkit. Built-in AI tools are listed for all plans, including free.
There is no time limit on the free plan. Make states this plainly on its pricing page. You can keep a free account for as long as you like. You only pay when you choose a paid tier.
How Make credits work
Credits are Make's billing unit. Make switched from operations to credits in August 2025. The change was one-to-one. One credit is roughly one old operation.
Every module that runs costs one credit. A scenario with five modules costs five credits each time it runs. A module that handles ten items costs ten credits, because it runs once per item. Routers and error handlers do not consume credits. They organise the flow for free.
That maths decides how far 1,000 credits go. A three-step scenario that runs 100 times a month uses 300 credits. A five-step scenario running 200 times uses all 1,000. Light personal automations fit easily. A busy business workflow does not.
Some actions cost more than one credit. The Make Code App, which runs custom JavaScript or Python, costs two credits per second of execution time. It is a paid-plan feature, so free users never face that charge.
When your credits run out, your scenarios stop. Make warns you at 75% and 90% usage. Unused credits do not roll over to the next month.
The limits that matter most on the Make free plan
The credit allowance gets the attention. The other limits bite sooner for most people.
Two active scenarios. You can build as many scenarios as you like. Only two can be switched on at once. This is the hardest limit for anyone automating more than one process. A form-to-sheet flow and a Slack notification flow already fill the quota.
15-minute minimum interval. Scheduled scenarios can check for new data at most once every 15 minutes. Anything that needs near-real-time reactions needs a paid plan. Instant webhooks are different. A webhook trigger fires immediately when an app sends data, so some workflows escape this limit.
Five-minute maximum run time. A single scenario execution cannot run longer than five minutes. Long bulk jobs will stop mid-run. Paid plans allow 40 minutes.
Five-megabyte file limit. Files larger than 5 MB cannot pass through a free scenario. Paid plans allow 100 MB and more. Document-heavy work is out of reach on free.
Seven-day log storage. Execution logs disappear after a week. Paid plans keep them for 30 days. Debugging a problem from last month is impossible on free.
512 MB of data transfer. Your allowance scales with credits. The free tier gets 512 MB a month. Paid plans at 10,000 credits get 5 GB.
No priority execution. During busy periods, free scenarios queue behind paid ones. Delays are possible and hard to predict.
No Make Code App and no Make Grid. Custom code and the organisation-wide automation overview are paid features. Support also ends after 90 days.
Make free plan vs paid plans
Make has five tiers: Free, Core, Pro, Teams, and Enterprise. Every paid tier starts at the same 10,000 credits a month. The higher tiers buy features, not more credits. Credit volume can be raised separately on each tier.
| Plan | Monthly price | Credits / month | Active scenarios | Min. interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1,000 | 2 | 15 minutes |
| Core | $12 (annual billing) | 10,000 | Unlimited | 1 minute |
| Pro | $21 (annual billing) | 10,000 | Unlimited | 1 minute |
| Teams | $38 (annual billing) | 10,000 | Unlimited | 1 minute |
| Enterprise | Custom quote | Custom | Unlimited | 1 minute |
Core is the first paid step. It removes the two-scenario cap and the 15-minute floor. It adds the Make API and a 40-minute run limit. Pro adds priority execution, custom variables, and full-text log search. Teams adds team roles and shared scenario templates. Monthly billing costs more than annual billing on every paid tier. Prices can change, so confirm the current figures on Make's pricing page before you pay.
Who the Make free plan suits
The free plan suits three groups. First, anyone learning Make. You can build real scenarios and see how the builder works before spending anything. Second, people with one or two light automations. A form that logs responses to a sheet fits easily inside 1,000 credits. Third, anyone comparing Make with Zapier or n8n. The free plan is a fair way to test the interface.
It does not suit production business use. Two scenarios and 1,000 credits run out fast once a workflow matters. A team that depends on automation should budget for Core from the start. The jump to 10,000 credits and unlimited scenarios is the point where Make becomes a working tool rather than a trial.
How to make the free plan last
A few habits stretch 1,000 credits a long way.
- Use webhooks, not polling. A webhook fires only when something happens. A polling trigger burns a credit every time it checks, even when nothing changed.
- Keep scenarios short. Every module costs a credit. Merge steps where you can. A three-module flow costs 40% less than a five-module one.
- Filter early. Filters cost nothing. Put a filter right after the trigger so unwanted items stop before they reach paid modules.
- Watch the usage meter. Make warns you at 75% and 90%. Check the meter weekly if your scenarios run daily.
- Pick your two scenarios carefully. Run the automations that save the most time. Leave the nice-to-have ideas switched off.
Bottom line: is the Make free plan worth it?
Yes, for learning and light use. The Make free plan gives you the real builder, 1,000 credits a month, and more than 3,500 apps for $0, with no time limit. That is a fair deal. The limits are honest and visible: two active scenarios, a 15-minute schedule floor, five-minute runs, and seven days of logs. Most people outgrow it within weeks of real use. When that happens, Core at $12 a month on annual billing is the natural next step. Start free, learn the builder, and upgrade when your second scenario starts to matter.