Make.com free plan: what 1,000 credits a month really buys you
Make (formerly Integromat) connects your apps so routine jobs run on their own. For example, "when X happens in one app, do Y in another." The free plan is a real working plan, but its limits are easy to misread. Here's what they mean in practice.
Checked October 18, 2026 against Make's pricing page (make.com/pricing). Plans change, so treat the vendor's page as the final word.
The free plan at a glance
| Limit | Free plan |
|---|---|
| Credits per month | 1,000 |
| Active scenarios (automations running at once) | 2 |
| Minimum time between scheduled runs | 15 minutes |
| Maximum run time per execution | 5 minutes |
| Maximum file size | 5 MB |
| Apps you can connect | 3,500+ standard apps |
| Routers and filters (branching logic) | Included |
| Data storage | 1 MB (1 data store) |
| Make API access, custom variables, code modules | Not included |
| Unused credits | Expire at the end of the month |
What is a "credit"?
Make now bills in credits. Most actions a scenario performs use 1 credit: reading a record, searching, creating a row, sending an email, transforming data. A simple two-step automation ("new item → send email") therefore uses roughly 2 credits each time it does its job. Some AI features can use more. Routers and error-handler modules don't use any.
The scheduling maths that catches people out
Many scenarios check for new data on a schedule, and those checks cost credits even when there's nothing new. With the free plan's fastest setting (every 15 minutes), one scenario checks about 96 times a day. That's roughly 2,900 checks a month, far more than 1,000 credits.
| Check every… | Checks per month (approx.) | Fits in 1,000 credits? |
|---|---|---|
| 15 minutes | ~2,900 | No |
| 1 hour | ~720 | Barely, with little left for actions |
| 3 hours | ~240 | Yes, with room for actions |
| Once a day | ~30 | Easily |
Rule of thumb on the free plan: schedule checks every few hours or once a day, or use triggers that fire instantly (webhooks) where the app supports them. Make's own help pages explain exactly how each trigger type is counted, so check them for the apps you use.
The real bottleneck: 2 active scenarios
You can build as many scenarios as you like, but only two can be switched on at a time. That's the limit most small-business users hit first, usually before credits run out. If you need a third automation running permanently, that's the point to look at a paid plan.
Three starter automations that fit the free plan
- Blog post → email alert. Watch your blog's RSS feed once a day and email yourself (or a teammate) when a new post goes live. About 30 checks plus a few emails a month.
- Contact form → Google Sheet. Send each form submission into a spreadsheet row. If your form tool supports webhooks, it runs instantly and only uses credits when someone actually submits.
- Weekly report. Once a week, pull a few numbers from a spreadsheet and email yourself a summary. That's about 4 runs a month.
All three run comfortably inside 1,000 credits, and you could keep two of them switched on at once.
Paid plans, briefly
| Plan | From (per month, billed annually) | Main additions |
|---|---|---|
| Core | $9 | Unlimited active scenarios, runs down to every minute, Make API, 40-minute runs, 100 MB files |
| Pro | $16 | Priority execution, custom variables, full-text log search, 250 MB files |
| Teams | $29 | Team roles and shared scenario templates |
USD prices shown on make.com/pricing at the 10,000-credits-per-month level with annual billing (Make lists annual billing as "Save 15%"), October 18, 2026. Monthly billing costs more, and prices rise with more credits.
Is the free plan enough?
Stay on free if…
- You need one or two automations running
- They can run every few hours or once a day
- Files are small (under 5 MB)
Consider Core if…
- You need a third always-on automation
- Something must react within minutes on a schedule
- You're processing larger files or longer jobs
Full disclosure: I've just joined Make's affiliate program, and this guide sets out the free plan's published limits. I'm setting up my own first scenarios now and will add a hands-on section with screenshots once they've run for a few weeks. Make lets affiliates attach its current promotional offer to their link. I've switched that on, so you'll see whatever offer Make is running when you sign up.
Open a free Make account
Build your first scenario and see how many credits it really uses.
Go to Make.com ↗Affiliate link: if you later buy a paid plan, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Related reading: automating emails or link clicks? Which email platforms allow affiliate links and short links vs click trackers, on our sister site FunnelTested.
FAQ
Is Make free forever?
The Free plan is a standing plan, not a trial: you get 1,000 credits each month. Unused credits don't roll over.
What happens when I run out of credits?
Your scenarios pause until credits are added. Make says incoming webhooks are queued up to your plan's limit and processed once you have credits again.
Make or Zapier?
Both connect apps. Make's visual builder and credit-based pricing tend to suit people who want more control per dollar. I'll write a proper comparison once I've used both on the same task.