{"schema_version":"1.2","slug":"make-integromat","url":"https://www.launchpadhq.io/platform/make-integromat/guide","data_url":"https://www.launchpadhq.io/data/v1/guides/make-integromat.json","title":"Getting Started with Make","tagline":"Visual automation that connects your apps — and a meter that counts differently from its best-known rival.","archetype":"recipes","last_reviewed_at":"2026-07-27","changelog_url":"https://www.make.com/en/help/release-notes","how_it_works":"You build on a visual canvas, dragging modules onto it and drawing the path between them. A scenario starts with a trigger — a new form response, an incoming email — and then runs each module in turn. You run it once by hand, open the execution to see what each step received and sent, and adjust.","what_it_is":["A no-code automation platform connecting thousands of apps through a visual builder.","Best suited to workflows with real logic — branches, filters, loops — rather than simple two-app connections.","Priced by credits consumed rather than by workflow count, with a free tier sufficient for learning.","A direct alternative to other automation platforms, with a materially different billing model that changes which one is cheaper for your specific work."],"before_you_start":["The free plan gives a small monthly credit allowance, caps how many scenarios can be active, and enforces a long minimum gap between runs. Enough to learn on; not enough to depend on.","Paid plans start low and give a much larger credit allowance, which also removes the scenario cap and shortens the minimum gap between runs.","Every module execution costs one credit, not every workflow run. A ten-step scenario running a hundred times spends a thousand credits.","Since 2025-08-27 the meter has been called credits rather than operations, and AI features and code execution consume more per use than ordinary modules.","Sketch your workflow on paper first. Counting the modules before you build tells you the monthly cost before you commit."],"getting_set_up_safely":null,"security":[{"kind":"text","text":"Automation platforms carry a different risk from assistants: you are handing over standing access to your accounts, not a single conversation. Connecting a scenario to your email, files, or customer records grants a persistent permission that keeps working while you are asleep, and keeps working after you have forgotten the scenario exists."},{"kind":"list","label":"Sensible practice","items":["Connect the narrowest account you can. A dedicated account with access to one folder beats your primary login.","Review your connected accounts periodically and revoke anything belonging to a scenario you no longer run.","Test with harmless sample data before pointing a scenario at anything real. Automations fail in bulk, and quickly.","Be deliberate about scenarios that delete, send, or overwrite. Those are the ones where a mistake is not recoverable."]},{"kind":"text","text":"Data passing through a scenario is processed on the platform's servers, so a workflow moving personal or customer information puts that data in a third party's hands. That is often perfectly acceptable — it is the same trade as any cloud tool — but it should be a decision you made rather than one you discovered."}],"triad":{"best_at":["Multi-step workflows with conditional branching and filtering","Reshaping data between apps that do not agree on format","Scheduled jobs that gather from several sources","Work where seeing the flow laid out visually helps you reason about it"],"okay_at":["Simple two-app connections, which work but where simpler tools have less setup","Real-time responsiveness, which is constrained on lower tiers","Error handling, which is capable but needs deliberate configuration"],"avoid":["Anything where a silent failure would go unnoticed and matter","High-volume record processing on a small plan, where credits vanish fast","Automating a process you have not yet done manually enough times to understand"]},"starter_actions":[{"title":"Count the modules before you build","what_it_does":"Estimates monthly credit use as records times modules times runs.","why_here":"This one calculation prevents the most common and most expensive misunderstanding on the platform.","tweak":"If the number surprises you, look for modules to remove rather than a bigger plan to buy.","prompt":null},{"title":"Automate a form-to-spreadsheet flow first","what_it_does":"Builds a two-module scenario: a form-response trigger and a spreadsheet module that adds a row for each submission.","why_here":"Few modules, obvious success criterion, and it exercises the trigger-and-action pattern everything else builds on.","tweak":"Add a filter so only some submissions pass through. Filters are where Make starts to be worth its complexity.","prompt":null},{"title":"Build a scheduled digest","what_it_does":"Gathers from a source on a schedule and sends one summary rather than many alerts.","why_here":"Teaches scheduling and aggregation together, and produces something you will actually keep using.","tweak":"Lengthen the interval before shortening it — frequent runs are the fastest way to burn credits.","prompt":null},{"title":"Run a scenario once manually and read every step","what_it_does":"Runs the scenario once by hand rather than on its schedule, then clicks through each module in the execution view.","why_here":"The execution view shows exactly what data each module received and emitted. It is the debugging skill the platform rewards most.","tweak":"Do this while it works, not only when it breaks. Knowing what correct looks like makes broken obvious.","prompt":null}],"pitfalls":["Credits count modules, not runs. A ten-step scenario running a hundred times costs a thousand credits, not a hundred. Budget by multiplying steps by runs, not by counting workflows.","Comparisons with other platforms are not like for like. Rival tools meter differently, so one of their units can equal several credits here. The cheaper platform depends on your workflow shape — benchmark your own before switching.","AI modules cost more per use. Anything invoking a model or running code consumes credits at a higher rate than ordinary modules. A workflow that looked affordable can double when you add one.","Connected accounts are standing permissions. A scenario keeps its access until you revoke it, including scenarios you stopped using months ago. Audit connections periodically.","Broken automations fail quietly. Something that silently stopped running two weeks ago is worse than something that never worked. Build in a notification for failure, not just success."],"where_to_next":[{"label":"Other automation platforms","url":"https://www.launchpadhq.io/discover?category=workflow-automation"},{"label":"AI inside business software","url":"https://www.launchpadhq.io/discover?category=ai-plugins-business-software"}],"tool":{"slug":"make-integromat","name":"Make (Integromat)","url":"https://www.launchpadhq.io/platform/make-integromat","data_url":"https://www.launchpadhq.io/data/v1/tools/make-integromat.json","category":{"slug":"workflow-automation","name":"Workflow & Automation"},"cost_tier":"FREEMIUM","lifecycle":"active","free_tier":{"available":true,"summary":"Free: 1,000 credits/mo (credits are Make's billing unit)"},"starting_price":"Free, from See pricing","lowest_paid":{"name":"paid plans Core, Pro, Teams and Enterprise. Paid prices did not render on the official page, so none are quoted","price_text":"See pricing","amount":null,"currency":null,"period":null,"limits":null,"is_free":false},"data_as_of":"2026-10-25"},"prices_removed":0,"pricing_note":"Prices in this text come from the catalog, the same data as each tool's page and its record (tool.starting_price, tool.lowest_paid, and plans in /data/v1/tools/{slug}.json). Any sentence that typed a price by hand is removed; prices_removed counts them.","generated_at":"2026-10-27T02:02:48.146Z","sponsored":false,"attribution":"Data from Launchpad HQ (https://www.launchpadhq.io). Please credit Launchpad HQ and link to the tool's Launchpad HQ page."}