Skip to content
effecthub

Make vs Refly.ai

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors.

The short answer

Free plan
Both have one
Public API
Both have one
Best fit
Make: Operations and marketing teams wiring SaaS apps together with branching logic they can see · Refly.ai: Non-technical creators automating repetitive content or research tasks
Trust score
About even — Make 86, Refly.ai 90
Status
We could not check Make — its site turns automated checks away; Refly.ai was up on Sep 1, 2026

From our own records as of each tool's last check. Anything we have not confirmed is left out rather than guessed. How we verify

MakeVisual automation builder with branching scenarios, AI agents and an MCP server, metered in credits.Refly.aiOpen-source workflow builder where non-developers describe automations in plain language, executed on Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex.

Side by side

FactMakeRefly.ai
CategoryWorkflow Automation PlatformsAI Workflow Builders
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at—$19.90/mo
Public APIYesYes
Trust score86 / 10090 / 100
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, API
CompanyCelonis, Inc.Refly
Launched—2024
Last verifiedSep 6, 2026Sep 1, 2026

What our research says

Make

Make is the visual automation tool for people who outgrow Zapier's straight lines and want routers, iterators and error handling on a canvas without running their own n8n. The credit model is the thing to understand before committing: most steps cost one credit, AI steps cost more and purchased top-ups expire, so a chatty scenario can burn a month's allowance in days. The MCP server and agents make it a reasonable home for assistant-driven automations, but they draw from the same credit pool.

Pros

  • Branching, iteration and error handling on a visual canvas, with routers and error handlers free of credits
  • 3,000+ native apps plus custom integrations for any API
  • AI agents with goals, tools, limits and visible reasoning, plus an MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini
  • Free plan with 1,000 credits a month and SOC 2 Type II, SSO and audit logs on paid tiers

Cons

  • Plan prices are not readable without a browser session; the pricing page shows credits, not dollars, to fetchers
  • Credits expire at the end of the term and purchased extras expire sooner
  • AI-provider steps consume more than one credit, making agent-heavy scenarios hard to budget
  • No self-hosted option

Refly.ai

Refly turns a written description of a task into a repeatable, versioned automation that runs on top of existing coding agents rather than a proprietary model. Being open-source and self-hostable is a real advantage for technical teams, but the 'vibe'-based approach still needs testing to see how well it holds up on complex, multi-step automations.

Pros

  • Open-source, so the code can be audited or self-hosted
  • Runs on top of existing coding-agent backends instead of a single proprietary model
  • Free tier gives 100 credits a day to test before paying
  • Seed funding from known venture investors backs its continuity

Cons

  • Natural-language 'vibe' workflows can behave unpredictably on complex, multi-step automations
  • Being newer and open-source, the integration ecosystem is smaller than established workflow tools
  • Credit-based pricing makes heavy usage costs harder to predict than a flat seat price

Which one fits

Choose Make if you need

  • Operations and marketing teams wiring SaaS apps together with branching logic they can see
  • Builders who want AI agents and automations in one place, driven from Claude or ChatGPT through MCP
  • Companies that need SSO, audit logs and SOC 2 on a no-code automation tool

Choose Refly.ai if you need

  • Non-technical creators automating repetitive content or research tasks
  • Teams that want to self-host an open-source workflow builder instead of a closed SaaS tool

Make vs Refly.ai: the questions people ask

Is Make cheaper than Refly.ai?

Refly.ai starts at $19.90/mo. Make has a free tier; what its paid plans cost is not confirmed by us yet.

Does Make or Refly.ai have a free tier?

Both: Make has a free tier, and Refly.ai has a free tier.

Which has a public API, Make or Refly.ai?

Both ship a public API, so either can be built on; the fact table above shows the platforms each one runs on.

More comparisons

All Make alternatives →All Refly.ai alternatives →Browse all Workflow Automation Platforms →