Make vs Typeform
Side-by-side total cost of ownership: subscription fees, labor, hidden costs, and AI alternatives.
Published pricing
The subscription is only part of the cost.
| Make | Typeform | |
|---|---|---|
| Published rate | $9/seat/mo | $28/seat/mo |
| Team size modeled | 5 | 5 |
| Annual subscription | $540/yr | $1,680/yr |
What the invoice doesn't show
Make
Make charges per 'credit' (rebranded from 'operations' in August 2025 at a 1:1 conversion rate), not per workflow run. A 5-step automation processing 1,000 records uses 5,000 credits. The free tier is 1,000 credits/month — a single mid-complexity automation can exhaust it in minutes. Teams quickly need Core ($12/mo, 10K credits) or Pro ($21/mo, 10K credits).
Free plans limit scenario execution to 15-minute minimum intervals. Real-time automation for time-sensitive workflows (order processing, support triggers, inventory alerts) requires at minimum the Pro plan. The jump from $0 to real-time execution costs $21/month regardless of actual usage.
Make's per-credit model means complex, multi-branch automations with routers, iterators, and error handlers consume significantly more credits than expected. Teams building enterprise-grade workflows regularly run over their budgets and face overages at $0.001 per extra credit. AI modules compound costs further — unlike standard modules (1 credit each), Make's native AI toolkit steps charge variable rates based on tokens and file size processed.
Collaboration requires upgrading to the Teams plan ($38/mo). Core and Pro plans support only 1 active user per account. A 3-person operations team is forced to Teams pricing — paying $38/mo for collaboration features that competitors include in every tier.
Typeform
Basic at $28/month (billed annually) allows only 100 responses per month — when that ceiling is hit, the form closes and subsequent submissions are silently dropped. A campaign reaching 200 responses forces an upgrade to Plus at $56/month, doubling the bill for 10× the capacity.
Typeform branding removal ('Powered by Typeform') is gated to Plus ($56/month annual) and above — the white-label threshold is more than double the $28/month Basic entry price. Teams on Basic pay for the tool and advertise it at the same time.
The Contacts & Automations add-on — Typeform's internal lead segmentation and automation layer — costs an additional $25/month (2,400 actions) or $75/month (12,000 actions) stacked on top of the base plan, and is unavailable on Basic entirely. The functional floor for automated lead routing is $81/month: $56 Plus + $25 add-on.
Annual plans carry no prorated refund on cancellation — you pay through the end of the contracted period regardless of use. Vendr's data from 33 enterprise Typeform purchases shows a median contract of $9,449/year, with inactive negotiators facing renewal price increases of 5–15%.
What teams are switching to
Replacing Make
n8n
Free (self-hosted), Cloud from $24/mo
Open-source workflow automation with no operation limits. Self-hosted on your own server for near-zero marginal cost; n8n Cloud starts at $24/month. 400+ integrations, visual builder, AI Agent nodes, and no per-operation charges regardless of workflow complexity.
Zapier
Free (100 tasks/mo), Professional from $29.99/mo (750 tasks)
7,000+ app integrations vs Make's 1,800+, with task-based pricing that is easier to predict for simple workflows. AI Zap builder creates automations from plain-language descriptions. Better suited for non-technical users who don't need advanced data transformation.
Activepieces
Free (10 active flows, unlimited runs), Standard $5/active flow/mo
Open-source, MIT-licensed alternative with drag-and-drop workflow builder and no operation counting. Cloud plan is free for up to 1,000 runs/month. Growing integration library — best for teams that want Make's visual power without per-step billing.
Replacing Typeform
Tally
Free (unlimited submissions, no response cap); Pro $24/month; Business $74/month
Unlimited form submissions on the free tier — the structural cost-driver Typeform charges against — while reserving paid tiers for team and data features. Branding removal, custom domains, partial submissions, and collaboration are all available at $24/month Pro, less than Typeform Basic.
Fillout
Free (1,000 responses/month, unlimited seats); Starter $15/month (2,000 responses); Pro $40/month (5,000 responses); Business $75/month (unlimited responses)
AI-powered form builder with 1,000 free responses/month and unlimited seats across all tiers. Branding removal and custom emails unlock at the $40/month Pro plan; unlimited responses arrive at $75/month Business — both below Typeform's equivalent tiers and with no seat-count limit.
Jotform
Starter free (100 submissions/month, 5 forms); Bronze $34/month annual (1,000 submissions); Silver $39/month annual (2,500 submissions); Gold $99/month annual (10,000 submissions, HIPAA)
Broad submission limits with native AI Agents — conversational form intake, voice, and SMS — included across all tiers. Bronze at $34/month annual allows 1,000 submissions across 25 forms, comparable to Typeform Plus at $56/month, with AI-assisted form building and 25 active AI Agents bundled in.
StackCut doesn't sell or recommend any of these tools. We show them for context. The decision is yours.
Total Cost of Ownership
Subscription fees plus labor and error costs, modeled at $50/hr loaded rate (BLS ECEC).
| Cost Component | Make | Typeform |
|---|---|---|
| Annual subscription | $540 | $1,680 |
| Labor cost | $7,200 | $7,200 |
| Error & rework cost | $2,400 | $2,400 |
| Total Cost of Ownership | $10,140/yr | $11,280/yr |
| Est. AI alternative | $2,188/yr | $2,188/yr |
Labor rate based on BLS ECEC June 2025 ($45.65/hr private industry total compensation, rounded to $50). Team sizes differ because each vendor targets different market segments. Your actual numbers depend on team size, role mix, and usage. Run it with your own data.
Which one fits your team?
Both Make and Typeformcost more than their published pricing suggests. The right choice depends on your team size and how you weigh each tool's trade-offs.
Make starts at $9/seat/mo , but watch for Make charges per 'credit' (rebranded from 'operations' in August 2025 at a 1:1 conversion rate), not per workflow run. A 5-step automation processing 1,000 records uses 5,000 credits. The free tier is 1,000 credits/month — a single mid-complexity automation can exhaust it in minutes. Teams quickly need Core ($12/mo, 10K credits) or Pro ($21/mo, 10K credits).
Typeform starts at $28/seat/mo , but watch for Basic at $28/month (billed annually) allows only 100 responses per month — when that ceiling is hit, the form closes and subsequent submissions are silently dropped. A campaign reaching 200 responses forces an upgrade to Plus at $56/month, doubling the bill for 10× the capacity.
An AI-native alternative may replace the workflow at a fraction of the TCO.
See all SaaS cost comparisonsBrowse alternatives for every tool
FAQ
Make vs Typeform: quick answers
Is Make or Typeform cheaper?
On total cost of ownership, Make runs about $10,140/year (5-person team) versus $11,280/year for Typeform (5-person team) once labor and hidden costs are counted, not just the published subscription. Adjust the inputs to your own team to compare them directly.
What can replace Make or Typeform?
Make is often replaced by n8n and Zapier; Typeform by Tally and Fillout. StackCut shows the cost case for each AI-first alternative without taking referral fees.
What are the hidden costs of Make and Typeform?
Make: Make charges per 'credit' (rebranded from 'operations' in August 2025 at a 1:1 conversion rate), not per workflow run. A 5-step automation processing 1,000 records uses 5,000 credits. The free tier is 1,000 credits/month — a single mid-complexity automation can exhaust it in minutes. Teams quickly need Core ($12/mo, 10K credits) or Pro ($21/mo, 10K credits). Typeform: Basic at $28/month (billed annually) allows only 100 responses per month — when that ceiling is hit, the form closes and subsequent submissions are silently dropped. A campaign reaching 200 responses forces an upgrade to Plus at $56/month, doubling the bill for 10× the capacity.
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