Complete Make.com Guide: Everything You Need to Automate Your Business

What Is Make.com?

Make.com is a visual workflow automation platform. You build "Scenarios" — automated workflows where apps and services are connected through a series of modules (the equivalent of nodes in n8n or steps in Zapier).

Make.com's distinguishing features:

Visual-first: The canvas-based editor makes complex workflows understandable at a glance. Branching paths, parallel processing, and loops all look exactly like you'd expect.

Data manipulation: Make has the best built-in data functions of any no-code automation tool. Math operations, text manipulation, date/time transformations, array operations — all built in.

Error handling: Built-in error routes, automatic retry, and error alerts are more polished than n8n's.

Affordable: Starts at $9/month; much cheaper than Zapier at equivalent functionality.

Getting Started

1. Go to make.com → Create account
2. Dashboard → Create a new Scenario
3. Click the large "+" to add your first module

Every Scenario starts with a trigger module — the event that starts the workflow.

Popular triggers:

• Schedule (every hour, every day, etc.)
• Webhooks (receive data from any service)
• Gmail / Outlook (new email)
• Google Sheets (new row)
• HubSpot (new contact, deal update)
• Airtable (new/updated record)
• HTTP (receive any HTTP request)

Core Concepts

Modules: The building blocks. Each module either triggers something or does something. Make has native modules for 1,200+ services.

Bundles: The data that flows through your Scenario. When a trigger fires with data, that data is a "bundle." Each bundle flows through all your modules in sequence.

Connections: Authentication to your apps. Authorise Make to access each service once; it remembers the connection for all Scenarios.

Operations: Every time a module executes, it uses an operation from your plan's allocation. Your plan includes a number of operations per month.

Data stores: Make's built-in database. Store data between Scenario runs, track state, maintain lists.

Routes: Branches in your Scenario. The Router module splits one input into multiple parallel paths.

Your First Scenario

Goal: When a new Google Sheet row is added, send a Slack notification.

1. Add trigger: Google Sheets → Watch Rows. Connect your Google account. Select spreadsheet and sheet.

1. Add action: Slack → Create a Message. Connect your Slack account. Set channel and message: New row added: {{1.name}} (where 1.name refers to the "name" column from module 1).

1. Test: Click "Run once" to test with real data. Make shows each module's input/output.

1. Schedule: Click "Scheduling" → choose how often the scenario runs (every 15 minutes, every hour, etc.).

1. Activate: Toggle the Scenario from OFF to ON.

Data Mapping

Make uses {{module_number.field_name}} syntax to reference data from previous modules:

• {{1.email}} — email field from module 1
• {{2.id}} — id field from module 2
• {{1.name}} {{1.surname}} — concatenate two fields

Make also has built-in functions:

• {{upper(1.name)}} — uppercase
• {{formatDate(1.created_at; "DD/MM/YYYY")}} — date formatting
• {{substring(1.description; 0; 100)}} — take first 100 characters
• {{if(1.score > 7; "hot"; "warm")}} — conditional value

Routers and Filters

Router module: Creates multiple paths from one input. Route email inquiries to Sales, Support, or Billing based on content.

Filters: Conditions on connections between modules. Only continue if specific conditions are met. Example: "Only if email sender domain = acme.com"

Error routes: If a module fails, route to an error handling path rather than stopping the entire Scenario.

AI Integration

Make doesn't have a native Claude module yet, but the HTTP module handles it:

1. Add HTTP → Make a request module
2. URL: https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages
3. Method: POST
4. Headers: x-api-key, anthropic-version, content-type
5. Body type: Raw, JSON
6. Body: {"model": "claude-sonnet-4-6", "max_tokens": 1024, "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "{{1.text}}"}]}

For OpenAI, Make has a native OpenAI module that's easier to set up.

Scenario Templates

Make's template library has thousands of pre-built Scenarios. Common ones:

• New HubSpot contact → Send welcome email sequence
• Stripe payment → Create invoice → Send to accounting
• New Airtable record → Create Notion page
• Gmail → Classify with AI → Create Zendesk ticket
• RSS feed → Post to social media

Use templates as starting points. Customise to your specific needs.

Recommended Tools

• Make.com — The automation platform
• Claude API — AI via HTTP module
• OpenAI API — AI with native Make module
• HubSpot — CRM with strong Make integration
• Airtable — Data management in Make workflows
• n8n — Consider for self-hosting or more complex needs