Make (formerly Integromat) Review for UK Businesses

Make (formerly Integromat) is a robust visual workflow automation platform that empowers UK businesses to connect a vast array of applications and services, automating complex processes without requiring extensive coding knowledge. While not an "AI tool" in itself, its flexibility allows for the integration of AI services (like OpenAI, Google AI, etc.) into automated workflows, making it a powerful enabler of AI-driven process automation.

Key Features for Workflow Automation & AI Integration

Make's strength lies in its visual approach to building sophisticated automations:

1. Visual Workflow Builder (Scenarios)

UK users can design complex, multi-step automations (called "Scenarios") using a drag-and-drop interface. This visual approach makes it easier to understand and manage intricate workflows involving multiple apps and conditional logic.

• Intuitive visual editor for creating and modifying automation flows.
• Connect various app modules (triggers and actions) to build sequences.
• Supports branching logic, error handling, and data iteration.

2. Extensive App & Service Integration Library

Make boasts a vast library of pre-built connectors for thousands of popular web applications and services used by UK businesses, including CRMs, marketing tools, e-commerce platforms, databases, and cloud storage.

• Connect to a wide range of SaaS tools and APIs.
• Modules for common actions like creating records, sending emails, updating spreadsheets, etc.
• Generic HTTP/JSON modules for connecting to almost any web service.

3. Advanced Data Manipulation & Transformation Tools

The platform provides powerful built-in tools for working with data within automations. UK users can parse, transform, map, and aggregate data from different sources, enabling complex data integration and processing workflows.

• Functions for text manipulation, date/time operations, and mathematical calculations.
• Tools for working with arrays, collections, and JSON/XML data.
• Error handlers and routers for managing data flow.

4. Integration of AI Services (e.g., OpenAI, Google AI)

Crucially for AI-driven automation, Make allows UK businesses to easily integrate AI capabilities from providers like OpenAI (ChatGPT), Google AI, and others directly into their workflows. This enables tasks like:

• Sending data to an LLM for analysis, summarisation, or content generation.
• Using AI to classify text, extract entities, or translate languages.
• Triggering actions based on the output of an AI model.
• Automating AI-assisted content creation or data enrichment processes.

Ease of Use & Implementation

While Make's visual builder is more intuitive than coding, its power and flexibility mean there's a steeper learning curve compared to simpler automation tools like Zapier, especially for creating very complex scenarios. UK users with some technical aptitude or a logical mindset will find it easier to master. Implementation involves connecting apps (authorising access) and then designing the scenarios. Make provides extensive documentation, tutorials, and a community forum to support users.

Pricing & Plans (UK Focus)

Make offers several subscription tiers, including a free plan. Pricing is typically based on the number of "operations" (steps executed in your scenarios) and data transfer volume per month. Prices are usually in USD.

• Free Plan: Offers a limited number of operations and active scenarios, suitable for UK individuals or very small businesses testing the platform or automating simple tasks.
• Core/Pro/Teams/Enterprise Plans: (e.g., starting from ~$9-$29 USD/month and scaling up). These offer increasing numbers of operations, more complex features (like advanced scheduling, error handling), higher data transfer limits, and more team collaboration features.

UK businesses should carefully estimate their expected operational volume and data usage to choose the appropriate plan. Check the official Make website for current pricing and consider currency conversion and VAT.

Customer Support & UK Availability

Make provides support through various channels:

• Comprehensive Help Centre & Documentation: Detailed guides and API references.
• Community Forum: Active user community for peer support and sharing solutions.
• Email Support: Available for users, with response times potentially varying by plan.
• Premium Support Options: For enterprise UK clients.

Pros for UK Businesses

• Powerful Visual Workflow Automation: Excellent for designing complex, multi-step automations.
• Extensive App Integration: Connects with a vast number of services relevant to UK businesses.
• Advanced Data Handling: Strong tools for transforming and manipulating data within workflows.
• Flexible AI Integration: Easily incorporate AI services from various providers into automations.
• Scalable & Robust: Can handle complex business processes and offers good error handling.
• Cost-Effective for Complex Automations: Can be more economical than custom development for sophisticated workflows.

Cons for UK Businesses

• Steeper Learning Curve: More complex to master than simpler automation tools, especially for non-technical UK users.
• Operation-Based Pricing: Costs can become high if scenarios run very frequently or process large amounts of data. Careful planning is needed.
• USD Pricing: UK users need to account for currency conversion and VAT.
• Debugging Complex Scenarios: Troubleshooting intricate workflows can sometimes be challenging.

Alternatives to Make (formerly Integromat)

For UK businesses looking for workflow automation and AI integration:

• Zapier AI: Generally considered easier to use for simpler automations, with a very large app library.
• UiPath / Automation Anywhere: More focused on RPA and enterprise-level process automation, often with higher complexity and cost.
• No-code/low-code platforms with built-in automation features (e.g., Airtable Automations, Notion API integrations).

Verdict & Recommendation for UK Businesses

Make (formerly Integromat) is an exceptionally powerful and versatile visual workflow automation platform that is highly recommended for UK businesses, particularly those needing to automate complex, multi-step processes involving multiple applications and data transformations. Its ability to easily integrate with third-party AI services makes it a fantastic tool for building sophisticated AI-driven automations without extensive coding.

While it has a steeper learning curve than some simpler tools, the level of control, flexibility, and power it offers is significant. For UK businesses looking to move beyond basic task automation and create robust, intelligent workflows that can handle complex logic and data manipulation, Make is a top-tier choice. Its operational pricing model requires careful planning, but for the right use cases, the efficiency gains and capabilities unlocked can provide substantial ROI.