Zapier vs Make: Measuring ROI

When building automations, the platform you choose—whether Zapier or Make (formerly Integromat)—dictates how easily you can track and report on your success.

As businesses increasingly rely on these tools, the ability to measure the Return on Investment (ROI) of an automated workflow is becoming a critical skill for any automation consultant or agency.

Tracking Analytics in Zapier

Zapier is incredible for rapid deployment, but its native reporting is heavily focused on internal account usage (e.g., Task History) rather than client-facing business metrics.

How to extract ROI data from Zapier:

1. Paths and Filters: If you use Paths, you can see how many times a specific outcome occurred, but extracting this data programmatically requires the Zapier Manager app.
2. Webhooks by Zapier: The easiest way to track ROI in Zapier is to add a "Webhooks by Zapier" step at the very end of your critical workflows. Send a POST request to an external reporting tool (like Claimr) with a static JSON payload indicating the workflow name and the estimated time saved.

Tracking Analytics in Make

Make provides much more granular control over error handling and execution tracking.

How to extract ROI data from Make:

1. The Make API: You can use the Make API to pull scenario execution logs programmatically. However, this data is raw and highly technical.
2. HTTP Modules: Similar to Zapier, the most reliable method for business reporting is to append an "HTTP Request" module at the end of your scenario.

The Ultimate Solution: Decoupled Reporting

Whether you use Zapier or Make, relying on their native dashboards to show clients your value is a mistake. Clients get confused by "operations" and "tasks."

The best practice for both platforms is decoupled reporting. You should calculate the "Time Saved" and "Money Saved" for each workflow, and use a dedicated endpoint to aggregate those metrics. This ensures that even if you migrate a workflow from Zapier to Make, your historical ROI reporting remains uninterrupted and consistent for your client.