Make

Make (formerly Integromat) is a visual automation platform that connects your existing software tools and triggers actions automatically when things happen. For trade businesses, the most common use cases are: sending a follow-up SMS when a new quote is viewed, creating a job in your scheduling tool when a customer books online, or requesting a Google review 48 hours after an invoice is marked paid.

Make vs Zapier: Make is generally more powerful — it handles multi-step, conditional logic and data transformation better, and is more cost-effective at high automation volumes. Zapier is simpler to set up and has broader app support. Most serious automation setups use Make.

What it requires: Make is a plumbing layer — it connects other tools, but you need those tools already in place. It's not something you'd install first. It typically comes into play once you have your job management, CRM, and accounting tools in place and want to make them talk to each other automatically.

The visual scenario builder is genuinely easy to use once you understand the model — most non-technical users can build simple automations within an afternoon. Complex multi-step workflows benefit from implementation support.