Comparison · Chromoly vs Make
Make is a strong visual automation tool - thousands of app connections, flexible scenarios, fair pricing for light use. But it has a structural limit: it only wires other tools together. The data lives elsewhere, the logic lives in flowcharts, and when a scenario breaks, it breaks silently. Chromoly generates the system itself and runs the automation inside it.
| Chromoly | Make | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Generates the system + runs automations inside it | Integration layer wiring existing tools together |
| How you build | Plain language → generated system and workflows | Drag modules into visual scenarios |
| Where data lives | Your own generated database, isolated and exportable | In the other tools - Make holds nothing |
| Failure handling | Run logging, retries with backoff, alerts - nothing fails silently | Per-scenario error handling you configure yourself |
| Safe changes | Dependency map + blast-radius preview before changes ship | Edit the scenario and hope - no dependency model across scenarios |
| AI | Native AI steps with cost caps, fallback, and human approval gates | AI modules wired in like any other app |
| Screens for humans | Full generated UI - lists, detail views, approvals, client portals | None - Make is headless |
| AI-agent access | MCP endpoint on every build | MCP for building scenarios; your business data stays in other tools |
| Pricing model | Flat tiers from $59/mo; automation runs at 0.02 credits | Operations-based from ~$9-16/mo; extra operation packs cost more per unit |
| Data residency | EU by default (Ireland), GDPR-ready | EU regions available |
Make's model is honest about what it is: glue. When your lead flow is "form → enrich → sheet → notify", glue works. But most businesses outgrow it the same way: the sheet becomes the CRM, the scenarios multiply, nobody remembers which scenario touches which column, and one renamed field breaks three automations without a sound.
Chromoly starts from the other end. The system - entities, screens, workflows - is generated as one described whole, from a structured blueprint (the AppSpec). Automations are steps inside that system, so the platform knows what depends on what, shows the blast radius before any change, monitors every run, and alerts you on failure. The glue becomes structure.
It depends what you're automating. Make is an integration layer - excellent at wiring existing tools together with visual scenarios. Chromoly generates the system itself (database, screens, workflows) and runs automations inside it, monitored and dependency-mapped. If your automation's real problem is that the data has no proper home, Chromoly replaces both the spreadsheet and the scenario stack.
By default, you find out when someone notices missing data - scenarios fail on their own, and error handling is something you build per scenario. In Chromoly, every workflow run is logged, failed steps retry with backoff, and repeated failures alert you. Nothing fails silently - that's a design rule, not an add-on.
Make charges by operations: plans start around $9-16/month for 10,000 operations, and costs climb with volume - extra operation packs carry a markup. Chromoly uses flat tiers from $59/month where automation runs meter at 0.02 credits each, alongside the generated system itself. For light glue between tools, Make is cheaper; for automations that need a system of record, Chromoly replaces several subscriptions.
Yes. Every Chromoly system accepts inbound webhooks and can call outbound webhooks, so a Make scenario can feed data into your Chromoly system or be triggered by it. Some teams keep Make for exotic third-party connections and let Chromoly own the core system.
Make offers AI modules you can wire into scenarios. Chromoly treats AI as a native workflow step - classify, extract, summarise, score, draft - with cost caps, retries, provider fallback, and human approval gates for anything consequential. The difference is guardrails: Chromoly AI steps route low-confidence results to a review queue instead of acting blindly.
Describe what you need in plain language. Chromoly generates a working preview in your browser - free tier forever, 150 credits/month, no credit card.
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