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Make.com connects your apps and automates repetitive tasks — without writing a single line of code. By the end of this article, you’ll have a working automation that captures a new lead from a Typeform form, adds them to HubSpot, and sends a personalized Gmail follow-up. All of it running while you sleep, on the free plan.
This is a hands-on make.com tutorial built for small business owners, not developers. If you can drag a box and click a button, you can build this.
What Make.com Is (And How It Stacks Up Against Zapier)
Make.com (formerly Integromat) is a visual automation platform. You build “scenarios” — flowcharts that move data between apps automatically. When X happens in App A, Make does Y in App B and Z in App C.
It connects over 1,500 apps: Google Workspace, Slack, Shopify, Airtable, HubSpot, Stripe, Typeform, and hundreds more. The drag-and-drop visual canvas is the single biggest UX advantage Make.com has over competitors — you can see your entire automation as a map, not a linear checklist.
Make.com vs Zapier in 3 sentences: Make.com’s Core plan runs $9/month versus Zapier’s comparable Starter tier at $19.99/month — you get roughly the same capability for half the price. Make.com also handles multi-step logic, filters, and data transformation in ways Zapier charges premium tiers for. If you just need one dead-simple two-step zap and never want to think about automation again, Zapier is faster to set up; for everything else, Make.com wins on price and power.
Setting Up Your Account and Understanding the Free Plan
Go to [Make.com][MAKE.COM AFFILIATE LINK] and click Get started free. Sign up with Google or email — the whole process takes under two minutes.
Once you’re in, here’s what the make.com free plan gives you:
| Feature | Free Plan |
|---|---|
| Operations/month | 1,000 |
| Active scenarios | 2 |
| Minimum interval | 15 minutes |
| App integrations | All 1,500+ |
| Webhooks | Yes |
One critical thing to understand: one operation = one module action in a scenario. If your scenario has 3 modules and it runs once, that’s 3 operations. Run it 100 times a month, that’s 300 operations. The free plan’s 1,000 operations go further than you think for a lead flow that fires 20–50 times a month.
The free plan fully supports Typeform, HubSpot, and Gmail — the exact tools you’ll use in this tutorial. No credit card required, no upgrade needed to follow along.
Understanding Scenarios, Modules, and Operations
Before you build anything, get these three terms locked in. They’ll appear everywhere in Make.com’s interface.
Scenario
A scenario is one complete automation — the whole flowchart from trigger to final action. Think of it as a recipe. You can have 2 active scenarios on the free plan, unlimited on paid plans.
Module
A module is a single step inside a scenario. It’s either a trigger (something that starts the flow) or an action (something Make does in response). In your lead flow: Typeform is the trigger module, HubSpot and Gmail are action modules. Each module represents a connected app doing one specific job.
Operation
Every time a module runs, that’s one operation. Three modules, one scenario run = 3 operations consumed. Make.com counts these against your monthly limit. If you’re on the free plan, stay aware of how often your scenarios fire.
A few other things you’ll see:
- Routes — split your flow into branches (if/then logic)
- Filters — only continue if a condition is met (e.g., only process leads from the US)
- Aggregators / Iterators — batch or loop through data (more advanced, ignore for now)
That’s enough to build your first scenario. Everything else you’ll pick up as you go.
Your First Scenario: The Lead-to-CRM Build (Typeform → HubSpot → Gmail)
This automation does three things automatically when someone submits your Typeform lead form:
1. Captures the submission data
2. Creates a new contact in HubSpot
3. Sends them a personalized follow-up email from your Gmail
You need a Typeform account (free tier works), a HubSpot account (free CRM works), and a Gmail account. All three are free.
Step 1 — Create a New Scenario
From your Make.com dashboard, click Create a new scenario in the top right. You’ll land on the visual canvas — a dark workspace with a single circle in the middle. That circle is where your first module goes.
Step 2 — Add the Typeform Trigger Module
Click the circle. A search bar appears. Type Typeform and select it from the list.
Choose Watch Responses as the trigger type. This tells Make: “Every time someone submits this form, start the scenario.”
Make will ask you to connect your Typeform account — click Add, log into Typeform in the pop-up, and authorize access. Then select the specific form you want to watch from the dropdown.
Under Limit, set it to 1 for now (processes one response per run during testing).
Click OK.
Step 3 — Map the HubSpot Action Module
Hover over your Typeform module. You’ll see a small + button appear on the right edge. Click it to add the next module.
Search for HubSpot CRM and select it. Choose Create/Update a Contact as the action.
Connect your HubSpot account the same way you connected Typeform — click Add, authorize, done.
Now comes field mapping — this is where most beginners pause. It looks intimidating, but it’s just pointing Make to the right data.
In the Email field, click inside the input box. A panel opens on the right showing all the data fields your Typeform trigger captured (name, email, phone, etc.). Click the field that holds the email address — probably labeled Email or whatever you named it in your form. Make inserts a blue “pill” token into the field.
Do the same for First Name, Last Name, and any other fields you want mapped to HubSpot. You’re telling Make: “Take this piece of data from Typeform and put it here in HubSpot.”
Click OK.
Step 4 — Add the Gmail Action Module
Click the + on the HubSpot module to add a third step.
Search for Gmail and select it. Choose Send an Email as the action.
Connect your Gmail account when prompted.
Fill in the fields:
– To: Map the email field from Typeform (same blue pill token approach)
– Subject: Type something like Thanks for reaching out, [First Name] — map the first name token from Typeform into the subject line
– Content: Write your follow-up message. Map in the first name again to personalize the opening line.
Click OK.
Step 5 — Run the Scenario to Test It
Before you turn this on permanently, test it with real data.
First, submit a test entry to your Typeform. Use your own email so you can confirm the Gmail send works.
Back in Make.com, click Run once in the bottom left of the canvas. Make will check Typeform for new submissions, process the one you just submitted, fire the HubSpot module, and send the Gmail.
Watch the bubbles on each module — a green checkmark means it succeeded. A number badge on each bubble shows how many records were processed.
Click on any module’s bubble to inspect the exact data that flowed through it. This is Make.com’s debugging view — if something goes wrong, this is where you find out why.
If everything shows green: click the Scheduling toggle in the bottom left to turn the scenario on. Make will now check for new Typeform submissions every 15 minutes (free plan) and run the full flow automatically.
You just built a working make.com automation. That flow — trigger, action, action — is the foundation of every scenario you’ll ever build.
Make.com Pricing: When the Free Plan Runs Out
The free plan handles a legitimate small business automation load if you’re just starting out. Here’s an honest breakdown of when each tier makes sense.
| Plan | Price | Operations/mo | Scenarios | When to upgrade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1,000 | 2 | Starting out, low volume |
| Core | $9/mo | 10,000 | Unlimited | Running 3+ scenarios or higher lead volume |
| Pro | $16/mo | 10,000 | Unlimited | Need custom variables, full-text execution log, priority execution |
Free plan reality check: 1,000 operations sounds like a lot, but a 3-module scenario that runs 100 times a month eats 300 operations. Add two more scenarios at similar volume and you’re close to the cap. The moment you hit a wall, the Core plan at $9/month is a no-brainer — 10x the operations for less than a Netflix subscription.
Core vs. Pro: Most small businesses don’t need Pro. The standout Pro features are custom variables (store and reuse data across a scenario run) and priority execution queuing. If your automations are time-sensitive — like processing payments or time-triggered client communications — Pro’s priority execution is worth the extra $7/month. Otherwise, stay on Core.
For context on make.com vs zapier pricing: Zapier’s Starter plan costs $19.99/month and gives you 750 tasks with 5-minute update intervals. Make.com Core gives you 10,000 operations at $9/month. The math is not close.
Make.com vs Zapier: The Honest Verdict
If you’re coming from Zapier or considering both, here’s the bottom line.
Make.com wins on price — $9/month versus Zapier’s $19.99 for comparable functionality. Make.com also wins on complexity: multi-branch logic, data transformation, and looping are built into the core product, not locked behind a $50+/month plan. Zapier has the edge in raw simplicity — if you need a two-step automation and want to set it up in under five minutes with zero learning curve, Zapier’s interface is more forgiving for absolute beginners. But for any small business running real automations — lead capture, CRM sync, invoice triggers, onboarding flows — Make.com’s visual canvas and pricing structure make it the smarter long-term platform.
Start Building — Your First Scenario Is Waiting
The lead-to-CRM flow you built in this tutorial is a real, production-ready automation. It’s the same logic used in ecommerce stores, service businesses, and SaaS companies processing thousands of leads a month.
The free plan is genuinely useful. You don’t need to spend a dollar to prove this works for your business.
Sign up for Make.com at [MAKE.COM AFFILIATE LINK] — it takes two minutes, and you can have your first scenario live before lunch.
Once you’ve got the Typeform → HubSpot → Gmail flow running, the next move is building a second scenario around your biggest manual time drain. Client onboarding emails, invoice reminders, social media post scheduling — the template library inside Make.com has pre-built starting points for all of it.
Build one. Run it. Then build the next one.
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