Operations & Tasks (Automation Billing Units)

Automation platforms don't bill by workflow — they bill by the unit of work each run consumes. Zapier counts "tasks" (one per action that moves data), Make counts "operations" (roughly one per module executed), and both meter against a monthly quota. It matters because the sticker price hides the real cost: a single scenario that loops over 500 rows and calls three modules each can burn 1,500 operations in one run, and a five-step Zap firing on every new email can exhaust a plan fast. For founders comparing tools, this is the number that actually determines your bill at scale — not the headline "unlimited zaps." Practical tips: filter early so cheap steps discard irrelevant runs before expensive ones fire, prefer batch or aggregator patterns over per-row loops, and watch how iterators multiply operation counts. Estimate operations per run times run frequency before you commit to a plan.