Visual canvas is the experience
Make's flow editor is one of the most polished on the market. If a clean, intuitive canvas is what your builders want, Make is hard to beat.
Comparison
Renly vs Make: visual flow builder vs agent-first runtime.
Make has one of the best visual workflow canvases on the market. You design every step. Renly is agent-first: the agent plans which steps to take inside policy and approval gates. Different shapes of tool for different shapes of work.
Honest take
How we compared them
Make is great at what it is: a visual scenario builder for deterministic integration work, with intuitive flow design and per-operation pricing. Renly is built for messy, judgement-heavy cross-function work where the agent picks the path. Both tools have a legitimate place; this page helps you pick.
Side-by-side
Where each platform fits
| Dimension | Make | Renly |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Visual workflow builder with AI steps inside scenarios. | Agent-first runtime: agents plan and act inside guardrails. Workflow is one expression of that runtime. |
| Pre-built capability | Strong template gallery for scenarios. AI assist for building flows. | Pre-built agent templates across 22 industries plus natural-language agent building. |
| Connectors | Wide app catalog with strong visual mapping per module. | 22 connected business systems purpose-built for mid-market work with deep read and write semantics. |
| Governance default | Team folders, role permissions, and audit on higher tiers. Workflow-level controls. | A Governed Runtime, default-on from day one: correlated audit trails, approval rules your admins set (sending always needs a person), and fail-closed enforcement on Enterprise. |
| Model flexibility | Connect any LLM via HTTP or dedicated modules. | BYOLLM on Enterprise: OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure OpenAI, Google Gemini with customer-managed keys. |
| Pricing model | Per-operation pricing. Tiered plans on top. | Transparent seat pricing: Free, Pro US$19.99, Pro Plus US$49.99, Enterprise custom. |
| Target buyer | Ops and integration builders who want explicit, designed flows. | Mid-market teams that want goal-driven agents across finance, sales, marketing, ops, HR, and more. |
Where Make wins
Make is the right choice when
Per-operation pricing fits
For scenarios with light, predictable volume, per-operation pricing can be very cost-effective compared to seat licences.
You want explicit, designed flows
When the work is deterministic, you know every branch, and you want full control of every step, an explicit workflow builder beats an agent.
Integration-first use cases
Sync data between SaaS apps, fan out webhooks, build deterministic ETL flows. Make is excellent at this kind of work.
Where Renly wins
Renly is the right choice when
Agent decides the steps
For judgement-heavy work you cannot fully draw in advance, an agent-first runtime adapts. The agent plans the path inside policy and approval gates.
Pre-built across functions
Agent templates across 22 industries cover finance, sales, ops, marketing, HR, engineering, and more. Start working in days, not quarters.
Governance default-on
The Governed Runtime is on by default: writes follow the approval rules your admins set, sending always needs a person, and fail-closed enforcement is available on Enterprise. Audit trails correlate every step the agent took.
Cross-vendor purpose-built connectors
22 connected business systems with deeper read and write semantics than generic SaaS modules. Built for mid-market reality.
Runs the work and proves it
Make runs the flow. Renly runs the work and produces the evidence trail in the same layer: every action attributable to a user, agent, and model and landing in a correlated audit trail, writes following the approval rules your admins set (sending always needs a person), and, on Enterprise, actions blocked rather than bypassed when governance is unavailable.
Decision guide
Which one is right for you
Choose Make when
Your work is deterministic integration, you want a polished visual builder, and per-operation pricing matches your volume.
Choose Renly when
You want agents that plan and act inside guardrails, pre-built templates across 22 industries, default governance, and predictable seat pricing.
Use both when
Make for deterministic integration plumbing, Renly for the governed agent runtime that does cross-function judgement work.
FAQ
Common questions
Is Renly a Make alternative?
For agent-first cross-function work, yes. For deterministic visual workflow design, Make stays the better fit.
Does Make do AI agents?
Make supports AI steps inside scenarios. It is workflow-first with AI as a step, not an agent runtime with planning and memory at its core.
How does pricing compare?
Make is per-operation. Renly is seat-based: Free, Pro US$19.99, Pro Plus US$49.99, Enterprise custom.
Why is agent-first different from workflow-first?
Workflow-first means a human draws every branch. Agent-first means the agent plans the path inside policy and approval gates. Different shapes of work, different shapes of tool.
Can I use both?
Yes. Many teams use Make for deterministic integration scenarios and Renly for governed cross-function agents.
The agent-first runtime for cross-function teams
Renly ships agent templates across 22 industries, connects to 22 business systems, and governs every action by default. Built in Australia by XiPlatform Pty Ltd.