Make vs Tray.ai (and why Shopstory is better)

When evaluating Make vs Tray.ai for your workflow automation needs, the decision often hinges on the complexity of your requirements and your technical expertise. Make is a low-code tool designed for users with basic technical knowledge, while Tray.ai targets enterprise-level businesses that need robust, customizable solutions for handling large-scale automation. Both platforms excel in their respective areas but lack the focus on ecommerce and performance marketing that many businesses require.

In this article, we’ll dive into the Make vs Tray.ai comparison across pricing, ease of use, workflow capabilities, scalability, and integrations. Finally, we’ll introduce Shopstory as the better alternative for ecommerce businesses and performance marketers, particularly those looking to streamline ad campaigns and optimize product feeds.

TL;DR

The Make vs Tray.ai comparison highlights that Make is more suitable for small-to-medium businesses looking for affordable, low-code automation, while Tray.ai caters to enterprises with complex workflows and integrations. However, both platforms fall short in delivering ecommerce-specific capabilities or native support for PPC campaign management.

Shopstory bridges this gap by offering powerful automation tailored to ecommerce and performance marketing. Its integrations with Shopify, Google Merchant Center, and Google Ads make it a superior choice for businesses looking to optimize product feeds and campaigns effectively.

A head-to-head comparison of Make vs Tray.ai (vs Shopstory)

1. Make vs Tray.ai: A Summary

Make and Tray.ai serve different types of users, each offering unique benefits. Make is a cost-effective, user-friendly platform for creating automations, while Tray.ai targets enterprises with advanced requirements. Below, we compare their key features.

1.1 Pricing

Make: Make’s freemium plan includes 1,000 operations per month, making it ideal for individuals or small teams testing out automation. Paid plans start at $10.59/month, but costs can escalate quickly as the number of operations and scenarios increases.

Tray.ai: Tray.ai pricing starts at approximately $695/month, targeting enterprise users. This pricing includes advanced support and premium features, but it lacks transparency, with exact costs depending on the number of workflows and integrations required.

Key Takeaway: Make is affordable for small-scale automation, but its scalability is limited by operational costs. Tray.ai’s enterprise pricing is cost-prohibitive for smaller businesses, though it delivers robust features for large organizations.

1.2 Ease of Use

Make: Make’s drag-and-drop interface is designed for users with minimal technical expertise, making it accessible for small teams. However, advanced workflows with routers and iterators may require a deeper understanding of automation concepts.

Tray.ai: Tray.ai provides a visual interface, but it is more complex, requiring significant technical knowledge to create and manage workflows. Its enterprise-grade features are best suited for IT teams and experienced developers.

Key Takeaway: Make offers greater accessibility for non-technical users, while Tray.ai’s complexity caters to organizations with in-house technical expertise.

1.3 Templates and Workflow Capabilities

Make: Make provides a library of pre-built templates for various use cases, enabling users to quickly launch workflows. These templates are easy to customize but may lack the depth required for highly complex tasks.

Tray.ai: Tray.ai also offers pre-built connectors and workflows, but its primary strength lies in its ability to handle complex data processing and API integrations. Customization options are robust but require technical expertise.

Key Takeaway: Make is more user-friendly with its templates, while Tray.ai excels in advanced workflow customization for enterprise-grade automations.

1.4 Scalability for High-Volume Tasks

Make: Make’s operation-based pricing and execution limits hinder its scalability. Workflows that involve large datasets or frequent executions can exhaust monthly quotas, forcing users to upgrade plans.

Tray.ai: Tray.ai is built for scalability, supporting high-volume data processing and unlimited workflow executions. This makes it ideal for enterprises with large-scale automation needs, but the high costs may deter smaller businesses.

Key Takeaway: Tray.ai is the better choice for handling high-volume tasks, while Make struggles to scale effectively due to its operational limits.

1.5 Ecommerce and Marketing Integrations

Make: Make offers integrations with Shopify and Google Ads but lacks native tools for specialized ecommerce tasks like product feed optimization or inventory syncing. Customization is required for these use cases.

Tray.ai: Tray.ai provides powerful API integrations for various platforms, but it doesn’t offer pre-built support for ecommerce-specific workflows. Setting up automations for marketing or product management often requires extensive customization.

Key Takeaway: Neither platform fully addresses the needs of ecommerce businesses or performance marketers, leaving a gap for more specialized tools.

2. Alternative to Make vs Tray.ai: Shopstory

While Make and Tray.ai are versatile platforms, Shopstory stands out as a superior solution for ecommerce businesses and performance marketers. With its no-code setup, specialized workflows, and deep integrations, Shopstory simplifies automation for campaigns and product feed management.

2.1 Pricing & Scalability

Shopstory starts at €199/month and includes a freemium model with one free activated flow forever, offering unlimited actions and executions. Unlike Make’s operation-based pricing or Tray.ai’s high enterprise costs, Shopstory provides predictable pricing that scales with your business.

This pricing model is ideal for ecommerce businesses managing extensive product catalogs or running multi-channel ad campaigns, ensuring affordability and scalability as operations grow.

2.2 Ecommerce & Product Feed Automation

Shopstory excels in automating workflows for ecommerce businesses, offering tools for seamless product feed management and optimization. These features ensure accurate, up-to-date product data across platforms, reducing manual tasks and enhancing operational efficiency.

Here are some Shopstory examples:

• Create Supplemental Feed with Performance-Based Labels: Automatically assign labels like “Best Performer” to products based on metrics such as sales or click-through rates.
• Suggest SEO-Friendly Product Titles: Use Google Search Console data to generate optimized product titles, improving visibility in search results.
• Sync Inventory Data Across Platforms: Keep inventory updated across Shopify, Google Merchant Center, and other platforms to avoid overselling.
• Export Daily Orders to Google Sheets: Automate the export of order data to Google Sheets for easier tracking and management.

These capabilities make Shopstory a powerful tool for maintaining clean, optimized product feeds and streamlining ecommerce operations.

2.3 Performance Marketing Optimization

Shopstory simplifies PPC campaign management by automating budget adjustments, keyword optimizations, and cross-channel reporting. Its ability to integrate with Google Ads and Meta Ads ensures campaigns are continuously optimized for maximum ROI.

Here are some Shopstory examples:

• Adjust Google Ads Budget Based on ROAS Threshold: Dynamically increase or decrease budgets based on real-time ROAS performance.
• Pause Non-Converting Keywords in Google Ads: Identify and disable underperforming keywords to optimize ad spend.
• Reactivate Converting Keywords: Automatically reinstate keywords that show improved performance after being paused.
• Get Notified About Campaign Performance Drops: Receive alerts for campaigns that fall below set performance benchmarks, allowing for timely adjustments.

By automating these tasks, Shopstory enables marketers to focus on strategy rather than manual campaign management.

2.4 Ease of Use and No-Code Platform

Shopstory’s intuitive drag-and-drop builder is designed for non-technical users, making it easy to create and manage workflows. Its Flow Library includes ready-to-use templates with step-by-step instructions, allowing businesses to launch automations in minutes.

This accessibility, combined with Shopstory’s advanced features, makes it a superior choice for businesses of all sizes.

3. Get Started For Free

Shopstory offers a risk-free freemium model where users can activate one flow forever, including unlimited actions and executions. This allows businesses to explore Shopstory’s capabilities for product feed management and campaign optimization without any upfront costs.

The freemium plan requires no credit card, providing a secure and straightforward way to test Shopstory’s features.

Make vs Tray.ai: Our Conclusion

While Make vs Tray.ai highlights their respective strengths, their limitations make them less suitable for ecommerce businesses and performance marketers. Make’s operational limits and learning curve hinder scalability, while Tray.ai’s high costs and complexity make it inaccessible for smaller teams.

Shopstory addresses these gaps with its ecommerce-specific features, cross-channel PPC automation, and user-friendly no-code platform. Its ability to optimize product feeds and manage ad campaigns makes it the ideal solution for businesses looking to streamline operations and scale effectively.

Ready to elevate your ecommerce and marketing efforts? Get started for FREE with Shopstory today!