SmartStaff.io vs Make.com
SmartStaff.io
AI colleagues grouped into teams that run a repeatable process; every run drafts a plan a human approves before any work executes.
Free / €19.99 / €49.99 / €99.99 per month, Enterprise on request
Make.com
Visual no-code automation (Celonis-owned, Prague origin) with a canvas-based AI Agent module in open beta; EU/US region choice at signup.
Free; Core $12/mo; Teams $38/mo; Enterprise custom
Visit Make.comEvery row below was checked against Make.com's own documentation on August 3, 2026, and against our source code for our column. Nothing here is inferred from a competitor's marketing claims.
Where we are ahead
Capabilities where SmartStaff.io does more than Make.com.
Per-run plan drafted before any work executes
YesSmartStaff.ioNoMake.comDoes each execution produce a plan artefact before the first unit of work runs?
Plan visible to a human before execution
YesSmartStaff.ioNoMake.comCan a person read that plan before the work starts?
Plan editable by a human before execution
YesSmartStaff.ioNoMake.comCan a person rewrite, reorder or drop steps and then approve?
Gate is ON by default, not opt-in
YesSmartStaff.ioNoMake.comOut of the box, does a human have to approve something before side effects happen?
Confidence score computed structurally, not self-reported
YesSmartStaff.ioNoMake.comIs there a plan/run confidence score derived from checkable structure rather than asked of the model?
Human feedback automatically changes later runs
YesSmartStaff.ioNoMake.comDoes a correction on a finished run alter behaviour on subsequent runs without a human editing a prompt?
Nothing, and Make documents the opposite: the improvement loop is to paste your Instructions plus execution steps into 'LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude', get a rewritten prompt, and paste it back by hand. Section title: 'AI-improved instructions'.
Learned rules are scoped and human-auditable
PartlySmartStaff.ioNoMake.comCan a person list what the system has learned, see where it was applied, and retire it?
Multi-agent team with role-specialised members
YesSmartStaff.ioPartlyMake.comIs a team of differently-roled agents a first-class product concept?
Per-agent knowledge base (RAG)
YesSmartStaff.ioPartlyMake.comCan knowledge be attached to an individual agent and retrieved at run time?
External AI client can clear a human gate over MCP
YesSmartStaff.ioNoMake.comCan Claude/ChatGPT approve or reject pending work through the MCP surface?
Self-hosting / customer-controlled deployment
PartlySmartStaff.ioNoMake.comCan the customer run it in infrastructure they control?
Documented control over LLM inference region
PartlySmartStaff.ioNoMake.comIs there a documented way to constrain where the prompt is processed, or to bring your own model?
Czech-language product UI
YesSmartStaff.ioNoMake.comIs the product interface available in Czech?
NO, despite the deepest Czech operational roots of any vendor here: Celonis s.r.o. (IČO 29152861, incorporated 2013-01-10 — the original Integromat entity), most hiring in Prague, and Make Waves '26 in Prague 19-20 Oct 2026. make.com/cs returns HTTP 403, there are no hreflang tags and Profile settings exposes no locale option. Czechia is a supplier to Make, not a market.
Where Make.com is ahead
We are not going to pretend these do not exist. If one of them decides your case, buy theirs.
Process definition separate from execution
PartlySmartStaff.ioYesMake.comIs there a durable process definition distinct from an individual run of it?
Process definition versioned (history + rollback)
NoSmartStaff.ioYesMake.comIs there version history with a way back to a previous version?
Trigger: schedule / cron
NoSmartStaff.ioYesMake.comCan a run start on a schedule?
Trigger: Slack / Teams
NoSmartStaff.ioYesMake.comCan work be started from a chat platform?
Non-interactive API credential (API keys)
PartlySmartStaff.ioYesMake.comIs there a machine credential, so server-to-server callers need not hold a user session?
SOC 2 Type II
NoSmartStaff.ioYesMake.comIs there a SOC 2 Type II report?
ISO 27001
NoSmartStaff.ioYesMake.comIs the vendor ISO 27001 certified (not merely 'aligned' or engaged)?
Where we are level
Both platforms answer these the same way.
Per-action (tool call) approval
NoSmartStaff.ioNoMake.comCan an individual tool call be gated mid-execution?
An approvalMode field (auto-run | approval-required) exists in the OLD agent app's API schema with no help-centre or UI documentation; the new canvas agent app has no approval field at all. Make's own best-practice doc tells you to hand-build a Slack round-trip.
Final-output approval
NoSmartStaff.ioNoMake.comIs there a review gate on the deliverable before it is sent?
Staging/prod environments or git sync
NoSmartStaff.ioNoMake.comIs there a promotion path between environments, or git-backed source control?
Prebuilt agent catalogue (personas, not workflow templates)
PartlySmartStaff.ioPartlyMake.comCan you adopt a ready-made agent persona, as opposed to a workflow template?
MCP client
YesSmartStaff.ioYesMake.comCan it consume external MCP servers as tools?
MCP server
YesSmartStaff.ioYesMake.comDoes it expose itself over MCP to external AI clients?
Trigger: webhook / API
YesSmartStaff.ioYesMake.comCan an outside system start a run over HTTP?
Trigger: platform-issued inbound email address
YesSmartStaff.ioYesMake.comDoes the platform mint an address that starts a run, as opposed to polling a mailbox you own?
Webhooks > Custom mailhook generates a dedicated address; forwarding fires the scenario instantly, with documented message-ID/in-reply-to/references handling for threads.
Run audit trail / event timeline
YesSmartStaff.ioYesMake.comIs there a per-run record of what happened, step by step?
EU data residency for application data
YesSmartStaff.ioYesMake.comIs there a documented EU location for the customer's stored data?
'Make supports two data center locations: United States (US) and European Union (EU)' and 'You cannot change the location of the data center after you create the organization'. Zones eu1/eu2.
Not verified
We could not confirm these from Make.com's own material. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence — ask them.
Diff between versions
NoSmartStaff.ioNot verifiedMake.comCan two versions be compared side by side?
MCP server with OAuth 2.1
YesSmartStaff.ioNot verifiedMake.comIs that MCP server protected by OAuth 2.1 with spec discovery, rather than a static bearer key?
Every run drafts a plan you approve before any work happens. The free plan needs no card.
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