make.com content automation 2026: build a workflow on the free plan

Make.com Content Automation 2026: Build a Workflow on the Free Plan

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Make.com Content Automation (2026): Build a Full Workflow on the Free Plan

By NivaaLabs Research Team • Published April 11, 2026 •
🗞️ Current as of April 2026: Make.com module names, free plan limits, and WordPress REST API steps verified against current platform documentation. This guide assumes Make.com’s free plan (1,000 ops/month, 2 scenarios).

📑 Table of Contents

🎯 Quick Summary

Make.com’s free plan is tight — 1,000 operations per month, 2 active scenarios — but it’s enough to run a real content automation workflow. The key is designing lean: one trigger, one research call, one AI call, one publish step, one update step. Five modules. Around 8–10 ops per article run.

Free Plan Limit 1,000 ops/month across 2 scenarios
Ops Per Article Run ~8–10 operations
Articles Per Month (Free) ~100–125 before hitting the limit
Coding Required None — fully visual

Make.com is where the workflow actually lives. It’s the thing that watches your spreadsheet, fires the API calls, and delivers the finished article to WordPress. But it’s also where most people get stuck — not because it’s hard, but because there’s no single guide that covers this specific workflow from start to finish.

This is that guide. Step by step, module by module, with the exact settings that keep you inside the free plan’s operation budget.

What the Make.com Free Plan Actually Gives You

The free plan has three constraints worth understanding before you build:

  • 1,000 operations/month — every module execution in a scenario run costs 1 operation
  • 2 active scenarios — you can have more scenarios saved, but only 2 can be active (scheduled to run) at a time
  • 15-minute minimum interval — the fastest your scenario can check for new work is every 15 minutes

The 15-minute interval is fine for a content workflow. You’re not building a real-time system. The 2-scenario limit means you should build one well-designed scenario rather than splitting logic across multiple. And the 1,000 op limit, at ~10 ops per article, gives you roughly 100 runs per month — plenty for a growing content site.

⚠️ Operations reset monthly, not weekly: Make.com resets your operation count on the same date each month as your account creation date — not the 1st of the month. Check your reset date in your account settings so you don’t get caught by a mid-month reset when you think you have more headroom than you do.

The Scenario Structure

The workflow is a linear chain of five modules. No branching, no loops (for the basic version), no complex logic. Build it in this order and test each connection before adding the next.

Google Sheets (Filter Rows)
        ↓
Tavily (Search)
        ↓
Gemini AI (Generate Content)
        ↓
HTTP (POST to WordPress REST API)
        ↓
Google Sheets (Update Row)

Each module passes data to the next. The Google Sheets row provides the article topic. Tavily uses that topic to fetch research. Gemini receives the research plus your prompt and writes the article. The HTTP module posts the result to WordPress. The final Sheets module marks the row as done so it doesn’t get picked up again.

Module 1: Google Sheets — Filter Rows

This is your trigger. Instead of using the “Watch Rows” module (which uses a webhook or polling cursor), use Filter Rows — it scans your sheet on every run and returns rows matching your filter condition. Simpler, more predictable, and easier to debug.

Key settings:

  • Spreadsheet ID: your Google Sheet’s ID from the URL
  • Sheet Name: whatever you’ve named your content tab
  • Filter: Column B (Status) equals “Write Approved”
  • Limit: 1 — critical. This processes one row per run, keeping ops usage predictable
  • Table contains headers: Yes
💡 Why Limit: 1 matters: Without a limit, Make.com processes every matching row in a single run — one operation per row bundle, per module. If you have 20 approved articles waiting, one run could consume 100+ operations. Setting Limit to 1 processes one article per run, giving you full control over your operation budget.

Module 2: Tavily — Search

Add the native Tavily module (search for “Tavily” in the module browser). Connect your Tavily API key when prompted.

Key settings:

  • Query: map in your article title from the Sheets module. Add context: {{Sheets_module_ID.`3`}} 2026 review pricing plans benchmark features vs alternatives
  • Search Depth: Advanced
  • Max Results: 8
  • Include Raw Content: Yes
  • Chunks Per Source: 3
  • Start Date: 2020-01-01

Module 3: Gemini AI — Generate Content

Make.com has a native Gemini AI module. Add it and connect with your Gemini API key from Google AI Studio.

Key settings:

  • Model: gemini-2.0-flash (fast, free tier, good for long-form)
  • Role: User
  • Content: Your full prompt text, with {{tavily_module.results[]}} injected at the research data section and {{sheets_module.`3`}} for the article topic

The prompt is the most important piece of this entire workflow. A weak prompt produces generic output regardless of how good your research data is. Prompt engineering is covered in depth in Guide 4 of this series — read that before finalising this module.

⚠️ Gemini output length: For long-form articles (2,000+ words), make sure your Gemini module doesn’t have a max tokens limit set too low. The default in some Make.com versions caps output early. Leave the max tokens field empty or set it high (8,000+) to avoid truncated articles.

Module 4: HTTP — POST to WordPress REST API

This is the module that does the actual publishing. Use Make.com’s built-in HTTP → Make a Request module — not a WordPress-specific module, which adds unnecessary complexity.

Before you build this module, set up your WordPress connection:

  1. In WordPress admin, go to Users → Your Profile
  2. Scroll to Application Passwords
  3. Enter a name (e.g. “Make.com”) and click Add New Application Password
  4. Copy the generated password immediately — it won’t be shown again
  5. Your credentials for Basic Auth are: your_wp_username:the_application_password

HTTP module settings:

  • URL: https://yoursite.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts
  • Method: POST
  • Headers: Authorization: Basic [base64 of username:app_password]
  • Content Type: JSON (application/json)
  • Body: JSON object with title, content, excerpt, status, slug, meta fields
{
  "title": "{{sheets.article_title}}",
  "content": "{{gemini_cleaned_output}}",
  "excerpt": "{{parsed_excerpt}}",
  "status": "draft",
  "slug": "{{parsed_slug}}",
  "meta": {
    "_yoast_wpseo_title": "{{parsed_seo_title}}",
    "_yoast_wpseo_metadesc": "{{parsed_meta_description}}"
  }
}
💡 Always post as draft first: Set "status": "draft" until you’ve verified the output quality is consistent. Switch to "publish" only once you trust the full pipeline. One bad auto-published article is harder to clean up than a draft sitting quietly in your WordPress backend.

Module 5: Google Sheets — Update Row

The final module marks the processed row so it won’t be picked up again on the next run. Use Google Sheets → Update a Row.

Map the row number from your Filter Rows module and update column B (Status) to “Published” or “Drafted” — whatever value your filter condition doesn’t match. This is what prevents the same article from being processed twice.

Staying Inside Your Operations Budget

With five modules and Limit: 1 set on your trigger, each scenario run costs exactly 5 operations (one per module). If you add RegExp parsers to clean Gemini’s output, that adds 1 op per parser. A scenario with 10 modules = 10 ops per run = 100 article runs per month on the free plan.

The scheduling sweet spot for free plan users is running the scenario every hour. At 10 ops per run, 24 runs per day = 240 ops. Over 30 days that’s 7,200 ops — but you only have 1,000. So in practice: run on-demand by activating the scenario manually when you have approved rows, or schedule it to run once or twice per day rather than continuously.

Make.com automation workflow for content publishing with Google Sheets and WordPress
A five-module Make.com scenario handles the full pipeline from spreadsheet to WordPress draft. Source: Pexels

🚀 Start Building Your Scenario

Make.com’s free plan requires no credit card. Create your account, start a new scenario, and follow the module order above. The whole thing can be running in an afternoon.

Sign Up for Make.com Free →

No credit card required

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Filter Rows and Watch Rows in Make.com?

Watch Rows uses a cursor to track which rows it has already processed — useful for high-frequency data. Filter Rows scans the sheet on every run and returns rows matching your conditions. For a content workflow where you manually mark rows as approved, Filter Rows is simpler and more predictable. Watch Rows can miss rows if your cursor gets out of sync.

How do I set up WordPress Application Passwords?

Application Passwords are built into WordPress core since version 5.6. Go to Users → Your Profile → Application Passwords section. Enter a name for the connection, click Add New, and copy the generated password. Use your WordPress username and this password for Basic Auth in the Make.com HTTP module. Note: Application Passwords require HTTPS on your site.

Why does my Gemini output get cut off in Make.com?

The Gemini AI module in Make.com sometimes defaults to a low max tokens limit. Check your module settings and either remove the max tokens limit or set it to 8,000 or higher. Long-form articles (2,000+ words) need significant token budget. If output is still being cut, check that Gemini Flash’s context window supports your full prompt plus output length.

Can I add error handling to stop a row getting stuck?

Yes. Make.com supports error handlers on any module — right-click a module and select “Add error handler.” For production use, add a handler on the HTTP module that updates your Google Sheet row status to “Error” if the WordPress post fails. This prevents the same row being retried indefinitely and gives you a clear list of failed runs to investigate.

When should I upgrade from the Make.com free plan?

Upgrade when you consistently hit 800+ operations per month, when you need more than 2 active scenarios (e.g. a separate keyword research workflow), or when the 15-minute minimum interval becomes a constraint. Make.com’s Core plan at $9/month gives you 10,000 ops and unlimited scenarios — the right move once the free workflow is validated and producing results.

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