Zapier is a leading workflow automation and AI orchestration platform with 3.4 million users worldwide. The platform supports integrations with over 8,800 apps and helps automate more than 3.1 billion tasks per month.
However, while Zapier is an excellent tool, it’s not always the perfect solution for everyone. Many users seek apps like Zapier with a less limited free version, more affordable pricing, or greater flexibility for advanced workflows.
If these limitations sound familiar, you’re in the right place. In this article, you’ll find the 8 best Zapier alternatives as of 2025, plus one newcomer who is already challenging platform AI capabilities. You’ll discover how these tools compare, their integrations, pricing, AI features, and best use cases.
Make
Complex visual workflows
Credit-based ($9-29/month)
3,000+
n8n
Developer control & privacy
Execution-based ($24-775/month)
1,180+
Pipedream
Developer workflows
Credit-based ($29-99/month)
2,800+
Power Automate
Microsoft ecosystems
User-based ($15-215/month)
30-day trial
1,000+
Workato
Enterprise automation
Custom pricing
1,200+
Activepieces
Cost-effective automation
Flat-rate ($25-150/month)
430+
Tray.ai
Complex data workflows
Custom pricing
700+
IFTTT
Personal & smart home
Applet-based ($3-9/month)
1,000+
OpenAI Agent Builder
AI agent workflows
For storage >1GB ($0.10/GB-day)
In beta
Let’s move to a detailed review of the best Zapier alternatives with their pros and cons.
Rating: 4.6/5 (258 reviews)
Best for: users who need more complex automations than Zapier can handle
Make is a no-code integration platform rebranded from Integromat. Now it’s positioning itself as a visual “AI and automation” orchestration tool.
In 2025, Make emphasizes real-time, visual workflow building with deep AI integration. Essentially, it targets businesses seeking to scale automation with generative AI capabilities.
Make’s key differentiator is its visual scenario builder. A flowchart-like interface allows users to drag and connect modules. It offers advanced control (routers for branching, iterators for loops, aggregators, etc.) beyond Zapier’s linear workflows. Additionally, users can watch the data flow through each step live and debug it.
In 2025, Make supports a vast ecosystem of 3,020+ pre-built app integrations (connectors). Notably, it has over 464 integrations designed for AI apps (e.g., OpenAI, Claude, Google Gemini, etc.).
Also, Make supports custom code blocks (JavaScript) and Make AI Agents for goal-driven automation. These agents are reusable across workflows and allow a mix of AI decision-making with standard automation.
Make offers a free plan and tiered subscriptions based on credits (each action step consumes credits).
The Free plan includes 1,000 credits/month and basic features (limited active scenarios and 15-minute scheduling).
Paid plans start at $9/month (Core) for 10,000 credits, and higher tiers ($16 Pro, $29 Teams) include more features and priority processing.
Notably, all plans (including free) can access AI features. Make includes AI steps and AI app connectors on every plan. However, using your own OpenAI API key requires a Pro or higher plan. Enterprise plans are available for custom needs (pricing is custom).
Zapier and Make are often compared as leading no-code integrators. But Make’s interface is more complex and enables multiple triggers and conditional paths in a single workflow. With this UI, Make can often replace a few Zaps with a single scenario. However, Zapier is still considered a bit more user-friendly for beginners.
In cost, Make’s paid plans typically allow far more actions for the price than Zapier. The last one charges per task, which can become expensive at scale, whereas Make’s $25/month tier includes over 10,000 credits.
All in all, users who need complex, multi-app workflows will find Make more capable than Zapier in 2025. However, many teams use both: Zapier for simple tasks and Make for more complex workflows.
Very flexible and powerful
The rich interface can have a learning curve
Extensive app library
The credit system can be confusing; complex scenarios might consume many credits
Fine-grained control over workflow logic
Free Make plan is slower to execute real-time triggers than Zapier due to the minimum scheduling intervals (15 minutes)
Augmented with AI capabilities (goal-based automation, built-in GPT, etc.)
Rating: 4.8/5 (146 reviews)
Best for: technical teams (IT, devops, growth engineers) automating business processes
n8n is an open-source workflow automation tool that has grown significantly by 2025. It brands itself as a “workflow automation platform for technical teams,” offering a self-hostable alternative to Zapier.
n8n offers 1,180+ pre-built integrations (“nodes”) for popular apps and services. This library includes databases, SaaS apps (CRM, marketing, etc.), developer tools, and cloud services. It also has a generic HTTP request node. So you can connect to any web API not yet covered by a native node.
Notably, n8n has also invested in AI features. The tool provides built-in AI nodes (e.g., OpenAI, Gemini, Anthropic, Claude, etc.) and can orchestrate multi-step AI workflows using LangChain. By 2025, n8n supports “multistep agents” that can have memory and tool usage within workflows.
Standard n8n features include:
Triggers in n8n range from cron schedules to webhooks, as well as app-specific triggers for many services (just like Zapier’s triggers).
One of n8n’s biggest advantages is its flexible deployment and pricing model. The core n8n software is free as a Zapier open source alternative (MIT licensed). Users can self-host it on their own servers for no license cost (only infrastructure costs).
For those who prefer a cloud service, n8n Cloud offers hosted plans:
All cloud plans allow for unlimited workflow steps. Pricing is based on the number of workflow runs per month.
Notably, n8n’s philosophy is to “pay per workflow run, not per step or per user”, which contrasts with Zapier/Make’s task-count models. For example, a single n8n execution that performs 10 steps counts as one workflow run, whereas on Zapier, that might count as 10 tasks. This pricing can result in significant cost savings for complex workflows.
n8n Cloud also offers unlimited users, even on lower plans, so that teams can collaborate
without extra fees.
Beyond standard plans, n8n has Business and Enterprise plans with more executions and advanced features (SSO, version control with Git, custom SLAs, etc.). Many users, however, opt for the Community Edition, which is self-hosted and available at no cost.
As one of Zapier alternatives, n8n’s biggest differentiators include:
In 2025, many tech-savvy organizations choose n8n over Zapier or Make for complex or large-scale needs. In contrast, the last two remain the preferred choice for simpler automations.
Free and open-source, can self-host with full control
Steep learning curve for non-technical users
Highly customizable with visual nodes + code (JS/Python)
Self-hosted setup requires DevOps knowledge
No task limits, cost-effective for heavy automations
Documentation and error messages are not always user-friendly
Strong AI integration
Fewer pre-built templates compared to Zapier
Rating: 4.6/5 (16 reviews)
Best for: developers and technical users
Pipedream is an automation platform designed for developers and technically proficient users. Launched in late 2019, Pipedream has grown into a popular “DevOps” style integration tool by 2025. The platform now boasts over a million developers. It allows users to connect APIs, run code, and automate workflows in a serverless environment.
Unlike Zapier, Pipedream is code-first. You can write JavaScript (or Python, Go, etc.) right within workflow steps.
Pipedream supports 2,800+ integrations with popular APIs, triggers, actions, and more. These components are open-source and written in Node.js, allowing you to use or change them as needed. You can also write your own integration code in a workflow step. For example, add a code step and call any API using axios or fetch.
Pipedream provides built-in auth management for many services. You can connect accounts (such as OAuth to Google) and then use those credentials in any code or pre-built action.
The tool also supports streaming data and real-time event sources. And it handles parallel execution. Zapier, by contrast, often processes tasks sequentially per user to avoid conflicts.
Pipedream’s environment for code is quite rich. You can install npm packages right within the workflow, use async/await, etc. And it gives the flexibility of writing an AWS Lambda function but without boilerplate, plus easy integration with other steps.
As one of Zapier competitors, Pipedream also provides components to call popular LLMs from a workflow. More interestingly, Pipedream introduced an AI Agent Builder interface. It allows developers to spin up an agent by writing prompts and linking them to actions.
The Free tier includes 3 active workflows and 3 connected accounts, with up to 100 credits per month for production runs.
Then there are paid tiers:
For example, the Advanced plan, at $49/mo, includes 2,000 credits (compute units) per month and unlimited workflows, as well as priority execution.
Pipedream vs Zapier is a bit like custom coding vs no-code. Pipedream requires code for anything non-trivial, but in return, it can handle any task.
For example, if Zapier doesn’t have an app, you’re limited unless you use their code step (restricted to code snippets and has execution time limits). In Pipedream, you write a full script, and there’s no limit on integration because you write it.
Also, Pipedream can run longer tasks (each execution can run up to, say, 5 minutes or more on higher memory), whereas Zapier has strict timeouts.
For developers considering Zapier vs Pipedream, if you find Zapier too limiting or expensive, Pipedream is a natural alternative. If you need on-premises integration or stricter control, consider n8n (open source) or other options. However, Pipedream’s advantage is that it’s fully hosted and requires no server management.
Extremely empowering and fast to build on
Requires JavaScript knowledge beyond basic steps
Removes boilerplate and DevOps headaches
Learning curve even for developers to adapt
Cost-effective usage-based model
Code-centric workflows can become heavy
Integrates with version control and CI/CD
Connectors are less “plug-and-play” and need setup compared to Zapier
Rating: 4.4/5 (806 reviews)
Best for: enterprise and departmental process automation
Power Automate is Microsoft’s equivalent to Zapier and is part of the Power Platform. The tool enables users to create flows that connect Microsoft services and third-party applications. In 2025, Microsoft positioned Power Automate as an enterprise-grade, AI-powered workflow and RPA (Robotic Process Automation) platform.
Power Automate boasts over 1000 connectors to popular services. The integrations include all Microsoft services (SharePoint, Teams, Outlook, SQL Server, etc.) and a wide array of third-party apps (Salesforce, Twitter, Slack, Adobe, SAP, and many more).
The platform supports connecting to custom APIs as well. Power Automate developers can create custom connectors for any REST API if an official connector doesn’t exist.
Microsoft has infused Power Automate with AI in multiple ways. First, their AI Builder is a set of pre-built AI capabilities (OCR, form processing, prediction models, text classification, etc.) you can plug into flows.
Second, Microsoft added a Copilot for Power Automate. It’s an AI assistant that can help users build flows by describing what they want in natural language. There’s also a new Copilot Studio across Power Platform to manage custom AI “copilots” and even AI Agents built with Microsoft’s toolkit.
Additionally, Power Automate can leverage Azure OpenAI Service connectors. With their help, companies can integrate ChatGPT or other large models into flows.
As of 2025, the primary licensing options are: Per User (Premium) and Per Flow (Process).
The Per User plan is $15 user/month (if paid annually). The plan allows an individual user to run unlimited cloud flows and use attended RPA on their own machine.
The Per Flow plan is $150 per bot/month. This plan is for an unattended RPA bot that can run 24/7 on a machine for any number of users.
Large organizations can also get “Power Platform subscriptions” or seed licenses via Office 365/Dynamics licenses.
Here are some unique features of Power Automate, compared to Zapier:
Included in many Office 365 subscriptions
Complex interface, less intuitive than Zapier for beginners
Deep integration with the Microsoft ecosystem
Pricing/licensing complexity
Supports complex workflows: loops, conditional branches, approval steps
Performance issues reported: execution delays, throttling, API call limits
Extensive template library with many pre-built flows
Less valuable for non-Microsoft environments
Combines cloud automation with on-prem/desktop RPA
Rating: 4.7/5 (637 reviews)
Best for: enterprise integration and automation
Workato is a leading Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) focused on enterprise automation. It gains recognition for its enterprise-grade integration capabilities, security, and a recent focus on AI-driven automation. Workato calls itself the “#1 iPaaS for the AI and agentic era”.
Essentially, it’s a cloud platform that allows organizations to build automated workflows (termed “recipes”). Workato’s positioning is squarely in the mid-to-large enterprise segment. Organizations use it for mission-critical integrations across business applications (ERP, CRM, HRIS, etc.).
In 2025, Workato introduced “Genies”, AI-powered agents you can orchestrate within the platform. It’s also notable that Workato has been a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for iPaaS multiple years in a row (7 times by 2025).
Workato provides over 1,000+ pre-built connectors to applications, databases, and APIs. Its integration library covers all major enterprise apps (Salesforce, SAP, NetSuite, Workday, ServiceNow, etc.), cloud services, and also supports on-prem systems via agents. If something isn’t available, Workato offers a Connector SDK and community connectors to extend its capabilities.
A key strength of Workato is its ability to handle complex data transformations and multi-step workflows. Recipes can include conditional logic, loops, error handling, and even call subrecipes (reusable components). The platform emphasizes real-time integrations and supports event-driven triggers as well as batch jobs.
Workato’s pricing is not published in fixed plans on their site. But it’s typically custom-tailored and quote-based.
Historically, Workato had an annual subscription based on the number of “connectors” or “recipes” and the volume of tasks. In 2025, Workato markets “flexible pricing built for scalability” and a customer-first model. But it still generally targets large contracts (often tens of thousands of dollars per year for business plans).
Zapier vs Workato is like consumer-grade vs enterprise-grade (although some enterprises also use Zapier). In terms of capabilities, Workato can do everything Zapier does and more. Both tools have thousands of connectors, but Workato’s are more tailored to enterprise apps with deeper connectivity options.
Also, Workato’s error handling and transaction management are better than Zapier’s. For example, you can roll back steps or set up retry logic, which often requires manual intervention or extra Zaps.
Suppose an organization has outgrown Zapier’s capabilities (e.g., too many zaps to manage, too costly per task, requires on-premises integration, or advanced control). In that case, they often check Workato, along with similar enterprise iPaaS solutions (such as MuleSoft and Boomi).
Workato often wins on usability compared to traditional iPaaS companies like Zapier, while offering more power at scale. However, small Zapier users wouldn’t consider Workato unless they plan to scale up significantly.
Reliable and robust; recipes run with minimal issues
High cost, often too expensive for SMBs
Built-in error handling and monitoring with alerts
Complex for casual users; expects API/data schema knowledge
Handles complex, large-scale integrations
No free tier; not accessible for hobbyists
Strong enterprise support
Smaller user base vs Zapier/Make
Platform-agnostic; works well across heterogeneous environments
Implementation may require an integration team
Rating: 4.8/5 (141 reviews)
Best for: budget-friendly, open-source automation
Activepieces is a newer entrant (launched in early 2023) that offers an open-source no-code workflow automation platform. It’s an alternative to Zapier/Make for individuals and businesses who want to avoid per-task fees and prefer owning their automation platform.
Activepieces has quickly expanded its connector library, reaching 439 integrations by late 2025. It includes popular services in categories of marketing (e.g., MailChimp), sales (Salesforce, Pipedrive), support (Zendesk), communication (Slack, Gmail), databases, and more. Since it’s open-source, the community can contribute new “pieces” (connectors) as well.
As of 2025, Activepieces flows support triggers (webhooks, polling specific apps, and schedules) and a series of steps, including actions, conditions, loops, and more. It has a modern visual builder with a side panel for configuring each step. The platform also introduced an Embed option, where you can embed their workflow builder into your own app.
As for AI integration, Activepieces supports AI steps and agents on all plans (but with limited credits). You can insert steps that call an LLM (64 options) or use AI to extract data or make decisions within a flow.
Furthermore, Activepieces advertises “AI Agents”. The tool allows you to create goal-driven agents that carry out multi-step tasks using the platform’s pieces.
Activepieces’ pricing includes:
A central selling point is that Activepieces allows unlimited automation tasks on its paid plans (no task counting). Also notable that it offers both Cloud service and self-host.
Their “Community Edition” serves as Zapier’s free alternative to self-host (MIT License) with core features. Self-host users can run unlimited tasks on their own infrastructure. It’s similar to n8n’s model, but with simpler pricing for cloud.
Activepieces is often described as “the open-source Zapier.” The user experience is similar to Zapier, so the transition between tools can be easy. The core difference is that Zapier is proprietary, closed-source, and charges per task. In turn, Activepieces is open-source and charges per environment (with unlimited tasks).
It’s ideal for those who found Zapier great but too expensive or limiting, and for those who want more control (self-hosting or customizing).
Open-source & self-host
As a newer platform, it may lack polish or stability
Unlimited tasks, low flat pricing
The connector library is smaller than Zapier’s
Ease of use + familiar UX
Smaller ecosystem & community support
Rapid development & agility
Occasional bugs or missing advanced features
Rating: 4.5/5 (156 reviews)
Best for: mid-size tech companies, SaaS, and teams that need custom or embedded integrations
Tray.ai is another Zapier alternative. It’s similar in scope to Workato, but also aimed at smaller companies and developers. It calls itself a “General Automation Platform” and offers a powerful low-code workflow builder.
Tray’s platform enables companies to build complex workflows that connect cloud services, databases, and now, to build and deploy AI agents using a visual interface.
Tray offers 700+ connectors to cloud services and databases. Its Connector Hub lists integrations with AI, customer services, developer tools, e-commerce, finance, HR, marketing, and other SaaS tools. Tray also provides a “Universal Connector” which allows connecting to any REST API or service with an HTTP endpoint.
One strong aspect of Tray is its support for advanced connectivity needs. It features the ability to call GraphQL APIs, support for webhooks and event streams, and the capability to manage authentications for multiple accounts.
Also, at the end of 2024, Tray introduced “Merlin Agent Builder”, a drag-and-drop interface to create AI agents. With Merlin, users can design an agent by simply prompting it. You describe what the agent should do, and Tray helps configure the workflow behind it.
Besides, Tray provides some pre-built AI agent accelerators. Here you can find an HR Agent, an ITSM Agent, a Knowledge Agent, and a Support Agent.
As of 2025, Tray’s site presents Pro, Team, and Enterprise as core packages, and an Embedded bundle for SaaS usage. The site doesn’t list fixed prices and invites you to talk to sales.
They also sell Merlin Agent Builder separately. It “works alongside Tray” and likely is an extra cost or module.
As a Zapier competitor, Tray can do far more in a single workflow. It includes multi-branching, complex data handling, and now multi-step AI agent logic. Tray also provides native support for connecting to databases and running SQL queries, as well as waiting for human-in-the-loop approval, all out of the box.
But building a simple two-step integration on Tray might take more work than on Zapier. All in all, if you need fine control, on-prem connectivity, or building automation into your product, Tray is one of the best Zapier alternatives.
More flexible than Zapier, yet easier than raw APIs or enterprise iPaaS
Pricing is opaque and complex
Advanced logic control
Has a learning curve
Scalable architecture
Community smaller than Zapier’s, less peer support
Modern, responsive interface
Complex flows may hit limits; requires careful architecture
Rating: 4.5/5 (114 reviews)
Best for: simple, no-code integrations, especially in the smart home, IoT, and personal productivity space
IFTTT (If This Then That) is one of the original automation services founded in 2010. It focuses on creating simple connections between web services and smart devices. IFTTT remains popular for personal and consumer-oriented automations, though it has also introduced some features for businesses.
It’s a lightweight rule-based automation platform. When a trigger from one service occurs, IFTTT will perform an action in another service. Each such automation is called an “Applet.”
IFTTT supports 900+ services (apps/devices) as of 2025. Here, you can find major consumer platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Gmail, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Philips Hue, SmartThings, Dropbox, and Evernote, among others. If an app has a public API and broad consumer use, it’s likely here.
As of the mid-2020s, IFTTT expanded capabilities for Pro users. They introduced multi-step Applets (with multiple actions), as well as conditions and filter code (a bit of JavaScript to add logic). Plus, the platform added a section for “AI services” for Pro+ users.
IFTTT uses a freemium model. The base Free plan allows up to 2 applets. Free applets can only be simple (single action, standard speed).
The Pro plan is $2.99/month (if paid annually). Pro gives you 20 applets, faster execution, multi-step and conditional logic, access to “Developer” features like webhooks and filter code, and some exclusive services.
Pro+ is $8.99/month (annual) and offers unlimited applets, as well as everything in Pro, plus “AI services, multiple accounts per service, queries, prioritized support.”
IFTTT’s UI is straightforward: just “if trigger then action”. It’s the easiest for a novice to grasp. There’s virtually no coding required for basic use (even compared to Zapier’s sometimes tricky multi-step setup or needing to think about data transformations). It lowers the entry barrier for non-technical users.
IFTTT supports a vast array of smart home and IoT devices natively. It’s unparalleled in that domain, as a lot of those device manufacturers explicitly partner with IFTTT. So it’s the best choice if you want to automate across software and hardware.
Also, IFTTT has a strong mobile presence. They have mobile apps that can act as triggers (such as Android SMS or iOS Reminders) and also send notifications as actions.
In summary, IFTTT is one of the top Zapier alternatives for simple use cases and especially for
integrating things (physical or single-step tasks) due to its ease and cost. It’s not a direct competitor for complex business process automation, but rather a complementary tool.
Extremely easy to use
Limited complexity
Huge array of supported everyday services (social, smart home, gadgets)
Fewer business/enterprise integrations compared to Zapier/Make
Very affordable: Pro $3/mo, Pro+ $9/mo
Some automations run with delays
Unlimited runs; no per-task billing
No advanced data manipulation
Great for simple trigger-action tasks
Narrow scope for professional needs
As a bonus, we would like to introduce you to OpenAI’s brand-new platform, Agent Builder. It’s part of OpenAI’s broader “AgentKit” toolkit, unveiled at the OpenAI DevDay on October 6, 2025.
Agent Builder allows AI developers (and some advanced no-code users) to visually design multi-step AI agents that can reason with GPT models and take actions using external tools and data. As of late 2025, it is still in beta, targeting customers within the OpenAI ecosystem.
Agent Builder offers a visual canvas for designing agent workflows. On this canvas, you place nodes that can be different components, like:
As for integrations, OpenAI introduced a Connector Registry with built-in access to external
apps. Agents can invoke these connectors as actions (similar to Zapier API calling).
Compared to Zapier, OpenAI Agent Builder has a slightly different use-case domain. It’s not for generic “when X app updates, update Y app” automations. This tool is for complex processes that require AI reasoning. For example, for research agents, support bots, sales outreach agents, and so on.
It positions itself as a competitor to the likes of the LangChain + Zapier combination or to custom AI orchestration code, rather than to pure-play no-code automation tools.
Here is a direct comparison:
Moreover, Agent Builder itself is always free to design and iterate. Billing only applies once you run agents that consume storage (1GB/month free, then $0.10/GB-day) or model tokens.
If Agent Builder succeeds, it could become the go-to Zapier alternative for building AI-powered workflows. It doesn’t necessarily replace Zapier for straightforward “no thinking needed” automations. Instead, it might integrate with them or handle the intelligent parts while Zapier still does simpler tasks.
Deep native AI integration with GPT-4/5
Still in beta; early-stage product
Optimized for OpenAI models with new features rolled out natively
Reliant on OpenAI models only (no multi-LLM or offline options yet)
Supports Reinforcement Learning fine-tuning (RFT) for agent decision-making
Limited number of business app integrations compared to Zapier
Built-in evaluation metrics to track and improve agent performance
Tied to OpenAI ecosystem (requires API key, no self-host option)
Guardrails framework for safety and compliance
And that’s a wrap to the list of top Zapier alternatives. All in all, inspired by the platform’s success, the Zapier competition pushed the process automation market forward. In the coming years, it’ll bring even more visual building and AI-native experience.
If you have an idea to automate your business workflows, now is the perfect time to start exploring Zapier or its alternatives. And if you need some help, automation developers from DOIT Software are here to share their expertise. Contact us to learn more about workflow automation or hire Zapier specialists for your team.
Get a consultation and start building your dream team ASAP.
Request CVsZapier’s main drawbacks center on cost and technical limitations. The pricing model is based on tasks, where each action in a workflow counts as one task. So, it can become expensive for high-volume automations. The free tier is very restrictive and limits you to 100 tasks/month and two-step Zaps. Also, Zapier’s builder is more rigid. It can struggle with complex branching, looping, or AI-driven decisions.
For users with technical skills or teams with n8n developers, the self-hosted version of n8n is one of the most flexible free alternatives to Zapier. Similar to n8n, Activepieces also has an open-source community edition. But if comparing cloud-based visual editors, Make is generally considered cheaper than Zapier. Their paid plan starts at $9/month for 10,000 credits, while Zapier costs $19,99/month for 750 tasks.
Make stands out as a strong Zapier alternative for most small businesses. It offers a visual workflow builder that’s intuitive yet more powerful than Zapier’s linear approach. The pricing is lower for similar usage levels. Make supports over 3,000 app integrations, not as many as Zapier’s 8,800+, but it covers all major business tools.
Other great options include n8n or Activepieces (Zapier open-source alternatives), and, besides those covered in the article, Pabbly Connect and Lindy.
First, check whether the platform connects to the specific tools your business uses daily. Next, look at how the platform counts usage (tasks, executions) and then calculate your expected monthly costs. Explore if the platform handles conditional logic, loops, data transformation, and error handling. Also, pay attention to multi-step workflow support, team collaboration features, API access, data security certifications, and AI capabilities.
