Zapier is the default answer to "how do I connect my apps." And for basic triggers -- new row in Google Sheets, send a Slack message -- it works fine. The problem shows up around month three: your workflows get complex, your task count climbs, and suddenly you are staring at a $300/month bill for what amounts to glorified if-then logic. Worse, Zapier still cannot open a browser, read a webpage, or make a judgment call. It moves data between apps. That is it. If you have hit that ceiling -- or you just want more power for less money -- here are seven Zapier alternatives worth considering in 2026.
The list covers everything from AI-powered automation to open-source self-hosted platforms to enterprise middleware. Your pick depends on whether you need intelligence, cost savings, developer control, or scale.
How We Chose These Zapier Alternatives
We evaluated each tool on four criteria: what it can actually do that Zapier cannot, how much it costs at real-world usage volumes, how steep the learning curve is, and who it is genuinely built for. Marketing pages all say "easy" and "powerful" -- we looked at what happens when you try to build a 10-step workflow with conditional logic and external data.
1. RIRD -- For Tasks That Need Judgment and a Browser
This is a fundamentally different kind of automation. RIRD is not a workflow builder -- it is an AI employee. You message it on WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, or Discord and describe what you need in plain language. It figures out the steps, picks the right tools, and executes. The difference from Zapier is not incremental; it is categorical. Zapier connects App A to App B through a predefined trigger. RIRD opens a real browser, navigates websites, reads content, fills forms, extracts data, sends emails, writes reports, and makes decisions based on what it finds.
Under the hood, RIRD runs on OpenClaw -- an open agent framework with 23 integrated tools including a stealth browser that passes bot detection on sites where Selenium and Puppeteer get blocked instantly. That browser is the key differentiator. Zapier cannot visit a competitor website and extract their pricing. RIRD can do that, compare it to yours, format it in a spreadsheet, and send it to your Slack every Monday morning.
Pricing: $9/week for light use, $99/mo for daily workflows, $249/mo for high-volume operations. All plans include every tool and the stealth browser.
Who it is for: Business owners, executives, and teams who need automation that goes beyond connecting apps -- research, monitoring, data extraction from live websites, email management, reporting, and any task you would hand to a competent new hire. If your workflow requires visiting a website, reading unstructured content, or making a judgment call, RIRD handles it where Zapier cannot even start.
Read the setup guide to get started in five minutes, or see the full documentation.
2. Make (Formerly Integromat) -- For Complex Visual Workflows at Lower Cost
Make is the most direct Zapier competitor on this list and the one most people switch to first. The visual workflow builder is genuinely better than Zapier's -- you can see branching logic, error handling, and data transformations as a flowchart instead of a linear list. That visual approach makes complex multi-step automations much easier to debug and maintain.
The pricing model is the main draw. Make charges by operations (each module action counts as one), and the math usually works out to 3-5x cheaper than Zapier for the same workflows. The free tier gives you 1,000 operations per month. Paid plans start around $10/month for 10,000 operations, and the Pro tier at roughly $19/month handles most small business needs comfortably.
The catch: Make is still a workflow builder. It connects apps through predefined modules. If the app you need is not in their library, or if your task requires visiting a website and reading unstructured content, you hit the same wall as Zapier -- just at a lower price point. The learning curve is also steeper than Zapier's because the visual builder exposes more complexity upfront.
Who it is for: Teams running complex multi-step automations across supported apps who are tired of Zapier's pricing. If your workflows involve lots of branching, filtering, and data transformation between SaaS tools, Make gives you more power for less money.
3. n8n -- For Self-Hosted Technical Teams
n8n is the open-source automation platform that technical teams reach for when they want full control. The Community Edition is completely free with unlimited executions -- you host it yourself on your own server. That means no per-task pricing, no usage caps, and your data never leaves your infrastructure. For companies with compliance requirements or a strong "own your stack" philosophy, this is a significant advantage.
The workflow builder supports both visual drag-and-drop and inline code (JavaScript or Python) in any node. That hybrid approach is powerful -- you get the speed of visual building for simple steps and the flexibility of code when you need custom logic. n8n also supports webhooks, cron schedules, and over 400 integrations out of the box.
The catch: "Free" comes with real costs. Self-hosting means you are responsible for uptime, security patches, backups, and scaling. Teams report spending $200-500/month on infrastructure plus ongoing DevOps time. The cloud-hosted version starts at roughly $24/month for 2,500 executions, which is competitive but not dramatically cheaper than alternatives. And you need at least one technical person comfortable with Docker and server administration.
Who it is for: Development teams and technical operations groups who want full ownership of their automation infrastructure. If you have a DevOps person and care about data sovereignty, n8n is the strongest option. If "self-hosted" sounds like a chore rather than a feature, look elsewhere.
4. Microsoft Power Automate -- For Microsoft 365 Shops
If your company already lives in Microsoft 365 -- Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Excel, Dynamics -- Power Automate is the obvious choice for internal workflow automation. The integration depth with Microsoft products is unmatched because Microsoft built it. Approvals, document routing, Teams notifications, SharePoint triggers -- these work seamlessly in ways that third-party connectors cannot replicate.
Power Automate Premium costs $15/user/month and includes cloud flows, desktop flows (RPA for legacy Windows applications), and access to premium connectors. The Process plan at $150/bot/month adds unattended bot execution. Many organizations already have Power Automate included in their Microsoft 365 licenses without realizing it -- check with your IT department before buying anything else.
The catch: Outside the Microsoft ecosystem, the experience degrades quickly. Third-party connectors are often shallow compared to Zapier or Make. The interface is functional but not intuitive -- building anything beyond basic flows requires understanding Microsoft's expression language and connector model. And the licensing structure is notoriously confusing, with premium connectors, add-ons, and per-bot pricing that can balloon costs unexpectedly.
Who it is for: Organizations with 50+ employees already on Microsoft 365. If your workflows primarily involve Microsoft apps, SharePoint approvals, Teams notifications, and Outlook automation, Power Automate is likely already included in what you are paying. For anything outside that ecosystem, it struggles.
5. Bardeen -- For Browser-Based Task Automation
Bardeen takes a different approach: it lives in your browser as a Chrome extension and automates tasks you do in web applications. Think of it as a macro recorder with AI -- it watches you perform a task, learns the pattern, and repeats it. Scraping data from a webpage, filling out forms across multiple tabs, extracting information from LinkedIn profiles into a spreadsheet -- Bardeen handles these browser-native tasks well.
The free tier gives you 200 automation credits per month with 30+ integrations. The Pro plan at $20/month includes 2,000+ credits and unlimited custom workflows. Each action consumes one credit, which keeps the pricing model simple and predictable.
The catch: Bardeen runs in your browser, which means it only works when your browser is open and your computer is on. There is no server-side execution for the free and lower tiers. The automations also tend to be fragile -- if a website changes its layout, your playbook breaks. And it is fundamentally limited to what you can do in Chrome. Complex multi-system workflows that span APIs, databases, and backend services are not its strength.
Who it is for: Individual users and small teams who spend hours on repetitive browser tasks -- data entry, lead scraping, form filling, web research. If your automation pain is "I do this same thing in Chrome 50 times a day," Bardeen is purpose-built for that.
6. Pipedream -- For Developers Who Want Code Plus Integrations
Pipedream sits in the sweet spot between "no-code automation" and "build it from scratch." Every workflow step can be a pre-built integration or custom Node.js, Python, Go, or Bash code. You get the convenience of pre-built connectors for common apps and the full power of a programming language when the pre-built option is not enough. The development experience is genuinely good -- version control, environment variables, step-level debugging, and a generous free tier.
The free plan includes 100 credits per month. Paid plans start at $29/month for 2,000 credits, with credits based on compute time rather than step count -- a fairer model for workflows with many lightweight steps. The open-source component library means you can inspect and modify any integration, which developers appreciate.
The catch: This is a developer tool. If you cannot write basic code or are not comfortable with APIs, webhooks, and JSON, Pipedream will feel overwhelming. The UI assumes technical literacy. Non-technical team members will not be able to build or modify workflows independently, which limits its usefulness as a team-wide automation platform.
Who it is for: Developers and technical teams who find Zapier too restrictive but do not want to build everything from scratch. If your ideal automation tool is "pre-built connectors with an escape hatch to real code," Pipedream is exactly that.
7. Tray.io and Workato -- For Enterprise Integration at Scale
These two platforms occupy the enterprise tier that Zapier has been trying to reach. Tray.io and Workato handle complex integration scenarios across dozens of enterprise systems -- ERP, CRM, HRIS, data warehouses, custom APIs -- with governance, compliance, and team collaboration features that smaller tools lack. If you are connecting Salesforce to SAP to Workday with complex data transformations, error handling, and audit trails, this is where you end up.
Tray.io starts around $500/month for the Pro tier with 250,000 task credits and 3 workspaces. Workato pricing is similar in range. Both offer dedicated support, SLAs, and the kind of enterprise security features (SOC 2, SSO, role-based access) that procurement departments require.
The catch: The pricing is enterprise-grade too. Annual contracts starting at $5,000-10,000 or more are typical. Implementation often requires professional services or a dedicated integration team. These are not tools you sign up for on a Tuesday afternoon -- they are platforms you evaluate, negotiate, and roll out over weeks or months.
Who it is for: Companies with 200+ employees, complex system landscapes, and dedicated IT or operations teams. If you need to integrate enterprise systems with governance, compliance, and audit requirements, Tray.io and Workato are purpose-built. If you are a small team or solopreneur, these are overkill by an order of magnitude.
Which Zapier Alternative Is Right for You?
The right choice depends on what you actually need automated and who is doing the automating:
- ● Your automation needs judgment, web browsing, or unstructured tasks -- RIRD. No other tool on this list can open a browser, read a webpage, and make a decision. $9/week.
- ● You want Zapier but cheaper and more visual -- Make. Same concept, better builder, lower price.
- ● You want full control and self-hosting -- n8n. Free forever if you run your own server.
- ● You are already all-in on Microsoft 365 -- Power Automate. It might already be included in your subscription.
- ● You automate repetitive browser tasks -- Bardeen. Chrome extension, simple credit model.
- ● You are a developer who wants code and connectors -- Pipedream. The strongest developer experience in the category.
- ● You need enterprise-grade integration across complex systems -- Tray.io or Workato. Built for scale and governance.
One pattern we see often: teams start with Make or n8n for their app-to-app workflows, then add RIRD for everything those tools cannot handle -- the research, the web browsing, the monitoring, the tasks that require reading a webpage and making a judgment call. They complement each other well because they solve fundamentally different problems. A workflow builder connects your apps. An AI employee does the work.
Stop Paying Zapier Prices for If-Then Logic
Zapier was groundbreaking in 2016. In 2026, you have better options at every price point and every complexity level. If your biggest frustration is cost, Make and n8n cut your bill immediately. If your biggest frustration is capability -- Zapier cannot browse the web, cannot read unstructured data, cannot make decisions -- RIRD fills that gap entirely.
Try RIRD for the tasks Zapier cannot touch. Connect it to WhatsApp, Telegram, or Slack and send your first task in under five minutes. The setup guide walks through every step, or explore the documentation for advanced workflows.