Zapier AI

  • Zapier AI (Zapier Inc., San Francisco 2011)

    Status: Active (founded 2011 by Wade Foster/Mike Knoop/Bryan Helmig; remote-first SF; 9,000+ app integrations, 30,000+ actions, 593M+ AI tasks automated; zapier.com reachable 2026-08, no discontinuation). Category ai-productivity-data; pipeline_stage=none. Not an LLM chatbot​ — it is the no-code automation orchestration layer that wraps AI (OpenAI/Anthropic/Gemini/BYO via Azure/Bedrock) into trigger→action workflows across your SaaS stack, plus Agents/Chatbots/Canvas/MCP as the agentic add-ons.

    Naming clarity: there is no separate “Zapier AI” SKU. The brand is AI by Zapier​ (LLM steps inside Zaps) + Zapier Agents​ (autonomous teammates) + Zapier Chatbots​ + Zapier MCP​ (LLM↔9,000 apps action layer) + Copilot​ (plain-English Zap builder), all sold on the unified task-metered Platform plan.

    1. English Introduction

    Zapier turns “when X happens in app A, do Y in apps B/C/D” into a saved workflow (a “Zap”) with zero code. The AI layer lets you (a) describe a workflow in plain English and have Copilot draft the trigger/action chain, (b) drop an AI by Zapier​ step mid-Zap to summarize, extract fields, classify, or draft replies, (c) deploy Zapier Agents​ that reason over context and call app actions autonomously (lead enrichment, meeting prep, support triage), and (d) expose all 9,000+ integrations to external LLMs via Zapier MCP​ so Claude/ChatGPT/Cursor can act on your tools. Tables (DB) + Forms (intake) + Canvas (process diagramming) + Interfaces round it into a light app-builder. It is the integration-breadth king — not Make/n8n for cheap high-volume logic, not LangChain for in-code agent memory, not Power Automate for M365-native shops.

    2. Core Features

    Layer Capability Notes
    Zaps (core)​ Trigger→1..n actions; Filters/Paths/Formatter/Global vars; multi-step on paid Free = 2-step only, 15-min polling; Pro = 2-min; Team+ = 1-min
    AI by Zapier​ LLM step inside any Zap: summarize/extract/classify/generate; model picker (GPT/Claude/Gemini/BYO Azure+Bedrock) Standard model = 1 task; advanced = 3 tasks; premium = 5 tasks
    Zapier Agents​ Autonomous AI teammates with app access, templates (Lead Enrichment, Meeting Prep); stateless per run Add-on: Free 400 acts/mo, Pro $33.33/mo (1,500 acts), metered by activities
    Zapier Chatbots​ Custom AI chatbots on your data, embeddable Add-on: Free 2 bots, Pro $13.33/mo (5), Advanced $66.67/mo (20 white-label)
    Zapier MCP​ JSON endpoint letting external LLMs call 9,000+ app actions; 2 tasks per MCP call Enterprise governance: action restrictions, BYOM, log streaming
    Copilot​ NL→Zap draft across the builder Free tier daily message cap
    Tables / Forms / Canvas​ Structured data store (2.5K–500K rows by tier), intake forms, process diagramming w/ AI suggestions Bundled free on all tiers since 2025
    Butler equiv / Admin​ Versioning, autoreplay, flood protection, shared connections, SAML/SCIM (Team+), audit logs, data residency (Enterprise) —

     

    3. Pricing (2026-08, USD, task-metered, annual saves 33%)

    Tier Base Price (annual) Tasks/mo AI access Key gates
    Free​ $0 100​ Copilot (daily cap), AI by Zapier, Agents/Chatbots/MCP basic 2-step Zaps only, 15-min poll, no webhooks/premium apps
    Professional​ $19.99/mo​ ($29.99 monthly) 750 (scales to 2M) AI by Zapier, AI fields, Copilot unlimited, Agents/Chatbots add-ons billable Multi-step, premium apps, webhooks, autoreplay, chat support
    Team​ $69/mo​ ($103.50 monthly) 2,000+ All Pro + shared Zaps/connections, SAML SSO, 25 seats Dept-owned automations
    Enterprise​ Custom (sales) Custom Org-wide AI policy, BYOM, SCIM, audit, log streams, TAM Security-first buyers
    Agents add-on​ Pro $33.33/mo (1,500 acts/mo) — separate meter from Platform tasks Free tier 400 acts/mo to try
    Chatbots add-on​ Pro $13.33/mo (5 bots) / Adv $66.67 (20 white-label) — separate meter Free 2 bots

    pricing_type=task-subscription + ai-addon; starting_price=$0; unified task pool​ (Zap steps + AI steps + Code + MCP + SDK share it; MCP call = 2 tasks, Lead Router lead = 5 tasks); overage = pay-per-task at ~1.25× base, pauses at 3× tier.

    4. Access Type

    Field Value
    access_type​ web-browser-mcp-rest-api-cli-no-desktop-app
    access_display​ 🌐 zapier.com · Zapier MCP (LLM-facing) · REST API + SDK + CLI · Canvas web · no offline desktop client · no self-host (vs n8n)

    5. Reviews (2026)

    Source Rating Sample Signal
    G2​ 4.5/5 ~1,900 Ease-of-use + integration breadth praised; “expensive at scale” #1 con (75+ mentions)
    Capterra​ 4.7/5 ~3,069 Value 4.3, support 4.3; SMB ops love it
    Gartner Peer Insights​ 4.6/5 188 Deployment + capability strong
    Trustpilot​ 1.5–1.7/5 ~280 Billing/refund/cancel friction, support unreachable, Oct 2025 AWS outage 1+ day no refund — polarized consumer voice
    TrustRadius​ 8.9/10 hundreds Integration reliability, debug clunkiness

     

    Verdict: unbeatable for “connect the weird app combo no one else supports” without code; AI steps make light summarization/classification trivial. Gripes = task creep​ (multi-step + AI + MCP burns allocation 4–6× faster than expected, surprise $400–1,200 invoices reported), no refunds on annual, support slow below Team, AI Agents stateless​ (no cross-session memory), debugging AI-in-Zap failures is opaque, Enterprise price opaque.

    6. Best For / Not For

    Best For Not For
    Ops/sales/mktg teams wiring 9,000+ apps without dev time High-volume (10K+ runs/day) cost-sensitive workflows (→ Make/n8n cheaper)
    Existing Zapier users adding AI triage/enrichment/summaries Teams needing persistent agent memory / recursive multi-agent (→ LangChain/n8n custom)
    Non-devs describing automation in English (Copilot) M365-native shops already on Power Automate
    Orgs wanting governed AI-action layer (MCP + audit + BYOM) Real-time sub-second trading/telemetry (polling 1-min floor on paid)
    SMBs replacing VA/ops hire with Agents (lead prep, ticket route) Builders who want full code control + self-host

    7. Competitors (Lane Map)

    Lane Tool Starts Zapier’s edge / gap
    No-code automation​ Make​ (ex-Integromat) $9/mo (10K ops) Make cheaper at volume, better branching; Zapier wins integrations
    Self-host/workflow​ n8n​ Free self-host / $20+ n8n = code-friendly + AI agent memory; Zapier = zero-ops hosting
    Enterprise iPaaS​ Workato, Tray.io​ sales Deeper ERP/ITSM; Zapier simpler
    M365-native​ Power Automate​ $15/user/mo Better in Office estate; Zapier broader non-MS
    AI agent builders​ LangChain, CrewAI, Dify​ $0–code Agent memory/orchestration; Zapier = app-action bridge
    Form/DB+AI​ Notion AI, Airtable AI​ $10–20/mo Docs/DB-native; Zapier cross-app
    Light Zaps​ IFTTT​ $2.50/mo Consumer IoT hooks; Zapier business-grade

Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information Cookie Settings