Automation is one of the easiest ways to simplify the workflows your organization uses, and Zapier and IFTTT are two of the most popular automation platforms out there.
That’s why in this post, I compare these two platforms to help you decide which one is best for the way you work.
Zapier vs IFTTT: A Summary
| Zapier | IFTTT | |
| Number of integrations | 8,000+ | 900+ |
| Multi-step connections | Yes | Yes |
| Speed limits | No | Yes |
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes |
| Filters | Yes | Yes |
| AI | Yes | Yes |
| Conditional logic | Yes | Yes |
| Databases | Yes (tables) | No |
| Shared connections | Yes | Yes |
| Observability* | Yes | No |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Max connections for free plan | Unlimited (zaps) | 2 (applets) |
| Max tasks for free plan | 100 (per month) | Unlimited (runs) |
| Starting price | $29.99/month | $3.99/month |
| Max connections for Tier 1 plan | Unlimited (zaps) | 20 (applets) |
| Max tasks for Tier 1 plan | 750 | Unlimited (runs) |
| Discount on annual plan | 33% | 25% |
| Priority support | Yes | Yes |
| Account manager | Yes (enterprise) | No |
*Zapier defines their “Observability” feature as having the ability to “monitor and optimize your entire automation ecosystem. Track what’s working, spot bottlenecks, and ensure compliance.” It’s only available with their Enterprise pricing tier.
What is Zapier?
Zapier is an automation platform that thrives as a tool for integrating two marketing or sales apps with one another.
It has over 8,000 integrations available. Many are available as templates, which means you can search for any tool you already use in the platform and see which automations are available for it.
And if a template isn’t available outright, you can turn to webhooks to integrate two apps with one another.
Zapier is also great for teams, and its AI features are growing.
One of the most unique features Zapier offers is its Tables feature. A Table is a database that allows you to consolidate data collected from automations in one location.
Unfortunately, Zapier does have one major drawback: its pricing structure.
Each time an automation is completed successfully, it counts as a task. Tasks are limited to 100 on the platform’s free plan and 750 on its base Tier 1 pricing plan.
However, if the tool is within your budget, it’ll save you and your team a lot of time and possibly help you discover workflows that weren’t possible before.
What is IFTTT?
IFTTT, which stands for “if this, then that,” is also an automation platform, only this one is designed for simpler automations.
Instead of thousands of integrations, IFTTT only integrates with around 900 apps.
The thing is a lot of the automations available for the platform are designed to help you automate your daily life rather than your professional life. For example, a lot of users turn to IFTTT to automate smart devices in their homes, such as Hue LED light bulbs from Phillips.
In spite of how much simpler the platform is in terms of the number of apps you can integrate with it, its features are still pretty powerful.
You can connect multiple accounts to automations, use webhooks, and even use AI services.
Plus, IFTTT is a lot cheaper than Zapier, even if its free plan limits you to two connections.
Automations
The terminology each platform uses to describe the automation you create when you connect two different tools:
- Zapier – “zap”
- IFTTT – “applet”
If we go by integrations alone, Zapier comes out as the clear winner as Zapier integrates with over 8,000 tools while IFTTT only integrates with 900.
However, it’s the types of integrations IFTTT is used for that make it so unique in comparison to Zapier.
Zapier thrives as an automation platform when you use it to automate tasks you need to complete between two or more tools. Many of its premade templates are designed for marketing and sales.
IFTTT, on the other hand, is more about improving your daily life through automation.
Just check out some of the premade applets the platform has on its Explore page:
- Add a reminder to your calendar if it’s going to rain tomorrow [Google Calendar x Weather Underground]
- Save new photos you’re tagged in on Facebook to Dropbox [Facebook x Dropbox]
- Automatically turn up your phone’s ringer when you leave work [Android Device x Location]
- Music button (on phone) [Android Device x Button Widget]
- Ping me when the stock I’m watching drops below a certain point [Finance x Notifications]
Meanwhile, these are popular zaps on Zapier:
- Add new Facebook Lead Ads leads to Google Sheets [Facebook x Google Sheets]
- Add new Stripe sales as rows on Google Sheets [Stripe x Google Sheets]
- Send new YouTube videos in Discord channel messages [YouTube x Discord]
- Send email via Gmail for new Google Forms submissions [Gmail x Google Forms]
- Save New Gmail attachments to Google Drive [Gmail x Filter by Zapier x Google Drive]
You can see from these examples how it’s common to use Zapier as a way to automate professional workflows while IFTTT is most often used to automate personal workflows.
WordPress Automations
Fortunately, both of these platforms integrate with WordPress.
You can use Zapier to integrate WordPress with Google Sheets, ChatGPT, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Feedly, Discord, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Notion and more.
These are popular zaps for WordPress:
- Create new WordPress posts from new Google Sheets rows [Google Sheets x WordPress]
- Write Brevo emails with ChatGPT based on WordPress posts [WordPress x ChatGPT x Brevo]
- Publish new HubSpot blog articles as WordPress posts [ HubSpot x WordPress]
- Post new Mailchimp campaigns on WordPress [Mailchimp x WordPress]
- Create WordPress posts for new articles in a board in Feedly [Feedly x WordPress]
- Send WordPress posts as Discord channel messages [WordPress x Discord]
- Post new WordPress posts to LinkedIn [WordPress x LinkedIn]
- Share new WordPress posts on Pinterest [WordPress x Pinterest]
- Create new WordPress posts from new Notion database items [Notion x WordPress]
IFTTT integrates WordPress with Facebook, Twitter (X), RSS, Instagram, YouTube, Tumbler, Diigo, OneNote, Evernote, Buffer, Reddit, Instagram, Bitly, Dropbox, Trello, Medium and more.
Here are popular automations for WordPress on IFTTT:
- Automatically share new posts to a Facebook page [WordPress x Facebook]
- Automatically tweet your new blog posts [WordPress x Twitter]
- RSS to WordPress [WordPress x RSS]
- Post your Instagram photos to WordPress [Instagram x WordPress]
- Publish your new videos as WordPress posts [YouTube x WordPress]
- Share your new WordPress posts to Twitter with an image [Twitter x WordPress]
- Automatically cross post from WordPress to Tumblr [WordPress x Tumblr]
Pricing
Zapier and IFTTT both have multiple pricing tiers.
Here’s how the free tiers compare:
| Zapier | IFTTT | |
| Number of connections | Unlimited (zaps) | 2 (applets) |
| Number of tasks | 100 (per month) | Unlimited (runs) |
| Multi-step connections | Two steps | No |
| Databases | Yes (tables) | No |
| Speed limits | No | Yes |
| AI | Yes (AI builder) | No |
Here’s how each platform’s base premium tier compares:
| Zapier | IFTTT | |
| Price | $29.99/month | $3.99/month |
| Number of connections | Unlimited (zaps) | 20 (applets) |
| Number of tasks | 750 | Unlimited (runs) |
| Multi-step connections | Yes | Yes |
| Speed limits | No | Fastest |
| AI | Yes (AI fields) | No |
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes |
| Customer support | Yes | Yes |
| Discount on annual plan | 33% | 25% |
These tables make it easy to tell just how different these two platforms operate in terms of pricing.
With Zapier’s free plan, you can set up an unlimited number of app connections (called “zaps”), but you can only run up to 100 tasks per month.
A “task” is measured as a triggered action that completes successfully.
On IFTTT’s free plan, you can only set up two connections (called “applets”), but those connections can have an unlimited number of tasks (called “runs” in IFTTT).
Because Zapier does not give you an unlimited number of tasks per month, its pricing structure for premium plans is a little complicated.
It has three tiers: two premium plans and one enterprise plan.
Pricing is determined by which tier you choose as well as the number of tasks you need.
The base Tier 1 plan has a limit of 750 tasks/month for $29.99/month. This price jumps up to $58.50/month for 1,500 tasks/month, $73.50 for 2,000 tasks/month, and so on and so forth.
Pricing for the Tier 2 plan starts at $103.50/month for 2,000 tasks/month. It adds collaborative features, such as shared zaps and folders, and priority support.
IFTTT’s pricing is a lot simpler.
It has a Tier 1 plan that costs $3.99/month and gives you access to 20 applets and most of the platform’s features.
The Tier 2 plan costs $11.99/month. It offers unlimited applets and adds AI services, collaborative features and priority support.
This means at most, you’ll pay $143.88/year with IFTTT, making it much cheaper than Zapier.
Should You Choose Zapier or IFTTT?
Whether you choose Zapier or IFTTT depends on what you specifically need an automation platform for.
Neither of these platforms make you pay in order to explore which automations are available.
So, take a bit of time, and break down your workflow step by step. Consider the tools you use, how you use them, and whether or not any of them can be used together.
Then, see which automations each platform has for the tools you use. Choose the one that has the best options for your workflow.
If both seem suitable, consider which secondary features you need as well as your budget.
IFTTT might limit the number of automations you can have in its free and Tier 1 plans, but because it gives you an unlimited number of tasks, it’s a lot cheaper than Zapier.
Still, Zapier is a more powerful platform, especially for teams.
If Zapier seems too expensive for you, consider trying one of its other competitors instead, such as Make.
0 Comments