Best Zapier Alternatives in 2026: 8 Competitors Compared

The best Zapier alternatives in 2026 are Make for visual workflows at a lower entry price, n8n and Activepieces if you want to self-host, Microsoft Power Automate if your company already runs on Microsoft 365, and Workato for large IT teams. Which one fits depends on the reason you're leaving: the task bill, where your data lives, or the kind of AI work you want automated.

Prices below were checked on each vendor's own pricing page on October 28, 2026. Plans change often, so treat the table as a starting point and open the vendor's page before you buy.

Key Takeaways:

Make is the closest like-for-like Zapier replacement; its Core plan starts at $9/month (billed annually) for 10,000 credits, against Zapier Pro's $19.99/month (billed annually) for 750 tasks.
n8n and Activepieces are the two serious options you can host yourself for free. You still pay for the server and the hours spent keeping it running.
Pipedream is shutting down its Workflows product on March 31, 2027, so it's no longer a safe place to move automations.
Every major platform now ships some form of AI agent. They differ in how they bill for it, and that's usually where the surprise shows up.

Zapier alternatives compared: price, self-hosting and AI agents

Tool	Starting paid price (checked Oct 28, 2026)	Free option	Self-host?	AI agent capability
Zapier (for reference)	$19.99/mo billed annually, $29.99 monthly (Pro, 750 tasks)	100 tasks/mo	No	Zapier Agents, AI by Zapier steps, Zapier MCP
Make	$9/mo (Core, 10,000 credits)	1,000 credits/mo	No	Make AI Agents on all paid plans
n8n	€20/mo billed annually (Starter cloud, 2,500 executions)	Community Edition, self-hosted	Yes	AI Agent node, standalone agents (preview), MCP
Activepieces	$20/mo (Plus, 10,000 credits)	1,000 credits/day, cloud or self-hosted	Yes	Agents and AI steps from the free plan up
Power Automate	$15/user/mo billed yearly (Premium)	30-day trial	No	Agents through Copilot Studio, billed separately
Pabbly Connect	Monthly and one-time lifetime plans; price shown in local currency	100 tasks/mo	Not listed	AI Assistant step, MCP servers
Lindy	$49.99/mo (Team, 5,000 credits)	$50 one-time credits for 7 days	No	Agent-first: the whole product is agents
Workato	Custom quote only	None listed	No	Agent Studio in the Workato ONE edition
Zentor	$20/mo (Pro, 1,000 credits)	3-day trial, no card	No	Agent work backed by a workspace memory your AI tools share

Sources: Zapier pricing, Make vs Zapier (Make's own comparison page), n8n pricing, Activepieces pricing, Power Automate pricing, Lindy pricing, Workato pricing. Make's live pricing page loads prices by region, so the $9 figure comes from Make's comparison page.

One warning before you compare the numbers: a Zapier task, a Make credit, an n8n execution and an Activepieces credit aren't the same unit. Zapier counts each successful action step as a task. n8n counts a whole workflow run as one execution no matter how many steps it has. A ten-step workflow that runs 1,000 times a month is roughly 9,000 to 10,000 Zapier tasks but only 1,000 n8n executions, which matters far more than the sticker price.

What are Zapier's main competitors?

Zapier's main competitors are Make, n8n, Microsoft Power Automate, Workato and Activepieces, with Pabbly Connect at the budget end and agent-first tools like Lindy on the AI side. They split into four groups, and knowing which group you need saves you from trialing tools that were never going to fit.

Visual no-code builders (Make, Pabbly Connect). Same audience as Zapier: people who don't write code and want app A to talk to app B. Make's canvas handles branches, loops and error routes better than Zapier's linear editor, which is the reason most people switch.

Open-source and self-hostable (n8n, Activepieces). You can run them on your own server. That matters for regulated data, for very high volume, or when you'd rather pay for a server than per task.

Enterprise suites (Power Automate, Workato). Bought by IT departments, priced per user or by contract, and judged on audit logs, access control and how deep they reach into systems like SAP or Salesforce.

Agent-first tools (Lindy, and to a degree Zentor). You describe the job in plain English rather than drawing a flowchart. These are a different shape of product, so they're best for work that doesn't fit a fixed trigger-then-action chain.

Zapier still leads on catalog size; its agents page claims 9,000+ connected apps. If one of your tools is obscure, check that it exists on the alternative before you go any further.

Which Zapier alternative is cheapest?

For hosted plans, Make is the cheapest paid starting point at $9/month for 10,000 credits. Activepieces Plus costs $20/month for 10,000 credits, and n8n's Starter cloud plan is €20/month billed annually for 2,500 full workflow runs.

Cheapest on paper and cheapest for your workflows are different questions, though. Three things move the real bill:

How many steps your workflows have. Zapier and Make charge per step (task or credit). n8n charges per run. Long workflows favor n8n; short two-step ones barely notice.
AI steps. These usually cost more than ordinary steps. Activepieces charges 2, 10 or 20 credits for an AI step depending on the model tier. Zapier charges 1x, 3x or 5x the task rate for AI by Zapier steps, plus the same multiple for each tool call the AI makes.
Your time. A self-hosted tool with no license fee still needs updates, backups and someone to notice when it stops running at 2am.

Write down your five busiest workflows with their step counts and monthly runs, then price those on each vendor's calculator. That one spreadsheet will tell you more than any comparison article, this one included.

Is there a free, self-hosted alternative to Zapier?

Yes. n8n's Community Edition and Activepieces can both be self-hosted at no license cost. The Activepieces pricing FAQ says self-hosting is free, with paid plans adding access control, audit features and support. n8n publishes its Community Edition on GitHub, and its paid Business tier (€667/month billed annually) is self-hosted only.

Free license isn't free to run. You need a server, a way to back up credentials, and the willingness to upgrade when a new version lands. If nobody on your team has done that before, the hosted plans of the same two tools are the sensible middle ground: same software, someone else's server.

Make, Zapier, Power Automate, Lindy and Workato don't offer a self-hosted version of their main product.

Is Make better than Zapier?

Make is better than Zapier if your workflows branch, loop, or process lists of items, and if price per step matters to you. Zapier is better if you need a niche app integration, want the shortest learning curve, or your workflows are mostly two or three steps.

Make shows the whole scenario as a diagram, so a workflow with four branches stays readable. Zapier has added paths and filters over the years, but long Zaps get harder to follow. On cost, Make's $9 entry plan gives 10,000 credits, while Zapier's $19.99 Pro plan gives 750 tasks, and both count roughly one unit per step.

Make also says all of its paid plans include Make AI Agents. We go through the trade-offs side by side in Zapier vs Make.

Is n8n better than Zapier?

n8n is better than Zapier if you need to self-host, run long workflows at high volume, or want code steps when a visual node isn't enough. Zapier is better if nobody on your team wants to think about servers, credentials or JavaScript.

The billing difference is the big one. n8n counts a full workflow run as one execution with unlimited steps, so a 15-step workflow costs the same as a 2-step one. On Zapier the 15-step version burns through tasks many times faster.

n8n has also moved hard into AI. For a feature-by-feature view, see Zapier vs n8n, and if you're already on n8n and want out, there's an n8n alternatives page too.

Which Zapier alternatives can run AI agents?

All of the main ones can now, in different ways:

Make includes AI Agents on paid plans.
n8n has an AI Agent node inside workflows plus the newer standalone agents, with human approval for tool calls.
Activepieces includes agents from the free plan; on Plus and above you can bring your own AI provider key to cut each AI step to 1 credit.
Power Automate builds agents through Microsoft Copilot Studio, which is purchased separately from the Power Automate plans.
Lindy is built around agents rather than workflows.
Workato puts Agent Studio in its top Workato ONE edition.

Zapier itself is mid-change here. Its standalone Agents product is being folded into AI steps inside the Zap editor and billed in tasks; we explain how Zapier's own AI agents work and where they stop in a separate guide.

The question to ask any of these tools: what does the agent know when it starts a run? Most start from the instructions you wrote plus whatever knowledge files you attached. That works for a fixed job. It works less well for jobs where the right answer depends on what happened last week, which is the gap Zentor is built around. Zentor keeps a workspace memory that belongs to you and reaches the AI tools you use through Zentor MCP, and it delivers finished work into tools like Notion and Airtable. It's $20 a month with a 3-day trial, and it's a different shape of tool from Make or n8n. The Zentor vs Zapier page explains when it fits and when you should just keep Zapier.

What happened to Pipedream?

Pipedream is shutting down Workflows, the product most people compared with Zapier. According to Pipedream's notice, existing workflows keep running until March 31, 2027, new Workflows signups and subscriptions have stopped, and all Workflows data, including stored credentials and OAuth tokens, will be deleted by April 30, 2027. Pipedream Connect, its API for developers who build integrations into their own products, is not affected.

So Pipedream shouldn't be on a 2026 shortlist of Zapier alternatives.

How do you switch from Zapier without breaking anything?

No alternative imports Zaps directly, so every move is a rebuild. Do it in this order:

Step	What to do
List	Export or write down every Zap: trigger, steps, monthly runs, who owns it
Sort	Mark each one as simple sync, branching, AI-heavy, or sensitive data
Price	Estimate monthly cost on the new tool using real step counts and run volume
Start small	Rebuild the most expensive low-risk Zaps first
Run both	Keep the old Zap on for two to four weeks next to the new version and compare outputs
Cut over	Turn off the Zap, move alerts and notes, keep a rollback plan

Leave webhooks for last. Any outside service that posts to a Zapier webhook URL needs its settings changed, and those are easy to forget until something quietly stops arriving.

Simple two- or three-step Zaps take minutes to rebuild. Anything with filters, paths, code or AI steps is a small project, and the parallel run is how you find the edge cases before your customers do.

If you're a small business weighing this up, our Zapier alternatives for small business page narrows the list for teams without an IT person, and the best AI automation tools comparison covers the agent-first options in more depth.

FAQ

What is the best alternative to Zapier?

For most people, Make. It covers the same no-code use case with a better builder for branching workflows and a lower entry price ($9/month for 10,000 credits as of October 2026). Pick n8n or Activepieces instead if you need to self-host.

Is there anything better than Zapier?

Better for a specific need, yes. Make is better for complex visual workflows, n8n for high-volume or self-hosted automation, Power Automate inside Microsoft 365 companies, and Workato for enterprise IT. Zapier still has the largest app catalog, with 9,000+ apps claimed on its site.

Is there a free version of Zapier?

Zapier's own Free plan includes 100 tasks a month. For more free usage, Make's free plan gives 1,000 credits a month, Activepieces gives 1,000 credits a day, and n8n's Community Edition is free if you host it yourself.

Is n8n cheaper than Zapier?

Usually for long or high-volume workflows, because n8n bills per workflow run, not per step. Self-hosted n8n has no license fee, but you pay for the server and the upkeep. For short, low-volume workflows the difference is small.

Does Zapier have AI agents?

Yes. Zapier Agents run on a separate activity allowance (400 a month on Free, 1,500 on Pro), and Zapier is moving them into AI by Zapier steps inside Zaps, billed in tasks. Make, n8n, Activepieces, Lindy and Workato all offer their own agent features.

Is Pipedream still a good Zapier alternative?

No. Pipedream Workflows shuts down on March 31, 2027 and has stopped taking new signups and subscriptions, so pick a different tool for new automations.