Zapier Alternatives for Small Business: 6 Options Compared

By Jody Rourke · Published October 22, 2026 · Last updated October 22, 2026 · Prices checked October 19, 2026

How we checked this: Compared from official docs and pricing pages as of 2026-10-19. We haven't tested these tools hands-on.

If Zapier's free plan is too small, look at Make or Activepieces first. Zapier Free includes 100 tasks a month [1]. Make Free includes 1,000 credits a month [2]. Activepieces Free includes 1,000 credits and up to 5 users [7]. If you can run a server, consider n8n. For desktop automation, consider Power Automate.

Below: what each alternative costs, how it counts usage, and who it's NOT for. For the full tool landscape, see our guide to the best AI tools for small business.

The Zapier baseline

Here's what you're comparing against, as of 2026-10-19:

Free: 100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps only, 15-minute polling [1].
Professional: from $19.99 a month billed annually, or $29.99 billed monthly, for 750 tasks a month [1].
How usage is counted: a task is counted whenever Zapier successfully completes a unit of work; triggers, polling and built-in tools such as Formatter, Paths and Filter don't count [1].
Branching: Filters and Paths aren't on Free; they start on Professional [1].
Apps: Zapier says it connects 9,000+ apps [1].
Trial: a 14-day Professional trial with no credit card [1].

Zapier alternatives at a glance

Prices as of 2026-10-19 (vendor pricing pages), USD. Prices and plan limits change. Check the vendor's pricing page before you buy.

Zapier alternatives at a glance, as of 2026-10-19
Tool	Free option	Entry paid plan	Usage unit	Self-host option
Make	1,000 credits/month [2]	Core: $12/month billed annually ($16 billed monthly), 10,000 credits/month, as of October 2026 [2]	Credits per action [2]	Not covered here
n8n	Free self-hosted Community edition [4]; Cloud trial only [4]	Cloud Starter: $20/month billed annually, 2.5K executions [4]	Executions (one per full workflow run) [4]	Yes, Community edition [4]
Activepieces	1,000 credits, up to 5 users [7]	Plus: $20/month billed monthly ($16/month billed yearly), 10,000 credits/month [7]	Credits (one per run; AI steps cost more) [7]	Yes, every plan [7]
Pipedream	Free for building and testing in development; no production [9]	Startup: $99/month billed annually ($150 billed monthly), 10,000 usage credits [9]	Usage credits and users [9]	Not covered here
Power Automate	30-day trial [10]; limited cloud-flow rights in Microsoft 365 licenses [12]	Premium: $15.00 per user/month, paid yearly [10]	Per user or per bot [10]	Not covered here
IFTTT	2 Applets [11]	Pro: $2.99/month billed annually ($35.88 a year) or $4.99 billed monthly, 20 Applets [11]	Applets [11]	Not covered here

The usage units differ, so a lower price doesn't always mean a cheaper bill. Before you compare prices, count how your workflow would use each tool's unit.

Decision rule: which alternative to check first

Use this rule to shortlist one or two tools, then read their sections below:

Do you need it free, for good, for a few automations? Check Make or Activepieces first: both offer 1,000 free credits [2][7], with no time limit [3][7]. For just two simple automations, IFTTT Free allows 2 Applets [11].
Do your workflows have many steps and run often? Check n8n, which counts one execution per full workflow run, regardless of steps [4].
Do you need several people building automations on a free plan? Activepieces Free allows up to 5 users [7]. n8n says all its plans include unlimited users [4].
Must your data stay on a server you control? Check Activepieces (cloud or self-hosted on every plan [7]) or self-hosted n8n.
Do you need desktop (RPA) automation? Check Power Automate Premium, which includes attended desktop flows [10].
Is a developer building integrations into your own product? Check Pipedream.

This rule is our editorial shortcut, built from the vendor facts cited in it. It isn't a test result.

Make

Make bills in credits: most actions use 1 credit, while some features that use Make's AI Provider may use more [2]. The Router module and error-handler modules don't use credits [2].

Free: 1,000 credits a month, routers and filters, and a 15-minute minimum interval between runs [2]. Make says the Free plan isn't time-limited [3].
Paid: Make lists Core, Pro and Teams plans at 10,000 credits a month [2]. Core adds unlimited active scenarios, scheduling down to the minute and Make API access [2]. As of October 2026, at 10,000 credits a month, Core is $12/month, Pro $21/month and Teams $38/month billed annually (Make says "Save 25%"), or $16, $28 and $51 a month billed monthly [2].
AI: Make says all paid plans include AI app capabilities, Make AI Agents and Make Grid [3].
Apps: Make lists 3,000+ apps [3].
Moving from Zapier: Make says there's no automated import tool, so you'll recreate your Zaps as Make scenarios by hand [3].

Not for: Make isn't for you if you want to move many Zaps without rebuilding them, since there's no automated import [3]. It's also not for you if you need runs more often than every 15 minutes on a free plan, because Free has a 15-minute minimum interval [2]. For a closer look, read Zapier vs Make.

n8n

n8n Cloud Starter is $20 a month billed annually ($24 billed monthly) for 2.5K workflow executions [4]. Those are the USD prices n8n showed a US visitor; the same page showed euro prices to our server, so check the price for your region [4]. An execution is one run of your entire workflow, however many steps it has [4]. The Cloud trial includes 1,000 executions with no credit card [4].

The self-hosted Community edition is free [4]. Its license says: "You may use or modify the software only for your own internal business purposes or for non-commercial or personal use" [5]. n8n's license FAQ says you can't host n8n as a service and let your clients build workflows, or white-label it [6].

Not for: n8n isn't for you if:

you want a free hosted plan, because n8n Cloud offers a trial, not a free plan [4];
you want to resell n8n as a platform your clients build in, which the license FAQ rules out [6];
you'd self-host but nobody on your team can maintain a server.

Full comparison: n8n vs Zapier.

Activepieces

Free: $0 with 1,000 credits, unlimited flows and up to 5 users; Activepieces says there's no card and no time limit [7].
Plus: $20 a month flat billed monthly, or $16 a month billed yearly, with 10,000 credits a month [7].
Team: $200 a month flat billed monthly, or $166 a month billed yearly, with 50,000 credits and 25 users [7].
Overage on paid plans: $0.007 per credit [7].
Hosting: Activepieces says every plan can run on its cloud or on your own servers [7].
License: the core code is MIT-licensed; enterprise ("ee") directories are under a separate license [8].
Credits and AI: Activepieces says a run is one credit however many steps it has, and AI steps cost more: 2 credits on a fast model, 10 on a smart model and 20 on a frontier model. On Plus and up, connecting your own AI provider key drops every AI step to 1 credit [7].

Not for: Activepieces isn't for you if your flows lean heavily on AI steps using its built-in models and you need a firm credit budget up front. Activepieces says each AI step costs 2 to 20 credits, depending on the model [7].

Pipedream

Free: $0, no credit card, for building and testing in development, with 3,000+ connectors and unlimited team members [9]. The production environment isn't included on Free [9].
Startup: $99 a month billed annually, or $150 billed monthly, with 100 external users included (then $2 per user a month) and 10,000 usage credits (then $0.012 each) [9].
Business: custom pricing on an annual contract [9].

Not for: Pipedream isn't for you if you want a free plan that runs your automations live, because Free covers development only [9]. Its first paid plan, Startup, is $99 a month billed annually, or $150 a month billed monthly, with 100 external users included and 10,000 usage credits (as of Oct. 19, 2026) [9]. That may be more than you want to spend.

Microsoft Power Automate

Power Automate Premium is $15.00 per user per month, paid yearly [10]. It includes cloud flows, attended desktop (RPA) flows, and process and task mining with 50 MB of data stored [10]. The Process plan is $150.00 per bot per month and Hosted Process is $215.00 per bot per month, paid yearly [10]. A 30-day free trial covers UI-based cloud flows and standard connectors only [10].

Not for: Power Automate isn't for you if you want a free plan with no end date, because what's offered is a 30-day trial [10]. Premium is priced per user [10]. That cost grows with your team. Check your existing Microsoft licenses first: Microsoft says Microsoft 365 licenses include limited Power Automate rights to create and run cloud flows with standard connectors, but not premium connectors or desktop (RPA) flows [12].

IFTTT

IFTTT's Free plan is $0 with 2 Applets [11]. Pro is $2.99 a month billed annually ($35.88 a year) or $4.99 billed monthly, with 20 Applets and multi-action Applets [11]. Pro+ is $8.99 a month billed annually ($107.88 a year) or $14.99 billed monthly, with unlimited Applets and AI services [11].

Not for: IFTTT isn't for you if you need more than 2 automations for free, because Free allows 2 Applets [11]. It's also not for you if your workflows need several actions on Free. Multi-action Applets are listed under Pro [11].

Can you import your Zaps?

Make says it has no automated import, so Zaps are rebuilt by hand as scenarios [3]. Plan to rebuild your workflows in any tool on this list, and keep Zapier running until each new one works.

What to do next

Pick the one question from the decision rule that matters most to you, then open the two tools it points to and check their pricing pages today. If n8n is on your list, read n8n vs Zapier. For a wider set of AI and automation tools, see the best AI tools for small business.

Prices checked October 19, 2026. Prices and plans change; confirm on each vendor's site.

Frequently asked questions

What's the cheapest Zapier alternative?

Several have $0 tiers: Make (1,000 credits a month [2]), Activepieces (1,000 credits [7]), IFTTT (2 Applets [11]), Pipedream (development only [9]) and self-hosted n8n [4]. They count usage differently, so compare units before prices.

Is there an open-source Zapier alternative?

Activepieces' core code is MIT-licensed [8]. n8n's free edition is under the Sustainable Use License, which limits use to your own internal business, non-commercial or personal purposes [5].

Is there a Zapier alternative with a free plan for a team?

Activepieces Free allows up to 5 users [7]. Pipedream Free has unlimited team members, but only for development [9].

Do Zapier alternatives include AI features?

Make says all its paid plans include Make AI Agents [3]. IFTTT lists AI services on Pro+ [11]. Activepieces says AI steps cost 2 to 20 credits each, depending on the model [7].

Sources

Claims on this page are cited to the sources below. Prices and features change, so check the vendor's own page before you buy.

Last updated: October 22, 2026