IFTTT, Zapier and Flow Automators: What to Choose to Combat the Routine

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The common idea behind IFTTT, Zapier and Flow has different implementations and capabilities. The life hacker figured out why Zapier is in many ways superior to IFTTT and what Flow lacks to become on a par with the leaders.

Briefly about what automators are

Automators operate on the same principle: they create causal relationships between dozens and hundreds of web services that you use on a daily basis. A few commonplace examples for those who have heard about them only from afar. Connect the appropriate web services so that the automator:

• turned off the sound on your Android phone when you get to work;
• sent a notification that it will start to rain soon;
• put a new Facebook profile photo if you replaced it on Twitter;
• Send a Vimeo video to Pocket that you tagged for future viewing.
• forwarded an email to Telegram.

Of course, the conditions and their consequences can be more exotic and individual - it all depends on what tools you use and what your imagination is capable of. It is problematic to calculate the exact number of options, and now you will understand why.

Application support

IFTTT opened to everyone in September 2011. A unique service with a good name quickly gained popularity, and already in April 2012, users created a million tasks on the principle “if one thing happened, then do another”. At first, tasks were called recipes, but after a recent rebranding they were renamed to applets. The meaning hasn't changed though: you choose a trigger that automatically triggers the action.

You can simplify the task and use ready-made applets that have been prepared by the IFTTT editors and other users. You will be offered thousands of ways to automate social networks, email and music services, online publications, and smart gadgets.

IFTTT supports about 320 services. These include Facebook, Evernote, YouTube, Spotify, Giphy, Wikipedia, as well as Android and iOS services. We can say that the specificity of IFTTT is casual services for a comfortable life. Take support for Google Assistant and WeMo electrical appliances.

Zapier entered the market in August 2012. The newcomer immediately joined the game and quickly caught up with the lag behind his only opponent. Moreover, judging by the numbers, Zapier has the edge today.

Check out the Zapier website and see for yourself. The finger gets tired of flipping through the section with channels, on the basis of which you are offered to create countless zaps - this is what chains of triggers and actions are called here.

More than 750 services can be connected to Zapier, including highly specialized services for professional activities. For example, support is provided for the MySQL database management system, the Recurly payment platform and the HelloSign online document signing tool.

Flow withdrawn from beta testing at the end of 2016 under the slogan "Work less, do more." As the name suggests, streams are used here, through which the user syncs files, receives notifications and collects data automatically.

It is not surprising that Microsoft paid special attention to its own products, while not forgetting about the most popular solutions from other companies.

Flow is limited to 81 services, many of which are business-oriented. For example, the offerings include the Azure cloud platform, Office 365 software and Microsoft Translator.

Output. Zapier covers the maximum number of services. IFTTT will suffice for most common use cases. Flow is much inferior and confused on the Microsoft ecosystem, but it is rapidly growing in power.

Possibilities

Automators seem to compete for users by regularly adding new services. In fact, the situation is somewhat more complicated and the depth of integration must be taken into account. Let's repeat: each chain consists of a cause and an effect, and their diversity sometimes varies greatly among competitors.

For example, for the Gmail channel on IFTTT, there are six triggers and one action, while Zapier will have a wider assortment - seven triggers and three actions. And such cases can be collected enough. Therefore, before choosing an automator for your purposes, carefully study the functions of each individual service. By the way, there is no Gmail channel in Flow at all.

The mechanics of the services themselves cannot be ignored. IFTTT is most simple only because it creates short chains of one event and one effect. Zapier and Flow have much more serious capabilities: they provide additional actions and, which is extremely important, conditions.

For example, you can specify how many followers a Twitter account must have in order to receive a message in the mail about its subscription. Another scenario: how about boasting on Facebook only workouts that lasted longer than an hour? The most powerful functionality, the downside of which is a more loaded interface and complexity for beginners.

Output. Zapier and Flow put the IFTTT on the paddles thanks to filters and multiple actions.

Convenience

Each automator recommends ready-made templates for an easy start - here is par. True, to understand what benefits they bring is easiest on Flow, because Microsoft has translated the service into Russian. This includes the interface, streams, partly help and interactive training. There is no doubt that over time, absolutely everything will be localized. But Zapier and IFTTT will have to be digested in English.

Giving victory to Flow? Let's wait until we mention the mobile versions of the three automators. More precisely, about two of them that have acquired applications for Android and iOS. They are IFTTT and Flow, but not Zapier.

IFTTT mobile clients work on Android gadgets, as well as on iPhone and iPad. They are bright, simple, understandable. The developers have tried to ensure that personal applets are always at hand, and the creation of new ones was not difficult.

Flow clients look a little overwhelmed. Although they are Russified, which adds points to them. Among the features, one cannot fail to mention widgets for quick actions, which, however, are also available in IFTTT, where they are called Do Button.

Separately, we note that Flow was not installed on the sixth Android, there is no widescreen version for iPad.

Output. Flow does not forget about Russian-speaking clients, for which special thanks go to him. Subjectively, IFTTT apps outperform Flow. Zapier is as naked as a falcon, moreover, there is no information about when the service will acquire mobile versions.

Price

It is a wonder for IFTTT users the very idea that you have to pay for an automator. But don't be in a hurry to be disappointed with Zapier and Flow: services do not require money for limited functionality and the most popular channels. Run through the limits to see if the free features are enough for personal use.

So, for multisteps and a full set of channels in Zapier, you will have to pay $ 20 per month. More expensive plans will increase the number of zaps allowed and unlock autorepeat.

Microsoft is more modest: 4,500 runs cost $ 5 per month, and 15,000 runs $ 15.

By the way, it is worth looking into the price list even if the speed of automation is important. Free IFTTT checks triggers every 10 minutes. With Zapier, the interval can be shortened to five minutes, and with Flow, it can be reduced to one.

Output. For home purposes, there is no better free IFTTT. The business will decide for itself whether the services of Zapier and Flow are worth their money.

Which is better

There is no clear winner in the fight for the title of the best automator. Much depends on what scenarios each particular person is interested in. Therefore, we will outline the positive and negative features of each service.

IFTTT

Pros:

• A complete list of familiar applications that we use every day.
• Supports curious things like smart bulbs and remote garage door control.
• Simple clean design for web interface and mobile clients.
• Low threshold of entry.
• Free.

Minuses:

• Lack of support for the Russian language.
• No additional actions and conditions.

Zapier

Pros:

• The maximum set of applications, some of which will attract corporate clients.
• Extreme versatility thanks to filters and multi-actions.
• Connecting multiple profiles for the same channel.

Minuses:

• Lack of Russian localization and mobile applications.
• Free plan restrictions.

Flow

Pros:

• Tight integration with Microsoft services.
• Adding steps and applying conditions in streams.
• Russian translation of the web interface and mobile applications.