Zapier is a web-based software that helps web users integrate the web services they use. Wikipedia says: “Zapier is a global remote company that allows end-users to integrate the web applications they use. Currently Zapier works with over 2000 apps. Although Zapier is based in Sunnyvale, California, it employs a workforce of 250 employees located around the United States and in 23 other countries.”

Zapier was initially released on August 1, 2012, and is considered to be task automation software. The company is based in California, USA, but has employees in many parts of the world. Technically, Zapier is a translator between web APIs. Zapier has a free 14-day trial and then after that, you choose between the free or paid plan.

How does Zapier Work?

Let’s use a simple example. When someone registers for your event on your website by filling out a brief form, immediately send them an acknowledgment email and follow up a week later with another email. For whatever you are doing, there are likely things that are repetitive. These repetitive tasks translate into business rules, such as the one above. If you have a list of tasks like the one above, perhaps Zapier is for you.

Zapier has a short video for beginners on their demo page.

The first thing to do is to pick an event that starts Zapier in motion. This is called a trigger. Next, you decide what needs to happen automatically after that trigger. This is called an action. So, triggers and actions build zaps. A zap always has a trigger and at least one action. One zap can have multiple actions that work with multiple apps.

Zapier has a Learning Center.

YouTube and Udemy

Here is 46 minute video for beginners at YouTube called Zapier 101 – How to build automated workflows & connect your apps to each other with Zapier.

Here’s another video at YouTube called Zapier Tutorial | How to Automate Tasks and STOP WASTING TIME! by Jessica.

Here is a YouTube video that was created back in 2014 by DottoTech. It’s called Zapier will Automate All Your Tasks.

One idea is that you could send to yourself reminders or even “quotes” of the day.

There is a free video course at Udemy.com called Learn Zapier + IFTTT and Automate Your Life | 2020 Guide. I’ve watched part of it. It’s 4.5 hours long.

Pricing

With your free account you are allowed to have up to 5 zaps. Each zap can only be a single-step zap, in other words, it only does one thing or task, in other words, it has one trigger and one action. You get up to 100 tasks per month. This free account lasts forever. For a paid plan there is the Starter, Professional, Team, and Company Plans.

The Starter Plan is USD 19.99 per month billed annually or USD 24.99 month-to-month. You get up to 750 Tasks per month and 20 zaps. You can have multi-step zaps (one trigger that performs as many actions as you like). You get to use 3 premium apps, which are select apps that are only available to uses on paid plans). You get Filters which only tell zaps to only run if the data matches certain criteria. Formatters allow you to tweak numbers dates ad text in certain ways to get it into the format you need. Finally, you get Webhooks which are powerful custom integrations that connect any app with Webhooks by Zapier (which sounds like custom APIs).

If your IF needs are simple, and therefore likely personal and not business related, then have a look at IFFTTT.