Alternatives · prices checked 5 November 2026
Zapier alternatives that cost less for the same work
Zapier connects more apps than anyone, but its price climbs fast as tasks grow. These alternatives trade some of that reach for a lower price, self-hosting, or local payments.
Quick answer
For businesses that want Zapier's ease for less, CiraIQ: $20 a month with unlimited workflows, multi-step workflows even on the free plan, and M-Pesa and WhatsApp built in. Stay on Zapier if you depend on a niche app only it connects.
The 6 alternatives
1. CiraIQ
Our product- Best for
- Businesses in Kenya and Africa that run on M-Pesa and WhatsApp, and anyone who wants AI agents that ask before they act.
- Not great for
- Teams that need thousands of niche app integrations, or must self-host on their own servers.
- Free
- 3 multi-step workflows, free forever
- Paid from
- $20/month (Basic): unlimited workflows, 14-day free trial
Self-host for free: no · M-Pesa, WhatsApp, Telegram, Gmail, Sheets, Shopify, WooCommerce, Paystack and more · pricing checked 5 November 2026
2. Make
- Best for
- Visual, branching scenarios across many SaaS apps.
- Not great for
- Teams that must self-host on their own servers.
- Free
- 1,000 credits a month
- Paid from
- $9/month (Core, 10,000 credits)
Self-host for free: no · 3,000+ apps · pricing checked 5 November 2026
3. n8n
- Best for
- Technical teams who want to self-host and write code inside workflows.
- Not great for
- Non-technical owners who want ready-made business flows and local payments without setup.
- Free
- Free self-hosted Community Edition; cloud trial with no card
- Paid from
- €20/month billed annually (Starter, 2,500 executions)
Self-host for free: yes · pricing checked 5 November 2026
4. Activepieces
- Best for
- An open-source, self-hostable alternative with a simple editor.
- Not great for
- Larger teams on a budget: the Team plan is $200 a month.
- Free
- 1,000 credits a month, plus a free self-hosted Community Edition
- Paid from
- $20/month (Plus, 10,000 credits)
Self-host for free: yes · pricing checked 5 November 2026
5. Lindy
- Best for
- AI assistants for email, meetings and scheduling.
- Not great for
- Cost-sensitive teams: billing is per active user.
- Free
- $50 of credits for 7 days, no card
- Paid from
- $49.99/month per user (Team, 5,000 credits)
Self-host for free: no · pricing checked 5 November 2026
6. Gumloop
- Best for
- AI-heavy workflows for operations and marketing teams.
- Not great for
- Teams that must self-host on their own servers.
- Paid from
- See current pricing
Self-host for free: no · pricing checked 5 November 2026
Zapier next to the alternatives
| Fact | Zapier | CiraIQ | Make | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps only | 3 multi-step workflows, free forever | 1,000 credits a month | Free self-hosted Community Edition; cloud trial with no card |
| Paid plans from | $19.99/month billed annually, or $29.99 monthly (Pro, 750 tasks) | $20/month (Basic): unlimited workflows, 14-day free trial | $9/month (Core, 10,000 credits) | €20/month billed annually (Starter, 2,500 executions) |
| Self-host for free | No | No | No | Yes |
| Apps | 9,000+ apps | M-Pesa, WhatsApp, Telegram, Gmail, Sheets, Shopify, WooCommerce, Paystack and more | 3,000+ apps | See their app directory |
| Best for | Connecting the widest range of SaaS apps, with the least learning. | Businesses in Kenya and Africa that run on M-Pesa and WhatsApp, and anyone who wants AI agents that ask before they act. | Visual, branching scenarios across many SaaS apps. | Technical teams who want to self-host and write code inside workflows. |
| Not great for | High volumes on a small budget: price rises steeply with tasks. | Teams that need thousands of niche app integrations, or must self-host on their own servers. | Teams that must self-host on their own servers. | Non-technical owners who want ready-made business flows and local payments without setup. |
Where Zapier is the better choice
Zapier is still the choice when you need one of its 9,000+ app integrations and nobody else has it.
What CiraIQ adds
- M-Pesa built in. STK push, Paybill and Till payment triggers, B2C payouts and reversals, with your own Daraja keys. Paystack and Stripe too.
- AI agents on WhatsApp and Telegram. Agents with long-term memory that people talk to, by text or voice.
- Approval before anything irreversible. Sending, posting and spending wait for a person, approved from the app, Telegram or WhatsApp.
- Spend caps and broken-workflow alerts. Set a monthly AI budget per workflow, and workflows that fail 5 times in a row stop and tell you why.
- A marketplace that pays creators. Sell your workflows and keep 70% of each sale, paid to M-Pesa or a bank.
See the apps CiraIQ connects to and ready-made templates.
Questions
- What is the cheapest Zapier alternative?
- CiraIQ, Make and Activepieces have free plans, and n8n and Activepieces can be self-hosted for free. Paid plans start at $20 a month for CiraIQ Basic and Activepieces Plus; Zapier Pro is $19.99 a month billed annually but includes 750 tasks.
- Is there an open-source Zapier alternative?
- Yes: n8n and Activepieces both have free self-hosted editions.
- Which Zapier alternative is best for African businesses?
- CiraIQ, which has M-Pesa, Paystack, WhatsApp and Africa's Talking SMS built in.
Competitor prices and plans were read from each company's own pricing page on 5 November 2026 and can change; follow the links for today's figures. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
Try CiraIQ on your own workflow
Start free with 3 workflows. No card needed. Install a template or build your own on the canvas.