Bardeen vs Zapier (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Zapier grades higher than Bardeen: 2.6 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Bardeen grades higher on value for money. Zapier grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Bardeen
Lead scraping, enrichment and qualification with AI agents
Zapier
Workflow automation across 9,000+ apps, with AI agents
Which one is for you
Pick Bardeen if
- Fits if you build lead lists and want scraping and enrichment in one place
- Works for a go-to-market person who pays by the row
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you scrape at volume: 1 credit a row, 3 for enrichment, and unused credits expire each period
- Not for you if you want general personal automation, as it is aimed at lead sourcing
- Pricey if you scale: Premium is $50 a month for 1,000 credits
- Watch out: the page does not say whether the free 100 credits refill
- Skip it if you want a desktop or phone app, as none is listed
Pick Zapier if
- Fits if one of your apps is obscure, since Zapier lists more than 9,000 of them
- Works for short chains, like a new Stripe payment adding a row in Google Sheets and pinging Slack
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you run thousands of tasks: AI steps cost up to 5 tasks each, and Professional tops out at $3,389 a month
- Tight if you're staying free, with 100 tasks a month, two steps per Zap and new data checked only every 15 minutes
- Watch out: overages are on by default at a higher rate Zapier doesn't publish, and Zaps pause at 3 times your limit
- Pricey if two of you want to share Zaps, because that means Team at $69 a month, while Make starts at $9
- Not for you if you want to build or fix automations from your phone or a desktop app, as there's neither
How we grade them
| 2.4GPABardeenFair | 2.6GPAZapierGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$10 a month for 100 credits is inside the cheapest quarter, but 100 credits is 100 scraped rows or about 33 enrichments. | C$19.99 a month billed annually puts Zapier just past this category's $19 middle, so the price itself is ordinary. What it buys: 750 tasks and one user, where viaSocket gives 17,000 tasks for $18 and Make 5,000 credits for $9. You're paying for the app list, not the allowance. |
| Free plan and trial | C100 free credits on every account, and the page does not say if they refill, so you will run out fast. | CFree forever, and the caps arrive almost immediately: 100 tasks a month, two steps per Zap, one user, and a check for new data only every 15 minutes. One small job will fit. Two won't. New accounts do get 14 days of Professional with no card. |
| Features | CScraper, web search, enrichment, AI qualification and exports, but it is aimed at lead sourcing and not general automation. | AThe app directory lists more than 9,000 apps, where Make lists about 3,000. On top of that: multi-step Zaps, filters, paths, webhooks, Tables, Forms, Canvas, AI agents and an MCP server. Multi-step Zaps, filters and paths need a paid plan. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You build scrapers and credit usage by row, with a learning curve. | CNo store rating to go on, since it lives in the browser. And it's a build job: apps to connect, then triggers, actions, filters and paths to think in. One Hacker News commenter called the whole thing an impenetrable mess aimed at marketers. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, no desktop or mobile apps on the pages read, with four named integrations. | BA browser and a Chrome extension, and that's your lot. No phone app we could find and nothing for the desktop. What you get instead is connections: 9,000-plus apps, webhooks, an SDK and an MCP server for assistants like Claude and ChatGPT. |
| Best for | scraping and enriching leads in the browser | connecting almost any two apps |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Bardeen and Zapier. How we grade
Where they differ
- Bardeen also covers AI agents and no-code.
- Zapier also covers databases.
At a glance
| Bardeen | Zapier | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $10 per month for 100 credits, billed monthly | $19.99 / month, billed annually, for 750 tasks ($29.99 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Every account gets 100 credits free; the pricing page does not say whether they refill each month. | 100 tasks a month for 1 user, limited to two-step Zaps, with unlimited Zaps, Tables and Forms. Zapier checks for new data every 15 minutes. |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial of Professional, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Bardeen Inc. | Zapier, Inc. |
| Price read from | bardeen.ai | zapier.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Bardeen
- Pricing is by credit: 1 per scraped row, 1 per search or AI row, 3 per enrichment row. Unused credits expire at the end of each billing period.
- The pricing page shows paid plans only as add-on credit amounts per month; the free 100 credits are described without a refill date.
- The product is aimed at lead sourcing and go-to-market work, not general-purpose personal automation.
- The pages read list no desktop or mobile apps; the product is described as an app used in the browser.
Zapier
- The Free plan is limited to 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps, and checks for new data only every 15 minutes.
- Free and Professional include a single user; sharing workflows with colleagues needs the Team plan.
- Cost rises with volume: Professional runs from $19.99 a month for 750 tasks to $3,389 a month for 2 million, billed annually.
- Tasks beyond the plan limit are billed per task at a higher rate that depends on plan and billing cycle; the rate is not published, and Zaps pause at 3 times the plan's limit.
Key features
Bardeen
- Web scraper
- Build your own scraper or use premium ones to pull leads from sites such as Product Hunt, Zillow and GitHub, at 1 credit per row.
- Web search
- Researches or generates leads at scale with AI and web search providers, or finds answers on a given website, at 1 credit per row.
- Contact enrichment
- Looks up validated emails and phone numbers for leads. Enrichment costs 3 credits per row.
- AI qualification
- You describe the ideal lead and AI marks each row as qualified or not, with a short reason, at 1 credit per row.
- Exports
- Results download as CSV or go to Google Sheets, Airtable and Notion. Importing and exporting data is free.
Zapier
- Zaps
- Workflows that start from a trigger and run one or more actions. Free accounts are limited to two-step Zaps; Professional adds multi-step Zaps, filters, paths and webhooks.
- App directory
- Zapier connects more than 9,000 apps, including Google Sheets, Gmail, Slack and HubSpot. Premium apps are unlimited from the Professional plan.
- Task-based billing
- A standard step uses 1 task when it completes; triggers, polling and built-in tools such as Filters and Paths use none. Some steps use more: an MCP tool call 2, a Lead Router step 5, and AI steps 1 to 5 by model tier.
- Tables, Forms and Canvas
- Tables store the data that workflows read and write, Forms collect it, and Canvas maps out a process. Tables and Forms are unlimited on every plan, including Free.
- Agents, Chatbots and MCP
- AI agents take actions across connected apps, and Zapier MCP gives assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT access to them. Agents and Chatbots are optional add-ons with free tiers.
- Team and admin controls
- Team covers 25 users with shared Zaps, folders and app connections plus SAML SSO. Enterprise adds SCIM provisioning, app controls and custom data retention.
Plans
Bardeen
Basic$10
per month for +100 credits, billed monthly
Adds 100 credits a month; steps up to +500 credits for $50. Includes custom scrapers, premium scrapers and enrichment.
Premium$50
per month for +1,000 credits, billed monthly
Adds 1,000 credits a month; steps up to +10K credits for $500. Adds Teams. Annual billing starts at $480 per year for +12,000 credits.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom bulk credits on annual billing, with custom scrapers built and maintained by Bardeen and premium support.
Zapier
Free$0
100 tasks a month for 1 user, limited to two-step Zaps, with unlimited Zaps, Tables and Forms and 15-minute polling.
Professional$19.99
per month, billed annually, for 750 tasks ($29.99 monthly)
1 user. Multi-step Zaps, unlimited premium apps, webhooks, filters and paths, AI by Zapier and 2-minute polling. Task tiers run up to 2 million a month.
Team$69
per month, billed annually, for 2,000 tasks ($103.50 monthly)
25 users, shared Zaps, folders and app connections, SAML single sign-on, priority support and 1-minute polling.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited users, advanced admin and app controls, SCIM provisioning, custom data retention and annual task limits.
Ways to pay less
Bardeen
- Annual discount
Save 20% on annual Premium billing
The pricing page offers Premium on yearly billing at a 20% saving, starting at $480 per year for 12,000 credits.
Zapier
- Annual discount
33% off with annual billing
Zapier's pricing page says annual subscriptions are billed yearly at 33% off the monthly rate: Professional is $19.99 a month instead of $29.99, and Team $69 instead of $103.50.
- Nonprofit
Extra 15% off for nonprofits
The pricing page lists an additional 15% discount for non-profit organizations. It does not apply to pay-per-task charges.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Bardeen or Zapier?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Bardeen is cheaper to start with: $10 a month, against $19.99 a month for Zapier. Bardeen starts at $10 per month for 100 credits, billed monthly, and Zapier starts at $19.99 / month, billed annually, for 750 tasks ($29.99 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Bardeen or Zapier?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Bardeen and Zapier have a free plan.
Which platforms do Bardeen and Zapier run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Zapier lists a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.