Tines vs Zapier
We give Tines a 3.2 GPA and Zapier a 3.0, out of 4.0. Tines grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Zapier
Workflow automation across 9,000+ apps, with AI agents
How we grade them
| 3.2GPATinesVery good | 3.0GPAZapierVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BNo paid prices are published. The pricing page only offers a quote request, and plans are sold as platform licences sized in Tines units, from 100K a month on Core. With nothing to weigh, it stops at a B. Model costs go to your own AI provider on top. | C$19.99 a month buys 750 tasks. Make starts at $9 for 5,000 credits. You're paying for the bigger app list, and that's only worth it when the cheaper tools don't have your apps. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe free Explore edition of Tines 3B has unlimited users, spaces and connectors, which is generous. But it stops at 3 live workflows and 5,000 Tines units a month, with a one-time $50 AI allowance. Tines Stories has its own free Community Edition. | BFree forever, but it's 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps only. Enough for one small job, like saving new form answers to a sheet. New accounts also get 14 days of Professional with no card. |
| Features | AA storyboard of webhooks, HTTP requests, conditions and AI agents, plus Cases for incidents. Tines 3B writes a workflow as code from a prompt, with tests, Git branching and a sandbox for every step, and keeps credentials away from the builder and the AI. | AMore than 9,000 apps, where Make lists more than 3,000. Add multi-step Zaps, filters, paths, webhooks, Tables, Forms, AI agents and an MCP server and there's not much it can't wire together. |
| Ease of use | BTines Stories is drag-and-drop, and 3B builds from a plain-language description. It's made with security and IT teams in mind, though, and there are two products to pick between. No rating on record, so a B. | BNo code, and Zapier's own FAQ says you don't need to be a developer. You still have to think in triggers and steps, though, and one Hacker News commenter called the whole thing an impenetrable mess. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web platform that connects to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Okta, CrowdStrike, ServiceNow and Splunk, and coding assistants such as Claude Code can plug into 3B. The listing shows no phone or desktop app. | BIt connects to more than 9,000 apps, with webhooks, an SDK and an MCP server for AI assistants on top. But it only runs in a browser and a Chrome extension. We couldn't find a phone app. |
| Best for | security and IT teams automating alerts and tickets | 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: Tines and Zapier. How we grade
Where they differ
- Only Zapier lists a browser extension.
- Tines is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Tines also covers templates and AI agents.
- Zapier also covers databases.
At a glance
| Tines | Zapier | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $19.99 / month, billed annually, for 750 tasks ($29.99 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Explore edition of Tines 3B: unlimited users, spaces and connectors, 3 live workflows, 5,000 Tines units a month and a one-time $50 AI allowance. Tines Stories has its own free Community Edition. | 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 | Tines | Zapier, Inc. |
| Price read from | tines.com | zapier.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Tines
- Security teams automating alert intake, triage and remediation
- IT teams that must govern workflows other departments build with AI
- Organizations that need a self-hosted, on-prem or hybrid deployment
Zapier
- Connecting a wide range of cloud apps, including less common ones
- Solo users with light needs who can stay within 100 tasks a month
- Teams that want shared workflows with single sign-on and admin controls
Worth knowing
Tines
- Paid prices are not published: the pricing page only offers a quote request, and plans are sold as platform licenses.
- The free Explore edition stops at 3 live workflows and 5,000 Tines units a month, and does not allow public website URLs.
- Paid plans use a bring-your-own-model approach, so LLM token costs are paid to your own AI provider.
- Tines units used beyond the plan allowance are billed as overage, after a one-month grace period for new customers.
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
Tines
- Storyboard
- In Tines Stories, workflows are assembled by placing and connecting actions on a canvas: Webhook, HTTP request, Receive email, Send email, Event Transform, Condition and AI Agent.
- Prompt-to-code building in Tines 3B
- You describe a process in plain language and 3B writes the workflow as code, proposing tests as it goes. Git integration and branching are standard, and coding assistants such as Claude Code can connect.
- Isolated runs and hidden credentials
- Each step of a 3B workflow runs in its own sandbox, and credentials are injected through a proxy so that secrets are never shown to the builder or the AI, or stored in the code.
- Cases and Workbench
- Tines Stories includes Cases for case and incident management and Workbench, an AI copilot. The free Community Edition allows up to 20 Workbench messages a day across the tenant.
- Autofix and Autotune
- Autofix suggests repairs for anomalies and likely breaks in a workflow. Autotune proposes reliability, performance and clarity improvements on a branch you review before it goes live.
- Monitoring and AI spend
- Dashboards show workflow performance, spend across LLM providers and models, who has access to which connectors and spaces, duplicate workflows and estimated savings.
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
Tines
Explore$0
Free edition of Tines 3B: unlimited users, spaces and connectors, 3 live workflows, 5,000 Tines units a month and a one-time $50 AI allowance.
CoreCustom
Paid Tines 3B license on a multi-tenant stack with 100K Tines units a month, unlimited workflows and your own AI model.
ScaleCustom
A dedicated stack for larger deployments, with 300K Tines units a month.
PowerCustom
A premium dedicated stack for the highest volumes, with 900K Tines units a month.
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
Tines
- Startups
Startup Program for Tines Stories
Tines offers a heavily discounted, fully featured Tines Stories tenant to startups with under 100 employees, under 5 years old and under $50M raised. Services companies are excluded.
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.
