Tray.ai vs Zapier (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Zapier grades higher than Tray.ai: 2.6 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Zapier grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, 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.
Tray.ai
Integration, automation and agent platform for enterprises
Zapier
Workflow automation across 9,000+ apps, with AI agents
Which one is for you
Pick Tray.ai if
- Fits if you join many business systems and want agents on them
- Makes sense if you want a card-free trial to measure your own usage
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if usage grows, as past the plan it is $1.00 per compute unit at list
- Not for you if you want iPaaS prices, because a quote is built from expected Task usage
- Watch out: the agent builder and MCP gateway are add-ons, not in the base plans
- Watch out: on Team, HIPAA, SSO and regional hosting are add-ons
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
| 2.2GPATray.aiFair | 2.6GPAZapierGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CBuilder is $50 a workspace a month with usage at $1.00 per compute unit. The iPaaS plans are quoted, and the agent tools are extra. | 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 | CA 30-day trial with 1 million Tasks, no card and no sales call. There is no free plan. | 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 | CIntegration, automation, governance and observability across 6,000+ apps. The listing's gap: Merlin Agent Builder and the MCP gateway are add-ons, not in the base plans. | 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, and workflows and connectors have to be built. | 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, with Salesforce, Slack, NetSuite, HubSpot, Jira, Snowflake, Teams and OpenAI listed. | 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 | enterprise teams that join systems and add agents on top | 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: Tray.ai and Zapier. How we grade
Where they differ
- Tray.ai also covers AI agents and no-code.
- Zapier also covers databases.
At a glance
| Tray.ai | Zapier | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $50 per workspace / month (Tray Helix Builder Edition) | $19.99 / month, billed annually, for 750 tasks ($29.99 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | 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 | 30-day free trial with 1 million Tasks on Tray iPaaS, with every capability and the full connector library, no card and no sales call. | 14-day free trial of Professional, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Tray.ai | Zapier, Inc. |
| Price read from | tray.ai | zapier.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Tray.ai
- The iPaaS plans have no published prices; a quote is built from expected Task usage, and usage above the plan is settled at a true-up.
- Merlin Agent Builder and Agent Gateway for MCP are add-ons, not included in the base plans.
- On Team, HIPAA, SSO, regional hosting and on-premise connectivity are add-ons; Enterprise includes them.
- Helix usage beyond the plan is billed at $1.00 per HCU at list.
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
Tray.ai
- Merlin Agent Builder
- A no-code builder for agents with guardrails, audit logs, knowledge ingestion, an agent hub and Slack and Teams deployment. It is a paid add-on.
- Agent Gateway for MCP
- Publishes apps, databases and APIs as governed MCP tools with access control and observability. It is a paid add-on.
- Automation and integration
- Process automation, data integration and API management, built on a drag-and-drop builder or in code, across 6,000+ apps, databases and APIs.
- Tray Helix
- Takes apps and integrations built with Claude Code, Codex or Cursor to production on a managed runtime with credentials and an owner recorded for each app.
- Governance and observability
- Audit trails, insights and log retention are part of the platform, with longer retention on higher plans.
- Usage-based pricing
- The iPaaS charges per Task (one operation on a piece of data), with no per-user or per-connection fees.
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
Tray.ai
Helix Builder Edition$50
per workspace / month
Unlimited builders, end users and apps. Usage is billed at $1.00 per Helix Compute Unit (HCU), or at committed rates.
iPaaS ProCustom
For specific use cases: 3 workspaces, 7-day insights and log retention, 6,000+ apps and services. Quoted from expected usage.
iPaaS TeamCustom
For a department: 20 workspaces, 30-day insights, log retention management and Guardian Log Masking, with all add-ons available.
iPaaS EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited workspaces, 180-day insights, advanced on-premise, SSO, HIPAA, regional hosting, log streaming and data engineering.
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
Tray.ai
No public discounts listed.
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, Tray.ai or Zapier?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Zapier is cheaper to start with: $19.99 a month, against $50 a month for Tray.ai. Tray.ai starts at $50 per workspace / month (Tray Helix Builder Edition), and Zapier starts at $19.99 / month, billed annually, for 750 tasks ($29.99 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Tray.ai or Zapier?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Zapier has a free plan. Tray.ai does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Tray.ai 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.