Zapier vs. Energy Automate: Which is greatest? [2026]

If your enterprise makes use of Microsoft 365, you have already got entry to Energy Automate. It is a succesful automation platform that integrates deeply with Groups, SharePoint, Dynamics, and the remainder of Microsoft’s ecosystem. For Microsoft-to-Microsoft workflows, it is a good place to start out.

However most enterprises have a considerable portion of their tech stack unfold throughout a number of distributors. Whereas Energy Automate gives modest assist for outdoor apps, Zapier works natively throughout no matter mixture of apps your groups have adopted.

The Microsoft-vs-everything else issue is one core differentiator, however there’s extra to unpack too. This is a full comparability of Zapier and Energy Automate so you may resolve which method suits your enterprise.

Desk of contents:

Zapier vs. Energy Automate at a look

Each platforms automate workflows, however Energy Automate is designed for organizations working totally on Microsoft instruments. Zapier works throughout any mixture of cloud apps, whether or not you utilize Microsoft merchandise or not.

This is a fast overview, however learn on for extra particulars.

Energy Automate focuses on the Microsoft ecosystem; Zapier connects 8,000+ apps and works throughout any tech stack

Energy Automate works properly when you’re automating inside Microsoft’s ecosystem. It integrates deeply with Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, SharePoint, Groups, and Azure. If these platforms run your core enterprise processes and you are not utilizing a lot else, Energy Automate is a strong alternative.

However it’s more and more uncommon for organizations to consolidate their total tech stack with a single vendor. When you add even just a few non-Microsoft instruments to your stack, Zapier’s vendor-neutral method turns into an enormous benefit. Zapier connects with greater than 8,000 apps and covers every thing from enterprise platforms to area of interest business instruments. Whether or not you want prebuilt connectors for up-and-coming AI apps like Runway or knowledge visualization instruments like Looker Studio, you will discover them.

Zapier additionally gives built-in assist for Microsoft apps like Outlook, Groups, SharePoint, Alternate, and Dynamics 365. Every connector is examined and maintained on Zapier’s facet, which implies you will spend far much less time on technical troubleshooting.

Energy Automate does provide prebuilt connectors for non-Microsoft merchandise, although its library of connectors—at round 1,000 apps—is 8x smaller than Zapier’s. Whereas there’s deep protection of Microsoft’s ecosystem and large enterprise platforms like Salesforce, SAP, and Oracle, anybody trying past main enterprise techniques will discover gaps. And though you may create customized connectors, every one provides to your technical debt since it’s a must to replace them your self when APIs change.

Zapier empowers everybody to automate; Energy Automate is constructed for IT groups

Energy Automate is a no-code/low-code platform, however it’s designed with technical customers in thoughts. Whereas non-technical customers can provoke a mission utilizing Energy Automate’s AI instruments or templates, they often aren’t those to launch it.

This is a pattern workflow described by Microsoft:

• Enterprise analyst makes use of Microsoft Copilot for course of mining and preliminary cloud movement

• Developer customizes and assessments the cloud movement and integrates a desktop movement with RPA

• IT administrator rolls out the movement, displays and debugs it, and units up governance guidelines

Counting on a extremely technical staff like this is smart for some tasks, however it additionally provides overhead, creates bottlenecks, and slows the tempo of innovation.

Zapier is designed to hurry up adoption by giving everybody in your group the instruments to create automations and AI-powered apps. Entrepreneurs, HR managers, and execs can design no matter they want, launch it, and iterate quick.

Even nonetheless, your IT staff retains full management and may set complete guardrails prematurely. Zapier enterprise plans embrace an Admin Middle with centralized oversight of all automations, role-based permissions, audit logs that monitor each motion throughout the platform, and controls that permit IT limit which apps and actions can be found.

Zapier will get you to ROI quicker with minimal coaching

Energy Automate gives templates and a Copilot assistant, however constructing something past fundamental automations requires an understanding of the Energy Platform. Complicated workflows in Energy Automate contain configuring variables, establishing conditional branches, managing loops, and dealing with error eventualities. For instance, an bill approval workflow may require a number of builders and designers working collectively to design the information movement, deal with exceptions, and combine with present techniques.

Because of this, coaching your staff to make use of Energy Automate takes time. Rookies want round 10 hours to finish Microsoft’s Energy Platform Fundamentals course. Intermediate builders can anticipate to speculate round 25 hours to check for the Energy Platform Developer Affiliate certification.

Zapier, however, is constructed for fast productiveness. Most customers can create their first automation inside minutes of signing up, with no coaching required, and Zapier’s library of prebuilt workflows accelerates the time-to-deployment dramatically for 1000’s of frequent enterprise eventualities.

For something customized, Zapier Copilot allows you to describe what you want and builds the automation for you. Even complicated automations with a number of steps, conditional logic, and knowledge transformations will be constructed shortly utilizing Copilot, then modified utilizing Zapier’s visible editor.

Zapier’s speed-to-deployment will get you to ROI quicker and eliminates the chance value of ready within the IT queue. Whereas Energy Automate tasks can take weeks or months to completely implement and ship worth, Zapier automations typically begin working the identical day they’re created.

Energy Automate gives RPA and course of mining; Zapier is a whole AI orchestration platform

For enterprises with legacy techniques, Energy Automate’s robotic course of automation (RPA) gives a technique to join these older purposes to fashionable techniques. RPA can even deal with duties like repetitive knowledge entry, and may deal with each attended and unattended automations.

Energy Automate additionally offers instruments for job and course of mining to uncover inefficient processes that might profit from automation.

Zapier does not provide RPA, job mining, or course of mining. As an alternative, it is targeted totally on cloud-to-cloud workflows, with a set of options that allow you to create complicated multi-product options from a single platform.

Zapier’s platform connects a set of automation and AI instruments:

• Zaps join your apps and automate repetitive work

• Brokers deal with complicated duties utilizing AI decision-making

• Chatbots present immediate AI-powered buyer assist

• Tables centralize your enterprise knowledge in a single place

• Interfaces allow you to seize knowledge and ship it the place you want it

• Canvas plans, paperwork, and optimizes how work will get performed

• Copilot transforms plain-English descriptions into working automations

And it is all one cohesive expertise. You’ll be able to simply mix a number of Zapier merchandise by asking Copilot to string them collectively. For instance, the workflow under makes use of Zaps to automate duties, Interfaces to gather responses, and Tables to retailer and manage the information.

Zapier gives simple usage-based pricing; Energy Automate comes with Microsoft 365 however has hidden prices

Microsoft 365 customers get entry to a restricted model of Energy Automate that helps cloud-based workflows. In case you’re simply establishing easy automations between Microsoft apps—like posting a message on Groups when a brand new SharePoint merchandise is created—that is included at no further value.

However there is a lengthy record of “premium connectors” that are not lined with the 365 license, together with frequent enterprise apps like Azure, Salesforce, SAP, and Pipedrive. If the apps you should join with aren’t lined, you will have so as to add Energy Automate Premium for an additional $15/consumer/month. Energy Automate Premium additionally contains attended RPA. In case you want unattended RPA, that prices one other $150-$215/month per bot. Course of mining prices a further $5,000/month per tenant.

Zapier’s pricing is extra simple. Plans begin at $19.99/month for solo customers, with Staff plans that cowl as much as 25 customers obtainable for $69/month. As soon as you’ve got scaled, you may transfer to an enterprise plan with customized pricing, superior admin capabilities, and entry to a technical account supervisor. And in contrast to Energy Automate, Zapier’s pricing is pushed by job utilization somewhat than the variety of customers accessing the platform, making it cost-efficient for bigger groups.

Then there’s the overall value of possession. Energy Automate’s complexity means most organizations want to rent Energy Platform specialists, both as full-time staff or consultants. Coaching prices, customized connector improvement prices, and ongoing upkeep prices additionally push up the overall value. With Zapier, non-technical customers can scale automation throughout the group, eliminating the necessity for costly consultants and lowering IT hiring wants. And since Zapier contains way more prebuilt (and mechanically maintained) connectors, customized improvement and ongoing upkeep prices are usually decrease.

Energy Automate vs. Zapier: Which is greatest?

Energy Automate has benefits when you run your total enterprise inside the Microsoft ecosystem. However except you want RPA capabilities, Zapier’s vendor-neutral method begins making extra sense the second you should join an enterprise app that falls outdoors Microsoft’s ecosystem.

Select Zapier if:

• Your tech stack contains well-liked instruments past Microsoft’s ecosystem

• You need enterprise groups to construct their very own automations as an alternative of relying solely on IT

• You want complete AI capabilities like brokers, chatbots, databases, and interfaces

• You like usage-based pricing over per-user licensing

• It is advisable launch automations shortly

Select Energy Automate if:

• You run your total enterprise on Microsoft 365 and Dynamics with few outdoors instruments

• You want desktop automation (RPA) for legacy techniques that do not have fashionable APIs

• You could have devoted Energy Platform specialists on employees

• You require HIPAA compliance for healthcare knowledge

• You wish to handle governance by Microsoft’s admin middle

For a lot of enterprises, each platforms can coexist. Use Energy Automate for deep Microsoft integrations and RPA wants, with Zapier connecting to the broader SaaS ecosystem and empowering groups throughout your group to automate their very own workflows.

Create a Zapier account to start out constructing automations now, or join with the Zapier staff to find out how Zapier can match into your enterprise automation technique.

Associated studying: