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Side-by-side comparison · Automation & Workflows

Activepieces vs UiPath vs Zapier

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Activepieces

4.0

From $20/mo flat

UiPath

3.9

From From $25/mo

Best overall

Zapier

4.2

From From $19.99/mo

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Best value

Pick it if: Small teams who like how Zapier works but want to own their automations or avoid per-task pricing.

Pick it if: Operations and IT teams at mid-size and large companies automating high-volume back-office processes.

Best overallEasiest to use

Pick it if: Anyone who's sick of copying data between apps and has never written a line of code.

Zapier scores highest overall, but Activepieces gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.

Overview

AttributeActivepiecesUiPathZapier
In one lineA Zapier-style automation builder that's open source and charges per run, not per step.Enterprise automation that runs software robots and AI agents across business apps.When something happens in one app, Zapier does the next step in another. No code needed.
Pricing modelOpen sourceFreemiumFreemium
Starting price$20/mo flatFrom $25/moFrom $19.99/mo
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeActivepiecesUiPathZapier
Overall rating4.03.94.2Winner
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.0
3.0
5.0
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
3.5
5.0
4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.0
4.5
4.0
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
4.5
3.0
3.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
4.0
4.5

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeActivepiecesUiPathZapier
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Mobile app No––
Desktop app No Yes No
Browser extension No Yes Yes
API access Yes Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted Yes Yes No
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes Yes Yes
Understands images– Yes–
Makes images No No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code Yes Yes Yes
Runs agents or automations Yes Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style No– No
Works in many languages Yes––
Capabilities score10/ 1712/ 179/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeActivepiecesUiPathZapier
Plans

Free

Free

Small teams getting started, or anyone who will self-host.

Community

Free

Learning and small personal or community projects.

Free

Free

Testing one or two simple automations.

PlusOur pick

$20/mo flat

A small business running automations every day.

Basic

From $25/mo

Simple personal automations.

ProfessionalOur pick

From $19.99/mo billed yearly, or $29.99/mo

One person running real automations for a business.

Team

$200/mo flat

A larger team that needs SSO and roles.

StandardOur pick

Custom (60-day free trial)

Businesses running automations in production.

Team

From $69/mo billed yearly, or $103.50/mo

A team that shares Zaps and app connections.

Ultimate

Custom

Companies with heavy volume or strict security needs.

Enterprise

Custom

Large organisations with strict security needs.

Enterprise

Custom

Large companies with security and compliance needs.

Which plan to pickThe Free plan is unusually generous, so start there. Move to Plus when you want monthly credits instead of a daily cap and the option to use your own AI keys. Self-host only if someone on the team is happy running a server.Learn on Community. If you are automating real business processes, Standard is where agents and document extraction open up; use the 60-day trial to prove one process before signing. UiPath says the Basic plan is being reworked.Start on Free to confirm your apps connect, then move to Professional on yearly billing. Buy the smallest task tier and let Zapier tell you when you are close to the limit, because it is easy to overestimate how many tasks you need.

Key features

AttributeActivepiecesUiPathZapier
Standout features
  • Zapier-style builder
  • Flat per-run pricing
  • Self-host or cloud
  • MCP for AI assistants
  • Agents and Tables
  • Bring your own AI keys
  • Software robots
  • AI agents
  • Document understanding
  • Orchestration
  • Developer tools
  • Test automation
  • 8,000+ app connections
  • Copilot builder
  • Multi-step Zaps with paths
  • Tables, Interfaces and Chatbots
  • Agents
  • Zap history and replay

Pros and cons

AttributeActivepiecesUiPathZapier
Pros
  • Easiest open-source automation tool to learn
  • Flat pricing, with one credit per run however long the flow
  • Generous free plan and free self-hosting
  • MCP makes every connected app available to Claude
  • Open source, so you can inspect or extend it
  • Works with almost any app, including legacy systems
  • Very complete platform for robots, agents, documents and testing
  • Strong governance, security and audit features
  • Free Community plan for learning
  • Large partner network and training resources
  • Fastest to learn of any automation tool here
  • Connects to far more apps than anyone else
  • Copilot builds a working Zap from a plain-English description
  • Reliable, with clear run history when something fails
  • Tables, Interfaces and Chatbots cover simple internal tools
Cons
  • Far fewer apps than Zapier, and some pieces are thin
  • Smaller community and fewer templates than n8n
  • No canvas, so complex branching is harder to follow
  • AI steps cost extra credits on top of the run
  • Expensive and confusing licensing
  • Steep learning curve for non-developers
  • Version updates can break existing automations
  • Too heavy for small businesses with simple needs
  • Per-task pricing gets expensive fast, and every step counts as a task
  • The free plan is too limited to run anything real
  • Zaps run in a straight line, so branching and loops are clumsier than in Make
  • Each extra product (Tables, Interfaces, Chatbots) has its own limits and costs

Who each one is for

AttributeActivepiecesUiPathZapier
Best for
  • Zapier-style automations on a budget
  • Giving AI assistants access to your apps
  • Long multi-step workflows
  • Self-hosted automation for teams
  • Automating old desktop and legacy systems
  • Invoice and document processing at volume
  • Finance, HR and shared-services teams
  • Processes that need audit trails and governance
  • Sending form submissions to spreadsheets
  • New lead alerts in Slack or email
  • Syncing contacts between tools
  • Connecting niche apps nobody else supports
You'll find it used by
  • Small teams
  • Ops teams
  • Developers
  • Agencies
  • Operations teams
  • Finance and shared services
  • IT teams
  • Large enterprises
  • Consulting partners
  • Marketers
  • Solo founders
  • Ops teams
  • Agencies

Questions people ask

Which is better, Activepieces, UiPath or Zapier?

Zapier scores highest overall in our ratings (Activepieces 4.0/5, UiPath 3.9/5 and Zapier 4.2/5). Activepieces is best for zapier-style automations on a budget and Giving AI assistants access to your apps. UiPath is best for automating old desktop and legacy systems and invoice and document processing at volume. Zapier is best for sending form submissions to spreadsheets and new lead alerts in Slack or email.

Which is cheaper, Activepieces, UiPath or Zapier?

Activepieces: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo flat. UiPath: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $25/mo. Zapier: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $19.99/mo.

Which is easier to use, Activepieces, UiPath or Zapier?

Zapier rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Anyone who's sick of copying data between apps and has never written a line of code.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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