Book Image

Automate It with Zapier and Generative AI - Second Edition

By : Kelly Goss
Book Image

Automate It with Zapier and Generative AI - Second Edition

By: Kelly Goss

Overview of this book

Organizations experience significant issues with productivity when dealing with manual and repetitive tasks. Automate it with Zapier and Generative AI, second edition has been extensively revised to help you analyze your processes and identify repetitive tasks that can be automated between 6000+ cloud-based business applications. This book includes all Zapier’s newest features such as AI functionality using the ChatGPT plugin, drafts, reordering and duplicating steps and paths, subfolders and version history, as well as built-in apps such as Looping, Sub-Zap, Interfaces, Tables, and Transfer. The chapters also contain examples covering various use cases sourced from the Zapier user community. You'll learn how to implement automation in your organization along with key principles and terminology, and take the first steps toward using Zapier. As you advance, you'll learn how to use Zapier’s native functionality and all 27 built-in apps such as Filter, Paths, Formatter, Digest, and Scheduler to enable you to build multi-step Zaps. You’ll also discover how to manage your Zapier account effectively, as well as how to troubleshoot technical problems with your workflows, and use the OpenAI integration to automate AI tasks. By the end of this book, you'll be able to automate your manual and repetitive tasks using Zapier.
Table of Contents (33 chapters)
1
Part 1: Getting Started with Zapier
7
Part 2: Customizing Your Zaps with Built-in Apps by Zapier – Functionality and Practical Uses
16
Part 3: Using the Features of the Formatter by Zapier Built-In App
22
Part 4: Getting the Most Out of Zapier

Choosing the right Zapier plan

Zapier offers five pricing options to suit your business requirements, as follows:

  • Free plan
  • Starter plan
  • Professional plan
  • Team plan
  • Company plan

The following figure summarizes the features available for each Zapier pricing plan:

Figure 1.1 – Summary of features available for each Zapier pricing plan

Figure 1.1 – Summary of features available for each Zapier pricing plan

Important note

All prices and plan structures are correct at the time of publishing this book. You may also find that, depending on your region, the pricing and plan structure vary slightly.

Each pricing plan varies in features; however, primarily, the plans are categorized according to the number of tasks you have available monthly, the number of Zaps you can set up, and how short the syncing interval is. On most plans (except for the Free plan), you can retain features and add additional tasks for an extra fee. The availability of Zap history data and access to online customer service and technical support is included in all plans.

The Free plan is free forever, and all paid Zapier plans are available to be paid monthly or annually.

Zapier offers a 14-day trial plan, which gives you access to the majority of features on the Professional plan with 1,000 tasks, except for Autoreplay.

Once you’ve logged in to your Zapier account, you can view a detailed list of the features and pricing for each plan and change your plan as needed by clicking on the links in the following navigation options:

  • Billing and Usage (Settings)
  • Wallet (expandable left sidebar)
  • Pricing (top menu on information pages)
  • Pricing (footer menu)

Important note

Your monthly task allocation does not carry over to the next month. Toward the end of each billing period, if you have unused tasks left over and you are using fewer tasks than you need to, you may be able to downgrade to a lower subscription and still retain your pricing plan features.

Next, let’s take a look at different Zapier plans that will be suitable for your business.

Which is the right Zapier plan to use for your business?

Zapier is ideal for any size business that wants to automate its processes. It can be used by solopreneurs or companies with small or large teams. It can also be used by freelancers and consultants to manage their clients’ processes.

The needs of your business will determine which price plan is best to use. How many processes you would like to automate and how complex these processes are will impact your decision.

Free plan

For businesses with one user that only have a few simple tasks to automate, this plan is the most appropriate. You will be able to build up to five single-step workflows using the majority of the apps that Zapier integrates with (excluding premium apps). Zapier will search for new data in your trigger apps every 15 minutes and run your Zaps, allowing up to 100 tasks per month to be processed. The Free plan is the best plan to get started with while you get to grips with how Zapier works at a basic level. You will also get access to standard features, such as creating your Zaps in draft, copying and pasting steps, and duplicating and reordering steps. You will also be able to organize your Zaps into folders and subfolders.

Starter plan

If you still only have one user and a relatively small number of processes to automate, but you need to automate multiple activities in one or more apps (including up to three premium apps), try the Starter plan. You can take advantage of additional features, such as using conditions in filters, formatting text, numbers, and dates, accessing version history, as well as creating custom integrations with webhooks. You can build up to 20 Zaps and will have access to 750 tasks per month (1,500 for a higher subscription payment). The update time remains at 15 minutes.

Professional plan

The Professional plan is for single users that want to level up and use Zapier optimally. This plan is best for you if you have a large number of complex, multi-step processes that require conditional logic and you use more than three premium apps in your business. All Starter plan features are included, as well as the ability to create, duplicate, and reorder paths, use Autoreplay, create custom error notifications, and roll back to previous versions of your Zaps. You can take advantage of unlimited premium apps, unlimited Zaps, a quicker update time of two minutes, and access to between 2,000 and 2,000,000 tasks per month (depending on your subscription payment).

Team plan

Businesses with two or more team members that are responsible for automating and managing processes should take advantage of the features available with the Team plan. All the elements of the Professional plan are included, with the added benefits of a faster update time of one minute, and you will be able to export Zaps and access audit logs. The Team plan allows teams to collaborate and automate their processes securely and in an organized way. Team members can securely access multiple apps without the need to share passwords and API keys between them, share workspaces, and select who has access to specific folders and apps. An additional bonus of this plan is access to a premier support team with faster, prioritized responses.

Company plan

The Company plan is for organizations that require enterprise-grade security considerations and want to separate their users into teams. You still have access to all the features of the Team plan, plus access to multiple workspaces, per-Zap Autoreplay, and the ability to adjust error ratio settings. Security features include user management, app access control, secure single sign-on (SSO), and top-level account management.

An additional bonus of this plan is the ability to customize Zap history data retention for shorter periods than the standard 30 days available on other plans to fit with your company’s regulatory requirements, as well as real-time support via live chat.

You now have a better understanding of what features and functionality are included in each Zapier plan and which plan would suit your business most. Next, we’ll cover how to set up a Zapier account.