Comparison: Zapier vs Make vs n8n vs Huginn vs Pabbly

Automation services are becoming increasingly popular as businesses look for ways to streamline their workflows and save time. Zapier is one of the most well-known automation services, but there are several other contenders in the market. In this article, we will compare Pabbly, Zapier, Make, n8n, and Huginn, highlighting their differences, limitations, and special features.

A quick overview

Here is a table comparing the features of the five automation services discussed in the article:

Pricing

Pabbly

Pabbly Connect is a platform that allows you to create automated workflows and connect multiple apps without any coding knowledge. It is a great option for small-scale businesses and offers affordable pricing plans. Pabbly Connect supports over 700 integrations and offers a drag-and-drop interface for easy workflow creation.

Pabbly Features

Get started with Pabbly

Pabbly Connect: The official website of Pabbly Connect provides resources and guides for new customers and beginners to start automating workflows.

5 short use cases for using Pabbly Connect

1. Exporting Emails to Sheets: You can use Pabbly Connect to export emails from your email marketing software to Google Sheets in real-time. This can help you keep track of your email campaigns and analyze their performance.
2. Sending Notifications through Slack: Pabbly Connect can be used to send notifications to your team through Slack when certain events occur, such as a new lead or sale. This can help you stay on top of important business activities.
3. Creating Tasks in Trello: With Pabbly Connect, you can create tasks in Trello automatically when certain events occur, such as a new customer or order. This can help you manage your workflow more efficiently.
4. Integrating with Parsio: Pabbly Connect can be integrated with Parsio to automate workflows and streamline processes. For example, you can export data in real-time to Google Sheets, send notifications through Slack, and create tasks in Trello.
5. Multi-Step Integrations: Pabbly Connect supports multi-step integrations, which means you can set up a single action to trigger different events. Let's say someone makes a payment using Stripe or WooCommerce. You can send the customer's info to MailChimp, put their email into a CRM for future follow-up, and even get a text message on your phone when it's all done.

Examples mentioned

• https://www.pabbly.com/connect/
• https://youtube.com/watch?v=_H_MdHYFfUI
• https://youtube.com/watch?v=cV1lJssQVxY
• https://www.activecampaign.com/apps/pabbly-connect-integration
• https://parsio.io/integrations/pabbly-connect/

Zapier

Zapier is like a magic tool that helps your apps work together without needing any special coding skills. It is easy to get started, especially for non-technical users, and offers a great range of integrations. However, it is not ideal for handling complex conditional logic and requires upgrading to higher-tier plans for more custom logic.

Zapier Features

Get started with Zapier

Zapier Getting Started Guide: This guide provides an overview of how to get started with Zapier for new customers and beginners.

What are people using Zapier for?

1. Automating Social Media: Zapier can be used to automate social media tasks such as posting content, scheduling posts, and tracking mentions across different platforms.
2. Generating RSS Feeds: Zapier can generate RSS feeds for podcasts and other content, making it easy to distribute content across different platforms.
3. Real Estate: Zapier can be used to automate tasks such as parsing home addresses from MLS home listing alerts and sending postcards to potential clients.
4. Ticket and Incident Management: Zapier can be used to automate ticket and incident management, reducing clerical errors and improving speed to resolution.
5. Lead Management: Zapier can be used to automate lead management tasks such as capturing leads and sending them to the right place, improving efficiency and reliability.

These are just a few examples of the many ways Zapier can be used to automate tasks and streamline workflows. Zapier supports over 5000 app integrations, making it a versatile tool for automating processes across multiple platforms.

Make

Make is highly customizable and lets you tinker much more than Zapier, making it perfect for more complex tasks or those that require customization. It offers affordable pricing plans and a user-friendly interface. The Make dashboard design is very functional and user-friendly that could be compared to Zapier in this regard.

Make Features

Get started with Make

Sign up at make.com: The official website of Make walk you through their features, pricing and their academy can help you get started.

What are people using Make for?

Make.com is a platform where you can create and automate tasks, workflows, apps, and systems at the speed of your ideas. Here are five short examples of using Make:

1. Project Management: Use Make.com to manage your projects, assign tasks, and track progress. You can create custom workflows and automate repetitive tasks to save time and increase efficiency.
2. Marketing Automation: Use Make.com to automate your marketing campaigns, from lead generation to customer retention. You can create custom workflows for email marketing, social media, and other channels.
3. Sales Automation: Use Make.com to automate your sales processes, from lead qualification to deal closing. You can create custom workflows for lead scoring, pipeline management, and more.
4. Customer Support: Use Make.com to streamline your customer support processes, from ticket management to issue resolution. You can create custom workflows for ticket routing, escalation, and follow-up.
5. HR Management: Use Make.com to manage your HR processes, from recruiting to onboarding to performance management. You can create custom workflows for candidate screening, interview scheduling, and more.

These are just a few examples of how Make.com can be used to automate and streamline various business processes. With its flexible and customizable platform, the possibilities are endless.

See more cases

• https://www.make.com/en/use-cases

n8n

N8n is an easy-to-use, low-code, open-source tool that you can host on your own server. It's a great alternative to Zapier, which also helps automate tasks. It is great for technical people who want to build complex workflows faster. With it, you can create workflows quickly with a drag n' drop GUI or if you need more flexibility you can do so with Javascript. It supports a wide range of integrations and offers customizable HTTP requests.

n8n Features

Use Cases for Using n8n

n8n is a powerful workflow automation tool that can be used for a variety of tasks. Here are five short use cases or case studies for using n8n:

1. Automating Business Processes: n8n can be used to automate mundane and repetitive manual tasks, saving time and money for businesses. For example, Bordr uses workflow automation to help people relocate to Portugal, while Dropsolid integrates data from different sources to create personalized marketing campaigns and data reporting dashboards.
2. Data Scraping and Notification: n8n can be used to scrape data from websites and notify internally about overdue invoices. It can also be used to convert XML data, hydrate the date inside the XML, and prepare it for processing by an ERP system.
3. Lead Automation and CRM Supercharging: n8n can supercharge CRM systems and automate lead management processes, making it an ideal tool for businesses looking to streamline their customer relationship management.
4. Complex Workflow Management: n8n can be used to manage complex workflows, such as merging company data with external information, sorting and formatting data, writing binary files, and sending notifications via email and Discord.
5. Back Office Automation: n8n can automate back office work for small design studios and other businesses, making it a game-changer for SMBs and enterprise companies. It can connect with hundreds of other apps and create sophisticated automations to streamline various business processes.

These use cases demonstrate the versatility and power of n8n in automating and streamlining various business processes, making it a valuable tool for businesses of all sizes.By leveraging n8n, businesses can save time, reduce manual errors, and improve overall operational efficiency, ultimately contributing to their growth and success. I included a variety of use cases for n8n, showcasing its versatility and potential impact on business processes. If you'd like to explore more specific use cases or dive deeper into any of the examples, feel free to let me know!

Examples from these sources

• https://n8n.io/case-studies/
• https://community.n8n.io/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youre-using-n8n-for-at-work/5424
• https://n8n.io/integrations/n8n/
• https://docs.n8n.io/courses/level-two/chapter-5/chapter-5.0/

Get started with n8n

n8n - Workflow Automation Tool: The official website of n8n provides comprehensive resources for beginners, including tutorials, documentation, and community support.

Huginn

Huginn is a lesser-known contender in the automation services market. It is an open-source, self-hosted automation tool that allows you to create agents that perform automated tasks for you online. Huginn is highly customizable and offers a wide range of integrations. However, it requires technical knowledge to set up and use.

Huginn Features

What are people using Huginn for?

Huginn is a system for building agents that perform automated tasks online. Here are five short use cases for using Huginn:

1. Social media monitoring: Huginn can be used to monitor social media progress, such as DeviantArt watchers, Facebook likes, YouTube subscribers, Twitter, Instagram, etc. It can compact these numbers into a clear report and even give encouragement at certain milestones.
2. News aggregation: Huginn can be used as an exocortex to stay abreast of industry news. For example, it can be used to stay up-to-date on space industry news for Orbital Index.
3. Workflow automation: Huginn can be used to automate workflows and replace the functionality of services like Zapier. It can be the glue between a lot of services and is a very powerful and versatile product.
4. Process and system design: Huginn can be used to design processes and systems. Use case diagrams can be created to illustrate the relationship between users and use cases, and to describe the activities involved in reaching the goals behind each use case.
5. Pet monitoring: Huginn can be used to monitor pets, such as crested geckos. For example, it can be used to keep track of droppings and ensure the pet's health.

These are just a few examples of the many use cases for Huginn. It is a flexible and customizable system that can be used for a wide range of tasks.

Examples mentioned

• https://github.com/huginn/huginn/issues/308
• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30051701

Get started with Huginn

To deploy Huginn, you can use methods like Heroku, Docker, Docker Compose, or manual installation on Linux. For a quick deployment, you can use the "Deploy to Heroku" button. After installation, you can extend Huginn by using available Agent Gems or by creating your own. Huginn can read files stored on the host, making it a useful data processing tool. Additionally, there are tutorials available on platforms like YouTube for step-by-step guidance on setting up Huginn using AWS EC2 and Ubuntu.

Links:

• https://hub.docker.com/r/huginn/huginn
• https://github.com/huginn/huginn/

Who Should Use Which Service?

• Pabbly: Small-scale businesses looking for affordable pricing plans and a drag-and-drop interface.
• Zapier: Non-technical users looking for an easy-to-use automation tool with a great range of integrations.
• Make: Businesses looking for highly customizable automation services with affordable pricing plans.
• n8n: Technical people looking for a low-code, self-hostable automation tool with a wide range of integrations.
• Huginn: Technical people looking for an open-source, self-hosted automation tool with a wide range of integrations.

Getting Started

Each of these automation services offers different pricing plans and features. To get started, visit their websites and explore their offerings. Choose the one that best fits your business needs and budget.

Reddit - What's a good Zapier alternative?: This Reddit thread discusses various Zapier alternatives, including Pabbly, n8n, and Huginn, providing insights for beginners.

Use Cases

Different use cases might require different tools. For example, Pabbly is great for small-scale businesses looking for affordable pricing plans, while n8n is great for technical people who want to build complex workflows faster. Make is perfect for more complex tasks or those that require customization. Zapier is a great solution for small business owners trying to automatically download website leads to Google Sheets, while Huginn is ideal for technical people looking for an open-source, self-hosted automation tool.

In conclusion, there are several automation services available in the market, each with its own pros and cons. Choose the one that best fits your business needs and budget.