Cheapest automation tool: the lowest paid plan of seven tools and what it buys

Cheapest automation tool: the lowest paid plans

By sticker price, the cheapest automation tool is IFTTT Starter at $2.99 a month, billed monthly, for 5,000 credits, as read on October 30, 2026. IFTTT does not publish how many credits one Applet run uses, so that price cannot be set against the others. Among tools that publish what they count, Make Core at $16 for 10,000 credits and Pabbly Connect Standard at $19 for 10,000 tasks are the lowest, billed monthly.

Billed yearly, the same plans are $2.09 a month on IFTTT, $12 on Make, $16 on Pabbly Connect, $15 on Albato, $20 on n8n Cloud and $19.99 on Zapier and Integrately.

The Try Pabbly Connect button opens Pabbly's plans page, where the Standard row above can be read in full.

What the lowest paid plan buys on each tool

Each tool bills its own unit. A task is an action step on Pabbly Connect, a successful action on Zapier and an action, condition or data change on Integrately. Make takes one credit for most actions, reads included, and IFTTT credits cover Applet runs, MCP usage and AI features. An Albato transaction is each step after the trigger, and an n8n execution is one run of a whole workflow.

• Pabbly Connect Standard plans can be stacked to add tasks, and the price of a stack is not printed.
• Zapier Professional is a one-user plan.
• Albato prices extra transactions 50% higher.
• IFTTT Starter checks for new data every 15 minutes, and Integrately Starter includes 3 premium apps.

Why the lowest sticker is not always the lowest month

Steps multiply units. A form response that adds a spreadsheet row, creates a CRM contact and posts a team message uses 3 tasks on Pabbly Connect, 4 credits on Make and 1 execution on n8n. A free plan may also be enough: Pabbly Connect's Free plan gives 100 tasks a month, and Make's and IFTTT's give 1,000 credits. Best free workflow automation software lists all seven free tiers.

Yearly billing changes the order

Billed yearly, the order shifts. Albato Pro at $15 a month moves ahead of Pabbly Connect Standard at $16, and n8n Cloud Starter at $20 falls behind Zapier Professional and Integrately Starter at $19.99 each. IFTTT stays lowest at $2.09 and Make second at $12. Pabbly Connect's 3 Yearly tab shows $14 a month for Standard, but that figure needs $513 paid up front for three years.

Which is cheapest at a small business's real volume

At about 10,000 a month, billed monthly, IFTTT Pro is $7.99 for 20,000 credits, then Make Core $16, Pabbly Connect Standard $19, Integrately Professional $49, n8n Cloud Pro $60, Albato Pro $110 and Zapier Professional $193.50, each in its own unit. At 50,000 tasks, Pabbly Connect Unlimited, for one business, is $79 against $433.50 on Zapier Professional, both billed monthly. Workflow automation software cost comparison has the full table, and Pabbly Connect pricing every plan and term.

Pick IFTTT for simple Applets on its $2.99 Starter plan, billed monthly, and Make for 10,000 credits at $16. Pabbly Connect's Free plan costs $0 and gives 100 tasks a month with no credit card. Pabbly Connect vs IFTTT sets those two side by side.