Automation tools connect your apps together and handle repetitive tasks automatically — saving hours of manual work as your business grows. Here are five worth knowing.

Zapier

zapier.com — Free tier available

The most well-known automation platform, connecting 6,000+ apps with simple trigger-action workflows (“when X happens, do Y”), plus growing AI features like Agents and Copilot.

• Free plan: Yes, 100 tasks/month
• Paid plan: From ~$20/month for more tasks and multi-step workflows
• Best for: Beginners who want the broadest app coverage with minimal setup

Make

make.com — Free tier available

A visual, drag-and-drop automation builder with more powerful branching logic than Zapier — good once your workflows get more complex than simple triggers.

• Free plan: Yes, 1,000 operations/month
• Paid plan: From ~$9/month
• Best for: Multi-step workflows with conditional logic (e.g. routing support emails by sentiment)

Notion AI

notion.com — Included with paid Notion plans

An AI layer built into Notion for writing assistance, Q&A across your workspace, and auto-filling database properties — useful for content planning and organizing your business.

• Free plan: Limited; full AI features require a paid Notion plan
• Paid plan: AI features typically require Business plan (~$20/member/month)
• Best for: Organizing content calendars and business planning in one place

n8n

n8n.io — Free if self-hosted

An open-source automation platform you can self-host for unlimited workflows at no cost — more technical to set up, but no task limits or recurring fees.

• Free plan: Yes, unlimited if self-hosted (requires basic technical setup)
• Paid plan: Cloud hosting available if you don’t want to self-host
• Best for: Users comfortable with a bit of technical setup who want zero ongoing cost

IFTTT

ifttt.com — Free tier available

The simplest option for basic single-step automations — good for very lightweight tasks without needing to learn a full workflow builder.

• Free plan: Yes, up to 5 applets
• Paid plan: Paid tiers available for more applets
• Best for: Simple personal automations (e.g. auto-save email attachments to a folder)