FME vs Zapier comparison

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FME

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between FME and Zapier based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Cloud Data Integration solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed FME vs. Zapier Report (Updated: June 2025).

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FME vs. Zapier

June 2025

Helped 859,533 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

FME

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Data Integration (23rd)

Zapier

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Data Integration (13th)

Featured Reviews

Alan Bloor

Geographic Information System Developer at Public Sector

Great for handling large volumes of data, but it is priced a bit high

When I do coding, I think about every single function. Some of these functions can be very elementary, like doing a substring or some capitalization. But FME removes all that coding because it's a transformer, so the time to develop an application to get to a point where you're producing results is decreased massively. It used to take weeks and months to develop software, and now I can use something like FME, and within one day, we get results. We can look at and validate data. We make minor subtle changes to the workbenches to improve it. We can share the workbenches. We don't have to use GitHub or anything else.

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Awais Mehmood

Webflow Developer at Qureos

Error message clarity needs improvement but third-party integrations facilitate automation

I would to improve the integration between Zapier and Notion since Notion did not allow it previously. One issue I experienced was that when Zapier did not automate or threw an error, the error was not user-friendly. I searched extensively in browsers and the Zapier community to find solutions. The error page or the Zapier error message should be user-friendly, and the error message should relate to the user so they can easily understand the error and solve that specific problem. The error message options in the dashboard should be improved. It should be user-friendly so that beginners or non-technical users can figure out the problems and solutions on their own.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"All spatial features are unrivaled, and the possibility to execute them based on a scheduled trigger, manual, e-mail, Websocket, tweet, file/directory change or virtually any trigger is most valuable."

"It has a very friendly user interface. You don't need to use a lot of code. For us that's the most important aspect about it. Also, it has a lot of connectors and few forms. It has a strong facial aspect. It can do a lot of facial analysis."

"The most valuable feature of FME is the graphical user interface. There is nothing better. It is very easy to debug because you can see all steps where there are failures. Overall the software is easy to optimize a process."

"It has standard plug-ins available for different data sources."

"FME is spatially aware and understands how to deal with the conversion of spatial objects and their attributes."

"We make minor subtle changes to the workbenches to improve it. We can share the workbenches. We don't have to use GitHub or anything else."

"Zapier is user-friendly and most information is available within the page for specific automation."

"Zapier's best feature would be the ease of use, and it is really easy to use and really user-friendly."

"With the previous CRM we were using – the Google Ads landing pages we had – we were collecting leads manually. That process was not efficient and took a sales team a lot of time to insert these leads manually. Currently, the process is smooth and we use Zapier to collect the leads for us."

"Zapier is user friendly and makes it easy to integrate different tools. It has a drag and drop functionality which makes it easy to connect environments."

"Zapier is a really good tool for connecting multiple different platforms and data sources. For example, with Quickbase, I can easily integrate data from other sources like AWS or task-tracking platforms such as ClickUp or Asana."

"Zapier handles everything under the sun that you would think you need in automation. It is the most mature integration platform and service on the market."

"The solution is a SaaS and does not require a complex setup."

"The most valuable feature of Zapier is it saves me time doing repetitive tasks."

More Zapier pros

Cons

"FME's price needs improvement for the African market."

"To get a higher rating, it would have to improve the price and the associated scalability. These are the main issues."

"FME can improve the geographical transformation. I've had some problems with the geographical transformations, but it's probably mostly because I'm not the most skilled geographer in-house. The solution requires some in-depth knowledge to perform some functions."

"We are looking at the possibility of using Glue instead of FME, using the native AWS product."

"Improvements could be made to mapping presentations."

"The one thing that always appears in the community is the ability to make really easy loops to loop through data efficiently. That needs to be added at some point."

"The solution does not work properly when we apply filters and we get errors."

"We currently switch from Zapier because it was so expensive. My experience shows that for our use cases, other tools are cheaper."

"Zapier needs more YouTube or video tutorials or more training for people. That would help a lot. In particular, Zapier should have documentation for every connector. Its documentation needs to be more detailed and visual."

"The pricing could be a little cheaper."

"Zapier needs to improve in the same way most RPA solutions should, such as Robocorp, Make, or UiPath. They are not good at helping you find the connections that you need for the problem that you have. For example, if need something on Instagram. I'm going to have to do research for hours to be able to find the components or the app, which is going to do what I need it to do. It makes it difficult to use the system when you don't know what to use."

"Some recent changes to the solution have made it bulky and not as intuitive to use as it previously was."

"Being able to share Zaps and organize them with teammates would allow sharing and refining scenarios and even combining steps that require different people's credentials."

"There could be improvements in creating more complex workflows within the data domain."

More Zapier cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product's price is reasonable."

"FME Server used to cost £10,000; now it can cost over £100,000."

"We used the standard licensing for our use of FME. The cost was approximately €15,000 annually. We always welcome less expensive solutions, if the solution could be less expensive it would be helpful."

"Per task, there is a monthly plan involving 15 euros...Also, in different forms, they just give you the ability to use different features. They charge 18.58 euros for the first standard plan, which includes 750 tasks. So, it is about 25 cents per task."

"There is a free plan that is, of course, limited. However, it allows you to understand and check true scenarios for a while."

"It's very straightforward licensing. There's only one cost you have to pay, and if you want a relevant pricing plan, I think you have two or three different models or packages which include the number of notifications or Zaps, as they call it, that you can program."

"The price of Zapier is approximately $75 monthly."

"It's very affordable."

"Zapier is a paid service. Its license renews monthly, and Zapier will downgrade your subscription to the free version when your credit card doesn't have funds. That significantly impacts your service because everything halts completely. Zapier doesn't have any hidden costs."

"Think your Zaps through to make sure you don't use more Zaps than you need."

"The least expensive plan is $24 a month, and you can go all the way to $800 a month if you're a huge company using many tasks."

More Zapier pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

30%

Energy/Utilities Company

13%

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

University

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about FME?

We make minor subtle changes to the workbenches to improve it. We can share the workbenches. We don't have to use GitHub or anything else.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FME?

The pricing is really bad. Last year, they rebranded the whole pricing structure. It used to be moderately priced at about £400 per user per year. Now they've changed the whole thing, and it's expe...

What needs improvement with FME?

The one thing that always appears in the community is the ability to make really easy loops to loop through data efficiently. That needs to be added at some point. There must be a technical or comm...

What do you like most about Zapier?

The product's most valuable feature is automation.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zapier?

The pricing is suitable. It's not cheap, but not expensive.

What needs improvement with Zapier?

You can build similar or dependent automations in one Zap, which helps with understanding the process without switching between different records. I would appreciate quicker response times and more...

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Product Reports

Download FME product report

FME

June 2025

Download Zapier product report

May 2025

Overview

FME is the data integration platform with the best support for spatial data. Run workflows on the desktop or deploy them in a server or cloud environment.

Safe Software

Zapier is a tool for primarily non-technical users to connect together web apps.

An integration between two apps is called a Zap. A Zap is made up of a Trigger and one or more Actions or Searches.

Whenever the trigger happens in one app, Zapier will automatically perform the actions or searches in another app in order.

Zaps are very lightweight and easy to set up. Zaps do not import or export old data (they only operate on new items created after the Zap is enabled). Zaps are also not kept in sync ("two way syncing") after the Zap is triggered.

Zaps are deceivingly simple if you're used to dealing with complex and difficult integrations. Their simplicity is what enables anyone to create them.

Sample Customers

Shell, US Department of Commerce, PG&E, BC Hydro, City of Vancouver, Enel, Iowa DoT, San Antonio Water System

BuzzFeed, Groupon, Spotify, Columbia University, FOX