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IBM Cloud Pak for Automation vs Zapier comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 11, 2025

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

IBM Cloud Pak for Automation
Ranking in Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies
22nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Process Automation (30th)
Zapier
Ranking in Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies
16th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (17th), Cloud Data Integration (12th), AI Software Development (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies category, the mindshare of IBM Cloud Pak for Automation is 0.5%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zapier is 0.6%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Zapier0.6%
IBM Cloud Pak for Automation0.5%
Other98.9%
Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies
 

Featured Reviews

SYEDMUJTABA - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President - Digital Automation Services at Techvista Systems
Effectively handles parallel instances effectively
I find it quite straightforward, perhaps around 8.5 out of 10 in terms of ease. When we upgraded from the old version of IBM BPM to the new one within IBM Cloud Pak for Automation, we didn't encounter any major issues. There were some minor ones, but they were easy to overcome.The migration process was part of our deployment strategy. We had a plan to migrate two processes per week from on-premises to the cloud. The migration involved taking the instances and migrating them to the new environment. There is an inbuilt feature in IBM Cloud Pak for Automation that facilitates the migration process, although I personally haven't conducted it myself; it's managed by my team. Overall, the setup process was relatively smooth.
RL
Product Owner | Integration
Diverse integration options support workflow automation while pricing and support need improvements
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 direct interactions. It would be great to have a direct contact person for support, but bigger companies usually have solution partners handling support. I do not have a solution partner for Zapier due to using it for small use cases.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What this product allows us to do is to move from on-prem instances where we are running independent instances of FileNet, Datacap, and ODM. It allows us to leverage container-based resiliency and availability modeling so that we have some visibility across the CP4BA ecosystem. We're now migrating all of our data to be in the Cloud Object Storage, and we can now use some of the features of Azure in terms of how we store and retrieve content for our members and our providers."
"I believe two significant features of IBM Cloud Pak for Automation are the focus on SLA management and the capability to handle parallel instances effectively. Parallel instances, for instance, are valuable when dealing with a large number of users, enabling tasks to be performed concurrently for efficient system operation. The SLA aspect is crucial for tracking and ensuring timely completion of tasks. Additionally, the cloud compatibility of IBM BAW allows for seamless migration from on-premises to the cloud. This version also includes a business rule management system for storing and managing business rules effectively."
"Zapier luckily has a wide range of integrations, I would say."
"The solution is time efficient and has saved considerable development effort."
"The ability to connect web applications to trigger actions in another app after having enriched, formatted, delayed, grouped, and filtered is really valuable for many businesses."
"I utilized Zapier's feature of connecting over 2000 apps for various automations in my business processes."
"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."
"The connection between Facebook lead forms and MailChimp integrations is the most valuable feature."
"The main thing I appreciate about Zapier is that it has maximum availability of apps, with most tools being available compared to different solutions."
"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."
 

Cons

"I believe there is room for improvement in the user interface, particularly in the Process Portal that customers use to view and manage their tasks. The UI of the Process Portal needs enhancement. Additionally, in the next release, I would like to see improved compatibility with Angular, allowing for direct integration with front-end systems. It would be beneficial to have built-in GUI features based on Angular within the system, rather than developing separate applications externally. This, in turn, would provide a more seamless and enhanced front-end experience."
"One of the challenges we're having is finding vendors who have experience in developing on the cloud. We can find developers on the old platform, but it is leading-edge technology. So, we are having some challenges, and IBM is assisting us to find vendor partners. To be able to leverage all the capabilities of the new platform, we have to upgrade our existing ecosystem of FileNet applications. Upgrading to the new platform while trying to modernize is always challenging because it is like you have a moving target."
"We currently switch from Zapier because it was so expensive. My experience shows that for our use cases, other tools are cheaper."
"To make it a complete BPM solution, the UI component needs significant enhancement."
"Zapier is user-friendly, but when we have an application version that we want to connect with Zapier, sometimes it does not support us."
"The user interface for Zapier could be improved. It also takes some time to sync the data between different environments."
"I think that this solution should have more apps connected to it."
"Some apps are not available yet. For instance, a connection with Joomla! would be great. In general, all the most-used apps are available, but I bumped into Joomla! with a client."
"The pricing could be a little cheaper."
"Zapier could be a little faster, but that might not be possible. I would encourage Zapier to make more API endpoints for each application"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its cost is almost the same or comparable to what we pay with FileNet, but I'm not sure what we pay a year. A good part of CP4BA is the CPU-based licensing model. When we're dealing with 50,000 dentists, for example, if we were to use Salesforce, we would be hit with the licensing of 50,000 dentists, whereas when we build out in CP4BA, it is just based on our CPU usage, not on individual licenses."
"IBM Cloud Pak for Automation is relatively expensive, especially considering it is designed for long-living processes, not for normal automation needs. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate the pricing at around 9. There are no additional costs beyond the standard licensing fees, but IBM has multiple pricing models that make it expensive in its own way. Different plans are available, but overall, the experience suggests it is a costly solution."
"There is a free plan that is, of course, limited. However, it allows you to understand and check true scenarios for a while."
"Zapier's price is good."
"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."
"It's very affordable."
"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."
"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."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
University
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Retailer
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

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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 in accordance with market standards and even lower in some cases. The license setup cost is reasonable.
What needs improvement with Zapier?
In my opinion, what could be improved in Zapier is its UI, which operates as a one-line system. Compared to Make.com and other tools that have a drag-and-drop system, this is lacking. If the scenar...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
BuzzFeed, Groupon, Spotify, Columbia University, FOX
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Cloud Pak for Automation vs. Zapier and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.