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IBM Cloud Pak for Data 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.9
IBM Cloud Pak for Data helps large enterprises improve data quality, boosting AI processes and enhancing decision-making productivity.
Sentiment score
6.1
Zapier offers time-saving automation with varied ROI, often seen as cost-effective and a valuable investment despite indirect impacts.
We have been able to drive responsible, transparent, and explainable AI workflow to operationalize AI and mitigate risk and regulatory compliance easily.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro
In a scenario where employing three resources for three months might cost approximately $18,000 to $20,000, Zapier provides substantial cost savings.
Chief Technology Advocate at PURESOFT GLOBAL LLC
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
IBM Cloud Pak for Data's support is responsive and available 24/7, despite some delays due to system complexity.
Sentiment score
7.0
Zapier's customer support is generally rated positively for efficiency, though some desire improved live chat options.
Cloud Pak is a complicated system, and it's often difficult to find the right resource in IBM to help with specific issues.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
I would rate IBM's support at about a seven or eight out of ten because we have good support coverage owing to our long association with IBM.
EDW Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Customer support should be more responsive and reach and respond on time.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro
Their technical support is good; they respond promptly and are very helpful.
Go High Level Manager at Virtual Worker Now
This can help if you need assistance, as you can communicate with the community and support system, and most issues are already resolved by AI.
Automation Engineer at Axe Automation
The experience was positive with prompt responses from their team.
Chief Technology Advocate at PURESOFT GLOBAL LLC
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
IBM Cloud Pak for Data is praised for impressive scalability and compatibility, despite being resource-intensive, with ratings mostly 8-10.
Sentiment score
7.4
Zapier is adaptable for small to mid-size businesses, but scaling can be costly and less suitable for complex automations.
I have not noticed any downtime or lagging, especially when dealing with large data, so it is relatively very scalable.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro
Zapier is suitable for small or simpler automation but not for complex ones.
Automation Engineer at Axe Automation
Scaling it gets quite expensive, and while I cannot evaluate it purely from a technology perspective, compared to Workato, I would give Zapier a seven for scalability.
Product Owner | Integration
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
IBM Cloud Pak for Data is generally stable and well-rated, with users emphasizing scalability despite minor tool integration concerns.
Sentiment score
6.7
Most users find Zapier reliable, despite occasional connectivity issues and challenges with integration changes affecting performance.
In my current company, we had significant challenges with Zapier regarding maintenance, as Zaps were often broken, not necessarily due to Zapier, but due to changes in the input variables.
Product Owner | Integration
 

Room For Improvement

IBM Cloud Pak for Data needs better integration, support, features, and pricing to attract small businesses and simplify adoption.
Zapier needs better Google Sheets features, API support, UI improvements, enhanced logic functions, documentation, and integration capabilities.
Setting up the hybrid and multi-cloud environments is a long job and it takes time.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro
I would love Cloud Pak to come with a demo database that illustrates the different components of data management in a logical way, so I can see the whole picture instead of just the area I'm specializing in.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
I do not know if Cognos has all the features that users are looking for since we provide it as our standard and do not maintain infrastructure for other tools.
EDW Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
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.
Webflow Developer at Qureos
You can build similar or dependent automations in one Zap, which helps with understanding the process without switching between different records.
Product Owner | Integration
Having flexibility in creating more complex automation would eliminate the need to transform data within the source or destination.
Business Intelligence Developer at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
 

Setup Cost

IBM Cloud Pak for Data's high pricing and complexity make it more suitable for large enterprises than smaller companies.
Zapier's pricing ranges from free to $800, depending on usage, with mixed opinions on cost versus time-saving benefits.
The setup cost is very expensive.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Regarding my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing, for a small organization, the price might be relatively high, but for huge enterprises such as ours, the price is relatively affordable.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro
The pricing is in accordance with market standards and even lower in some cases.
Chief Technology Advocate at PURESOFT GLOBAL LLC
The pricing of Zapier is slightly higher compared to other market automation tools such as Pabbly, Make.com, and N8N, which have good features but are priced lower than Zapier.
Go High Level Manager at Virtual Worker Now
 

Valuable Features

IBM Cloud Pak for Data excels with data virtualization, low-code navigation, robust security, and efficient data integration and collaboration.
Zapier seamlessly connects apps for task automation, offering intuitive interfaces with advanced features like webhooks and multi-step zaps.
From there, I can work my way into a more granular level, applying all of that information on top of my actual data to understand what my data looks like, where it came from, and where it went wrong, managing it throughout the cycle.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The benefits of choosing IBM Cognos, in addition to saving on cost, include having institutional knowledge about maintaining this infrastructure and enough people who have developed on Cognos in the past, which creates comfort in its use.
EDW Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
We have been able to save approximately 80 percent of our time. We are not doing data analysis manually, so this relieves our data department of dealing with data.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro
They have approximately 7,000 connections.
Product Owner | Integration
The automation capabilities are impressive.
Business Intelligence Developer at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Creating integration points through webhooks is particularly useful for anyone working on integration projects.
Chief Technology Advocate at PURESOFT GLOBAL LLC
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Cloud Pak for Data
Ranking in Data Integration
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Data Virtualization (3rd)
Zapier
Ranking in Data Integration
17th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Data Integration (12th), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (16th), AI Software Development (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of IBM Cloud Pak for Data is 1.3%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zapier is 0.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Zapier0.7%
IBM Cloud Pak for Data1.3%
Other98.0%
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

ArchanaSingh - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro
Collaborative data platform has transformed analytics and now drives faster decisions
The best features IBM Cloud Pak for Data offers include robust data visualization, centralized data analytics, data reliability, and compatibility with hybrid and multi-cloud environments. The compatibility with hybrid and multi-cloud environments has helped our organization as data visualization is very simple. Migrations, reading, analysis, and data management from other sources are performed without problems of requirements. We have a team of experts in IBM Cloud Pak for Data to maintain security and correct data management easily. I find this cloud excellent for visualizing and managing data across networks and also fulfilling fastest data storage, making it less complex and completely improving productivity in my organization. Everything is managed in multiple environments without any problem. IBM Cloud Pak for Data has positively impacted my organization, and I have noticed some improvement since we started using this tool. Configuration with hybrid and multi-cloud environments has been very seamless and easy. It is a robust platform capable of working with multiple data sources where we gain insights to make data-driven decisions easily. It automates data analysis for quick and better performance. We have seen improvements in analysis and data correction from multiple sources. Our productivity in the company is growing, thanks to the data analysis team. We have also seen a robust hybrid and multi-cloud access system working seamlessly. I can share specific outcomes that show how productivity has grown and how performance has improved since the data is automated, and the analysis is done much faster, saving us a lot of time. We have been able to save approximately 80 percent of our time. We are not doing data analysis manually, so this relieves our data department of dealing with data. We have been relieved of a lot of duties, and now we are able to focus on other strategic tasks. Our productivity has greatly increased since we are able to make concrete and data-driven decisions easily.
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.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Data Integration solutions are best for your needs.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
27%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
4%
University
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Retailer
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
The pricing and setup cost are handled by a different procurement team. Our IT procurement team is centralized, so licensing and the actual cost of the software are taken care of by a different tea...
What needs improvement with IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
I do not know if Cognos has all the features that users are looking for since we provide it as our standard and do not maintain infrastructure for other tools.
What is your primary use case for IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
The main use case for IBM Cognos is for business intelligence and reporting.
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...
 

Also Known As

Cloud Pak for Data
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Qatar Development Bank, GuideWell, Skanderborg Music Festival
BuzzFeed, Groupon, Spotify, Columbia University, FOX
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Cloud Pak for Data vs. Zapier and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.