Documentation-based comparison
Airtable versus Zapier
Compare documented scope and conditions. Unknowns remain unknown; different billing units do not establish a cost winner.
| Requirement | Airtable | Zapier |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $24/mo per user | From $29.99/mo |
| Who it is for | Trigger-and-action automations on data in Airtable bases, from a single notification to multi-step workflows. Automations can also act in tools such as Google Workspace and Slack, or run JavaScript. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Airtable automations product page | No-code automations that move data between 9,000+ apps to automate repetitive work. A Zap consists of a trigger and one or more actions. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier pricing page: plan comparison, FAQ and Agents plans |
| Coverage limits | Team and Business bill every user with edit permission on at least one base; read-only collaborators, form submissions and share links are free. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Airtable pricing page: pricing FAQ | Every successful action uses its own task, so the monthly need is actions per run multiplied by runs per month. Failed actions do not count. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier pricing page: plan comparison, FAQ and Agents plans |
| Usage definition | Automation usage is counted in runs per month against a per-plan limit (100 to 500,000). What counts as one run is not defined on the pricing page. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Airtable pricing page rendered: plan cards and comparison table | Trigger steps, Filter and Paths steps, failed or halted actions and skipped steps use no tasks; Tables, Forms, Formatter, Delay, Looping, Sub-Zap, Digest, Zapier Manager and Storage steps use no tasks; Zapier Agents use a separate activity quota, not tasks; Example: a Zap with two actions that runs ten times uses 20 tasks A task is any successful action. Some steps cost more: each lead routed by Lead Router uses 5 tasks and each Zapier MCP tool call uses 2. Zaps, AI steps, code, MCP and the SDK share one task allowance per account. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier help: how task usage is measured |
| Included volume | Automations per base: 75 on Free, 100 on Team, 150 on Business, 200 on Enterprise Scale; Runs per month: 100 on Free, 25,000 on Team, 100,000 on Business, 500,000 on Enterprise Scale Compare-table columns are Free, Team, Business and Enterprise Scale. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Airtable pricing page rendered: plan cards and comparison table
| Task tiers from 100 to 2M tasks a month, plus a custom task limit. The page does not print which tier each plan's starting price buys. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier pricing page: plan comparison, FAQ and Agents plans
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| Trigger polling | Not verified | Polling checks never use tasks; only successful actions do. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier help: how task usage is measured
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| Premium integrations | Automations can work with tools such as Google Workspace, Slack, Facebook and Twitter, and can run JavaScript. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Airtable automations product page
| Premium apps are available only on paid plans. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier pricing page: plan comparison, FAQ and Agents plans
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| Hosting responsibility | Not verified | Not verified |
| AI charges | Extra AI credits come in packs of 10k to 200k, starting at USD 20 a month for 10,000 credits. Enterprise Scale packs through sales. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Airtable pricing page rendered: plan cards and comparison table
| AI by Zapier steps and their tool calls use 1 task on standard models or with your own model provider (you also pay the provider), 3 tasks on advanced models and 5 on premium models. Tool calls are not available on the standard tier. Zapier MCP tool calls use 2 tasks each. Zapier says rates may change with notice. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier task usage rates for steps, AI, code and MCP
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| Overage charges | Automation runs are capped at the current plan's limit. No pay-as-you-go runs are described. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Airtable pricing page: pricing FAQ | Tasks beyond the plan limit are charged separately through pay-per-task billing; Pay-per-task stops at three times the plan task limit; further runs are held until the billing cycle ends; Without pay-per-task, new Zap runs are held at the task limit until the billing cycle resets Pay-per-task tasks cost more than plan tasks; the rate depends on plan and billing cycle and is shown only in account billing settings. It is on by default for accounts created after January 2024. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Zapier help: how task usage is measured |
| Coverage note | Agent activities are a separate quota from Zap tasks. |
