- Pick it if you are:
- Microsoft 365 organizations; Teams automating approvals and notifications
- Top complaint:
- Power Automate flow not triggering
- Price:
- Free plan
- Pick it if you are:
- Non-technical users with simple needs; Teams needing obscure app integrations
- Top complaint:
- Expensive pricing - 750 tasks for $20/month is costly
- Price:
- Free plan, paid from $29.99/mo
Score Comparison
Signals Comparison
Microsoft Power Automate
- Power Automate licensing is confusing and hard to predict(8/10)
- Premium connectors need a paid license(8/10)
- Why is Power Automate so expensive for small teams?(7/10)
Zapier
- Expensive pricing - 750 tasks for $20/month is costly(9/10)
- Plan changes and renewals raise the bill for existing customers(8/10)
- Tasks fire 4-6x more than expected - surprise bills(8/10)
- Free trial auto-upgrades without clear warning(7/10)
- Zapier pay-per-task overage costs 2.5x on monthly plans(7/10)
Microsoft Power Automate
- Flows turn off or get suspended without warning(8/10)
- Power Automate flow not triggering(9/10)
- Excel 'table not found' and Add a row errors(6/10)
- Desktop flows fail unattended(8/10)
Zapier
- Zaps stop unexpectedly with unclear error messages(8/10)
- October 2025 outage - all workflows down for 1+ day(9/10)
- Zaps held or switched off automatically at task limit or high error rate(8/10)
- Google Sheets and polling triggers delayed or missed(6/10)
Microsoft Power Automate
- Error messages are unclear and debugging is hard(7/10)
- Large flows get hard to edit and maintain(6/10)
Zapier
- Steep learning curve for complex automations(6/10)
- Bad code pushes break working automations(7/10)
- UI not intuitive - contact form issues on paid plans(5/10)
Microsoft Power Automate
- Flows are slow or throttled with 429 errors(8/10)
Zapier
No signals
Microsoft Power Automate
- Non-Microsoft integrations need more work(6/10)
- HTTP trigger URLs changed in the architecture move(6/10)
Zapier
- App connections expire and disconnect randomly(7/10)
- Data manipulation becomes cumbersome at scale(6/10)
Microsoft Power Automate
- DLP policy changes silently break flows(7/10)
Zapier
No signals
Microsoft Power Automate
No signals
Zapier
- No refunds policy - even for unused service(9/10)
- Customer support actively gaslights users(7/10)
Pricing Comparison
Microsoft Power Automate
Users: 1 flow owner per license
Limits: Standard connectors only, 15-minute polling on the Free plan (5 minutes on Microsoft 365 plans), Low performance profile with 5,000 apply-to-each items and 5-second minimum postpone interval, no premium connectors, no desktop RPA unattended
Users: 1 user
Limits: Time limited; Microsoft's support docs mention a 90-day per-user trial in places
Users: Per user
Storage: 250 MB Dataverse database and 2 GB file
Limits: Per user, so large audiences get expensive
Users: Per bot
Storage: 50 MB Dataverse database and 200 MB file
Limits: Per bot or per flow pricing is expensive for a single small flow
Users: Per bot
Storage: 50 MB Dataverse database and 200 MB file
Limits: Per bot pricing
Users: Per tenant
Storage: 100 GB data storage
Limits: Add-on to Premium only
Zapier
Users: 1 user
Storage: N/A
Limits: Two-step Zaps only, 100 tasks/month (usage stops at limit), 15-minute polling instead of 2-minute, no multi-step Zaps, 1 second Code runtime, 2,500 Table records, daily Copilot message limit
Users: 1 user
Storage: N/A
Limits: Single user only, no shared connections or SAML SSO, 30 seconds Code runtime
Users: 1 user
Storage: N/A
Limits: Single user only, no shared connections or SAML SSO, 30 seconds Code runtime
Users: 25 seats
Storage: N/A
Limits: Still task-limited, SCIM and annual task limits only on Enterprise
Users: 25 seats
Storage: N/A
Limits: Still task-limited, SCIM and annual task limits only on Enterprise
Users: Unlimited
Storage: N/A
Limits: Must negotiate pricing, Long procurement process
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Microsoft Power Automate | Zapier |
|---|---|---|
| Automation | ||
| Cloud flows Automated, scheduled and instant flows | ||
| Multi-step Zaps Professional plan and above | ||
| Filters & Paths Professional plan, limited complexity | ||
| Desktop flows (RPA) Attended with Premium, unattended with Process | ||
| Webhooks Professional plan and above | ||
| Approvals | ||
| Scheduling Schedule Zaps to run at specific times | ||
| Sub-Zaps Reusable Zap components | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Premium connectors Needs Premium or Process license | ||
| 7,000+ Integrations Best in class | ||
| Developer | ||
| Code Steps Limited compared to n8n/Pipedream | ||
| API Access Professional plan and above | ||
| AI | ||
| Copilot in designer New designer | ||
| AI Zap Builder Helps create Zaps from descriptions | ||
| Monitoring | ||
| Run history 28-day run history; runs retained 30 days | ||
| Team | ||
| Shared Workspaces Team plan required | ||
| Governance | ||
| Data loss prevention policies Admin controlled | ||
| Security | ||
| SSO/SAML Enterprise only | ||
| Analytics | ||
| Process mining Add-on for Premium | ||
| Pricing | ||
| Unlimited free tier Free tier is limited to standard connectors | ||
| Usability | ||
| Templates Library Thousands of pre-built Zaps | ||
| Deployment | ||
| Self-hosting Cloud-only, no self-host option | ||
| Support | ||
| Phone Support Enterprise only | ||
| Billing | ||
| Refunds Strict no-refund policy | ||
| Platforms | ||
| Mobile App Limited functionality | ||
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