Modern businesses face constant challenges that slow down productivity: repetitive manual tasks, disconnected tools, and human errors that waste time and money.
Sound familiar?
We get it. Managing multiple tools, scattered files, and dealing with a lack of visibility makes it hard to stay on top of tasks and on track for product launches.
Thankfully, workflow automation software is making it easier to manage an endless list of tasks and you don’t even need to know how to code to set them up.
These tools are designed to eliminate time-consuming tasks, connect your favorite apps, and provide real-time insights — all while reducing mistakes that could cost your company a fortune.
Below, explore the best workflow automation tools to transform your processes, from project management and content planning to sales and customer service.
Project management and team collaboration
Project management and team collaboration tools help teams organize tasks, share files, track progress, and communicate, streamlining work by keeping everyone on the same page, whether teams work in the same office or remotely.
Asana
Asana is a web and mobile application designed to help teams organize, track, and manage their work. It allows users to create projects, assign tasks, set deadlines, and communicate directly within the platform, streamlining collaboration and improving productivity.
Best for: Task management and team collaboration.
Top features:
- Task management: Create tasks, assign them to team members, set due dates, and track progress to ensure timely completion.
- Project views: Visualize work through various views such as lists, calendars, timelines (Gantt charts), and Kanban boards to suit different project needs.
- Automation: Automate routine tasks with custom rules to increase efficiency and reduce manual work.
- Integrations: Connect Asana with numerous tools like Slack, Google Workspace, and Microsoft Office 365 to create a seamless workflow.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| User-friendly interface | The learning curve for advanced features |
| Versatile project views | Limited customization in lower-tier plans |
| Robust integration options | Some users report missing features |
| Effective task and project management tools | Complex for simple task-tracking |
Price:
- A personal (free) plan is available for individuals or small teams.
- Starter: $6.92 per user/month (discounted from $10.99)
- Advanced: $15.74 per user/month (discounted from $24.99)
Jira
Jira is a project management tool developed by Atlassian that enables teams to plan, track, and manage work across various projects. It offers customizable workflows, agile boards, and real-time reporting to support efficient project execution. Jira is widely popular among tech companies and has an important role in project management for product development.
Best for: Agile project management and issue tracking
Top features:
- Agile boards: Supports Scrum and Kanban boards, which enable teams to visualize workflows and manage tasks effectively.
- Customizable workflows: Allows teams to create workflows that match their specific processes, enhancing flexibility and control.
- Robust reports and analytics: Provides detailed reports and analytics, such as burndown charts and velocity reports, to monitor progress and team performance.
- Integration capabilities: Seamlessly integrates with various tools, including translating tools like Lokalise or developer tools like GitHub and Bitbucket, enhancing collaboration and efficiency.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Highly customizable to fit diverse project needs | A steep learning curve for new users |
| Strong support for agile methodologies | It can be overwhelming for small teams |
| Comprehensive issue and bug tracking | Performance issues with large projects |
| Extensive integration options | Costs can escalate with additional add-ons |
Pricing:
- A free plan for up to 10 users
- Standard: $7.53 per user/month
- Premium: $13.53 per user/month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Slack
Slack is a collaboration platform that centralizes team communication, streamlining workflows and enhancing productivity. It offers features such as organized conversations, process automation, app integration, and information discovery, all in one place.
Top features:
- Channels: Organize conversations by topics, projects, or teams, ensuring focused and efficient communication.
- Workflow builder: Automate routine tasks without coding, enhancing efficiency and reducing manual work.
- App integrations: Connect with numerous tools and services, bringing all your work into a single platform.
- Search functionality: Quickly find past conversations, files, and information, making knowledge retrieval seamless.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| User-friendly interface | It can be overwhelming for large teams |
| Improves team collaboration | Notification overload, if not managed properly |
| Extensive integration capabilities | Free version has limited features |
| Real-time communication | Search function has limitations in free plan |
Best for: Team communication and collaboration
Pricing:
- A free plan with limited capabilities
- Pro: $4.38 per month (discounted from $8.75)
- Business+: $15 per month
- Enterprise Grid: Custom pricing
Sales and marketing automation
Sales and marketing automation tools help businesses streamline repetitive tasks like email campaigns, lead tracking, customer follow-ups, and analytics.
HubSpot
HubSpot is an AI-powered customer platform that provides a comprehensive suite of tools for marketing, sales, customer service, and content management. It integrates various functions to help businesses attract visitors, convert leads, and delight customers, all within a single platform.
Phil Portman, CEO and founder of Textdrip, shares that his team uses HubSpot for email campaigns and lead nurturing. Portman provides an example of what Textdrip has automated through this tool: “We automated a customer onboarding sequence for Textdrip users: once a lead becomes a customer, they receive personalized emails over 30 days, guiding them through setup and advanced features.”
Best for: All-in-one marketing and sales.
Top features:
- Marketing Hub: Offers tools for email marketing, social media management, and lead generation to execute and analyze marketing campaigns effectively.
- Sales Hub: Provides features like email tracking, deal pipelines, and meeting scheduling to improve sales processes and close deals faster.
- Service Hub: Includes customer feedback, ticketing, and knowledge base tools to improve customer service and satisfaction.
- Content Hub: Enables content creation, management, and optimization across various channels, streamlining content marketing efforts.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| User-friendly interface | Price can become expensive as you scale |
| Comprehensive feature set | Some advanced features may have a learning curve |
| Strong integration capabilities | Certain functionalities may lack flexibility |
| Excellent customer support | Customization options can be limited in some areas |
Price:
- Sales Hub Professional: €90 month/seat
- Sales Hub Enterprise: €150 month/seat
- Marketing Hub Professional: Starts at €792/month and includes 3 seats
- Marketing Hub Enterprise: Starts at €3,300/month and includes 5 seats
Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a sales-focused customer relationship management (CRM) platform designed to help sales teams manage leads, track deals, and optimize sales processes. Its intuitive, visual, pipeline-centric interface allows for easy tracking of deals and sales activities, making it a popular choice among small to medium-sized businesses.
Best for: Sales pipeline and lead management.
Top features:
- Visual sales pipelines: Offers customizable pipelines that provide a clear overview of sales processes, enabling teams to manage deals effectively.
- Activity-based selling: Focuses on sales activities that drive deals forward, helping teams prioritize tasks and improve efficiency.
- Automation and AI sales assistant: Automates repetitive tasks and provides AI-driven insights to boost sales performance.
- Integrations: Supports integration with various tools and platforms, allowing for a seamless workflow across different applications.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Intuitive and user-friendly interface | Limited customization options in certain areas |
| Strong focus on sales pipeline management | Some advanced features may require higher-tier plans |
| Effective activity tracking and automation | No free plan; only a 14-day free trial is available |
| Robust integration capabilities | The learning curve for new users reported |
Price:
- Essential: $14 per seat/month
- Advanced: $34 per seat/month
- Professional: $49 per seat/month
- Power: $64 per seat/month
- Enterprise: $99 per seat/month
Salesforce
Salesforce is a leading cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform that helps businesses manage sales, service, marketing, and more. It unifies various departments by providing a comprehensive view of customer interactions, enabling personalized and efficient service.
Best for: Enterprise CRM and automation.
Top features:
- Sales Cloud: Streamlines sales processes with tools for contact management, opportunity tracking, and sales forecasting.
- Service Cloud: Improves customer support with case management, knowledge bases, and omnichannel support capabilities.
- Marketing cloud: Facilitates targeted marketing campaigns through email, social media, and advertising channels, with robust analytics to measure effectiveness.
- Agentforce: Introduced in 2024, Agentforce is an AI-driven platform that automates routine tasks and provides real-time business insights, raising productivity across various business functions.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Highly customizable to fit diverse needs | The steep learning curve for new users |
| A comprehensive suite of integrated tools | Higher cost compared to some competitors |
| Strong focus on AI and automation | Complexity can lead to longer implementation |
| Extensive third-party app ecosystem | Occasional system performance issues |
Price:
- Starter Suite: $25 user/month
- Marketing Cloud Growth Edition: $1500 organization/month
- Marketing Cloud Advanced Edition: $3250 organization/month
Content workflows
Content workflow tools help teams plan, create, review, and publish content more efficiently. They streamline the entire content lifecycle, from brainstorming ideas to final publishing.
Airtable
Airtable is a cloud-based platform that combines the simplicity of spreadsheets with the functionality of databases, enabling teams to organize and manage data collaboratively. Its flexibility suits various applications, including project management, content planning, and CRM.
Best for: Data organization and project planning.
Top features:
- Customizable views: Offers multiple views such as Grid, Kanban, Calendar, and Gallery, allowing users to visualize data in formats that best suit their workflow.
- Pre-made templates: Provides a variety of templates to help users quickly set up databases tailored to specific needs, increasing efficiency.
- Integration and automation: Supports integration with popular tools like Slack, Google Drive, and Salesforce and includes automation features to streamline repetitive tasks.
- Collaboration Tools: Enables real-time collaboration with team members, including commenting, tagging, and role assignments, fostering effective teamwork.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Highly customizable and flexible | Steeper learning curve for advanced features |
| User-friendly interface with various view options | Price can be high for larger teams needing advanced features |
| Strong collaboration features | Limited functionality on mobile devices compared to the desktop version |
| Robust integration and automation capabilities | The free plan has limited storage and record capacity |
Price:
- A free plan is available
- Team: $20 per seat/month
- Business: $45 per seat/month
- Enterprise Scale: Custom price
Contentful
Contentful is a headless content management system (CMS) that enables businesses to create, manage, and distribute content across various platforms and devices. Its API-first approach allows seamless integration with different technologies, providing flexibility in delivering content to websites, mobile apps, and other digital channels.
Best for: Headless CMS for content delivery.
Top features:
- Content modeling: Allows users to define custom content structures tailored to specific project needs, facilitating organized and efficient content management.
- API-driven delivery: Provides robust RESTful and GraphQL APIs for delivering content to any platform or device, ensuring consistent and scalable content distribution.
- Real-time collaboration: Enables multiple users to work simultaneously on content, with features like live previews and versioning to streamline the editorial process.
- Extensive integrations: Supports integration with various tools and services, improving workflow efficiency and allowing for a customizable content management experience.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Flexible content modeling | The steep learning curve for beginners |
| Robust API for seamless integration | Higher cost as content and traffic scale |
| Real-time collaboration features | Limited built-in marketing tools |
| Scalable and reliable infrastructure | Advanced customizations may require technical expertise |
Price:
- Free: Suitable for individuals or small projects
- Lite: $300 per month
- Premium: Custom price
Lokalise
Lokalise is the easiest to use translation management system (TMS) designed to simplify and automate repetitive localization tasks for teams working on software, mobile apps, websites, and other digital content. With 60+ plug-and-play integrations to facilitate collaboration between developers, translators, and project managers, combined with AI translation tools and workflow templates that you can set up to perform tasks automatically, it’s never been easier or more profitable to adapt products and services for multiple new markets. Lokalise’s flexibility, rich set of features, and focus on automation make it a valuable tool for teams aiming to efficiently manage multilingual content and expand their global reach.
Best for: Localization and translation management.
Top features:
- Automated workflow: Lokalise provides advanced localization automation tools that allow you to integrate localization into your continuous delivery workflow. Set up custom rules to keep your project moving along automatically.
- In-context editing: Lokalise allows you to preview how your design looks in different languages to instantly spot and fix any design errors. Connect with product managers, translators, and developers, ask questions, leave comments, and share screenshots — all in one platform.
- Integration capabilities: Lokalise allows translators, designers, and other team members to work on localization with minimal input from development. Save 100+ hours weekly by allowing your team to send screenshots to translators for better context and preview localized content inside Figma and Adobe.
- Over-the-air SDKs: Use over-the-air (OTA) SDKs to send translation updates to iOS, Android, and Flutter apps without waiting for the next release or submitting a new version for approval. This enables quick fixes and updates to localized content.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| User-friendly interface making it quick to learn | You’ll need a developer to set up custom integrations and more advanced features, like OTA and SDKs |
| Efficient collaboration tools | Higher cost compared to some competitors |
| Robust and flexible integration options | |
| Automation features save time |
- Start: $140 per month, includes 10 seats
- Essential: $270 per month, includes 10 seats
- Pro: $990 per month, includes 15 seats
- Enterprise: Custom price
Finance and accounting automation
Finance and accounting automation tools help businesses streamline invoicing, expense tracking, payroll processing, and financial reporting, reducing manual work, improving accuracy, and ensuring compliance with industry regulations.
QuickBooks
QuickBooks is a widely used accounting software designed to help businesses manage their financial operations efficiently. It offers a range of features that streamline tasks such as invoicing, expense tracking, payroll processing, and financial reporting, making it a comprehensive solution for small to medium-sized enterprises.
Best for: Small business accounting software.
Top features:
- Invoicing: Create and send professional invoices, track their status, and accept online payments to expedite cash flow.
- Expense tracking: Automatically import and categorize expenses from linked bank accounts and credit cards, simplifying expense management.
- Financial reporting: Generate detailed financial reports, including profit and loss statements and balance sheets, to gain insights into business performance.
- Payroll management: Process payroll, calculate taxes, and manage employee payments with integrated payroll features.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| User-friendly interface | Higher cost compared to some competitors |
| Comprehensive feature set | Occasional system performance issues reported |
| Strong integration capabilities | The learning curve for new users |
| Excellent customer support | Limited customization in certain areas |
Price:
- Simple Start: $17.50 per month (discounted from $35)
- Essentials: $32.50 per month (discounted from $65)
- Plus: $49.50 per month (discounted from $99)
- Advanced: $117.50 per month (discounted from $235)
Xero
Xero is a cloud-based accounting software designed to help small and medium-sized businesses manage their finances efficiently. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools for tasks like invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, and financial reporting, all accessible through an intuitive interface.
Best for: Cloud-based financial management.
Top features:
- Invoicing: Create and send professional invoices, set up automated reminders, and accept payments online to streamline cash flow.
- Expense tracking: Monitor and categorize business expenses, attach receipts, and manage reimbursements to maintain accurate financial records.
- Bank reconciliation: Connect bank accounts for automatic transaction imports, simplifying the reconciliation process and ensuring up-to-date financial data.
- Financial reporting: Generate real-time reports, including profit and loss statements and balance sheets, to gain insights into business performance and make informed decisions.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| User-friendly interface | The learning curve for advanced features |
| Comprehensive feature set | Price may be high for small teams or startups |
| Strong integration capabilities | Limited customization in certain areas |
| Excellent customer support | Occasional performance issues reported |
Price:
- 30 days free trial
- Starter: $2.90 per month (discounted from $29)
- Standard: $4.60 per month (discounted from $46)
- Premium: $6.90 per month (discounted from $69)
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is a cloud-based accounting and invoicing platform tailored for small businesses, freelancers, and self-employed professionals. It simplifies financial management by offering tools for invoicing, expense tracking, time tracking, and reporting, all within an intuitive interface.
Best for: Invoicing and expense tracking.
Top features:
- Invoicing: Create and send professional invoices with customizable templates, automated payment reminders, and options for online payments, streamlining the billing process.
- Expense tracking: Easily track business expenses by capturing receipts, categorizing expenditures, and importing expenses from bank accounts, ensuring accurate financial records.
- Time tracking: Log billable hours with a built-in timer, assign time entries to specific clients or projects, and seamlessly convert them into invoices, enhancing productivity and billing accuracy.
- Financial reporting: Generate insightful reports, including profit and loss statements and expense summaries, to monitor business performance and make informed financial decisions.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| User-friendly interface | Limited features for larger businesses |
| Efficient invoicing and payment processing | The mobile app lacks some desktop functionalities |
| Strong expense and time-tracking capabilities | Higher price tiers may be costly for small teams |
| Comprehensive financial reporting | Limited customization in certain areas |
Price:
- Lite: $4.75 per month (discounted from $19)
- Plus: $8.25 per month (discounted from $33)
- Premium: $15 per month (discounted from $60)
- Select: Custom price designed for businesses with complex needs
HR and employee management
HR and employee management tools help businesses handle recruitment, onboarding, payroll, performance tracking, and employee engagement.
BambooHR
BambooHR is a cloud-based human resources (HR) software designed to streamline HR processes for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools to manage employee data, recruitment, onboarding, time tracking, and performance management, all within an intuitive interface.
“BambooHR is great for automating onboarding when it comes to HR workflows. Instead of manually sending new hires paperwork, we’ve set up workflows that handle everything, from contracts, training schedules, and welcome emails, automatically,” says V. Frank Sondors, founder of Salesforge.ai.
Best for: Employee data and onboarding management
Top features:
- Employee data management: Centralizes employee information, making it easy to store, access, and manage personnel records securely.
- Applicant Tracking System (ATS): Streamlines the hiring process by managing job postings, applications, and candidate evaluations in one place.
- Onboarding tools: Facilitates a smooth onboarding experience for new hires with customizable checklists and electronic signatures for necessary documents.
- Time-off tracking: Simplifies leave management by allowing employees to request time off and managers to approve requests, all while automatically updating balances.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| User-friendly interface | Limited customization options |
| Comprehensive HR features in one platform | Some users report a learning curve for advanced features |
| Excellent customer support | Integration with certain third-party applications can be challenging |
| Streamlines HR processes effectively | Price may be high for small teams or startups |
Price is customized based on the number of employees and specific needs of the organization.
Workable
Workable is a comprehensive recruitment platform designed to streamline the hiring process for businesses of all sizes. It offers a suite of tools that assist in sourcing candidates, managing applications, and facilitating collaboration among hiring teams, all within an intuitive interface.
Best for: Recruitment and applicant tracking.
Top features:
- Job posting and distribution: Post job openings to over 200 job boards and social media platforms simultaneously.
- Applicant Tracking System (ATS): Manage the entire recruitment process with a centralized system that tracks candidate progress, schedules interviews, and stores evaluation feedback.
- AI-powered candidate sourcing: Use AI technology to search a database of over 400 million candidate profiles and efficiently identify and reach out to potential matches.
- Collaborative hiring tools: Facilitate team collaboration with features like interview scheduling, shared feedback, and customizable workflows to ensure a cohesive hiring strategy.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| User-friendly interface | Some users report a learning curve for advanced features |
| Comprehensive sourcing and ATS capabilities | Price may be high for small teams or startups |
| Strong AI-driven candidate sourcing | Integration with certain third-party applications can be challenging |
| Excellent customer support | Limited customization in certain areas |
Price:
- 15 days free trial
- Starter: $149 per month
- Standard: $299 per month
- Premier: $599 per month
TriNet (Zenefits)
TriNet Zenefits is a cloud-based human resources (HR) platform designed to streamline and automate HR tasks for small to mid-sized businesses. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools, including benefits administration, payroll processing, time and attendance tracking, and compliance management, all accessible through an intuitive interface.
Best for: HR, payroll, and benefits administration.
Top features:
- Benefits administration: Manage health insurance, retirement plans, and other perks with ease through a centralized system that simplifies enrollment and compliance.
- Payroll processing: Automate payroll calculations, tax filings, and direct deposits, ensuring accurate and timely employee compensation.
- Time and attendance tracking: Monitor employee work hours, manage paid time off (PTO), and track attendance to maintain accurate records and ensure compliance with labor laws.
- Compliance management: Stay up-to-date with HR regulations and maintain compliance through automated alerts and built-in safeguards that help mitigate risks.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| User-friendly interface | Limited customization options |
| Comprehensive features in one platform | The learning curve for advanced features |
| Excellent customer support | Challenging third-party integration |
| Streamlines HR processes effectively | Price may be high for small teams or startups |
Pricing is customized based on the number of employees and specific needs of the organization.
Customer support and help desk
Customer support and help desk tools help businesses manage customer inquiries, provide technical support, and resolve issues efficiently.
Zendesk
Zendesk is a cloud-based customer service platform that helps businesses manage and improve customer support operations. It offers a suite of tools designed to streamline communication, track customer interactions, and boost overall customer satisfaction.
Best for: Multi-channel customer service platform.
Top features:
- Ticketing system: Converts customer inquiries from email, chat, and social media into tickets, allowing support agents to manage and resolve issues efficiently.
- Live chat and messaging: Enables real-time communication with customers through live chat on websites and messaging apps, facilitating immediate assistance and engagement.
- Knowledge base: Provides a self-service portal where customers can find answers to common questions and resolve issues independently.
- Analytics and reporting: Offers detailed insights into support metrics, agent performance, and customer satisfaction, helping businesses make data-driven decisions to improve their service.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Integrates multiple customer service channels into a single platform. | It can get expensive, especially for smaller businesses as they scale |
| Robust ticketing system that centralizes customer interactions | The web interface is not user-friendly |
| Extensive automation features that streamline workflows and reduce manual tasks | Unresponsive customer support |
| Strong integration capabilities | Complexity and steep learning curve for new users. |
Price:
- Suite Team: $55 per agent/month billed annually
- Suite Growth: $89 per agent/month billed annually
- Suite Professional: $115 per agent/month billed annually
- Suite Enterprise: Custom price
Freshdesk
Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer support platform designed to help businesses manage and streamline their customer service operations. It offers a range of features that centralize customer interactions and boost agent productivity.
Best for: Customer support and ticket management
Top features:
- Ticketing system: Consolidates customer inquiries from various channels into a single, organized platform, enabling efficient issue tracking and resolution.
- Automation: Automates repetitive tasks like ticket routing, SLA management, and canned responses, saving time and boosting productivity.
- Knowledge base: Provides a self-service portal where customers can find answers to common questions, reducing the volume of support requests and empowering users to resolve issues independently.
- Multi-channel support: Enables support across email, phone, chat, and social media, ensuring customers can reach out through their preferred communication channels.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| User-friendly interface | The learning curve for advanced features |
| Comprehensive feature set | Price may be high for small teams or startups |
| Strong integration capabilities | Limited customization in certain areas |
| Excellent customer support | Occasional performance issues |
Price:
- A free plan is available for up to 2 agents
- Growth: $15 /agent/month, billed annually
- Pro: $49 /agent/month, billed annually
- Enterprise: $79 /agent/month, billed annually
Intercom
Intercom is a comprehensive customer communication platform that combines messaging, automation, and AI-driven tools to boost customer support and engagement. It connects businesses with customers across various channels, providing personalized and efficient interactions.
Best for: Customer communication and engagement automation.
Top features:
- Unified inbox: Consolidates customer messages from multiple channels into a single inbox, allowing support teams to efficiently manage and respond to inquiries.
- AI-powered support: Includes Fin AI Agent, which provides instant, accurate answers to customer queries 24/7, and Fin AI Copilot, an AI assistant that aids support agents in resolving issues more effectively.
- Proactive messaging: Allows businesses to send targeted messages, product tours, and announcements to users, facilitating proactive customer engagement and support.
- Help center: Offers a customizable, no-code help center where customers can access self-service resources, reducing the volume of support requests and empowering users to find answers independently.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| A comprehensive suite of communication tools | Price can be complex and may become expensive for smaller businesses as they scale |
| AI-driven features for support efficiency | The learning curve for advanced features |
| Proactive messaging capabilities | Challenging third-party integration |
| Customizable help center for self-service support | Limited customization in certain areas |
Price:
- Essential: $39/seat
- Advanced: $99/seat
- Expert: $139/seat
Data integration and general automation
Data integration and automation tools help businesses connect disparate data sources, automate repetitive tasks, and streamline workflows.
Zapier
Zapier is a leading automation platform that enables users to connect various web applications and automate workflows without coding. By creating “Zaps,” users can set up triggers and actions between apps, streamlining repetitive tasks and enhancing productivity.
Zapier seems to be the go-to software for automation regardless of company size. Almost all experts we talked to for this article mentioned using it.
For example, Aljay Ambos, Head of Marketing at Twixify, says his team used Zapier to build a workflow where every form submission on their website is automatically added to HubSpot.
“This is together with tagged campaign details, entered into a Google Sheet for performance tracking, and pushed to a Slack channel so the sales team can jump in immediately. This saved us time and improved our response rates by 42%, and we saw a noticeable increase in lead conversion within weeks.”
Best for: No-code app integrations & automation.
Top features:
- Extensive app integrations: Zapier supports over 7,000 applications, allowing seamless connections between tools like Gmail, Slack, and Trello to automate complex workflows.
- Customizable workflows: Users can build tailored automation by defining specific triggers and actions, enabling personalized solutions for unique business needs.
- No-code interface: Users can set up automation via Intuitive interface without prior coding knowledge.
- Multi-step Zaps: Beyond simple one-to-one automation, Zapier allows the creation of multi-step workflows, facilitating complex processes across multiple applications.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| User-friendly interface | Free plan limitations |
| Wide range of app integrations | Occasional integration challenges |
| Time-saving automation capabilities | The learning curve for complex workflows |
| Reduces manual data entry | Potential costs for premium features |
Price:
- A free plan for basic automation of up to 100 tasks per month
- Professional: $19.99 per month
- Team: $69 per month
- Enterprise: Custom price
Make (formerly Integromat)
Make, formerly known as Integromat, is a powerful no-code automation platform that enables users to visually design, build, and automate workflows across various applications and services. Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface allows complex, multi-step integrations without the need for coding expertise.
Best for: Visual automation builder.
Top features:
- Visual workflow builder: Make’s user-friendly interface lets users create and visualize workflows, known as “scenarios,” by connecting different apps and services through a simple drag-and-drop mechanism.
- Extensive app integrations: With support for over 1,000 apps, Make allows seamless connections between popular platforms like Google Workspace, Slack, and Shopify, facilitating comprehensive automation solutions.
- Advanced data manipulation: Make offers robust data transformation capabilities, enabling users to format, filter, and manipulate data within workflows to meet specific requirements.
- Real-time execution monitoring: Users can monitor their scenarios in real-time, observing data flow and execution steps, which aids in troubleshooting and optimizing workflows.
Pros and Cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Intuitive visual interface | The learning curve for complex workflows |
| Supports complex, multi-step automation | Occasional integration challenges |
| Extensive app integration library | Price can become high for large-scale operations |
| Real-time execution monitoring | Limited customer support on lower-tier plans |
Price:
- A free plan is available for up to 1000 ops per month
- Core: $9 per month
- Pro: $16 per month
- Teams: $29 per month
- Enterprise: Custom price
Microsoft Power Automate
Microsoft Power Automate is a cloud-based service that enables users to create automated workflows between applications and services, facilitating seamless data integration and task automation. It is part of the Microsoft Power Platform, designed to uplift productivity by automating repetitive tasks and integrating various systems without the need for extensive coding.
Best for: Enterprise-grade process automation.
Top features:
- Cloud flows (Digital Process Automation): Automate workflows across numerous applications and services, both in the cloud and on-premises, using a vast library of connectors.
- Desktop flows (Robotic Process Automation): Automate tasks on the desktop, including legacy systems that lack APIs, through UI-based automation, supporting both attended and unattended scenarios.
- AI integration: Incorporate AI capabilities into workflows with AI Builder, enabling tasks such as form processing, object detection, and text classification.
- Process mining: Analyze and visualize business processes to identify bottlenecks and optimization opportunities, uplifting overall efficiency.
Pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Seamless integration with Microsoft 365 and other services | It can become expensive for extensive automation needs |
| User-friendly interface with low-code/no-code capabilities | The learning curve for complex workflows |
| Extensive library of connectors | Limited functionality with certain third-party applications |
| Robust security and compliance features | Occasional performance issues reported |
Price:
- 30 days free trial
- Power Automate Premium: $15 per user/month
- Power Automate Process: $150 per bot/month
- Power Automate Hosted Process: $215 per bot/month
Start automating your business today
Workflow automation software transforms businesses’ operations, making teams more efficient and reducing costly mistakes. It’s not just about making things faster—it’s about freeing your people from the daunting cycle of repetitive tasks and letting them do what humans do best: solve problems creatively, build meaningful relationships with customers, and dream up the next big idea.
Whether you need help managing projects, supporting customers, or bridging language gaps, there’s a tool out there that can take the load off. From project management and customer support to content translation, there’s a tool for every need, so take your time exploring the options. When you find the right fit, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.
Your team will thank you, and you’ll finally have the breathing room to focus on what really helps your business grow.
