Bardeen, Zapier, and Lindy each offer unique approaches to workflow automation. Bardeen works right in your browser as a Chrome extension, Zapier connects more third-party applications, and Lindy.ai lets you create AI agents to handle more complex workflows.
Read on to learn more about:
- Key differences between Bardeen, Zapier, and Lindy
- A review of each different platform, pros and cons, and pricing
- Which automation tool is best for different use cases
- How to pick the right platform for your needs
Bardeen vs. Zapier vs. Lindy: A quick comparison
Bardeen overview
Bardeen is an automation platform that lets you build your own web tools, or Playbooks, that execute tasks within websites accessed by Google Chrome.
You’ll start by downloading the Google Chrome extension and configuring your Playbook. You can choose between a premade Playbook or create your own using Bardeen’s simple, no-code drag-and-drop editor.
Here are some Playbooks and tasks they execute:
- Scrape lead and company information from LinkedIn to qualify potential buyers.
- Send a Slack message when you’ve uploaded a recorded Zoom meeting to Dropbox.
- Generate sales emails based on the prompts you feed the platform.
Since Bardeen is a Chrome extension, it works as you browse Chrome (or Microsoft Edge, Brave, and Opera) — just right-click on a webpage, and you’ll see the option to execute the Playbook.
Key features
- You can create custom Playbooks using conversational prompts with the Magic Box feature, which lets you tailor your automations and workflows to your precise requirements.
- Bardeen integrates with dozens of third-party platforms, including CRM tools like HubSpot and database builders like Airtable. This allows you to create Playbooks that transfer data to and from the tools and services you use daily.
Bardeen pricing
The $129/month allows for unlimited users and gives you access to the full suite of third-party integrations. You’ll get 15,000 credits, which is about 15,000 automations per year
For $6,000/year (only annual billing is available), which equals 120,000 credits yearly. You also get analytics perks like data enrichment and Slack support.
Who it’s good for
Bardeen is ideal for teams that need to extract information, contact leads, or summarize data. This makes it a useful tool for various roles, including sales, customer support, and other client-facing staff.
It’s instrumental if you need a new platform to assist your go-to-market strategy, as it provides the tools needed to ensure your product gains some traction.
Who should consider an alternative?
Businesses that need to save time automating processes without manual intervention, such as automated scheduling, inbound/outbound phone dialing, and other tasks should consider different options. Additionally, those on a budget might find Bardeen out of reach.
Pros
- Launching the platform is very simple — just download the Chrome extension and start. Its no-code interface makes it accessible to anyone who can create an email.
- You’ll be able to extract information to gain market research insights quickly and then share them with your team. This can help accelerate and optimize the lead-qualification process.
- Being able to manually discover and automatically scrape several pages of information with a simple right click can significantly cut down on data entry time, allowing your sales team to focus on what they do best.
Cons
- Unfortunately, Bardeen only works on Chrome, so all you Safari and Firefox purists out there are out of luck.
- While the tool does save loads of time, it’s not a completely automated platform that you can prompt and then unleash — you’ll usually need to manually “squeeze the trigger” to make automations happen.
- The pricing is rigid and expensive, with the second-tier plan nearly $380 more per month than the first tier.
Zapier overview
Zapier is one of the most popular automation tools to hit the market — it integrates different applications through connections called “zaps,” triggering automations or data transfer once a task has been executed.
Here are a few examples of Zapier in action:
- Zapier can connect your website to a CRM system, automatically adding new contact forms from incoming submissions directly to the CRM.
- When you release a new article or blog, Zapier automatically posts across multiple social media platforms, informing followers about your latest publication.
- Link a project management tool like Trello to Slack or email and notify your team whenever project statuses change.
Key features
- Zapier integrates with over 6,000 third-party applications, providing opportunities for automating many processes.
- Create customized, fine-tuned workflows with multi-steps that pull data from one system, formatting or parsing it, then sending it to another platform.
Zapier pricing
The $19.99/month plan gives you 750 automated tasks with email support.
For $69/month, onboard up to 25 users and automated up to 2,000 tasks.
Who it’s good for
Zapier is super versatile — it’s useful for nearly any business that needs to connect apps and automate processes.
Who should consider an alternative?
Most businesses that need customizable AI-powered automations that go beyond trigging new tasks across several third-party apps. These include tools that accomplish complex workflows, like featuring AI voice agents, the ability to create and deploy chatbots, and others.
Pros
- Large number of integrations make Zapier incredibly versatile, filling a need in almost any industry.
- Relatively inexpensive pricing for entry-level tier, if you stay under your automation limits.
Cons
- Has AI features but may not provide the depth found in more specialized platforms.
- While Zapier is designed to be easy to use, setting up complex workflows can be complicated and time-consuming.
- If you exceed your monthly automation limits, overage prices can add up.
Lindy overview
Lindy is an AI platform that lets you create your own team of AI agents or Lindies, that can automatically execute loads of tasks. It uses a no-code visual builder, allowing nearly anyone to create an automation without writing knowing a programming language.
Here are some of the Lindies that you can create:
- An automated scheduler that scans your availability and will share available times with respondents, until it finds a suitable time for both of you.
- An email negotiator who advocates for affiliate marketing contracts on your behalf.
- An customer support chatbot that you can embed in your website to greet visitors and answer questions. Because it uses your favorite large language model, it can understand more context than just an old school chatbot. This means it can easily detect a more complicated problem and pass the customer to a human rep.
Key features
- While you’ll be able to create your own automations with the no-code building interface, you’ll find tons of premade templates if you want to implement and launch your workflow quickly.
- Lindy is HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant, meaning it follows strict data protection protocols and allows medical practices that handle sensitive client data to create automations
Lindy pricing
The $49.99/month lets you create a 20 million-character knowledge base and get automated phone features.
For $299.99/month, you’ll get premium phone features, 30,000 tasks, and priority support.
Who it’s good for
Lindy is great for small and medium-sized businesses in most sectors, including e-commerce businesses that need customer service, medical practices that need a scheduling solution, and many others.
Who should consider an alternative?
Big companies looking to implement an enormous volume of automations at scale will probably need to find an AI platform more suited to enterprise needs.
Pros
- Lindy’s simple, no-code drag-and-drop interface for building automations is accessible to anyone on your team — you can use the Lindy Academy to help you understand how to fully use the platform.
- You can also get your automation building started super quickly by using a premade template, which has all the prompts and connections ready to go.
- The pricing plans are more affordable than many options.
Cons
- Caters to small and medium businesses only.
- Lindy has loads of templates so you might spend time experimenting with automations before you publish a solution.
Which platform should you choose?
OK, now that we’ve reached the end of our comparison, let’s discuss how you can select the automation platform you need. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do you need data harvesting only? If so, Zapier is out of the question. Both Bardeen and Lindy provide these features — you can build Lindy agents to execute these tasks automatically, or you can manually pinpoint resources for scraping data using Bardeen.
- Do you work with several applications, and integrating them would make life so much easier? Most likely, you’ll want to go with Zapier or Lindy. Both platforms let you connect with popular tools and command exactly how automations will be triggered.
- Do you need AI-powered automation and workflow optimization? Best to check out Zapier and Lindy. You’ll get more customization with Lindy, as you’ll have the power to craft workflows and automations specific to the task you need to execute.
While Zapier can connect with a larger suite of apps for simple automation triggers, it’s more of a tool for automating tasks and transferring data between workflows, without much customization.
Similarly, Bardeen is great for automating tasks, especially in SaaS and other web-based applications. Yet, you won’t get the deep customization power provided by a platform like Lindy.
Ditch manual automation for Lindy’s AI-powered workflows
Bardeen is a solid choice for grabbing vast amounts of data for market research. If you work with many apps and want to connect simple workflows, Zapier is the best option.
However, Lindy provides a hands-free solution for AI-powered, scalable automation that can save you time and accelerate your productivity.
Here are a few other reasons to go with Lindy:
- Go global: Lindy can bolster your go-to-market plans onto a worldwide stage, as it’s fluent in over 30 languages.
- 24/7 support: No matter what time zone you’re in, Lindy is on the clock, providing customers with rapid response times.
- Integrations: Integrate with HubSpot, Salesforce, Google Sheets, and others to craft a custom workflow unique to your business operations.
Sign up for Lindy’s free trial and start building your first automation today for free.
