Windmill vs Zapier

Zapier offers cloud SaaS automation with thousands of connectors, while Windmill is self-hosted, open-source and supports custom code.

WindmillOpen-source platform for scripts, workflows and internal apps

ZapierNo-code automation across thousands of apps

Which to pick

Pick Windmill if you want…

Code-first internal orchestration
Script-based internal tools
Open-source code (windmill-labs/windmill on GitHub)
Integrations with Python, TypeScript or Go (on Windmill's list, not Zapier's)

Pick Zapier if you want…

AI-enabled workflow automation
Cloud no-code integrations
The lower starting price: $19.99/month against $120/month
Integrations with Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor (on Zapier's list, not Windmill's)

Windmill: Open-source platform for scripts, workflows and internal apps, less AI-centric

Side by side

What it is: Windmill:Windmill is an open-source, self-hostable platform for scripts, workflows, apps and data pipelines.; Zapier:Zapier is a no-code platform that lets you build, run and govern AI-driven automated workflows across 9,000+ apps.
Best for: Windmill:Code-first internal orchestration; Zapier:AI-enabled workflow automation
Who it’s for: Windmill:Engineering teams building internal tools and automation.; Zapier:Teams and businesses that need to automate tasks without coding.
Pricing: Windmill:Freemium; Zapier:Freemium
Plans: Windmill:Free & Open-source $0/mo · Enterprise $120/mo per month · Developer seat $170/mo per month · Operator seat $20/mo/dev per month · Operator seat (external JWT) $10/mo/op per month; Zapier:Free $0/month · Professional $19.99/month per month · Team $69/month per month
Open source: Windmill:Yes, 18,140 GitHub stars; Zapier:—
Works with: Windmill:Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash, SQL, PHP, React, Svelte; Zapier:Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, 9,000+ apps

Windmill features

Multi-language scripts. Run Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash, SQL, PHP and more as API endpoints with full code control.
Visual DAG workflows. Design dependency graphs in a flow editor or as code, with retries, approvals and parallel branches.
Low-code app builder. Create React or Svelte front-ends with drag-and-drop and code, backed by existing scripts and flows.
AI agent integration. Connect to 12+ LLM providers or your own OpenAI-compatible endpoint to run scripts as agent tools.
Built-in observability. Each run logs inputs, outputs, traces and metrics; alerts can be sent to Slack, Teams or email.
Git-based collaboration. Workspaces fork like Git branches; changes are reviewed, merged and deployed to staging and prod.
Self-hosted infra. Deploy via Docker, Fargate or Kubernetes with YAML-defined worker groups and autoscaling.
Enterprise security. Supports SSO, SAML/SCIM, audit logs, SOC 2 Type II and external secret backends.

Zapier features

AI tool connections. Securely connect Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and 230+ other AI tools to your apps.
Next-Gen Zaps. Create workflows with advanced logic, self-healing agents and automatic recovery.
Governance & security. Granular permissions, SOC 2/3, GDPR, CCPA compliance and single-click workflow disabling.
Unlimited app integrations. Access to 9,000+ apps with no passwords or API keys required.
Visual no-code editor. Drag-and-drop builder for multi-step Zaps, Tables and Forms.
Shared task pool. All Zap, AI, code and MCP actions draw from a single task allocation.

Windmill vs Zapier FAQ

Is Windmill or Zapier free?+

Windmill has a free plan (Free & Open-source); paid plans start at $120/month (Enterprise). Zapier has a free plan; paid plans start at $19.99/month (Professional).

Which is cheaper, Windmill or Zapier?+

Zapier is cheaper to start with: Zapier's Professional plan ($19.99/month) against Windmill's Enterprise plan ($120/month).

Is Windmill or Zapier open source?+

Windmill is open source (windmill-labs/windmill on GitHub). DevHunt has no public source repository on record for Zapier.

Do Windmill and Zapier integrate with the same tools?+

Their integration lists don't overlap: Windmill lists Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash and 10 more; Zapier lists Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and 9,000+ apps.

On DevHunt

Windmill

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