IFTTT, since its launch, has always been a free service. However, given its success, those responsible for this platform have decided to change the business model and turn this platform into a subscription payment service. And, as if that were not enough, not only have they not respected anything from the users who have been using it for almost 10 years, but also they have given us only a few days to sign up for IFTTT Pro or, otherwise, all our recipes will be eliminated . After this, is this service still worth it? Should we look for another free one, or a different one?
For those who do not know, IFTTT is a service designed to automate tasks. Its possibilities are almost endless, but to give an example, we can configure this service to automatically publish the photos that we upload to Instagram on Twitter, or turn on or off the lights at home when we arrive at a specific place.
This platform offers us a series of recipes created by users, which we can quickly import to start using them, or the possibility of creating our own connections according to our needs. All this for free (unless some of the platforms as such require us to be premium in order to use the API connection).
However, this is over.
IFTTT Price
Since last September, IFTTT has gone from being free to having a free version, very limited, and a paid version. The free version only allows us to create 3 own recipes, although we can use the ones we want created by the community. the paid version, which, for a limited time, allows us to choose how much to pay per month, allows us to create all the applets we want, configure conditions and execute them much faster and more frequently.
We can see the different plans here .
For users who have collaborated in the creation of applets and have been using this platform for a long time, finding that now they ask us to pay, or invite us to leave, hurts. Therefore, having seen what we have seen, we cannot do other than recommend abandoning IFTTT and looking for other alternatives.
Zapier: less limited, but also paid
One of the main alternatives to IFTTT is Zapier. This platform works, broadly speaking, the same as its rival. We can automate all kinds of tasks and activities so that we don’t have to waste time on certain basic tasks and can dedicate ourselves to other, more important things.
Zapier is also paid. Even the most basic version is more expensive than IFTTT. However, it has different restrictions. For example, in the free version we can create up to 5 recipes, these will be updated at most every 15 minutes and can be run up to 100 times a month.
Although it is less limited than its rival, Zapier follows the same business model. Therefore, if you need to automate tasks, and you want something that is really free, you have to look for OpenSource alternatives .
Free and OpenSource alternatives
One of the main free alternatives to IFTTT is Huginn . This tool is capable of reading the web and being attentive to certain events to take certain actions. Broadly speaking, it is like a free and private version of IFTTT and Zapier. We can use all the resources completely free of charge, and without limitations, and also the data is always in our possession, not in the hands of other companies.
Although it is designed more for the home, OpenHAB is another very similar alternative that will allow us to configure certain automations. If what you were looking for is to automate a home, instead of services, then this will be the best alternative to these other two platforms, open source, which we can assemble, configure and use for free and unlimited.