Comparing Integration Platforms: Microsoft Flow vs Zapier

In this article, we are going to compare features of Microsoft Flow and Zapier.

Real Time Integration:

Microsoft Flow:

Flow gets automatically triggered based on create/update/delete record defined in the workflow.

Note: Triggers for Create, Delete and Update are available

Zapier:

Zap gets automatically triggered based on create record defined in the workflow.

Note: Trigger for Create is available

Scheduled Integration:

Microsoft Flow:

Flow can be scheduled by day, hour, minute, seconds. Recurrence action is used for the same.

Zapier:

Zap cannot be scheduled. It can only be triggered on Creation of new record.

Triggers:

Microsoft Flow:

Triggers can be specified for any entity.

Zapier:

Triggers can be specified for limited entities.

For example: For Dynamics CRM, the trigger can defined only for Contact, Opportunity, Lead and Account.

Lookup Action:

Microsoft Flow:

1. Records can be looked up using GUID / Unique Identifier of the record.
2. We can look up to any entity.

Zapier:

1. Lookup record i.e. Search in Zap is different for different Connections.
2. Only few Entities is provisioned for Search
3. Criteria for Search can be based on all fields or one field based on Connectors (Explained below with example)
4. Search value can dynamic i.e. values can be retrieved through previous steps.

For Example:

• Search for Salesforce can be based on any field

• For Dynamics CRM, condition for Search for Contact is based only on email address.

Conditional Workflow:

Microsoft Flow:

Various flow control can be setup in Flow like if-else, switch-case, do-until, etc.

Zapier:

Logical conditions setup is currently not available in Zap.

Filters:

Microsoft Flow:

Source records cannot be filtered.

Zapier:

Filter feature not available.

Data Formatting:

Microsoft Flow:

Data fetched from Source cannot be formatted before sending to target. Flow supports simple one-to-one mappings.

Zapier:

Data fetched from Source cannot be formatted before sending to target. Zapier supports simple one-to-one mappings.

Execution History:

Microsoft Flow:

Errors can be monitored in Activity section in Flow. Errors cannot be handled inside a Flow.

Zapier:

Errors can be monitored in Task History section in Zapier. Errors cannot be handled inside a Zap

Debug:

Microsoft Flow:

Debug feature is not available for a Flow. Though, after execution you can get output of each step

Zapier:

Debug feature is not available for a Zap. Though, after execution you can get input and output of each step.

Conclusion:

Summary for the Integration Tools: Microsoft Flow vs Zapier.