Foliot vs Zapier: a simpler Zapier alternative for webhooks, forms and schedules

Zapier connects to more than 9,000 apps, and for many teams it's the right choice. But if your automations mostly start from a webhook, a form or a schedule and end in Google Sheets, Slack, an email or an API call, you may be paying for a catalog you don't use, and counting tasks for every step. This page compares the two honestly, including where Zapier is the better pick.

At a glance

Prices checked on October 15, 2026, on Zapier's pricing page and Foliot's own. Prices in USD, before tax.

What a typical workflow costs

Take a common workflow: a webhook arrives, a filter checks it, then it adds a row to Google Sheets and posts to Slack. Say it fires 2,500 times a month.

• Zapier counts the two actions that complete (Sheets and Slack); the trigger and the filter are free. That's 2 × 2,500 = 5,000 tasks, which is the 5,000-task Professional tier: $89/month billed annually, or $133.50 monthly. Add a third action, like an email, and it becomes 7,500 tasks.
• Foliot counts runs: 2,500 runs, whatever the workflow does. That's more than the free plan's 500, so it's Pro: $12/month, with room for 7,500 more runs. Adding steps doesn't change the bill.

The difference grows with every action you add, because Zapier's bill depends on the number of steps and Foliot's doesn't. You can work out a Foliot bill in your head: count how often the trigger fires.

When Zapier is the better choice

• You need app triggers. “When a new email arrives in Gmail”, “when a deal moves in HubSpot”, “when a row is added to a sheet”: Zapier watches thousands of apps for you. Foliot can only start from a schedule, a webhook or its own form.
• You want ready-made actions for many apps. In Zapier you pick “Create contact in HubSpot” from a list. In Foliot you'd call HubSpot's API with the HTTP request step and fill in the details yourself.
• Your team works in it together. Zapier's Team plan has shared workspaces, shared connections and SSO. Foliot accounts are for one person.
• You want AI in the workflow: AI steps, agents or chatbots. Foliot has none.
• You run very few, simple two-step automations. Zapier's free plan may be all you need.

When Foliot is the better choice

• Your workflows start from a webhook, a form or a schedule. These are Foliot's core, and they're on the free plan. On Zapier, webhooks are a paid feature and the free plan allows only two-step Zaps.
• Your workflows have several steps. One run covers the whole workflow, so a five-step workflow costs the same as a two-step one.
• You want predictable bills. 10,000 runs for $12 a month, however you build the workflows.
• You're comfortable calling an API for the apps without a ready-made step. The HTTP request step works with any API, and the run history shows exactly what was sent and what came back.
• You want to see every run. Each run keeps the trigger data and every step's input and output for 30 days, temporary failures retry on their own when that can't do anything twice, and you get an email when a run fails.

Switching from Zapier

There's no import: Zaps and Foliot workflows are built differently, so you rebuild each one. For a Zap that starts with Webhooks by Zapier or Schedule by Zapier, it's usually a few minutes:

1. Create a workflow with the matching trigger: When a webhook is received or On a schedule.
2. Point the sender at Foliot's new webhook URL, and send one test request so the fields show up in the data picker.
3. Add the steps: Filter for Zapier's Filter, Branch for Paths (Foliot's branch has a Yes and a No path), and the Sheets, Slack, email or HTTP request steps for the actions.
4. Test each step, turn the workflow on, then turn the Zap off.

Zaps that start from an app event (a new email, a new form entry in another tool) only move over if that app can send a webhook instead. Many can: look for “webhooks” in the app's settings.