6 products tested & ranked

We Tested 6 AI Automation Tools — Here's What's Actually Worth It

We tested the leading AI-powered automation platforms to help you find the right tool for intelligent workflow automation, AI agents, and autonomous task handling.

Featuring:

UiPath·

Make AI Scenarios·

Zapier AI Actions·

Lindy.ai·

Relay.app+1 more

Helping 12,000+ professionals choose the right tools

Quick Answer

Our Top 3 Picks at a Glance

See all reviews

Best Overall

9.0

UiPath

Automation Developer from $420/month. Unattended Automation from $1,380/month. Enterprise pricing is custom. Free Community Edition available for individual developers.

Enterprise-grade RPA and AI automation platform with agentic capabilities, process mining, and the most mature robotic process automation ecosystem on the market.

Try UiPath Free

Best for Small Teams

8.6

Make AI Scenarios

Free plan with 1,000 operations/month. Core from $29/month. Pro and Enterprise plans scale with usage. Credit-based pricing model.

AI-powered visual automation platform with next-generation AI Agents, a visual reasoning panel, and 3,000+ app integrations for building complex, multi-step intelligent workflows.

Try Make Free

Best Value

8.5

Zapier AI Actions

Free plan with 100 tasks/month. Professional from $29.99/month (750 tasks). Team from $103.50/month. Enterprise custom pricing.

AI-powered automation layer within the Zapier ecosystem, featuring AI Agents, Copilot, and Natural Language Actions API to bring intelligent automation across 8,000+ apps.

Try Zapier AI Free

Why AI Automation Is Transforming Business in 2026

Traditional automation follows rigid if-then rules. AI automation tools go further, using large language models and intelligent agents to handle tasks that previously required human judgment — from email triage and document processing to autonomous multi-step workflows.

How We Evaluate AI Automation Platforms

We test each platform's AI capabilities in real-world scenarios: document understanding, natural language processing, decision-making accuracy, and autonomous workflow execution. We also assess data privacy controls, model transparency, and the balance between AI autonomy and human oversight.

What to Look for in AI Automation Software

Consider whether you need pre-built AI agents for specific tasks (email, scheduling, data entry) or a flexible platform for building custom AI workflows. Data privacy, self-hosting options, and the quality of AI outputs matter as much as the breadth of features.

0Products Tested

0+Hours of Testing

0+Years Experience

0Expert Reviewers

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Our Top Picks

#1 Top Pick

UiPath

Best Overall

9.0

Excellent

Try UiPath Free

#2 Runner Up

Make AI Scenarios

Best Visual AI Builder

8.6

Very Good

Try Make Free

#3 Also Great

Zapier AI Actions

Best for Non-Technical Teams

8.5

Very Good

Try Zapier AI Free

#1 Our Top Pick

Editor's Choice

Automation Developer from $420/month. Unattended Automation from $1,380/month. Enterprise pricing is custom. Free Community Edition available for individual developers.

UiPath

Large enterprises needing to automate complex processes across legacy and modern systems at scale

Read Full Review →

Excellent

Features9.5

Ease of Use7.5

Integration9.2

Value for Money7.5

Head-to-Head Comparison

Feature	UiPath9.0/10	Make AI Scenarios8.6/10	Zapier AI Actions8.5/10	Lindy.ai8.3/10	Relay.app8.3/10	Bardeen7.8/10
Starting Price	Automation Developer from $420/month. Unattended Automation from $1,380/month. Enterprise pricing is custom. Free Community Edition available for individual developers.	Free plan with 1,000 operations/month. Core from $29/month. Pro and Enterprise plans scale with usage. Credit-based pricing model.	Free plan with 100 tasks/month. Professional from $29.99/month (750 tasks). Team from $103.50/month. Enterprise custom pricing.	7-day free trial. Pro: $49.99/mo. Enterprise: Custom pricing.	Free plan with 200 steps/month. Pro from $38/month with 2,000 steps and 5,000 AI credits. All features included in all plans.	100 free credits included. Basic: $10/mo. Premium: $40/mo (annual). Enterprise: Custom.
Free Plan
Starting Price	$420/mo	$29/mo	$29.99/mo	$49.99/mo	$38/mo	$10/mo
AI Capabilities	9.5	9.0	8.5	9.0	8.0	7.5
Ease of Use	7.5	7.8	8.5	8.5	9.4	8.5
Self-Hosting
Pre-Built Agents
Data Privacy	9.5	8.0	7.5	8.0	8.5	7.5
Integration Count	500+	3,000+	8,000+	Hundreds	100+	50+
	Try UiPath Free	Try Make Free	Try Zapier AI Free	Try Lindy Free	Try Relay Free	Try Bardeen Free

Detailed Reviews

Very Good

Make AI Scenarios

Best Visual AI BuilderTechnical users and agencies building complex AI workflows who want visual debugging and control over AI costs

Features9.2

Ease of Use7.8

Integration8.8

Value for Money8.5

Pros

Visual AI Agent builder with Reasoning Panel provides unmatched transparency into agent decision-making
Custom AI provider connections let you use your own API keys and avoid markup costs
Unlimited branching and advanced data transformation handle workflows too complex for Zapier
Real-time execution visualization makes debugging multi-step AI workflows intuitive
MCP Server enables external AI tools to call Make scenarios with full security and control

Cons

Steep learning curve — significantly more complex to learn than Zapier for beginners
Credit-based pricing can be confusing; native AI modules carry a premium if not using your own API keys
Smaller integration library (3,000+) compared to Zapier's 8,000+ apps
Make charges for attempted operations, not just successful ones, which can inflate costs

Pricing: Free plan with 1,000 operations/month. Core from $29/month. Pro and Enterprise plans scale with usage. Credit-based pricing model.

AI-powered visual automation platform with next-generation AI Agents, a visual reasoning panel, and 3,000+ app integrations for building complex, multi-step intelligent workflows.

Verified this week

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Very Good

Zapier AI Actions

Best for Non-Technical TeamsBusinesses wanting to add AI intelligence to workflows across their entire app ecosystem

Features8.8

Ease of Use8.5

Integration9.5

Value for Money7.5

Pros

Unmatched integration ecosystem with 8,000+ apps gives AI agents the widest possible action space
AI Copilot lets users build complex automations using natural language descriptions
Multi-model support (OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq) lets you use the best AI for each task
Free Natural Language Actions API enables developers to embed Zapier capabilities in their own products

Cons

Task-based pricing makes AI automation costs unpredictable — complex agent runs can consume 10-20 tasks each
AI features are still rapidly evolving with frequent changes to capabilities and pricing
Free plan is extremely limited at 100 tasks/month — insufficient for meaningful AI automation
Agent autonomy can be unpredictable; requires careful setup of guardrails and human-in-the-loop controls

Pricing: Free plan with 100 tasks/month. Professional from $29.99/month (750 tasks). Team from $103.50/month. Enterprise custom pricing.

AI-powered automation layer within the Zapier ecosystem, featuring AI Agents, Copilot, and Natural Language Actions API to bring intelligent automation across 8,000+ apps.

Verified this week

Read Full Review →

Very Good

Lindy.ai

Best AI AgentsProfessionals and teams wanting autonomous AI agents for email, meetings, and multi-app tasks

Features8.5

Ease of Use8.5

Integration8.0

Value for Money8.0

Pros

True AI agents that reason and act autonomously — not just simple trigger-action workflows
Pre-built Lindies can be deployed in minutes for email triage, scheduling, and research
Learns your communication style over time, drafting emails that sound like you
Multi-channel capability across email, voice, chat, and calendar in one platform

Cons

Relatively new platform (founded 2023) — still maturing and some agents work better than others
No free plan — only a 7-day trial before committing to $49.99/month
AI agents can sometimes make errors or misinterpret context, requiring oversight
Limited transparency on what actions agents take — requires trust in AI decision-making

Pricing: 7-day free trial. Pro: $49.99/mo. Enterprise: Custom pricing.

An AI agent platform that creates autonomous digital employees capable of handling email, meetings, CRM updates, and multi-app workflows without coding.

Verified this week

Read Full Review →

Very Good

Relay.app

Best Human-in-the-LoopSmall to mid-size teams needing AI automation with human oversight, approvals, and compliance controls

Features7.8

Ease of Use9.4

Integration7.2

Value for Money8.5

Pros

Native Human-in-the-Loop controls let workflows pause for human approvals, reviews, or data input
Rated 9.4 on G2 for ease of use — the most intuitive AI workflow builder available
Built-in AI credits on every plan remove the friction of setting up separate AI providers
Multiplayer collaboration lets team members co-build and manage automations together

Cons

Smaller integration ecosystem compared to Zapier and Make
Relatively new platform (founded 2022) with a smaller team and less mature feature set
Mobile app has limited features, particularly for integrations and workflow sharing
AI credit bundles may need to be purchased separately for heavy AI usage

Pricing: Free plan with 200 steps/month. Pro from $38/month with 2,000 steps and 5,000 AI credits. All features included in all plans.

AI-powered workflow automation platform with native Human-in-the-Loop controls, built-in AI credits, and an exceptionally intuitive interface rated 9.4 on G2.

Verified this week

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Good

Bardeen

Best Browser AutomationSales teams and recruiters needing browser-based lead scraping and enrichment automation

Features7.5

Ease of Use8.5

Integration7.5

Value for Money8.0

Pros

Browser-native approach automates tasks that API-based tools like Zapier cannot reach
Natural language AI builder lets you describe automations in plain English
Excellent for LinkedIn prospecting and web scraping without API access
Built-in lead enrichment with verified emails and phone numbers

Cons

Credit-based pricing can deplete quickly with heavy scraping or enrichment usage
Browser-dependent — automations may break when websites change their layout
Narrower use case than general automation platforms — focused on scraping and lead gen
Chrome extension requirement means it only works in Chrome-based browsers

Pricing: 100 free credits included. Basic: $10/mo. Premium: $40/mo (annual). Enterprise: Custom.

An AI-powered browser automation platform that scrapes data, enriches leads, and automates repetitive web tasks directly from your browser without coding.

Verified this week

Read Full Review →

Our Testing Methodology

Our automation and AI experts test each platform by deploying AI agents and workflows in real business scenarios. We evaluate accuracy, reliability, ease of configuration, data privacy controls, and the quality of AI-powered decision-making across our weighted scoring rubric.

Frequently Asked Questions

AI automation tools use artificial intelligence and large language models to automate tasks that traditionally required human judgment. Unlike rule-based automation (if X then Y), AI automation can process unstructured data, understand natural language, make decisions, and handle complex multi-step workflows autonomously.

Traditional automation follows pre-defined rules and triggers — it does exactly what you program it to do. AI automation uses machine learning and LLMs to handle unpredictable inputs, make judgment calls, and adapt to new situations. Traditional automation is better for structured, repeatable tasks. AI automation excels at unstructured data processing, email triage, and decision-making.

Safety varies by tool. Enterprise platforms like UiPath offer robust data governance and on-premises deployment. Self-hosted tools like n8n give you full control over your data. Cloud-based tools like Zapier AI and Make AI process data through their servers, which may not meet strict compliance requirements. Always review a tool's data privacy policy before processing sensitive information.

AI agents are autonomous software programs that can perceive their environment, make decisions, and take actions to achieve specific goals. In business automation, AI agents can handle tasks like email management, meeting scheduling, data entry, and customer support by understanding context and executing multi-step workflows without explicit programming for each scenario.

Written by

Alex ThompsonSenior Technology Analyst

Alex Thompson has spent over 8 years evaluating B2B SaaS platforms, from CRM systems to marketing automation tools. He specializes in hands-on product testing and translating complex features into clear, actionable recommendations for growing businesses.

SaaS ReviewsProduct AnalysisB2B SoftwareTech Strategy

Our Top 3 Picks at a Glance

Why AI Automation Is Transforming Business in 2026

How We Evaluate AI Automation Platforms

What to Look for in AI Automation Software

Our Top Picks

UiPath

Head-to-Head Comparison

Detailed Reviews

Make AI Scenarios

Pros

Cons

Zapier AI Actions

Pros

Cons

Lindy.ai

Pros

Cons

Relay.app

Pros

Cons

Bardeen

Pros

Cons

Our Testing Methodology

Frequently Asked Questions

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