Comparison · June 2026
Rills: the Zapier alternative
How Zapier and Rills differ on AI oversight, pricing, and mobile approvals.
A Zap runs the instant its trigger fires, and you learn afterward whether it was right. Rills proposes the action, then waits, free, until you approve it from your phone.
- Zapier fires on its trigger; Rills proposes and waits for your approval
- Zapier counts every action as a task; Rills keeps logic and approvals free
- Switch if you want a 5-second mobile approval queue, not after-the-fact monitoring
Pick Rills if you want AI agents that ask before acting, with mobile approvals and workflows that pause at $0 while waiting for you.
Pick Zapier if you need the broadest app catalog and don't need a human in the loop on every consequential action.
Queue 3
Send refund email
To: maria.chen@gmail.com
Subject: Your refund has been processed
Hi Maria, your refund of $49.00 for order #8891 has been submitted. You should see it in 3-5 business days.
0 approved0 rejected
Why operators choose Rills over Zapier
- You're paying for tasks that ran wrong. Every Zap action counts against your quota even when the output needed a human eye first.
- There's no approval queue. Zapier monitors after the fact; a bad refund or a wrong email is already sent by the time you notice.
- Logic and waiting shouldn't cost you. Rills charges for high-value actions only; branching, approvals, and a paused workflow are free.
- Confidence that learns your judgment. Rills watches which actions you approve and starts trusting the safe ones, so your queue shrinks over time.
Run Slack, Mailchimp, and Typeform on Rills the way you do in Zapier, without paying for every step. Only high-value actions spend credits; logic and approvals are free.
Full comparison
Pricing model
- Rills
- Base subscription from $29/month plus included workflow & AI credits; logic & approvals free
- Zapier
- Per-task subscriptions: Professional from $19.99/mo annual ($29.99 monthly, 750-task minimum), Team from $69/mo annual ($103.50 monthly, 2,000-task minimum); add more tasks on top of the base price
Free / entry
- Rills
- Free trial; paid plans from Starter tier (see rills.ai/pricing for tiers and included credits)
- Zapier
- Free: 100 tasks/mo, two-step Zaps only (see zapier.com/pricing for current caps)
AI capabilities
- Rills
- Native AI agents with confidence scoring that learns from approvals
- Zapier
- Zapier AI features (Agents, Copilot) vary by plan and add-on; bolted onto a trigger → action engine, not a supervised proposal loop
Human oversight
- Rills
- Built-in mobile approval queue; $0 while paused for review
- Zapier
- No first-class approval queue; a Zap fires the instant its trigger hits and you find out afterward whether it was right
Integrations
- Rills
- Growing catalog (focused on common business tools)
- Zapier
- 8,000+ apps
Mobile experience
- Rills
- Approval queue designed for mobile review
- Zapier
- Mobile app for monitoring and light management, not a decision-first approval queue
Best for
- Rills
- Teams that want AI to propose actions but humans to stay in the loop
- Zapier
- Huge integration catalog and straightforward trigger → action automations
| Compare | RillsAI automation with human oversight | ZapierConnect your apps and automate workflows |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Base subscription from $29/month plus included workflow & AI credits; logic & approvals free | Per-task subscriptions: Professional from $19.99/mo annual ($29.99 monthly, 750-task minimum), Team from $69/mo annual ($103.50 monthly, 2,000-task minimum); add more tasks on top of the base price |
| Free / entry | Free trial; paid plans from Starter tier (see rills.ai/pricing for tiers and included credits) | Free: 100 tasks/mo, two-step Zaps only (see zapier.com/pricing for current caps) |
| AI capabilities | Native AI agents with confidence scoring that learns from approvals | Zapier AI features (Agents, Copilot) vary by plan and add-on; bolted onto a trigger → action engine, not a supervised proposal loop |
| Human oversight | Built-in mobile approval queue; $0 while paused for review | No first-class approval queue; a Zap fires the instant its trigger hits and you find out afterward whether it was right |
| Integrations | Growing catalog (focused on common business tools) | 8,000+ apps |
| Mobile experience | Approval queue designed for mobile review | Mobile app for monitoring and light management, not a decision-first approval queue |
| Best for | Teams that want AI to propose actions but humans to stay in the loop | Huge integration catalog and straightforward trigger → action automations |
When to choose Rills
- You want AI agents that propose actions with confidence scoring, so you stay in control
- You want a mobile approval queue and $0 cost while workflows wait for review
- You prefer a base plan plus credit pools where approvals and logic are free
- You want workflows that learn from your approvals, reducing manual reviews over time
When to choose Zapier
- You need the broadest app directory for niche or legacy tools Rills may not cover yet
- You want long-running, mature task-based automation without a human approval queue
- Your Zaps are mostly simple trigger-to-action flows without supervised AI decisions
- Migrating would cost more than the benefit; your Zapier estate is already working
Pricing comparison
Rills
Base subscription from $29/month plus included workflow & AI credits; logic & approvals free
- Starter $29/month: 10,000 workflow credits & 1,000 AI credits/mo (included)
- Professional $99/month: 50,000 workflow & 5,000 AI credits/mo
- Business $349/month: 200,000 workflow & 20,000 AI credits/mo
- Human approvals and workflow logic never consume credits
- $0 while workflows are paused awaiting approval
- Enterprise: custom pricing and credit pools (see /pricing)
Zapier
Per-task subscriptions: Professional from $19.99/mo annual ($29.99 monthly, 750-task minimum), Team from $69/mo annual ($103.50 monthly, 2,000-task minimum); add more tasks on top of the base price
- Free: 100 tasks/mo, two-step Zaps only (zapier.com/pricing)
- Professional: from $19.99/mo annual for a 750-task minimum; Team from $69/mo annual for 2,000
- Monthly billing runs 50% higher than the annual prices shown
- Every successful action step counts as a task, whether or not it needed a human eye first
Say a workflow sends 1,500 actions a month. On Zapier that's 1,500 tasks against your plan, whether or not each one needed a human eye. On Rills the branching and the approvals in that workflow are free; you spend credits only on the high-value actions that actually run.
Calculate your own numbers — compare plans at your volume →
Sources, verified June 2026: Rills pricing · Zapier pricing
With Rills, approvals and logic are free, only high-value actions cost credits, and a workflow waiting on you sits at $0. You decide in about five seconds, and the queue learns which calls it can stop showing you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Rills a good Zapier alternative?
Rills is a strong fit if you want AI agents that propose actions and wait for your approval before anything consequential happens. Zapier is built for high-volume trigger-to-action automation; Rills is built for the actions you want a human to sign off on, with a mobile approval queue and confidence scoring that learns your judgment.
Does Rills have a free plan or free trial?
Rills offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, then paid plans starting at the Starter tier. See rills.ai/pricing for current tiers and included credits.
How is Rills pricing different from Zapier's tasks?
Zapier counts every successful action step as a task against your monthly quota. Rills charges only for high-value actions; workflow logic, branching, and human approvals are free, and a workflow paused while it waits for you costs nothing.
Can I move my Zapier automations to Rills?
You rebuild the workflows you want a human in the loop on, rather than importing Zaps directly. Most operators start by moving one consequential workflow, a refund flow or an outbound email, then expand as confidence scoring proves out which actions can run on their own.
Does Zapier have a mobile approval queue?
Zapier has a mobile app for monitoring and light management, but not a decision-first approval queue. With Rills, approving a proposed action from your phone takes about five seconds and is the core product surface.
Approve from your phone. Pause without paying.
14-day trial, no card. Plug in one workflow, watch it ask before it acts.
No credit card to start. Cancel anytime, export your data, no lock-in.
Compare Rills with other tools
Automation products change tiers often. Confirm current limits and prices on each vendor's site before you buy.
Last updated: June 2026
Zapier is a trademark of its respective owners. Rills is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of these companies. Product information was accurate as of the date shown and may have changed. Visit each product's website for current pricing and features.