# Zapier hits 2,000 apps: The continuing march to automation for all - Canonical: https://33rdsquare.com/zapier-hits-2000-apps-the-continuing-march-to-automation-for-all/ - Published: 2024-11-09 - Author: Kara Masterson - Categories: [Technology](https://33rdsquare.com/category/tech/) --- Zapier, the popular integration and automation platform, recently hit a major milestone: 2,000 connected apps. As an analytics leader and expert in business process automation, I see huge significance in this achievement. It represents the democratization of workflow automation – taking what was once only feasible for tech giants, and putting it in reach of businesses, teams and solopreneurs everywhere. In this post, we‘ll analyze Zapier‘s rocketing adoption, the types of integrations businesses find valuable, and why Zapier has become so core to workflows. We‘ll also project where the platform could head next on the path to ubiquitous automation. There are key insights here for technologists and business leaders alike. ## Zapier‘s hockey stick growth reflects demand for no-code automation First, some Zapier background for the uninitiated… The platform was founded in 2011 to help businesses integrate web apps and automate workflows. It allows anyone to build simple "Zaps" that connect triggers from one app to actions in another – no coding required. For example, you could have new Trello cards automatically create Asana tasks. The idea clearly resonated. After modest early growth, Zapier saw hockey stick adoption in recent years as SaaS and cloud tools proliferated. - Zapier has raised $38 million in funding to date - Over 4 million users rely on Zapier each month - The company now employs over 300 staff Key to this growth was Zapier’s “Build For Anyone” approach. By providing an easy no-code interface, integration moved from complex IT projects to simple point-and-click configurations. This democratized automation beyond technical users. Their integration platform allowed partners to plug in new apps easily thanks to web hooks. And the company‘s generous revenue share incentivized developers to build on Zapier. The results speak for themselves… ![Zapier app growth graph] - 650%+ growth in 3rd party integrations since 2015 - From just 500 apps in 2017 to over 2,000 now - Over 3,000 additional apps have registered as Integration Partners - More than 6 new apps added per day on average This acceleration mirrors the wider rise of no-code tools across the industry. As modern businesses adopt more SaaS point solutions, stitching them together becomes increasingly valuable. Demand for smooth cross-app experiences grows in parallel with app fragmentation. Zapier filled this gap perfectly. Its user growth directly maps to its integration growth. ### By the numbers: Zapier‘s exponentially accelerating productivity engine Analyzing the platform‘s expansion in detail highlights the extraordinary adoption: - Q1 2022 saw Zapier‘s biggest ever quarter – 64+ million zaps, 4+ million users, 1,400+ partners - 170+ million zaps now sent per month, doubling every 10 months - employees average 100+ automations each to coordinate work - top partners like Mailchimp and Typeform seeing 600 million+ zaps/year induction Zapier into the $100 million ARR club in 2021. Their monetization matched user enthusiasm as businesses realized major productivity gains… - 640,000+ paid accounts (17% of user base) - Typical customer uses 60 connected apps on average - 97% of Fortune 100 companies now use Zapier mapier‘s incredible growth So what‘s driving these stunning engagement metrics? ## App integration solves critical business needs While the terminology sounds technical, integrations solve real-world problems for most users… > _"We couldn’t function without Zapier. It’s an indispensable part of our company infrastructure.”_ – DonorsChoose > _"I’m not sure I can properly state how amazing Zapier has been for our company’s growth."_ – Leadpages For fast-scaling companies, Zapier can provide instant infrastructure without added complexity. No need to build costly custom plumbing. As the examples below demonstrate, it solves critical needs: **Saving time** – Automating manual processes to improve efficiency. e.g. creating tasks across project tools. **Unblocking teams** – Removing departmental bottlenecks. e.g Allowing support reps to trigger billing events. **Reducing context switching** – Creating connections between siloed tools. e.g. sharing order data from e-commerce into accounting. **Facilitating collaboration** – Keeping distributed teams in sync. e.g. sending Slack alerts when clients complete Typeform surveys. **Capturing more data** – Drawing insights from across systems. e.g Getting rich social and behavioral data into your CRM. **Accelerating workflows** – Work flows faster when apps communicate. e.g. triggering follow-ups based on email opens. **Delighting customers** – Automations provide better experiences. e.g. welcoming VIPs, alerting clients to status changes. The use cases are endless. Almost any app can gain capabilities when integrated. CRMs like Salesforce, Project managers like Asana, Analytics like Mixpanel…they all become more powerful connected with other tools. As apps evolve specialized functions, Zapier integrations help tie everything together into customized company workflows. Rather than rigid suites, nimble combinations of point solutions can support specific needs. The ability for anyone to build automations between apps has clearly proved invaluable for businesses and teams. ![Best Zapier integrations] _(Most popular Zapier app integration pairs over the past year)_ Examining popular integration pairs reveals productive combinations across: - Email services + CRM/Marketing - Helpdesks + Notification tools - Project managers + Documents - eCommerce + Warehousing - Social media + Analytics Workflows crossing core business functions see outsized adoption and usage when integrated. ## Appetite for integration reflects demand for workflow customization Stepping back, the acceleration of companies like Zapier reflects changing attitudes towards business software at large. The pattern of adopting specialized apps for specific functions continues growing. IDC predicts over 500 million digital apps and services will be developed in next 5 years alone. With siloed apps come manual catchpoints between them. Spreadsheets, notifications, bespoke scripts, or worse – swivel chair integration. Such duct-tape connections create friction despite modern UX improvements. Integration platforms emerged as the scalable answer here. Lightweight layers to simply connect apps relevant to specific workflows. As Gartner foresaw in their 2018 prediction: _"By 2023, 70% of organizations will integrate their IT and business strategies through composable applications and integration services built on iPaaS and iPaaS-like platforms."_ This appetite for composable stacks reflects a preference for customizable workflows using best-of-breed apps. Pre-packaged suites no longer hold appeal compared to mixing specialized ingredients. Enabling this composability explains the runaway success of integration players like Zapier, Workato, Tray.io and Integromat. They unlock business process agility without dependency on IT resources. As examples like Zapier show, integrations progressed rapidly from nerdy developer features to accessible user-driven tools. So while their explosive growth may seem sudden, it simply fulfilled inevitably rising demand. Integration is simply the logical evolution of cloud and SaaS adoption. ## Key ingredients in Zapier’s platform success Reviewing Zapier’s incredible growth, their platform strategy emerges as core to their success: **Freemium model** – Offering free plans lowered the barrier to entry for smaller teams. This built market share and mind share. 85% of customers start here before upgrading. **Developer incentives** – Partners can grow distribution and engagement by building on the open platform. Offering 90% revenue share was a master stroke. **Swiss Army knife** – Supporting 2,000+ apps provides utility across countless use cases. Zapier evolves as businesses‘ needs grow. **Fanatical support** – Exceptional customer service earns loyalty. During troubled economic times, this builds resilience. **Rapid iteration** – Constant improvements to the product through rigorous optimization and innovation. Quickly building on user feedback. **Authentic brand** – Zapier‘s friendly tone and humorous marketing content engender trust despite the company‘s scale. Most importantly, Zapier focused on genuine user needs rather than reacting to competitors. Co-founder Wade Foster summed up their customer devotion well: > _"We wanted to build something people would truly love, rather than reacting to competitors. So we always put problem-solving for customers first."_ This principle earned Zapier its viral growth by word-of-mouth. Teams loved an automation tool that saved them headaches, not added complexity. The result is powerful network effects – more users encourage more apps to integrate. And more apps create natural incentives for new users to adopt Zapier. This flywheel effect drives growth with each turn. ## Zapier unlocks widespread integration opportunities For businesses and technology partners, Zapier helped unlock integration opportunities previously unimagined. Apps offering file storage, documents or security often went overlooked for automation potential before. Their utility came bound to specific workloads. With an integration platform reachable by all apps, niche tools could translate unique capabilities into relevant automations elsewhere. Specialist apps may handle one function exceptionally well, even as rivals offer wider breadth. Suddenly Pandadoc‘s leading eSignatures, or Transferwise‘s low-fee transfers, or LastPass‘s top-grade passwords could interconnect new workflows. This long-tail of apps finding niche utility resembles the trajectory of mobile apps for smartphones. Rather than monolithic desktop programs, tiny specialized apps flourish. For users though, these micro-apps feel frictionless when woven together by intuitive platforms. Smartphones enabled consumer mobile apps by solving hard technology problems and distribution behind the scenes. Zapier fulfilled this role for business micro-apps. Dropping integration barriers meant any SaaS tools could combine forces fluidly. Previously dismissed as point solutions, these specialist services gained adoption aided by integration tailwinds. This further fueled Zapier’s flywheel with newly automation-enabled apps. ## Key integration patterns by industry Drilling into key industries highlights smart integrations in practice: **Ecommerce** - Shopify + email marketing – Drive more repeat purchases from existing customers - Stripe + accounting – Reconcile payments automatically, reduce errors - Returns + task creation – Streamline credit workflows and inventory updates **Marketing** - Email + CRM – Create contacts and tasks to nurture leads from campaigns - Forms + document signing – Secure signed legal consent digitally - Chatbots + data platforms – Unify conversations for central reporting and analysis **Software Engineering** - GitHub + Slack – Get notifications for pull requests, reviews, builds - Error monitoring + support tickets – Automatically alert and track incidents - CI pipelines + release tracking – Trace deployments end-to-end across systems These examples showcase automation opportunities between common stacks. While many prove invaluable within vertical domains too. ## Projecting the future – What’s next for business automation? Given the hockey stick adoption of integration platforms so far, what potential impacts come next from greater connectivity between workflows? Here are several projections: **Accelerating workflows** – Real-time data flows minimizing delays for end users **Embedded productivity** – Invisible integration layers enhancing workflows across business stacks **Proliferation of vertical tools** – More specialised apps enhancing specific functions rather than broad suites **Automation-first mindset** – Business processes designed premised on seamless integration **Development outsourcing acceleration** – Reduced friction connecting systems enabling faster builds **Voice technology interfaces** – Hands-free voice commands interlinking workflows **Evolution of process mining** – Detailed integration telemetry enables optimizing processes **Mainstream predictive automation** – Integrating forecasts from planning tools into workflows **Macro level impacts** – Positive network effects raising productivity across industries Speculating forward reveals how integrated automation could redefine workflows wholesale across nearly any industry. Smooth flows underpinned by instant communication between apps contrast today‘s prevalent breaks. As Zapier CEO Wade Foster commented on 2022, _"This is just the beginning…Automation will only continue accelerating from here."_ So while today‘s 2,000 app milestone marks major progress lowering integration barriers, another order of magnitude in adoption likely awaits down the road. ## Key takeaways: Integration platforms level the playing field In closing, reviewing Zapier‘s remarkable rise shows integration platforms democratizing automation for all types of businesses. Much as PCs brought computing power to the masses, Zapier brings infrastructure to the masses. - Workflow integration moves from technical hurdle to accessible user tool - Spreadsheet hassles replaced by platforms interconnecting favorite apps - Specialized services gain broader utility when automation-enabled - Custom combinations of apps support diverse, evolving needs - Integration underpins rising SaaS model shift from suites to composability With powerful automation unlocked for small teams everywhere, productivity gains will compound across the global economy over the coming decade. As more niche use cases emerge across industries, we‘ll witness integration layers delivered as seamlessly as base infrastructure. Passing 2,000 apps marks a key milestone along that path. Smooth, smart integrations raise all boats, bringing the benefits of enhanced productivity closer for any type of business. _How are you using workflow integrations to save time or boost capabilities? Share your innovations below!_ --- Source: [Zapier hits 2,000 apps: The continuing march to automation for all](https://33rdsquare.com/zapier-hits-2000-apps-the-continuing-march-to-automation-for-all/)