https://zapier.com/blog A blog about productivity, workflow automation, company building and how to get things done with less work. Tue, 28 Apr 2026 10:27:07 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/ai-skills-crisis At some point in the last two years, every company on earth held a meeting about AI. There were slides. There was enthusiasm. Someone said "paradigm shift." And then, in most cases, employees were handed a Claude or ChatGPT subscription and left to work out the rest themselves.  But lobbing prompts at generative AI doesn't automatically make someone an expert. Just like buying a cookbook doesn't automatically make someone a chef. It takes time and guidance to learn a new skill.  And when it come Lane Gillespie Tue, 28 Apr 2026 05:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/ai-skills-crisis https://zapier.com/blog/ahrefs-alternatives If you ask ten SEO professionals which tool they use, at least seven of them will say Ahrefs. The other three are lying. Ahrefs has become so synonymous with SEO research that recommending an alternative can feel a little like suggesting someone replace their morning coffee with lukewarm tap water. And yet, here we are. Maybe Ahrefs' recent price increases have you looking around, or maybe you just need a tool that's more focused on the job you actually want done—say, content optimization or mar Nicole Replogle Fri, 24 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/ahrefs-alternatives https://zapier.com/blog/best-ai-agents AI agents were the promise of 2024, the hype of 2025, and are now the expectation of 2026. The category has matured, and a handful of agents are ready to use out of the box, with real tool access, real task completion, and real guardrails for the data they touch. I've spent a lot of time with AI agents, and I have some opinions about which ones stand out. Based on my own experiences, hours of testing from the Zapier team, and reviews from other real users, these are my picks for the best AI agen Sami Akkawi Fri, 24 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/best-ai-agents https://zapier.com/blog/workato-vs-zapier-for-large-businesses Everyone has opinions about how to run a big meeting. Should the host run the show, or are participants free to jump in with questions or input when they feel like it? (And, if you're me, is this Zoom meeting even worthwhile unless it's just an excuse to meet everyone's dog on camera?)  Enterprise automation is equally impacted by a business's approach to leadership and democratization. Every business owner has their own strong feelings about who should touch production systems. Workato and Zapi Nicole Replogle Fri, 24 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/workato-vs-zapier-for-large-businesses https://zapier.com/blog/openclaw-alternatives OpenClaw caught on quickly in 2026. It's open source, it runs on your own machine, and you can control it from Slack or WhatsApp. For individual developers, OpenClaw is a fun, capable AI agent, but for enterprise teams with real compliance requirements, customer data, and audit obligations, it's a governance problem wearing a product costume. Security researchers have flagged tens of thousands of exposed instances, malicious skills on the public marketplace, and a default permission model that h Sami Akkawi Fri, 24 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/openclaw-alternatives https://zapier.com/blog/automate-chatgpt Between February and March of this year alone, OpenAI released five new models in ChatGPT—and now there are two more: GPT-5.5 Pro and GPT-5.5. So although competitors abound, OpenAI clearly isn't slowing down. With each release, they've been collapsing specialized models into general-purpose workhorses that can do it all, keeping ChatGPT a strong choice for work. You can have one-off conversations in ChatGPT, but you also can accomplish more by automating it securely on Zapier, connecting it to Steph Spector Thu, 23 Apr 2026 07:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/automate-chatgpt https://zapier.com/blog/ai-models-on-zapier New AI models launch practically every week, and keeping up with which ones to use for specific workflows is a job in itself. Consider this article your living reference. At Zapier, we run every model through AutomationBench. It's our benchmark for testing how well models carry out multi-step workflows, not just static prompts. Below, I'll walk through every major AI provider available on Zapier, the models you can plug into your Zaps and Agents today, and what each one is best for based on Zapi Steph Spector Thu, 23 Apr 2026 05:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/ai-models-on-zapier https://zapier.com/blog/ai-orchestration My house has a graveyard. It's not in the backyard—it's a drawer in the entertainment center, and it's filled with remote controls. There's one for the sound bar, one for a Blu-ray player (RIP), two for gaming systems I don't use, and one that might control a ceiling fan in someone else's house for all I know. Each was once a technological marvel, but now they're an assemblage of expensive, plastic failures, incapable of performing the one task I need: turning on the dang TV. This drawer of lies Allisa Boulette Thu, 23 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/ai-orchestration https://zapier.com/blog/openai-models Keeping track of all the new AI models getting released at the moment is practically a full-time job. The most recent model, GPT-5.5, was released less than two months after GPT 5.4, which itself was released days after GPT-5.3. I've been writing about OpenAI's models for the past few years, and it feels like every time I publish an article, another new model drops. OpenAI is one of the worst offenders (or prolific innovators), and things aren't helped by how confusing all the OpenAI model names Harry Guinness Thu, 23 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/openai-models https://zapier.com/blog/claude-vs-chatgpt When OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022, tech writers (myself included) became obsessed with testing its limits. Could it write poetry? Debug code? Explain quantum physics to a five-year-old? Once Anthropic's Claude entered the scene a few months later, the focus shifted to head-to-head task comparisons (like counting objects or navigating ethical dilemmas) to try to figure out which model was more capable. In 2026—after countless model updates, and with game-changing agentic capabilities now Ryan Kane Wed, 22 Apr 2026 22:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/claude-vs-chatgpt https://zapier.com/blog/best-ai-image-generator AI image generators have been brewing (generating?) up a storm for the last few years. If you've been on social media, watched prime time news shows, or read a magazine, AI-generated images have been impossible to miss. These kinds of AI-generated images are everywhere, and sometimes you won't even realize. If you want to join in the fun, or add some AI-powered features to your business workflows, the apps on this list will give you what you're looking for. I've been writing about AI image gener Harry Guinness Wed, 22 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/best-ai-image-generator https://zapier.com/blog/chatgpt-alternatives ChatGPT is the biggest name in AI chatbots, but it's far from the only one around. And depending on what you're trying to do, it might not even be the best option for you. It's a great general-purpose chatbot, but like most jacks-of-all-trades, it can lose out to more specific tools for certain jobs. So if you need something that better suits your needs, your workflows, or even your personality, there are plenty of ChatGPT alternatives to consider. I've been using and writing about ChatGPT sin Harry Guinness Wed, 22 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/chatgpt-alternatives https://zapier.com/blog/zapier-mcp-vs-sdk If you've been paying attention to new products in the tech space, you may have noticed two initialisms popping up a lot: MCP and SDK. Zapier has two dedicated products for these: Zapier MCP and Zapier SDK. Both connect AI to Zapier's ecosystem of more than 9,000 apps, but the right one for you depends on how you like to build. Here's what each one does, how they work, and why you should use one (or both) based on your needs. Skip ahead Zapier MCP vs. Zapier SDK at a glance What is Zapier MCP? W Steph Spector Tue, 21 Apr 2026 05:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/zapier-mcp-vs-sdk https://zapier.com/blog/zapier-sdk-guide Right when I perfected my AI chatbot workflows, I found out all the cool kids had already migrated to building with AI coding agents. So I made the switch to vibe coding. And luckily for me, fellow vibe coders, and technical builders everywhere, Zapier SDK launched right on cue. Zapier SDK is a resource that gives AI coding agents governed access to more than 9,000 pre-built app integrations in the Zapier directory. That means you can carry out more than 30,000 actions in your other tools withou Steph Spector Tue, 21 Apr 2026 05:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/zapier-sdk-guide https://zapier.com/blog/ai-automation-examples I use and write about AI for a living, but even I tend to roll my eyes whenever I see an ad for AI in the wild. They're usually generic and surface-level ("AI can write emails for you!" "A chatbot can summarize books so you don't have to use your human brain to process them!") and don't reflect how AI is best used. To have an impact, AI needs to be integrated with your existing workflows. With AI automation, you can pull the power of AI into your work to transform your operations and redefine ho Nicole Replogle Tue, 21 Apr 2026 05:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/ai-automation-examples https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-become-a-social-media-influencer As of 2026, the creator economy is on track to reach roughly $480 billion by 2027—and the influencer marketing industry alone is projected to hit around $33 billion this year. That leaves at least a million for you after my dog finally gets the Instagram stardom she deserves. If you're tempted to turn your casual social profile into a consistent income source, be warned: it's not as easy as your favorite influencers make it seem. Standing out, staying organized, and avoiding burnout all take the Nicole Replogle Tue, 21 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-become-a-social-media-influencer https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-reverse-image-search Have you ever stumbled upon a photo online—be it an uncredited meme, a stunning place you'd love to visit, or a celebrity wearing a vintage tee you now must have—and wondered, "Where'd this come from?"  You could take some wild guesses, go down some rabbit holes, and cross your fingers that you'll find the source. Or you can take the much faster route to solving your mystery: reverse image search.  Here's a step-by-step guide on how to reverse image search on Google using desktop or mobile. Tabl Jessica Lau Tue, 21 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-reverse-image-search https://zapier.com/blog/introducing-automationbench Today we're releasing AutomationBench, an open benchmark that measures whether AI models can complete real business workflows. Current model evaluations tell you whether an LLM can answer math olympiad questions, write code, or reason through a logic puzzle. Those are important, but they don't tell you the thing that matters most to enterprises: whether it can get work done. As in, find the right CRM records, send the right follow-up, update the right systems, and get to a verifiable end state w Anna Marie Clifton Mon, 20 Apr 2026 07:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/introducing-automationbench https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-write-business-letter There may be no more comically vague term in the entire business world than the word "business." It means so many things that it really means nothing—and yet here you are, wondering how to write a business letter.  You could argue that any letter composed in a business setting counts as one, and you'd be more or less correct. But with such a wide range of applications, how are you supposed to get it right? Whatever your purpose, there are certain rules, expectations, and formatting specs you nee Bryce Emley Mon, 20 Apr 2026 05:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-write-business-letter https://zapier.com/blog/ai-guardrails-guide When everyone around you is declaring that AI is making and breaking businesses overnight, it's hard not to feel like you need to adapt now—or risk getting left behind. And by all means, build with AI. Just don't forget to protect your business against the risks that come with it, like sensitive data ending up where it shouldn't, harmful content reaching your customers, or bad actors manipulating your AI workflows. AI-generated content isn't the only thing that needs screening. User-generated co Steph Spector Mon, 20 Apr 2026 05:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/ai-guardrails-guide https://zapier.com/blog/full-page-screenshots-in-chrome Tell me if this sounds familiar: you need to take a screenshot of a whole web page (or, at least, more than one small part of it), so a drag-and-snap screenshot is out. You also need to capture info "below the fold" (content that's only visible after you scroll), so that's another no to your usual screenshot method.  So how can you avoid the painful task of scrolling down a page at a time, capturing one window screenshot again and again, and then cobbling it all together at the end? Well, you co Jessica Lau Mon, 20 Apr 2026 05:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/full-page-screenshots-in-chrome https://zapier.com/blog/gemini-vs-chatgpt ChatGPT had a two-year head start on Gemini, and for a while, it showed. But Google has spent the last couple of years building aggressively and now has a set of models and features that make it a truly competitive alternative to ChatGPT. If you haven't looked at Gemini recently, you might be surprised by what you find.  Both tools are now equally impressive AI assistants in nearly all the ways that matter. Their flagship models are neck and neck on AI benchmarks, and the experience of using eit Ryan Kane Mon, 20 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/gemini-vs-chatgpt https://zapier.com/blog/celigo-alternatives Everything looks possible on a Saturday morning. Painting the spare bedroom or cleaning out the garage feels like an easy weekend project, but odds are the room will still look like a disaster zone three months later. (This has never happened to me personally, of course. But I've had friends go through it.) Celigo isn't a weekend project, either. It's a complex enterprise integration and automation platform built for connecting ERPs, commerce stacks, finance systems, and the teams around them. A Nicole Replogle Fri, 17 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/celigo-alternatives https://zapier.com/blog/one-pager-examples My clients are busy people. I'm not deluded enough to think they're reading every single line of the monthly performance report I send their way. That's why I always include an executive summary at the top, which highlights "must-knows" in a few bullet points.  One-pagers serve the same function as these executive summaries. They boil down pages of detailed information into a single, concise document, enabling stakeholders or investors to quickly review what matters and make important decisions. Cecilia Gillen Fri, 17 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/one-pager-examples https://zapier.com/blog/iphone-automation-ideas I, like many of my fellow millennials, am still on my parents' family phone plan. Sure, I could switch to my own plan, but why would I go out of my way to change phone plans, only to make my bill and my parents' bill more expensive? I'm getting off track. Keep doing your thing, millennials. The monthly Venmo payment I make to my parents is my only recurring payment that doesn't happen automatically, which means I end up sending it late a lot. Luckily my parents don't charge late fees. On my jour Will Harris Fri, 17 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://zapier.com/blog/iphone-automation-ideas