IFTTT or If This, Then That is an online tool that makes it easy to automate just about anything. These automated processes are called “recipes” and anyone can download them. If you want to post all subject lines of an email containing the word “goat” to Twitter, you can do that.
If you want your smart lights to display your team’s colors when they score a point in a big game, you can. The possibilities are almost endless.
However, IFTTT is not the only option. If you’re unhappy with how IFTTT is set up, or just want to try a different method of automating your daily life, check out some of these IFTTT alternatives.
Zapier
Zapier is one of the most famous alternatives to IFTTT. Zapier targets more complex sequences than IFTTT can easily achieve, but most of its functionality is applicable to web applications.
If you are using a niche service that IFTTT does not support, chances are good you will find it on Zapier. The company claims to be “connecting more web applications than anyone,” and more features are added every week.
The downside is that Zapier is not a free service. While there is a free tier, it limits you to Zaps – called Zapier for recipes – to two or fewer steps, and limits the number of apps you can choose. The $ 20 / month tier unlocks the full potential of the service, and there is also a business tier that costs $ 250 / month.
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Stringify ( Website )
If you’re looking for ways to set a specific trigger for smart home devices, Stringify is the place to go. Stringify calls its recipes “Streams” and there are already thousands of user-generated variations out there. If you can’t find what you need, you can create your own.
One of the strengths of Stringify is that it supports multiple triggers for a single action. Let’s say you wanted to create a flow that would raise the temperature in the living room. You can set it to activate when motion is detected in the bedroom from 6 am to 8 am or when you open the garage door.
Stringify currently supports over 600 smart home devices, but new ones are added frequently. Perhaps best of all, Stringify is completely free. You don’t need to pay a monthly subscription to access all the features.
Read our full Stringify review here.
Tasker ( Website )
If you’re an avid Android user, Tasker is the perfect automation tool. The service is designed specifically for Android users and gives you much more control over your device than IFTTT.
Tasker becomes even more powerful if your phone is rooted. The user interface is easy to navigate and serves Android users with a robust, trustworthy program that any Android user can tell you is sometimes hard to find on the Google Play store.
However, Tasker comes at a price. The download price is $ 2.99. The one-time fee is all you need to worry about. Another drawback is that Tasker doesn’t support web services, so you won’t be able to automate Gmail with it. However, when it comes to device control, you won’t find anything better.
Shortcuts
What Tasker does for Android is Shortcuts for the iPhone. Apple announced shortcuts for iOS 12. The service lets you customize shortcuts in just a few steps.
Apple calls each of the building blocks of a label “action.” Combining multiple actions allows you to create a shortcut to do just about anything you can think of. As an example, Apple provides the “Surf Time” label. The shortcut grabs the local surfing report, gives you beach arrival times, and launches a dedicated surf playlist.
Shortcuts are a free, built-in part of iOS 12. Shortcuts also have a Gallery where developers collect the best shortcuts and make them available to users. Take a look if you’re wondering what Apple considers the best of the best
Huginn ( GitHub )
Many people have argued against the way IFTTT collects data about what tasks users perform. If you are concerned about your privacy, Huginn can help you solve this problem. Huginn is an open source automation tool that gives you almost complete control over what it does. The breadth of control is truly amazing, but there is one catch.
Huginn is not something that anyone thinks is user-friendly. It takes a lot of technical know-how to get the most out of a service. You must be able to understand the code and set up automation. You also need to run Huginn from your own server. While this almost guarantees data security, it also requires a huge amount of customization.
Choose a replacement
Which IFTTT alternative to use depends on what you are going to do with it. If you’re only interested in phone automation, then Tasker or Shortcuts will get the job done.
If you are more interested in smart homes, then Stringify is the right option. Zapier is powerful, but comes at a price. As for Huginn, well, if you know how to use it, you will have a hard time finding a task that cannot be automated.
Think about your goals and evaluate how these services compare to each other. Try a few of them. You are not attached to any service. Over time, you may find that the solution is to use multiple automation applications for different tasks.
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