Zapier 2023 newest releases ranked
Zapier has released more impactful updates in the past year than ever. Some are expected features. Some are brand new products.
2023 has been painted orange.
Zapier has released more impactful updates in the past year than ever.
Some are expected features. Some are brand new products.
I’m going to list them out below in order of what I find to be the most interesting to least (and why) along with some examples of how to use each.
Staying up to speed on these things will make you a more powerful builder in Zapier.
Let’s dive in.
Zapier Releases
Starting with the most interesting.
New Product. It’s their automation-first database.
Example: use a Table as a Lookup source. Need to find Google Sheet ID’s by name to use in a Zap? Add names and ID’s in a Table and reference it in your workflows.
It’s Zapier’s attempt to start competing with apps it integrates with. Tables could replace Google Sheets, Airtable, and more because it already has 5,000+ integrations built in.
New Product. Visual UI layers on top of automations.
Example: create a lead capture form, automatically store in a Zapier Table, and send an automated email to the lead.
Interfaces hides the power of Zapier in the background while showing UI’s
New Product (kind of). A suite of AI features and integrations strewn throughout Zapier and beyond.
Examples:
- Zapier plugin within ChatGPT. Find emails from a person and surface them in ChatGPT.
- 39 AI Integrations
- “Create a Zap” prompt. Type out what you want to automate, Zapier will create the basic structure of the Zap for you.
- Generate Code step. Type out what you want the code step to accomplish, Zapier will attempt to write the code for you.
- Generate a Formatter step. Type out how you want the data to be formatted, Zapier will attempt to create a formatter step for you.
Beta feature. Zoom out to see your entire workflow.
Example: when you have complex Zaps with multiple paths, zooming out can help you visualize what’s going on.
There’s got to be more to this. It doesn’t solve a huge problem. I suspect it’s laying the groundwork for more to come.
Copy and Paste Steps and Paths
Feature. Does exactly what it says.
The sheer amount of time this saves when building Zaps pushes this up the list. It should have been released so much earlier. My hope is that more high-impact releases like this will come out that directly help the builder.
New Product. Move a bunch of data from one place to another place.
Example: I’ve got a Google Sheet with 200 leads and need to transfer it to my newly set up HubSpot CRM.
So much of Zapier is taking data from one app and moving it into another. Transfer is the bulk way of doing this. It’s the companion to workflows you have set up for things that happen in the future. Transfer is focused on the past.
Autoreplay and Error Ratio Override
Features. In the weeds but super helpful to fine-tune how Zaps function when they hit errors.
Example: you have a workflow to check if something exists and continue if it does. But, when the thing doesn’t exist the step results in an error. Maybe that’s okay. But it happens a whole lot within a short timeframe, the Zap turns off. These new features help you keep things running even when an error like this surfaces.
Advanced settings are helpful and I appreciate the nuance involved when working with API’s. The stuff’s complicated.
Feature. Select Zaps and drag them into a folder. Similar to reordering steps when you’re in a Zap.
Drag and Drop is intuitive. It’s a feature worth having if you want Zapier to be more accessible.
Feature. Go back to a version of your Zap from the past.
If you’ve worked on a Zap with more than ten steps, you know the value of a good rollback. You’ve got more freedom to explore and test Zaps knowing you can always go back in time.
Feature. Stop annoying emails. Only see error notifications that matter to you.
Another low impact feature, but one that can help if you’re in Zapier all day.
Admin Visibility and Audit Log
Feature. Good for enterprise.
My least favorite of the bunch. I know Zapier is trying to go upmarket into enterprise. They have to add features in order to do that. I don’t know how much it’s paying off, though. Zapier is still too complicated for the every-day user. Not sure how many teammates you can get using Zapier.
That’s it for this week!
Happy Building,
Bryce
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