GNU Make vs. Zapier

GNU Make is a great tool for simple builds where language-specific options are not available, or to provide shortcuts for common commands (e.g., "make build" as shorthand for "go build ..." with a bunch of flags). However, it is complementary to other build systems. It does not replace them, which is perhaps one of its greatest strengths as well (works with existing ecosystem instead of trying to do everything). GMU Make it simple to get started with, and the philosophy of understanding how sources map to outputs, as well as the dependency graph, are beneficial.

Incentivized

If you have processes that are now managed and controlled using a spreadsheet, Zapier will give you a lot more control over what is happening and will help you increase productivity by eliminating simple steps such as sending emails and sharing information with your colleagues. It frees time for very transactional activities.

Incentivized

• Performance and accuracy of cross-module dependencies.
• Simple to write and easy to understand.

Incentivized

• Ease of use - multiple people in the organization can set up and run Zaps per their specific use cases without much training.
• Connectivity - Zapier is able to connect to multiple applications we use on a regular basis.
• Functionality - Zapier provides embedded functionality within the app itself (email, data conversion), but also appropriate triggers and actions for apps it connects to.
• Versatile - Zapier can execute complicated and simple tasks and thus has many use cases.

Incentivized

• No dependency management tools (but there are no cross-platform tools of this type anyway)
• Tedious to do cross-compilation (Debug & Release builds, 32- and 64-bit builds, x86/ARM builds)

Incentivized

• Being able to turn off one leg of a Zap without having to delete it or turn the whole Zap off
• Not all fields populate when using certain aspects of Salesforce, but that could be an SF issue
• Communication when support is actually needed basically doesn't happen

Incentivized

Zapier is now very much an integral part of our business and we could not operate without it!

Incentivized

The interface is very user-friendly, and there are also many tools to help a brand-new user get started. For example, you can put your Zap idea into the AI bot, and it will basically build a shell of your Zap to get started on. The format for each step within a Zap is also very helpful (set up the connection/app, set up the fields/details, then test).

Incentivized

In general, it is fair to say the support is sufficient although we do not deal with support directly. There are a lot of forum people chiming in with suggestions or recommendations of particular usage or issues we run into. Since it is open software, patch and fixes will be available from time to time. A lot of information is available in the web now for knowing GNU Make from learning, example, teaching, etc.

Incentivized

Before we purchased Zapier, I contacted support and asked them if Zapier could support my intended workflow (this is actually a selection on their support form - awesome). Within 2 hours, I was contacted by a support team member who seemed sure it would work, but granted me premium access for 2 weeks to try it out for myself. Sure enough, it did! Ever since then, support has replied rapidly to any problems I have experienced and answered my questions within a few sentences.

Incentivized

I'm a full-stack developer that has used various build tools, including Maven, Gradle, and NPM/yarn. For our C projects, I also investigated CMake and Ninja, but they seemed more difficult to learn and more tedious to work with. GNU Make is a single binary that can be easily downloaded, even for Windows under MingW32, is straightforward to learn, and works pretty well despite its age.

Incentivized

We actually utilize both Integromat and Zapier at our company, for all the reasons detailed in this review. Though Zapier is excellent for simple client integrations, we often run into internal use cases that require complexity that Zapier cannot provide. Specifically working with API calls (not just webhooks), complex multi-step integrations with Routing/parsing/etc, and large volume integrations. Integromat is perfect for these use cases, but doesn’t provide the simplicity and account scalability that Zapier offers.

Incentivized

• Streamline the build based on a lot of existing component being done, reusable.
• Commonly understandable, therefore, rampup effort is small.

Incentivized

• It has saved me the money in hiring an administrative assistant
• It also saved me the time it took to do these tasks
• It also allowed me to automate things that increased my lead generation
• It also allowed me to automate several processes

Incentivized