# A Zapier Agents alternative that tests without sending. Arclyx gives your business AI agents with no workflow to build. Describe a job in one sentence, try it on your real tools before it does anything, and get drafts in Gmail and Outlook to review and send. Every run stops at $2 unless you change it. Zapier Agents connects to far more apps, 9,000+ by Zapier's count. [1] A “Try it” dry run of Meeting brief, an Arclyx agent: - Reads: Google Calendar · tomorrow - Reads: HubSpot · each attendee's deal - Writes: One brief per meeting - Held: Email to you · not sent - Done: Held step listed for you ## Arclyx vs Zapier Agents, side by side Nine things teams ask before they pick an AI agent platform. Each Zapier Agents cell links the Zapier Agents page it came from, read on 26 October 2026. | What you need | Zapier Agents | Arclyx | | --- | --- | --- | | How you build an agent | Plain-language instructions or a template, with help from Zapier Copilot; then add tools and knowledge sources. [2, 1] | Describe the job in one sentence and Arclyx drafts the agent. | | Checking it before it counts | Test the agent on its Configure screen before you publish it. On paid plans, tests don't count as activities. [2, 3] | “Try it” is a dry run on your real tools: it reads for real, holds anything outward and lists it as not sent. | | What starts a run | On demand, on a schedule, from a Zap or Zapier MCP, or on an app event such as a new Gmail email. [4] | A schedule, a webhook or a Slack @mention. “Run it now” starts a real run by hand. | | Apps it connects to | 9,000+ apps. [1] | 12 built-in connectors, plus any remote MCP server a workspace admin adds. Web search and fetch, no browser. | | Sending and approvals | You can tell an agent to ask for your approval before a step. At a run's activity cap, it asks you before continuing. [5, 3] | In Gmail and Outlook it writes drafts for you to review and send. Its own email goes only to the person it runs for; Slack posts go to the one channel set on the agent. Approving each action before it runs is coming soon. | | Seeing what it did and cost | Activity monitoring; usage counted in activities, capped per run (10 on Free, 40 on Pro and Enterprise). [1, 3] | Every run's steps and tokens, and its price on paid plans. Each run stops at its spend ceiling, $2 unless you change it. | | Where it runs | Zapier's cloud. Zapier is moving Agents to AI by Zapier. [2] | Hosted by Arclyx in North America. Its code isn't public. | | Security it states | Two-factor authentication on all plans; SAML SSO and audit logs on Team and Enterprise. [6] | Encryption in transit, credentials stored encrypted, org-level isolation, no training on your content, zero data retention where the model provider offers it. No SOC 2 claim. | | How it's priced | Free: 400 activities a month. Pro: 1,500 activities a month, from about $33.33 a month billed yearly. Enterprise: custom, through sales. Activities are separate from Zap tasks. [6] | Private beta, with Free, Team and Enterprise plans. Early access through the waitlist. | ## Should you choose Zapier Agents or Arclyx? Both build AI agents, for different kinds of businesses. Here's who each one suits. Arclyx suits you if: - You want no workflow to build: describe the job in one sentence. - You want to try it on your real tools before it does anything. - You want drafts in Gmail and Outlook that you review and send, and email only to you. Approving each action is coming soon. - You want a $2 limit on every run unless you change it, and every step on record. Zapier Agents suits you if: - Your team already runs on Zaps and wants agents beside them. [4] - You need one of 9,000+ apps that Arclyx doesn't connect to. [1] - You want an agent to start on an app event, like a new email. [4] - You need SAML SSO and audit logs on a team plan. [6] ## Where Arclyx and Zapier Agents differ ### How do you build an agent in each? - Zapier Agents: You write instructions in plain language or start from a template, connect apps as tools, add knowledge sources, set a trigger, test, then publish. [2] - Arclyx: You write one sentence and Arclyx drafts the agent: what it reads, what it works out and where the result goes. You try it, then create it. ### What can start a run? - Zapier Agents: On demand, a schedule, a Zap step or Zapier MCP server, or an event in an app such as Gmail, Google Sheets or Slack. [4] - Arclyx: A schedule, a webhook or a Slack @mention, or “Run it now” by hand. Other tools can start an agent by calling its webhook. ### How many apps can it use? - Zapier Agents: Zapier Agents works across 9,000+ apps. [1] - Arclyx: Arclyx has 12 built-in connectors (Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive, Outlook Mail, Outlook Calendar, Notion, GitHub, Linear, HubSpot, Apollo, Clay, Cloudflare), Slack delivery, and any remote MCP server a workspace admin adds. ### What stops a run from going too far? - Zapier Agents: Each run has an activity cap, 10 on Free and 40 on Pro and Enterprise; at the cap the agent asks you before continuing. You can also tell it to ask for approval before a step. [3, 5] - Arclyx: Each run stops at its spend ceiling, $2 unless you change it; only paid plans can remove it. An agent whose run stopped short shows as Needs you on your home page. Outward actions are limited by design. ## Zapier Agents alternatives, asked and answered ### What is a good Zapier alternative for AI agents? If you need the widest app coverage, Zapier itself is hard to beat. If you want an agent built from one sentence, tried as a dry run on your real tools and traced step by step, Arclyx is an alternative to consider. [1] ### How is Zapier Agents priced? In activities, separate from Zap tasks: 400 a month on Free and 1,500 on Pro, with Enterprise custom (Zapier pricing, checked 26 October 2026). Arclyx is in private beta, with early access through the waitlist. [6] ### How many apps does Arclyx connect to? 12 built-in connectors, Slack delivery, and any remote MCP server a workspace admin adds. That is far fewer than Zapier's 9,000+ apps, so check that the tools your job needs are covered. [1] ## Where every claim comes from 1. [Zapier Agents page](https://zapier.com/agents), checked 26 October 2026. 2. [Zapier help: build an agent](https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/24393442652557-Build-an-agent-in-Zapier-Agents), checked 26 October 2026. 3. [Zapier help: how Agents usage is measured](https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/26559132765325-How-is-Zapier-Agents-usage-measured), checked 26 October 2026. 4. [Zapier help: set up your agent's trigger](https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/45394909914381-Set-up-your-agent-s-trigger), checked 26 October 2026. 5. [Zapier help: add approval steps to your agent's instructions](https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/41776074420493), checked 26 October 2026. 6. [Zapier pricing, Agents tab](https://zapier.com/pricing#agents), checked 26 October 2026. Every claim about another product comes from that company's own public pages, read on 26 October 2026. Arclyx facts were checked against arclyx.ai and the Arclyx code the same day. Products change: if something here is out of date, write to hello@arclyx.ai and we'll fix it. ## Compare Arclyx with others - [How Arclyx compares](https://arclyx.ai/compare): all five side by side. - [Arclyx vs n8n](https://arclyx.ai/compare/n8n-alternative) - [Arclyx vs Lindy](https://arclyx.ai/compare/lindy-alternative) - [Arclyx vs Relevance AI](https://arclyx.ai/compare/relevance-ai-alternative) - [Create an agent](https://arclyx.ai/product): One sentence in, a working agent out. - [Test runs](https://arclyx.ai/product/test-runs): Prove it on your real data first. - [Traces & cost](https://arclyx.ai/product/observability): Every step, every cent. Last updated 26 October 2026. ## Try Arclyx on one job. One sentence in, a working agent out. Join the beta and we'll set you up. Join at https://arclyx.ai/#join or write to hello@arclyx.ai.