As the online world becomes more automated, more companies are benefiting from escaping mundane work. A professional no longer has to do things manually; they can let the software do that for them.
Even so, various apps do so, depending on what you’re looking for. Here, we are going to look at two such tools; Parabola and Zapier.
You’ll notice that they are different in their nature.
Parabola is primarily about running data to form CMR workflows, while Zapier is more about integrating apps to run various functions, though CRM is included. Let’s take a closer look at each; that way, you’ll know what software works best for your company’s needs.
Table of Contents
Parabola
The slogan that this company goes for is that your computer should work for you. In essence, there are things you shouldn’t be making your machine to do- things should run seamlessly.
Now that is possible with this integration app. You can hand off your routine and also other data tasks too. Once you create something for your company, you can use it for as long as it works for you.
Solutions available
There are a couple of things that you stand to gain from getting Parabola. There are the cleaning and processing of data, and then building CRM workflows.
From there, you can automate your ecommerce tasks, and then get metric reports from the activities that you’ve had automated. Additionally, you can analyze ads to see what works and manage them as well.
Lastly, automated email marketing is another function that you get when you get Parabola.
Something that Parabola thrives on doing is solving any automation needs that you have. Their company aims to get you solutions to the needs that you talk about during your conception stages.
How it works is if you have any information on the internet, you can use it in your Parabola account. How that works is you can pull data from tools, files, APIs, and even existing databases.
From there, you can bring the idea you have in mind to life. How you can bring what you want to life is using the drag-and-drop functions available on the platform.
There are ready-made steps that you can process the available data you have and know what to do with the output. You get the results in real-time; that way, you can see if you’re plans are on track.
Once you’ve established what’s working and what’s not, you can share it with the world.
Essentially, anything from you did manually becomes a thing of the past. If you’re a non-engineer,than you can reduce the workload and automate processes.
Parabola gives you easy-to-use and a drag-and-drop interface you can use to make any data you choose easier to access to even use. You can do all that without having to result to spreadsheets or code.
Therefore, here we have an app that is data-oriented and not so much about having the typical automation that comes with work with a couple of apps.
Sources of data
As mentioned, you can import your data from where you need it to create an integrated and automated system. There are a couple of places you can import this data from.
These include API imports that contain data that returns CVS or JSON data.
There’s also the Airtable Import, Box Import, and also a CVS upload from your computer. Other alternatives are Copper Import, Date & Time Import, Dropbox import, and Drip import.
There are a ton of apps that you can use to upload data into Parabola for analysis and use. If something is missing, you can leave customer feedback, which increases the chances of it being added.
Plans and pricing
There is a system that Parabola has in place. You can choose a plan that works for you and get the first 15 credits of each month free. From there, you purchase what you need.
The price is based on the number of flows you run monthly. If you need onecredit monthly, for example, you can run at most 500 rows max. How the whole system is put in place is Parabola runs on credits.
The credits you get are dependent on the rows that you need to run.
There are things place that are worth learning about. For example, a flow is how you tell Parabola what to do. That means for each problem that’s available.
It’s a flow that has a specific set of tasks that you want it to fulfill. One thing you’ll come to note is that the flows can be as large as you like with branches that help you accomplish the specific task. Some of the companies that Parabola are quite impressive, including Netflix, panoply, juice press, and JOBTIVE.
For Parabola to run, the company flows cost credits. That means when a flow does the work that you set it to; then there are credits consumed.
For example, flow is mean to send an email or even update a spreadsheet; a credit gets consumed. That means that the data a flow handles is what determines the credits consumed.
To break it further, a run with 500 rows will consume one credit. Those between 500 and 5,000 will take up two credits. From there, you can determine the price of your plan.
Overall, here we have a complex system that looks at things from a data level from an import list perspective from a sheet and not the overall plan. The output for the runs is typically either updating a spreadsheet or sending out an email.
It’s something you can do manually or schedule you to make. The total cost is equally dictated by the rows of data actually processed, that’s why sometimes some flows will use more credit than others.
Zapier
The automation of workflows here looks the same. You’re able to connect your apps, especially if you’re a busy person. That is typically the same across a lot of platforms where you require a lot of apps to run a specific aspect of your company.
Now, the good thing about Zapier is that you can use web apps automatically, leaving you to focus on more important work. You need more effort working on strategic parts of your job, and not mundane things that take up too much time and produce few results.
Companies such as BuzzFeed, Spotify, Adobe, and even Fox use Zapier. They have provided a solution that meets the more significant needs of the company.
How that’s possible is that you can integrate apps with a few clicks and share the data that you need to. Using Zaps, that’s how you’re able to work out the workflow of the communication between apps.
The other aspect you’ll come to notice about Zapier is that you can innovate and build processes faster and get what you need to be done. And yes, you guessed it, no coding required.
Connecting apps
Connecting apps you use everyday is simple.
You can use their trigger function to bring about an action that you want. For example, if you wish to attachments automatically downloaded into your Dropbox from your Gmail account, you can do that.
After, Slack gives you’re a notification that you have something to check out in your Dropbox. Mainly you don’t have to work between the different apps to get a hold of that attachment- it’s all done for you.
You’ll focus on more important things, while all these automated aspects are happening in the background. There are more than 2,000 apps that make it work better together.
While that is quite a selection, and it can be overwhelming, focus on the apps that work for you.
You might want to take the time to know what apps work best for your company. That way, when it comes to integration, operating with apps that you are familiar with becomes all the easier.
One thing that Zapier talks about on their site is that they connect to more web apps than others in the industry. That doesn’t stop there, but there are always finding what you need and adding it to their collection of apps.
Even with all the options are there, you can still build workflows with a few clicks.
If you’re new to the platform, you might take a few extra minutes, but once you find the pattern that works best, you can apply it. There is always the option of moving things around; you’re not restricted.
App categories
There’s a variety of app types available on Zapier. There’s App Families, Business Intelligence, Commerce, Communication, Content and Files, Human Resources, Productivity, Lifestyle and Entertainment, Sales & CRM, and also Support, only to mention them.
From there categories, you can tailor what it is you need for your company or project. Two new apps join the platform every day, and you can find them instantly as well.
From the three million users that are available on the app directory, partner network, and content, you can get the exposure that you need. The other thing you’ll notice is that there’s the ability to increase customer retention thanks to the Zapier integration.
Given that you can see the results of what you’re doing better, you can be more strategic in how you do things instead of merely putting out content. Something other apps can gain from Zapier is knowing that they can integrate to other apps they need too.
For example, if you have a subscription for your app or a plan, you can sway more people to paying the cash when they know they are getting access to other apps too.
For those who want to build a Zapier integration, they’d be happy to know they can do that for free.
Plans and pricing
You can get two types of plans available. There is the Free Forever plan, and the Premium plans. For the free plan, you get the basics that you need.
Check out the free tools so that you can start with the most-used apps. With the plans that are there, you can start a workflow going and see what you need to add more.
Also, you only get to perform basic tasks too. As you work things through, you get support from the Zapier team. For the premium plan, you can now get advanced workflows.
That way, you can automate more so that you can work less.
That’s the benefit of getting the premium plan; you get more functionality to free up more of your time to get what you need to be done that matters more to the company or project you’re working on.
You can get what you need, based on what the price is. So, for as little as $20 per month, you can get some of the functionalities you need.
What you’d want to do is work your way up, especially if you’re starting automation, and you’re still figuring out what apps to use. Even with that, you can get priority support.
id you get something that you didn’t need? You can always downgrade to keep things down to the basics.
For example, if you are working with a Professional plan and you decide that you want to be more niche, you can go down to the Starter and make your project down (or up) accordingly. If you’re a large organization, then the Company plan is for you.
With 100,000 tasks per month, you can run things seamlessly.
Wrap up
Parabola and Zapier are different in the functions they fulfill, and that’s something to keep in mind before investing in either one. If you’re mostly looking to create sanity on data to make it useful, the Parabola is your best bed.
For you’re more concerned with integration between several apps, then Zapier would make more sense. It helps to run a diagnostic of what you need before investing in any of these tools so you can make the right choice.