Which should you choose?
Choose Bardeen if your leads sit on web pages you browse and you need rows scraped, researched or enriched into a list. Choose Zapier if the leads already arrive as app events, such as form entries or new sheet rows, and need routing to other apps. Use both when Bardeen exports to a Google Sheet that a Zap watches, and budget credits and tasks separately.
Key differences between Bardeen and Zapier
- Data sourceBardeen reads the pages open in your Chrome browser, including logged-in pages, and follows lists into detail pages; Zapier reacts to events that connected apps expose as triggers.
- Billing unitBardeen charges credits per output row: 1 for scraping, web search and AI, 3 for enrichment, with CSV downloads free; Zapier charges a task per successful action step, and triggers use none.
- Where it runsBardeen scraping runs through the Chrome extension, with browser-closed runs on its servers only for paid services; Zapier runs in its cloud and polls every 15, 2 or 1 minutes on Free, Professional and Team.
- Free accessBardeen gives every account 100 free credits, with renewal and eligible features not stated; Zapier Free gives 100 tasks a month and unlimited two-step Zaps.
- Entry priceBardeen Basic is $10 per month, billed monthly, for 100 credits without enrichment; Zapier Professional is USD 19.99 per month, billed yearly (USD 29.99 billed monthly), for 750 tasks and multi-step Zaps.
- HandoffBardeen lists export to Google Sheets, Airtable, Notion and CSV, and its integrations page does not mention Zapier or webhooks; a Zap can pick up exported sheet rows with the New Spreadsheet Row trigger.
Which one, when
Bardeen when the leads live on web pages
Directories, listing sites and logged-in pages become rows without copy and paste, and Premium adds enrichment and validation to the same list.
Zapier when the leads arrive as app events
Form entries, new sheet rows and CRM records can be routed to other apps, with the trigger free and each successful action counted as a task.
Both when captured rows must move on automatically
Bardeen exports to a Google Sheet and a Zap watching new rows sends each one onward; each row then uses Bardeen credits and Zapier tasks.
Our editorial judgement about fit. Neither tool carries a score here, and we have not run controlled tests against either one.
Bardeen and Zapier side by side
| What do you need? | Bardeen | Zapier |
|---|---|---|
| In short | Scrape, enrich and qualify lead lists in Chrome. | One event in one app, an action in another. |
| Primary use | Building and enriching lead lists from websites | Connecting web apps without code |
| Pricing model | 100 free credits; paid Basic and Premium | Free plan; paid Professional, Team and Enterprise |
| Free access | Free access available | Free access available |
| Plans |
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| Strengths |
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| Limits to plan around |
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| Profile source review | September 24, 2026 | September 24, 2026 |
| Pricing check | Prices confirmed · Sep 24, 2026 | Prices confirmed · Sep 24, 2026 |
| Full profile | Read the profile | Read the profile |
Figures come from the two profiles and update with them.
On real tasks
| If the job is… | Bardeen | Zapier |
|---|---|---|
| Collect leads from a directory page | Scraper on the open page, 1 credit per output row, including paginated lists and detail pages | Not covered in the Zapier sources checked; the data must first reach an app that offers a trigger |
| Add contact and company data | Enrichment at 3 credits per row on Premium; email and phone validation available | Depends on an enrichment app connected as an action; each successful action is a task |
| Research each company in a list | Web search runs many queries at once, 1 credit per row | AI steps can summarize or classify text from a trigger, using more than one task each |
| Send new leads to a CRM | Export to Sheets, Airtable or Notion, or CSV plus the CRM's own import guide | Trigger on a new sheet row, then one CRM action per lead, one task each |
| Alert the team about each lead | No alerting documented on the integrations page | Add a chat or email action; a second action needs a paid multi-step Zap |
Where does each tool pick up the data?
Bardeen works inside Chrome. Its scraper reads text, links and images from the page in front of you, follows paginated lists into linked detail pages, and can be built by describing what to collect. Because it acts in your own browser session, a page you are logged in to can be read without handing a password to anyone. Around the scraper sit bulk web search that researches each lead in a list, contact and company enrichment from several providers, and email and phone validation.
Zapier starts from the other end. A Zap waits for an event in a connected app, such as a new form entry, a new spreadsheet row or a new CRM record, and then runs actions in other apps. Its documented starting point is data that already lives in an app, so the question to check before building is whether that app exposes the exact trigger and fields your process needs.
Where the work runs also differs. Bardeen scraping runs through the extension; its security page says that on paid services, automations set to run while the browser is closed partly run on Bardeen servers, in an instance with no storage that erases the data once the run ends, while connected-app data stays in local browser storage. Zapier runs in its own cloud and checks polling triggers every 15 minutes on Free, every 2 minutes on Professional and every minute on Team.
What does one lead cost in credits and in tasks?
Bardeen charges per output row. Scraping, web search and AI actions cost 1 credit per row and enrichment costs 3; imports, utilities and CSV downloads are free, while the worked example on the pricing page charges 1 credit per row exported to a Google Sheet. As an illustration, 40 profile links scraped from a results page (40 credits), opened for details (40), enriched (120) and qualified with AI (40) come to 240 credits before any export. That is more than the 100 free credits, and because enrichment is marked as not included on Basic, a list like this points to Premium at $50 per month, billed monthly (1,000 credits). Whether the free credits unlock enrichment is not stated.
Zapier counts a task only when an action step succeeds; the trigger that notices a new row costs nothing. If those 40 leads land in a sheet and each one creates a CRM record, that is 40 tasks, inside the 100 tasks a month of the Free plan on a two-step Zap. Add a Slack alert as a second action and the count doubles to 80, but a second action already needs a multi-step Zap, which means Professional at USD 19.99 per month, billed yearly (USD 29.99 billed monthly; 750 tasks). AI steps use more than one task each.
The two meters do not measure the same thing. A Bardeen credit pays for a row of data the extension produces; a Zapier task pays for an action completed in another app. Do not convert one into the other or look for a break-even point: when both tools touch the same lead, it is billed once on each side, so budget each count against its own allowance.
How can Bardeen hand rows to Zapier?
Only through a shared destination. Bardeen lists Google Sheets, Airtable, Notion and free CSV export, plus import guides for CRMs such as Salesforce, HubSpot and Pipedrive; its integrations page does not mention Zapier or webhooks, and no Bardeen app page was found on zapier.com when this was checked on 26 September. The documented route is therefore: Bardeen exports rows to a Google Sheet, and a Zap using the Google Sheets trigger New Spreadsheet Row, which Zapier describes as firing when a new row is added to the bottom of a spreadsheet, sends each row to a CRM, an email tool or a chat channel.
- Row position: Bardeen does not describe whether its Sheets export appends or rewrites rows, so try it on a copy first; rows that are edited rather than added need the New or Updated Spreadsheet Row trigger.
- Delay: on Zapier Free a new row may wait up to one 15-minute polling interval before the Zap runs.
- Double metering: each exported row costs a Bardeen credit, then each successful Zap action costs a task.
You may not need the pair at all. If a CSV that someone imports into the CRM by hand is enough, Bardeen alone covers it. If leads already arrive through forms or app events, there is nothing for a browser scraper to capture, and Zapier alone does the routing.
Which setup fits your lead workflow?
Editorial assessment
Decide by where the lead data first appears and how many rows a month need enrichment.
- Bardeen free credits: a one-off scrape of under 100 rows, downloaded as CSV.
- Bardeen Basic, $10 per month, billed monthly (100 credits): your own scrapers on pages you visit, without enrichment or premium scrapers.
- Bardeen Premium, from $50 per month, billed monthly: enrichment, premium scraper templates and a team credit pool.
- Zapier Free: one sheet row turned into one record elsewhere.
- Zapier Professional: one row fanned out to a CRM, an alert and a follow-up step.
Proposed evaluation · not performed yet
On the Bardeen free credits and Zapier Free, scrape 20 rows from a public directory page whose terms allow it, export them to a new Google Sheet, and let a two-step Zap with New Spreadsheet Row copy each row to a second sheet. Expect about 40 Bardeen credits (20 scraped rows plus 20 exported rows) and 20 Zapier tasks. Accept if Zap history shows 20 successful runs that match the rows; treat missing runs, duplicate runs or a different credit count as a failure to explain. If the free credits do not allow Sheets export, stop at the CSV download and record that as the result. See the Bardeen profile, the Zapier profile and the other tool comparisons.
Frequently asked questions
Do unused Bardeen credits carry over?
No. Bardeen says unused credits expire at the end of each billing period, so a quiet month does not build a reserve for a large scrape later. Zapier plans likewise quote a monthly task allowance. Plan a big enrichment run inside a single period, or pick the credit tier from the dropdown that matches that month's expected row count.
Is there a discount for paying annually?
Both vendors offer one. Bardeen Premium lists $480 per year, billed annually, for 12,000 credits, labelled Save 20%; one annual tier priced at $1,920 is labelled 28,000 credits, so confirm the count at checkout. Zapier advertises Save 33% on yearly billing, and its listed entry prices already assume that yearly commitment.
Can a sales team share one account?
On Bardeen, Premium is the first plan with team access, and members draw on one shared credit pool. Zapier Free and Professional have a single seat; Team covers 25 users with shared Zaps and app connections plus SAML single sign-on, at USD 69 per month, billed yearly (USD 103.50 billed monthly; 2,000 tasks).
What happens when a Zap run fails?
Zapier logs every run with its status in Zap history, and runs that did not succeed can be replayed from there. Actions that error or halt are not billed. The Bardeen pages checked for this comparison do not describe a comparable run log, and its help center link redirects to a contact form, so keep the CSV of each scrape as your own record.
Can Bardeen build a scraper for me?
Only on Enterprise. That plan, billed annually with pricing quoted by sales, includes custom bulk credits, scrapers that Bardeen builds and maintains for you and premium support. On Basic and Premium you describe what to collect and the AI scraper builder drafts an editable template, which you keep working when a site layout changes.
Keep comparing
Pick a different pair from the full directory, build your own match-up on the comparison page, or read how we verify and correct these profiles.