How to use Zapier with AI: automate tasks between your apps without coding

1. Go to https://zapier.com and click “Sign up free”.
2. Sign up with your Google account or with an email and password.
3. Zapier will ask which apps you use; you can answer or skip that step.
4. Access your Dashboard: this is where all your Zaps live.

The free plan includes 100 tasks/month and 2-step Zaps, perfect for testing. To add AI steps you’ll need the Professional plan (from $29.99/mo; always confirm at https://zapier.com/pricing before subscribing).

A Zap always has two fundamental pieces: a trigger (what event activates it) and an action (what it does next). For example: “a form response arrives → send a welcome email.”

1. In your Dashboard click ”+ Create” and then “Zaps”.
2. In “Trigger”, search for the app you want to trigger the flow. Example: Google Forms.
3. Pick the event: for example, “New Form Response”.
4. Connect your Google account and select the form.
5. Click “Test trigger” to confirm Zapier can read it.

If you’re new to automation, also check our tutorial How to automate tasks with Make and AI to compare how the visual flow works in Make.

This is where artificial intelligence enters your flow.

1. Click ”+” to add a new action.

2. Search for “AI by Zapier” in the app catalog.

3. Pick the event: “Analyze Text” (to classify or summarize) or “Generate Text from Template” (to write).

4. In the “Prompt” field, write the instruction for the AI. Example:

   “You are a customer support assistant. Analyze the following form response and write a personalized, friendly welcome email. Response: {{1. Name}}”

5. Pick the model: Standard, Advanced or Premium. For most tasks the Standard model is enough and has the lowest cost per run.

6. Click “Test action” to see the result.

Since June 2026, AI by Zapier charges by model: Standard (1x), Advanced (3x), Premium (5x) the base task cost. Confirm current prices at https://zapier.com/pricing before activating the flow.

1. Add a final action: Gmail → Send Email, Slack → Send Channel Message or whatever destination you need.
2. In the email or message body, use the variable of the AI-generated text (it usually appears as {{3. Output Text}}).
3. Review the Zap summary: trigger → AI → final action.
4. Click “Publish” to activate it.

From now on the flow runs automatically every time the trigger fires. You can pause it at any time from your Dashboard.

Zapier Copilot is Zapier’s AI assistant that helps you build flows just by describing what you want.

1. In the Zap editor, click the Copilot icon (the chat in the sidebar).
2. Describe your flow in plain words. Example: “When a new email arrives in Gmail with the subject ‘Order’, classify it with AI and save the result in Google Sheets.”
3. Copilot creates the Zap with the right modules. You just review and adjust.
4. Activate the Zap as in Step 4.

Zapier Copilot is available on all plans, including the free one.

1. With the Zap active, trigger the event: submit the form, receive the email, etc.
2. Go to your Dashboard and open “Task History” to see if the Zap ran without errors.
3. Check the final action: confirm the email or message arrived with the AI-generated text.

For more advanced AI flows with logic and conditional branches, check our tutorial How to create AI agents with Make.

Problem	Fix
Zap says “Error on step 3”	Go to “Task History” and open the error; it almost always names the missing field or data that didn’t arrive
The AI text arrives empty	Make sure the prompt has at least one mapped data variable from the previous step
I exceeded the 100 free tasks	Upgrade to Professional or use Make for higher-volume flows
AI by Zapier doesn’t appear in the catalog	Make sure your plan is Professional or higher
The Zap fires but does nothing	Check that the Zap is “On” (not paused) in your Dashboard