6 Best WordPress Automation Plugins Compared

Searching for the best WordPress automation plugins to improve your site?

Automation plugins let you build automated sequences based on the core WordPress software, the plugins that your site is using, and/or third-party services that your business relies on.

These plugins can be beneficial in all sorts of ways:

• Add important functionality to your site – for example, you could automatically enroll someone in a LearnDash course after they submit a form that you created with Gravity Forms.
• Boost your revenue – you can implement tons of different marketing automation strategies to raise your revenue.
• Connect to third-party services – for example, you could automatically apply a tag in your CRM software when someone registers for a course or makes a purchase.
• Eliminate the need for third-party plugins or custom development work – a good automation plugin can simplify your site by letting you avoid other plugins or custom development.
• …lots, lots more.

In this post, we curated our picks for the six best automation plugins and went hands-on with each plugin to give you a detailed look at what it offers, including key features, ease of use, integrations, and pricing.

Let’s dig in…

Six Best WordPress Automation Plugins Compared

Here are the six automation plugins that we’ll take a look at:

1. WP Webhooks
2. Uncanny Automator
3. AutomatorWP
4. WP Fusion
5. Gravity Forms + Gravity Flow
6. Zapier for WordPress

WP Webhooks

WP Webhooks is an automation plugin that offers a no-code way to build your own automations using 100+ built-in integrations, along with the full flexibility of webhooks.

If you’re not familiar with the term “webhook”, it’s basically a format that lets you pass data between different applications using HTTP.

While that might sound a little technical, WP Webhooks offers a code-free interface to help you set everything up, which means you certainly don’t need to be a developer to use the plugin. At the same time, this webhooks-based approach gives you a lot of flexibility for connecting to various tools and building simple or advanced automations.

The premium version also offers a tool to build direct automations (called “Flows”) without using webhooks. For example, you could build automations between two different plugins on your site.

Our WP Webhooks review covers these features in more detail.

Features

• Build automations using a no-code interface.
• Use triggers to send data to other services. You could send data directly to a service or use an intermediary like Zapier, Integromat, or Pabbly. You can trigger based on actual WordPress actions or custom actions, such as a user clicking a certain button.
• Create actions to receive data from any external service. You could receive data from an API or services like Zapier, Integromat, or Pabbly.
• Easily map data to any format that you need.
• Built multi-step “Flows” to combine multiple triggers and actions together as needed, with or without using webhooks. You can also build in delays and scheduling as needed. This works sort of like Zapier.
• Utilize the flexibility of webhooks to connect with services beyond the built-in integrations. As long as your chosen service can send/receive data over webhooks, you can connect it.
• Use conditional logic rules to control if/when a workflow should run.
• View logs to keep track of all the automations on your site.

Ease of Use

WP Webhooks offers two different interfaces for setting up automations.

With the premium version, you can build “Flows” using a trigger → action model, much like how Zapier works.

With either version, you can also set up webhooks to send or receive data between your site and other services, including mapping the data as needed.

Integrations

Because WP Webhooks focuses on letting you build automations with webhooks, you can integrate your site with literally any service that supports webhooks. Again, this is one of the advantages of a webhooks-first approach.

WP Webhooks also has pre-built integrations for over 100+ plugins and services, which can be especially helpful when you’re setting up Flows.

You can view the full list of built-in integrations here, but here are some of the most notable integrations:

• WooCommerce – in addition to the core plugin, there are special integrations for WooCommerce Memberships, WooCommerce Subscriptions, Advanced Coupons, and more.
• Form plugins – these include Gravity Forms, Formidable Forms, Forminator, Ninja Forms Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor Pro Form widget, and more.
• LMS/Online course plugins – these include LearnDash, Tutor LMS, WP Courseware, and more.
• CRMs – these include Jetpack CRM, Groundhogg, and more.
• Membership plugins – these include Profile Builder, Paid Memberships Pro, Restrict Content Pro, Ultimate Member, WooCommerce Memberships, and more.
• SaaS automation services – these include Zapier, Zoho Flow, Integromat, Pabbly, Microsoft Power Automate, and more.

Pricing

WP Webhooks has a free version that’s available at WordPress.org.

The premium version starts at $149 for use on a single site and all of the premium functionality. There’s also a 10-site license for $249 and a 75-site license for $499.

This page has a detailed breakdown of the free vs Pro features, to help you choose the right version.

Uncanny Automator

Uncanny Automator is a popular automation plugin from Uncanny Owl, a WordPress development shop that got its start by focusing on LearnDash plugins and solutions.

But while Uncanny Automator may have had a LearnDash focus at its start, it’s long since morphed into a full-service automation solution that integrates with over 165 different plugins and services.

It uses a similar interface and terminology as Zapier. So, if you’ve already built some automations in Zapier, you should feel right at home using Uncanny Automator.

Our Uncanny Automator review covers the plugin in more detail.

Features

• Build automations using a no-code recipe builder.
• Set up multi-step workflows, including adding delays and scheduling as needed.
• Use conditional logic to control when to run automations.
• Include dynamic content by using data tokens/variables in your recipes.
• Manually trigger automations, which lets you generate reports or send bulk emails.
• View logs for all of the automations that have happened on your site.
• Create automations for both logged-in users and anonymous visitors.

Ease of Use

To set up your automations, Uncanny Automator uses a no-code “recipe builder” that feels a lot like Zapier.

Integrations

In total, Uncanny Automator offers 165+ integrations for a range of WordPress plugins and third-party software.

You can view the full list of automations here. In general, you’ll find integrations for most of the popular plugins and tools that you might be using, including the following areas:

• eCommerce plugins
• Membership plugins
• LMS/online course plugins
• Form plugins
• Page builder plugins
• External tools like email marketing services, social media platforms, CRMs, Twilio, Slack, and so on

Pricing

Uncanny Automator has a free version at WordPress.org that you can use to try the basic functionality.

Paid plans start at $199 and range up to $599. You can get a discount on those prices for the first year, but your license will renew at full cost/but

WP Fusion

Unlike the previous three plugins, WP Fusion focuses on one specific area of automation – marketing automation.

In a nutshell, it provides a detailed way to connect your WordPress site to your CRM or email marketing tool and build all types of automations around that relationship.

Depending on your use case, you could use just the WP Fusion plugin. Or, you might actually pair it with one of the other plugins. For example, the WP Webhooks plugin above integrates well with WP Fusion.

Features

• Connect WordPress to your CRM or email marketing platform.
• Use actions on your WordPress site to perform actions in your CRM. For example, you could add a tag to a user if they visit a certain page on your site or submit a form.
• Control access to WordPress content using tags in your CRM. You could use this as a lightweight membership solution.
• Sync user accounts and data between WordPress and your CRM.

Ease of Use

If you’re already familiar with the idea of using your CRM to set up marketing automation, WP Fusion is quite easy to use. The actual WordPress-specific part of passing data from your site to your CRM is pretty simple.

However, if you’re not, there might be a bit of a learning curve in understanding tags, triggers, automations, and so on. Most of the complexity of this setup comes from the CRM automations, though, which isn’t really something that WP Fusion can control.

Integrations

WP Fusion has two types of integrations.

First, there are the integrations with your CRM or email marketing platform. WP Fusion supports 60+ different CRMs, including all of the big names.

Then, there are integrations with WordPress plugins. These let you use a user’s behavior in that plugin to do something in your CRM – for example, adding a tag when someone registers for a LearnDash course.

WP Fusion supports over 100+ plugins, including most popular eCommerce, LMS, and membership plugins. You can view the full list here.

You can also pair it with one of the other plugins on this list to access additional integrations.

Pricing

WP Fusion does have a very limited free version at WordPress.org called WP Fusion Lite. However, most people will want to go with the premium version.

WP Fusion offers both yearly and lifetime license options.

The yearly licenses start at $297, but you’ll need the $427 Plus plan to access every single premium feature.

The lifetime license starts at $999 for lifetime updates on a single site and three years of support.

AutomatorWP

AutomatorWP is another all-purpose automation plugin that uses a similar approach to the previous two plugins.

It comes from a team based in Spain and has a free core version at WordPress.org, as well as a premium add-on-based model to let you access additional features and integrations.

Features

• Build automations using a no-code interface and the trigger → action model.
• Create automations for logged-in users or anonymous visitors.
• Schedule automations to run at certain times (including recurring schedules).
• Limit how many times an automation can run, either per user or globally.
• Pass dynamic data in your automations by using data tags.
• Require users to complete sequential triggers in order to run an automation.
• Use conditional logic to control when/how to run automations.

Ease of Use

AutomatorWP offers a no-code interface to help you set up all of your automations from WordPress.

Integrations

Overall, AutomatorWP supports over 130 different WordPress plugins and software tools.

In general, the list covers a lot of the same plugins as the previous two options, including many in the following areas:

• eCommerce plugins
• Membership plugins
• LMS/online course plugins
• Form plugins
• Page builder plugins

You can view the full list of AutomatorWP integrations here.

Pricing

AutomatorWP has a limited free version that’s available at WordPress.org. 

If you want to access premium features (e.g. scheduling) and/or all of the triggers/actions, you have two options:

1. Individual extensions – you can purchase individual add-ons for specific features/integrations. Most of these cost $29 each.
2. All-access pass – you can purchase access to all of the add-ons, starting at $149 for use on up to two sites and one year of support/updates.

5. Gravity Forms + Gravity Flow

Gravity Forms is a popular premium form plugin that lets you build all different types of forms, from basic contact forms to payment forms, registration forms, lead gen forms, and lots more.

If you combine Gravity Forms with the Gravity Flow plugin (which is owned by the same company as Gravity Forms), you can build full business process automations based on your forms.

You can create unlimited workflows, each of which can have unlimited steps. To actually control the workflow, you can set things up by choosing from 40+ different action steps, including building in time or approval delays as needed.

To learn more about Gravity Forms itself, you can read our full Gravity Forms review.

Features

• Create flexible web forms that you can use to trigger automation sequences.
• Build multi-step workflows with unlimited steps.
• Use 40+ different action steps in your workflows, including sending emails or messages, requiring user approval, accepting payments, and more. You can also use outgoing webhooks.
• Add time delays as needed.

Ease of Use

Gravity Flow offers a no-code interface to let you set up your workflows, so even non-technical users should have no issues creating multi-step automations.

First, you’ll need to build the initial web form that will trigger your automations using the drag-and-drop form builder in Gravity Forms. Then, you can set up your workflows using Gravity Flow’s interface.

Integrations

This setup does not really integrate with other WordPress plugins like the other tools on this list. However, it does work with a lot of the services that Gravity Forms integrates with.

Here are some examples of how you can build external integrations into your workflows:

• Send messages via SMS (Twilio) or Slack.
• Accept payments via Stripe, PayPal, Square, and others.
• Connect to WooCommerce to make payments, refund orders, cancel payments, and more.

Pricing

The core Gravity Forms plugin starts at $59 for the Basic license, but you might need the $159 or $259 licenses depending on the specific features that you need.

Then, you’ll also need to purchase Gravity Flow on top of that, which starts at $99 for use on a single site.

Zapier for WordPress

As the name suggests, Zapier for WordPress is an official plugin from the Zapier team that helps you connect your WordPress site to Zapier.

It does not have a bunch of plugin integrations like the other tools on this list. Rather, it’s more focused on helping you connect core WordPress functions to the thousands of apps that are available on Zapier. 

For example, when a user registers on your site, you could pass that information to your CRM via Zapier. Or, when you send a new newsletter email in Mailchimp, you could automatically save the content of that email as a new draft in WordPress so that you could also publish it on your site.

Features

• Connect the core WordPress software to Zapier.
• Work with any one of the thousands of apps that Zapier supports.
• Set up automations in both directions – you can use events in WordPress to trigger something with a third-party app or use events in a third-party app to trigger something in the core WordPress software.
• Build and manage all of your automations from the Zapier website.

Ease of Use

To set up your automations, you’ll pretty much work exclusively from the Zapier interface, rather than your WordPress dashboard.

If you’ve never used Zapier before, it offers a no-code interface that lets you set up automations using a trigger → action model.

Integrations

On the WordPress side, Zapier for WordPress is pretty much completely focused on connecting core WordPress features to Zapier. As such, it doesn’t offer any dedicated integrations for WordPress plugins.

Zapier itself does support thousands of apps, though. So, if your goal is just to connect one of those external apps to core WordPress functionality, that could make this one a good option.

Pricing

The Zapier for WordPress plugin itself is free. However, you might need a paid Zapier plan depending on the type of automations that you want to create.

You can create some helpful automations using just the free version of Zapier. But if you need a paid plan, those start at ~$20 per month.

Some Examples of How to Automate WordPress

To give you some more concrete examples of how you can actually automate WordPress with these plugins, let’s look at some specific use cases.

We’ll use the WP Webhooks plugin for these examples, but the basic idea will be the same with other plugins.

Here are some different ways in which you can automate WordPress with WP Webhooks…

Connect two WordPress plugins that you’re using via Flows:

• When someone registers for a LearnDash course, automatically subscribe them to a bbPress forum for users of that course.
• When someone submits a form via Gravity Forms, automatically create a support ticket in the Awesome Support plugin.
• When you update a custom field in Advanced Custom Fields, automatically clear the cache in WP Rocket.

Connect WordPress to an external service by sending data via webhooks:

• When someone submits a form, automatically add that data as a new row in Google Sheets.
• When someone registers for a LearnDash course, apply a tag to that user in your CRM.
• When someone cancels a booking in the Events Manager plugin, automatically send yourself (or your service providers) a text message alert via Twilio.

Connect an external service to WordPress by receiving data via webhooks:

• When a user registers for a Teachable course (a standalone SaaS course builder), automatically create a WordPress user account for that person with the same profile information.
• When you add a new row to Google Sheets, use that information to create a WordPress post, with all of the data mapped to the right spot (including support for custom fields). 
• When data in an API updates, automatically update the data in custom fields on your site.

These examples are by no means a complete list! We’re just trying to give you some ideas for how you can automate WordPress using these plugins.

If you want to learn how to actually set up these types of automations, you can read our full WP Webhooks tutorial.

What’s the Best WordPress Automation Plugin?

In the end, the best automation plugin for your site will depend on the specifics of your situation, including the types of automations you want to set up, the services that you need to integrate with, and your overall budget.

For example, if you’re primarily looking to build internal business process automations triggered by form submissions, Gravity Flow and Gravity Forms are uniquely suited to that use case.

On the other hand, if you’re primarily looking to integrate your site with third-party services, you might prefer an automation plugin like WP Webhooks because its webhooks-based approach makes it easy to build automations based on sending and receiving data with third-party services.

Do you still have any questions about choosing the right automation plugin for your site? Let us know in the comments!