These automated processes are called recipes, and anyone can upload them.
The possibilities are nearly endless.
That said, IFTTT isnt the only option out there.
Zapier (Website)
Zapier is one of the most well-known alternatives to IFTTT.
The company claims to connect more web apps than anyone with new options added each week.
The downside is that Zapier isnt a free service.
Stringify calls its recipes Flows, and there are already thousands of user-created options.
One of the strengths of Stringify is that it supports multiple triggers for a single action.
Say you wanted to create a Flow that turned up the temperature of the living room.
Stringify supports more than 600 smart home devices at the moment, but more are added often.
Perhaps best of all, Stringify is completely free.
Theres no need to pay a monthly subscription to access all its functionality.
Read ourfull in-depth review of Stringify here.
The service is aimed specifically at Android users and grants far more control over your rig than IFTTT.
Tasker becomes even more powerful if your phone is rooted.
Tasker does come at a cost, though.
Its $2.99 to download.
The one-time fee is all you have to worry about.
The other downside is that Tasker doesnt support web-based services, so you wont be automating Gmail with it.
When it comes to on-unit control, however, youll find nothing better.
Shortcuts
What Tasker does for Android, Shortcuts does for iPhone.
Apple announced Shortcuts with iOS 12.
The service lets you set up quick-access commands with just a few steps.
Apple calls each of the building blocks of a shortcut an action.
Combining multiple actions lets you create a shortcut to do nearly anything you might think of.
The example Apple provides is the Surf Time shortcut.
Shortcuts is a free, built-in part of iOS 12.
Check it out if youre curious what Apple considers the best of the best.
Huginn (GitHub)
Many people opposed the way IFTTT collected data on what tasks users performed.
If youre concerned about privacy, Huginn may be just the service to alleviate those concerns.
Huginn is an open-source automation tool that gives you almost total control over what it does.
The breadth of control is truly amazing, but it comes with a catch.
Huginn is not what anyone would consider user-friendly.
It takes a lot of technical know-how to make the most of the service.
You have to be able to dive into bits of code and set the automation.
You also have to run Huginn from your own server.
While this all but guarantees data security, its also an enormous amount of setup.
If youre interested only in phone automation, then Tasker or Shortcuts will get the job done.
If youre more interested in smart homes, then Stringify is the right option.
Zapier is a powerful tool, but it comes at a cost.
Think about your goals and evaluate how these services compare to one another.
Try a few of them out.
You arent bound to any given service.
In time, you might find that using multiple automation apps for different tasks is the solution.
