Best Bardeen alternatives, checked in 2026
Bardeen is browser automation with AI: scrape websites, enrich leads and move data between apps with one-click playbooks, from inside Chrome. Its free plan gives 100 credits — always free, though unused credits expire at the end of the billing period. People leave when their automation outgrows the browser into server-side plumbing, when credits ration the scraping, or when the data they chase lives in a real database. The five below map those moves.
- Make: The server-side route: visual scenarios between real APIs, 1,000 free operations a month.
- Zapier: The breadth route: 8,000+ apps connected simply, 100 free tasks a month.
- Apollo.io: The database route: 240M+ contacts instead of scraping for them, 50 free credits a month.
Comparison table
| Tool | Free plan | Card needed | Pricing model | Checked | Reader rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Make | 1,000 credits (operations) per month on the free plan | Not needed | Freemium | 2026-10-31 | – |
| Zapier | 100 tasks/month on the free plan; two-step Zaps only, unlimited Zaps | Not needed | Freemium | 2026-11-07 | – |
| Apollo.io | Free plan: 50 email credits per month; Gmail-only mailbox connection; CSV export 25 records at a time; 3 intent topics | Not needed | Freemium | November 2026 | – |
| ChatGPT | Free tier available with usage limits; paid plan offers higher limits | Not needed | Freemium | 2026-10-31 | – |
| Taskade | Free: 3 Genesis apps, no monthly AI credits (earned via invites/shares), 1 workspace, 250 MB storage, 10 automation runs/mo | Not needed | Freemium | 2026-10-31 | – |
1. Make
The server-side route: visual scenarios between real APIs, 1,000 free operations a month.
Changed since last check: starting price moved from Paid to $0 (Oct 30, 2026).
- Free plan includes 1,000 operations a month
- No credit card required
- Full REST API available
- Free plan is capped at 1,000 operations a month
Choose Make over Bardeen when automations must run while you sleep, across apps with real APIs. Stay with Bardeen for anything that starts on a web page.
See the full Bardeen vs Make duel →In-depth notes on Make
Make's free plan gives 1,000 operations a month. Bardeen's magic is the browser session itself — logged-in pages, your cookies, your view. Different layers of the stack.
2. Zapier
The breadth route: 8,000+ apps connected simply, 100 free tasks a month.
Changed since last check: starting price moved from Paid to $0 (Oct 30, 2026).
- Free plan includes 100 tasks a month
- No credit card required
- Free plan caps Zaps at two steps - multi-step needs a paid plan
- Per-task pricing adds up fast at volume, and overages bill automatically
Choose Zapier over Bardeen for dependable app-to-app plumbing at breadth. Stay with Bardeen for page-level gathering Zapier can't do.
See the full Bardeen vs Zapier duel →In-depth notes on Zapier
Zapier's free plan is 100 tasks a month, single-step only. Bardeen's 100 free credits expire monthly — both are tasting tiers; Make's free tier is the meal.
3. Apollo.io
The database route: 240M+ contacts instead of scraping for them, 50 free credits a month.
The catch: Credits expire with no rollover, and the free plan is Gmail-only.
Changed since last check: starting price moved from Paid to $0 per user per month (Nov 2, 2026).
- Permanent free plan with no credit card required — rare for B2B data
- Public per-seat pricing, while competitors are often sales-gated
- Database, sequences, dialer and intent signals in one subscription
- Credits expire with no rollover
- A jump from free to $49 per user per month for Basic
- Organization needs a minimum of 3 users, about $357 per month, and dialer and API access are gated to higher tiers
Choose Apollo over Bardeen if the leads you scrape are simply… in a database already, with verified emails. Stay with Bardeen for niche sources no database covers.
See the full Bardeen vs Apollo.io duel →In-depth notes on Apollo.io
Apollo's free plan gives 50 email credits a month with 25-record exports. Scraping earns its keep on long-tail sources; for mainstream B2B, the database wins on time.
4. ChatGPT
The manual route: research and enrichment conversations for small, precious lists.
The catch: The free tier has usage limits, and answers can sometimes be inaccurate, so check important information and expect advanced features to require a paid plan.
Changed since last check: starting price moved from Paid to Free tier (Oct 25, 2026).
- Free tier available
- Output rights are assigned to you on every plan, Free included
- API available
- Free tier has usage limits
- API use is billed separately
Choose ChatGPT over Bardeen for ten precious accounts researched deeply by hand. Stay with Bardeen for the hundred-lead list that needs mechanics, not conversation.
See the full Bardeen vs ChatGPT duel →In-depth notes on ChatGPT
ChatGPT's free plan has usage limits and no browser automation of your accounts. It's the analyst; Bardeen is the intern with a spreadsheet.
5. Taskade
The workspace route: scraped data that lands in tasks and notes with light automation.
Changed since last check: starting price moved from Paid to $0 (Oct 30, 2026).
- Free plan lets you deploy 3 Genesis apps
- Free plan includes 1 workspace with 250 MB of storage
- Free plan includes automations up to 10 runs a month
- No monthly AI credits on free — credits are earned through invites and shares
- API is available on paid plans only
- Free plan includes only 1 AI agent
Choose Taskade over Bardeen when gathered data should immediately become tracked work — tasks, notes, agents. Stay with Bardeen for the gathering itself.
See the full Bardeen vs Taskade duel →In-depth notes on Taskade
Taskade's free plan includes 10 automation runs a month and 3 Genesis apps. A destination, not a scraper — the pair covers a full lead workflow.
When to stay with Bardeen
Switching is not always the right call. Bardeen is still the better pick if:
- Your leads live on logged-in web pages only a browser can reach.
- Playbooks run your exact gathering routine weekly.
- 100 free credits covers your niche volume.
How to switch from Bardeen
- Export as you gatherPush playbook output to Sheets/CSV continuously — data in your sheet is yours; data in a tool is a loan.
- Document your playbooksSteps, sources and selectors as notes; rebuilding elsewhere starts from that map.
- Batch before expiryFree credits expire at period end — schedule heavy gathering inside the window.
How we check
Free-plan limits, card requirements and the catch come from the Free Reality Check on each tool. An editor checks the maker's pricing page by hand and records when. If a tool has no check date, we say so and show no numbers.
- Official pricing pages, with the date we checked each one
- Vendor documentation and changelogs
- SaaSListy editor testing notes on each tool page
- Reader reviews on SaaSListy
Some links are affiliate links. They never change a rating, a ranking or a verdict.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free alternative to Bardeen?
Make (1,000 free operations a month) for server-side automation; Apollo's free plan for database leads. For pure browser scraping, Bardeen's 100 free credits stand alone here.
Why do people leave Bardeen?
Credit expiry and browser limits: automations that must run unattended graduate to Make or Zapier; mainstream lead-hunting graduates to Apollo.
Bardeen vs Make — which automation?
Bardeen starts on web pages inside your browser; Make runs between APIs on servers. Gathering versus plumbing — most lead workflows end up using both layers.
Is Bardeen free?
There's a free plan with 100 credits. Catch: unused credits expire at the end of each billing period.
What is the best Bardeen alternative?
Make is listed first on this page. The server-side route: visual scenarios between real APIs, 1,000 free operations a month.
Which Bardeen alternatives are free without a credit card?
Our editors verified that Make, Zapier, Apollo.io, ChatGPT, Taskade do not ask for a card on the free plan. The free plan box under each tool lists the limits.
How do you check free plans and prices?
Editors check the maker's official pricing page by hand and record the check date. Tools that are not verified yet are labelled that way instead of showing guesses.
How does SaaSListy make money?
Some links are affiliate links. They never change a rating, a ranking or a verdict.