I’m wondering what automation platforms everyone is using for their backend processes. I’m talking about stuff like customer segmentation, stock notifications, purchase-triggered actions, and keeping data synchronized between different applications.
I’ve experimented with both Zapier and Shopify Flow before, but I always run into issues where they become either too restrictive or overly complex when I try to expand my workflows. Alloy keeps coming up in discussions, but I haven’t had a chance to test it out myself.
What has been working well for you? Any recommendations or warnings about specific tools?
I’ve been running Make (used to be Integromat) for two years - it nails everything you’re asking about. The visual builder actually makes sense, unlike most platforms, and it won’t crash on complex workflows that kill other tools. The data operations module sold me - you can transform and filter data between apps without writing code or buying extra tools. Price-wise, it’s cheaper than Zapier’s top plans but way easier than hosting your own solution. Error handling is rock solid, which saved me when inventory syncs kept breaking my entire setup on other platforms. Only complaint is their docs suck for newer integrations, but the template library has most ecommerce stuff covered.
Used Alloy for 3 months - decent for ecommerce. Pre-built Shopify connectors worked well but got expensive quickly when scaling. Went back to Zapier with custom webhooks. Not perfect but solid enough for order fulfillment.
I made the switch to n8n about six months back after Zapier’s pricing got crazy and Shopify Flow kept hitting walls. Yeah, there’s definitely a learning curve - you’re building everything from scratch. But once you get the hang of it, the flexibility is insane. What hooked me was handling complex conditional stuff and data transformations that would’ve taken multiple Zapier steps or just weren’t possible in Flow. Plus, self-hosting means I don’t stress about costs exploding with usage. Fair warning though - if you need something plug-and-play without much setup, this isn’t it. Community’s pretty solid and most integrations you’d want are already there.
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