Free tool - What is the Zapier tax costing you?
Per-task pricing scales with your success — an automation that cost a few dollars quietly becomes a few hundred as volume and branching grow. Estimate your spend over two years, then see when a one-time fixed-bid build you own pays for itself.
Your Zapier usage
Rent forever vs. own it once
Zapier (per-task, rented)
Green Dolphin — fixed-bid build you own
Break-even
Past 24 months
at this volume Zapier is still cheaper than a build — until the meter catches up
Get this estimate + how to move a load-bearing automation off the meter.
Estimates based on Zapier’s published per-task tiers; your actual plan and overages vary. We give you a real scoped, fixed price on intake.
The Zapier tax — FAQ
What is the "Zapier tax"?
It is the nickname for how Zapier's per-task pricing scales with your success: an automation that cost a few dollars a month quietly becomes a few hundred as your volume, steps, and branching grow. You pay more for exactly the growth you want — and the meter never goes down.
How is a Zapier task counted?
A task is each action step that runs. A 5-step Zap that fires 1,000 times a month uses about 5,000 tasks. Multi-step Zaps on busy triggers are usually most of the bill.
Is it cheaper to keep renting Zapier or to build it?
It depends on volume and growth, which is what this calculator estimates. Past a certain point the cumulative per-task spend exceeds a one-time fixed-bid build — after which you are renting forever something you could have owned outright.
How does Green Dolphin price a replacement build?
Fixed-bid: one price, scope locked, with a senior architect start to finish. We rebuild the load-bearing automation as a real integration that you own and run — no per-task meter. You see the number before anything starts.