Workflow automation software allows you to create processes to handle repetitive tasks. For example, the software can send a response every time someone fills out a web form or copy and paste information from one system to another. We’ve identified the best workflow automation tools to help free teams to focus on the things that matter the most.
11 Best Workflow Automation Software
Best for | |
|---|---|
| Zapier | Triggering actions between different software tools that lack direct integration |
| Automate.io | Creating multistep workflows between different software tools |
| GravityFlow | Automating simple form to lead workflows in WordPress |
| KiSSFLOW | Streamlining the submission and approval processes in G Suite |
| Wrike | Building complex automated team workflows based on Gantt-style task dependency triggers |
| Zoho Creator | Creating customized workflow applications within the Zoho suite of software |
| Asana | Utilizing simple-to-use project templates and workflows for project management teams |
| Active Campaign | Automating email marketing campaigns based on user segments and engagement |
| HubSpot | Qualifying and nurturing marketing and sales leads automatically |
| Pipedrive | Automating your sales pipeline administrative tasks with easy-to-use workflows |
| Managing your team’s workflow through automated visual cues and workflow status |
Which Project Management Software is Right for You?
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1. Zapier
Zapier integration dashboard.
Who it’s for: Businesses that need to connect disparate software that lack integration.
What it costs: Free to $250 per month
Zapier is a workflow automation software that makes all of your other software play nice by connecting products that aren’t directly integrated. Sure, it’s great when your customer relationship marketing (CRM) tool talks to your social media software or your lead generation forms send data to your email marketing platform automatically, but what if they don’t? That’s what Zapier is for.
Zapier lets you create what it calls “Zaps” to connect software for specific actions. For example, you can connect your CRM to your project management tool and have it create a new project or task every time you close a deal. This is especially helpful when you are using software that doesn’t already have integrations between them and need to keep all of your information up to date.
Zapier’s free plan allows you to create up to five Zaps at a time and will send 100 contacts per month between connected software apps. Paid plans are available at $20, $50, $125, and $250 a month and increase both the number of Zaps and the amount of information you can send. These plans also give access to “Premium” Zaps that include connections with software and platforms like Salesforce, QuickBooks and PayPal.
2. Automate.io
Automate.io automation dashboard,
Who it’s for: Users who want to create multistep workflows involving multiple software tools.
What it costs: Free to $99 per month
Automate.io is similar to other automation tools like Zapier, except that in addition to creating one to one integrations, you can create multi-step workflows between multiple apps. For example, when someone completes a form on your website, you can have Automate.io notify you via email, then create a new contact in your CRM, add them to a MailChimp list based on their lead score, and update their interest level based on their open and engagement rate.
Automate.io has a free plan that allows you to create five automations that will sync up to 250 actions each month. There are plans available for $25, $49, and $99 per month that increase the number of automations and actions each month.
Integrations are available between many of the tools sales professionals use every day, including lead generation software, CRMs, and other productivity and project management apps. Automate.io is workflow management software ideal for teams that want to highly customize their automated workflow with different software tools that best fit their needs while getting them all to connect and share information.
3. Gravity Flow
Gravity Flow workflow creator.
Who it’s for: Businesses that want to create automated workflows from their WordPress site.
What it costs: $97 to $227 per year
Gravity Flow is workflow management software that works with Gravity Forms, which is a WordPress plug-in used to create contact and lead generation forms. Gravity Flow allows you to create multistep workflows based on submissions via Gravity Forms easily. For example, you could send contact information into your CRM, and have the contacts email address added to a list in MailChimp for email marketing.
Gravity Flow beings at $97 per year for workflows on one site. There is also a five-site plan for $227 per year targeted at small agencies or website developers. The base plan is ideal for small sales organizations wanting to integrate advanced forms on their WordPress site into their existing marketing automation tools. The five-site plan is geared towards businesses that manage the workflow process for various brands with different sites.
Gravity Flow is a great choice for small businesses that are largely web-based and focus their marketing on driving visitors to their WordPress site. The workflows you can create with Gravity Flow are ideal for marketing and sales teams that want to leverage their existing marketing with an easy to use form builder and workflows to move contact information into your CRM and other marketing tools.
4. KiSSFLOW
KiSSFLOW application dashboard.
Who it’s for: Workflow automation with G-Suite
What it costs: $9 per user per month at a minimum of 10 users
KiSSFLOW is a workflow management software built to make it easy to create workflows within G-Suite. Users can create various automated workflows by installing templated “apps,” and then diagramming the specific conditions, triggers, and actions that take place. Because it installs into your Google Apps panel, KiSSFLOW makes it simple to build actions that include steps within G-Suite like attaching documents from Google Drive and notifications through Gmail.
The basic plan is $9/user per month, with a required minimum of 10 users. All of the apps and features are available, although KiSSFLOW allows businesses to grant permissions for various apps only to the users that require them. Special pricing is available for non-profits, as well as large organizations with over 100 users.
KiSSFLOW is designed for teams and is best for businesses that need to automate processes used by departments, or groups across different business functions. For example, KiSSFLOW can automate the process that teams provide quotes by triggering actions among the various departments involved. Larger organizations managing multi-step collaborative processes benefit from KiSSFLOW’s ability to keep their people on the same page, and projects moving forward.
5. Wrike
Wrike Sales Cycle automation.
Who it’s for: Teams that want to coordinate project workflows.
What it costs: Plans start at $9.80 for five users.
Wrike is a workflow automation software that allows you to create workflows that notify team members automatically when they should start their part of a project or sales process. As an example, it can notify an account executive that they need to make contact with the prospect when a business development team member marks a lead as “interested.” It also automates the review and approval process, eliminating manual steps to move deals and projects forward.
Wrike has a free starter plan that includes five team members and a shared task list. Plans are available at $9.80 and $24.80 per user, per month, which includes additional customization, reporting, and workflow management tools. In addition, Wrike includes integrations with tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, Office 365, and Microsoft Excel.
Wrike is ideal for businesses that have multiple individuals, or even teams, working on sales and marketing projects together. Wrike allows teams to create workflows, assign tasks, monitor progress, and send notifications to keep everyone moving in the same direction. It is an ideal fit for advertising agencies and production companies that want to automate and monitor the progress of complex workflows.
6. Zoho Creator
Zoho Creator app creation.
Who it’s for: Businesses that want to create customized applications for their team.
What it costs: Free to $35 per user, per month.
Zoho Creator is workflow automation software that allows you to create completely customized applications to automate your workflow within the Zoho software suite. You can start with application templates that include project tracking, sales management, or order management, and configure them according to your specific workflow needs. One of the nice features is that you don’t have to know how to code build an application, although it does give you the option to modify code if that’s your expertise.
Zoho Creator has a free plan that lets you create one application for one user, and offers more advanced plans that allow additional applications and users based on the size and needs of your team. The higher-priced plans also include support for mobile app and offline app access, as well as push notifications.
Zoho Creator is ideal for sales teams that want complete control over their workflow tools and are willing to invest the time to configure their software fully. It’s also integrated with Zoho Workplace, which is a productivity suite including word processing, email, and cloud storage, which provides additional functionality for businesses that want an all-in-one solution for their different software needs.
7. Asana
Asana project management workflows.
Who it’s for: Teams that need simple to use workflow task lists.
What it costs: Free, $9.99, or $19.99
Asana is a project management tool and workflow management software that allows you to create team workflows, add team members, assign tasks, and monitor overall project process. Users can create templated workflows to use over and over for similar projects. Asana can also be used to manage your sales process and includes flexible features that allow you to use it as a basic CRM.
Asana is free to use for individuals, and the team plans start at $9.99 per user, per month. The Premium plan at $9.99 includes timeline features, custom fields and advanced reporting. The Business plan at $19.99 includes onboarding and training, as well as what Asana calls Portfolios, which allow you to organize all of your team’s projects and workflows in a single view.
Asana is especially useful for companies that work on customer projects, like marketing agencies, web developers, designers, copywriters, and event planners. It is powerful enough for the most complex projects, yet simple enough to use for even the smallest teams, making it a great all-around automation tool.
8. Active Campaign
Active Campaign dashboard.
Who it’s for: Businesses looking for powerful but easy-to-use email automation.
What it costs: $29 per month to $159 per month
Active Campaign is a powerful yet easy-to-use email automation software. Active Campaign gives you the ability to create extensive marketing workflows for your email campaigns by segmenting users based on their email engagement as well as their activity on your website.
Active Campaign pricing begins at $29 per month for up to 1,000 contacts and includes unlimited email sending and marketing automation. Additional features like lead scoring, CRM, and advanced customization and branding are available on higher-priced plans of $70 or $159 a month. In addition, pricing increases incrementally based on the number of contacts you have.
Active Campaign is ideal for businesses that want to create automated email subscriptions and list segmenting to target specific customers. Companies that attract leads online and want to create elaborate drip campaigns easily can use Active Campaign to design workflows visually based on lead activity.
9. HubSpot
HubSpot workflow builder.
Who it’s for: Businesses looking to qualify and nurture marketing and sales leads automatically
What it costs: Free CRM and $50 to $800 for marketing automation.
HubSpot is a leading lead generation and marketing automation platform that provides the ability to automate workflow as well as the ability to create landing pages, lead generation forms, lead nurturing email campaigns. It also offers lead scoring and is ideal for businesses looking to automate their lead generation and follow-up process that also utilize content marketing.
HubSpot has a free CRM that allows you to collect lead information and manage your sales process. Paid plans are available at $50 and $800, and include advanced automation features like drip campaigns, that help you convert leads into paying customers.
HubSpot’s sales tools include the ability to create automatic responses to lead inquiries with templated emails, automated notifications when leads interact with emails or your website, and sales pipeline management. HubSpot is designed to be an all-in-one marketing to sales automation tool that is a great choice for service-based companies that attract customers through digital marketing like landscape designers, interior designers, home builders, and more.
10. Pipedrive
Pipedrive workflow automation.
Who it’s for: Sales teams who want to automate regular sales workflow tasks
What it costs: $15, $29, or $59 per user, per month
Pipedrive is a sales CRM that includes powerful workflow automation tools to allow your sales team to eliminate manual tasks that they do on a regular basis. For example, you can have Pipedrive automatically send a response email every time a lead form is submitted, have that contact created as a new lead in your CRM, and notify a sales rep to follow up. If a user moves a deal to “won,” you can have Pipedrive automatically send a thank you email.
Pipedrive plans start at $15 per user, per month. However, the workflow automation features are only available on the $29 and $59 plans. These plans also include email templates and tracking as well as an automated scheduler for customer appointments.
Pipedrive is ideal for sales teams that want to create customized workflows that handle components of your sales process automatically. Field sales teams can take advantage of these workflows to reduce the amount of time they spend on administrative tasks and free up time to spend with new and existing accounts.
11. monday.com
monday.com visual sales process workflow.
Who it’s for: Project managers who want a visual representation of team progress
What it costs: $25 per month to $59 per month for up to five users.
monday.com is a visual project management that allows teams to create boards for managing shared workflows. It can be configured as a CRM, project management tool, or a variety of other workflows that sales teams use on a regular basis. One of the biggest advantages of monday.com is that it provides a visual high-level overview of team progress at a glance.
monday.com starts at $25 per month for up to five users and includes embedded forms, iOS and Android mobile apps, and Kanban column view for project workflows. The more expensive plans add features like calendar and timeline views, advanced customization and search features, time tracking, and increased file storage.
This type of workflow tool can be especially valuable for businesses that sell project-based services to customers like marketing agencies, or construction firms. It’s also an ideal fit for businesses that want a highly configurable workflow tool to use with remote teams while including a simple way to measure their team’s progress easily.
How We Evaluated The Best
Workflow automation tools should save you time and energy, eliminating manual tasks that are better handled by software. We looked at dozens of workflow automation tools that make life a little easier specifically for sales professionals, giving them the ability to focus their efforts on the things that matter most, relationships with customers.
“We knew that we were losing a lot of money from lack of follow up. We knew that [workflow automation] would allow us to be completely hands-off with our follow-up process. We wanted our sales team to focus on hot leads that they could close, which is their main role. The follow-up system that we send leads through allows our team to jump back to those warm leads when they are ready to sell their house.”
— Shawn Breyer, Owner, Breyer Home Buyers
“We knew that we were losing a lot of money from lack of follow up. We knew that [workflow automation] would allow us to be completely hands-off with our follow-up process. We wanted our sales team to focus on hot leads that they could close, which is their main role. The follow-up system that we send leads through allows our team to jump back to those warm leads when they are ready to sell their house.”We considered all of the following when putting together this list:
- Ease of setup & use: We evaluated how easy the software is to set up and how intuitive and reliable it is to use; we also took into consideration whether or not the software has predesigned workflows that can be implemented “out of the box”
- Affordability: We looked at the overall cost for the software and any tools required to make it work
- Analytics & reporting: We considered the types of analytics and reporting available to users to monitor the progress of their workflows
- Support: We evaluated the support and training available to users, and whether or not the software offers email and phone customer service.
- Integration with sales tools: We looked at how these workflow automation tools integrated with, and connected, software that sales professionals use on a regular basis like CRM, lead forms, and email.
The Bottom Line
There are hundreds of automation tools available today, and choosing the right ones can be overwhelming. It’s especially important to take into consideration what software can handle the types of workflows you use since not all of these tools will work in every situation. This guide will help you identify the best workflow automation software for your sales team, and help you save time and effort in your sales process.
