ComparisonCereal vs Zapier
Cereal vs Zapier: an AI browser agent for the sites Zapier can’t reach.
Zapier connects apps through their APIs, in its cloud, and now sells AI agents too, as AI steps inside Zaps. Cereal does a different job: its AI browser agent works the websites that have no API, in your own Chrome, with your model and your key, and Repeat replays what it learned without calling the model.
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Goal Notify me when the PS5 Pro on bol.com drops below €450
- ✓ Opened bol.com in your Chrome
- ✓ Rejected cookie banner
- ✓ Searched “PS5 Pro”, opened product
- ✓ Learned: price below €450
● Repeat · 0 model calls
[ 01 / compare ]
How they compare.
| Cereal (coming soon) | Zapier | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Your machine, in the free Cereal desktop app. | Zapier’s cloud, as Zaps. Its AI agents are moving into “AI by Zapier” steps inside Zaps.checked 2026-10 · help.zapier.com |
| Which browser | Your own Chrome, in a window you can watch, with a separate profile per task. No extension, no new browser. | Zaps call app APIs, not your browser. The Agents Chrome extension is a sidebar chat on the page you’re viewing.checked 2026-10 · help.zapier.com |
| Model / BYOK | Bring your own model: Anthropic, Google Gemini, OpenAI, OpenRouter, or any OpenAI-compatible server. Your API key goes only to the AI provider you pick. | AI steps use Zapier’s models or your own key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and others), paid to the provider directly.checked 2026-10 · help.zapier.com |
| Local models | Yes: Ollama and LM Studio (best effort; tested on Claude, other models may vary). | Not stated by vendor.checked 2026-10 · help.zapier.com |
| Repeats without the model | Yes, after the first run: Repeat replays what it learned without calling the AI. If the site changes, the AI picks up where replay stopped. | Zaps are fixed trigger-and-action steps; AI steps call the model each run.checked 2026-10 · help.zapier.com |
| Asks before buying/sending | Asks for your OK before it buys, pays, deletes or sends anything, including on repeat runs. | Not stated by vendor. An AI by Zapier run over 75 tasks pauses for review (a cost guard).checked 2026-10 · help.zapier.com |
| Price | Free. You pay your AI provider directly, or nothing with a local model. | Free: 100 tasks/mo. Pro from $19.99/mo (750 tasks), Team from $69/mo (2,000 tasks), billed annually. Agents are billed in activities.checked 2026-10 · zapier.com |
| Platforms | Tested on macOS and Linux · needs Google Chrome | Web app in any browser; the Agents extension is Google Chrome only.checked 2026-10 · help.zapier.com |
[ 02 / fit ]
When to pick Zapier instead.
- You want app-to-app pipelines between services that have an API, like a new form entry becoming a CRM row.
- You want automations that run in the cloud while your computer is off.
[ faq ]Questions.
Questions.
Answered.
Q/01Is it free?
Yes. Free, and free to run: use a free tier such as Gemini’s, a local model, or your own paid key. You pay your AI provider directly, typically cents to a few tens of cents per run (an estimate). Hard limits stop every run at $2 and every task at $5 by default, and you can change them. Free tiers may let the provider use your data; a paid key or local model keeps it private.
Q/02Where do my pages and key go?
Your key never reaches Cereal; the agent's model calls go only to the model provider you pick, or stay on your machine with a local model. With Share diagnostics on (the default), the agent reports how each run went, and, when a check fails or you report it, what it saw on the pages, masked and deleted after 30 days. You can turn it off in Settings › Privacy. Your passwords are typed by Cereal, not the AI: the model only sees a placeholder, and secret values are removed from logs.
Q/03What happens when the site changes?
After the first run, Repeat replays what it learned without calling the AI, so routine checks cost nothing. If the site changes, the AI picks up where replay stopped.
Q/04Can Zapier do what Cereal’s agent does?
They do different jobs. Zapier connects apps through their APIs and runs in its cloud; its AI agents now run as AI steps inside Zaps (checked 2026-10). Cereal’s AI browser agent drives a real Chrome window on your machine, so it can work the websites that have no API.
Q/05Can I use both?
Yes. Use Zapier to move data between apps that have an API, and Cereal for the websites that don’t.