Section 1 of 5
The TL;DR on Pipedream Pricing
- Free forever: 300 credits per month, no credit card required. Plenty for personal projects and prototyping.
- Paid starts at $29/mo (Basic): 2,000 credits, 10 active workflows, 5 connected accounts.
- Most popular: Advanced ($49/mo): 5,000 credits, unlimited workflows, premium apps, advanced controls. The jump from Basic to Advanced unlocks more than 2× the value.
- Credits, not tasks: Pipedream charges for compute time, not per-action — a major cost win for multi-step or code-heavy workflows compared to Zapier.
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for SOC 2 / HIPAA, VPC isolation, Git-based source control, and volume credits.
- Hidden gotcha: Long-running or memory-heavy workflows burn credits fast. A 5-minute workflow can cost 10× a 30-second one.
Quick verdict: If you're a developer or technical team running ≥10 workflows or doing multi-step automations with custom code, Pipedream's Advanced plan is one of the best value-per-dollar options on the market. If you're a non-technical user running a handful of simple Zaps, Zapier or Activepieces may suit you better.
Section 2 of 5
Every Pipedream Tier, Explained
Free
$0/mo
No credit card required
- 300 credits/month
- 3 active workflows
- 3 connected accounts
- 30-day event history
- Community support
Best for: Hobbyists, prototypes, learning the platform.
Basic
$29/mo
Billed monthly · or $19/mo annually
- 2,000 credits/month
- 10 active workflows
- 5 connected accounts
- 7-day error retries
- Email support
Best for: Solo devs, side projects with steady traffic.
Most Popular
Advanced
$49/mo
Billed monthly · or $39/mo annually
- 5,000 credits/month
- Unlimited active workflows
- Unlimited connected accounts
- Premium apps included
- Custom domains, longer retention
Best for: Small teams, production workloads, anyone needing >10 workflows.
Business
$99/mo
Per-seat pricing · from $99/seat
- 10,000+ credits/month
- Multi-user workspaces
- SSO/SAML, audit logs
- Git-based source control
- Priority support, SLAs
Best for: Engineering teams, multi-developer collaboration.
Enterprise
Custom
Annual contract · volume pricing
- Custom credit volumes & bulk discounts
- Dedicated VPC isolation, HIPAA / SOC 2 Type II
- Dedicated infrastructure, custom data residency
- Named CSM, onboarding, training
- Custom MSA, security review, redlines
Best for: Regulated industries (healthcare, finance), large engineering orgs, anyone needing single-tenant infrastructure.
The Basic → Advanced jump: $20/month more buys you 2.5× the credits, unlimited workflows (vs. 10), unlimited connected accounts (vs. 5), and premium apps. If you're hitting any Basic limit, Advanced is almost always the right move — it's the best dollar-per-feature tier.
Section 3 of 5
Pipedream Cost Calculator
Pipedream charges for compute time, not per-task. Roughly: 1 credit = 30 seconds of execution on a 256 MB worker. Estimate your monthly credit burn and we'll recommend the cheapest tier.
Total compute seconds/month7,500
Estimated credits/month250
Free tier handles this easily. Save the $29 and start free.
Estimates are approximate — actual credit usage depends on memory tier, network waits, and external API latency. Pipedream's billing meter is authoritative.
Worked example: an "automation-heavy" small business
Say you're running 12 workflows that fire ~3,000 times a month total, each taking ~20 seconds (a few have HTTP calls and small Node scripts). That's 60,000 seconds = ~2,000 credits. You'd just barely fit in Basic ($29/mo), but with no headroom for growth and you'd hit the 10-workflow cap. Advanced ($49/mo) is the right call.
Section 4 of 5
Pipedream Pricing vs The Alternatives
Pipedream's credit-based model isn't apples-to-apples with task-based competitors. Here's how the entry-level paid tier compares for a "small team" workload (~500 workflow runs, 10 workflows, multi-step):
| Platform | Starting Paid | Free Tier | Billing Unit | Full Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pipedream | $29/mo (Basic, 2K credits) | 300 credits/mo | Compute time (credits) | — |
| Zapier | $29.99/mo (Starter, 750 tasks) | 100 tasks/mo | Per task (per action) | Zapier vs Pipedream › |
| Make | $10.59/mo (Core, 10K ops) | 1,000 ops/mo | Per operation | Make vs Pipedream › |
| n8n | $24/mo (Starter, 2.5K execs) or self-host free | Self-hosted: unlimited | Per execution (cloud) / free (self-host) | n8n vs Pipedream › |
| Activepieces | $25/mo (Plus, unlimited tasks) | 1,000 tasks/mo | Flat-rate (paid tiers) | Activepieces vs Pipedream › |
| Power Automate | $15/user/mo (Per-user plan) | Limited (M365 included) | Per user / per flow | Power Automate vs Pipedream › |
Where Pipedream wins on cost
- Multi-step workflows. Zapier charges per action — a 10-step Zap costs 10 tasks. Pipedream charges for the whole workflow's compute, often pennies per run.
- Code-heavy logic. Native Node.js/Python steps mean you can collapse 5 Zapier steps into one Pipedream code step.
- Bursty traffic. Credits roll over within the month, so spiky workloads don't trip per-task quotas mid-cycle.
Where Pipedream loses on cost
- Long-running workflows. If your workflow waits 5 minutes for an API or processes large files, it'll burn credits faster than per-task models.
- Self-hostable workloads. If you're technical enough to run n8n on a $5 VPS, that's cheaper than any Pipedream tier indefinitely.
- Microsoft 365 shops. Power Automate often comes "free" with E3/E5 licenses for basic flows.
Section 5 of 5
Pipedream Pricing FAQ
Is Pipedream free?
Yes. Pipedream's Free tier gives you 300 credits per month, 3 active workflows, and 3 connected accounts at no cost. It's enough to build and run small personal automations indefinitely without a credit card.
How much does Pipedream cost?
Paid plans start at $29/month for Basic (2,000 credits, 10 workflows). The most popular tier is Advanced at $49/mo (5,000 credits, unlimited workflows). Business is per-seat from $99/seat, and Enterprise is custom-priced.
What is a Pipedream credit?
A credit is Pipedream's billing unit, based on compute time. Roughly one credit per 30 seconds of execution on a 256 MB worker. Lightweight, fast workflows can run on fractional credits; long-running or memory-heavy ones consume more.
Is Pipedream cheaper than Zapier?
For most developer workloads, yes. Pipedream's Basic ($29/mo) gives you 2,000 credits and unlimited steps per workflow, while Zapier's Starter ($29.99/mo) caps you at 750 tasks and limits multi-step workflows. Pipedream is meaningfully cheaper for code-heavy or multi-step automations. See our full Zapier vs Pipedream comparison.
Does Pipedream charge per task like Zapier?
No. Pipedream uses credits (compute time) rather than tasks (per-action billing). A workflow with 10 steps costs the same credits as a 2-step workflow if they run for the same duration — a major advantage for complex pipelines.
Can I self-host Pipedream?
No. Pipedream is a managed cloud platform only — there's no self-hosted/open-source option. If self-hosting matters, look at n8n or Activepieces, both of which are open-source.
What happens if I run out of credits?
Workflows pause until the next billing cycle, or you can buy additional credit packs. Paid plans send warning notifications at 80% and 100% utilization so you can upgrade or top up before workflows stop.
Try Pipedream free — no credit card
The 300-credit Free tier is enough to build and test real automations. Upgrade only when you outgrow it.
Affiliate disclosure: We may earn a commission if you sign up. This never affects our ratings.