IFTTT

About IFTTT

IFTTT, short for "If This Then That," is a consumer-focused automation service that connects apps, online services, and smart-home devices. It was founded in 2010 and launched publicly in 2011, with Linden Tibbets as a founder, and is headquartered in San Francisco. IFTTT was one of the first mainstream automation tools and remains best known for its simple model and its strong coverage of consumer hardware.

The unit of automation in IFTTT is an Applet. In its classic form an Applet has one trigger and one action: "if this happens, then do that." A trigger might be a weather condition, a new email, a smart-home sensor, or a social-media post; an action might be sending a notification, logging a row to a spreadsheet, or switching a smart plug. Newer Applets support multiple actions and conditional logic ("queries" and filters), but the design intent has stayed deliberately approachable for non-technical users rather than expanding toward developer workflows.

IFTTT's distinctive strength is breadth of consumer and Internet-of-Things coverage. It integrates with smart-home ecosystems, wearables, connected cars, voice assistants, and a long tail of consumer apps that business-focused automation platforms do not prioritise. Its Webhooks service also lets technical users send and receive arbitrary HTTP requests, which is the usual way IFTTT is wired into a custom script or device.

Pricing as of May 2026 is tiered by Applet count. The free plan allows a small number of Applets, commonly two. IFTTT Pro is priced at roughly $3.49 per month and raises the limit to around 20 Applets while adding multi-action Applets, faster execution, and customer support. IFTTT Pro+ is priced at roughly $8.99 per month and removes the Applet cap, adding multiple-account connections, developer tooling, and early-access features. Reported Pro pricing has varied across sources and over time, partly because IFTTT historically used a "pay what you want" floor, so the published rate on the IFTTT site is the authoritative figure.

IFTTT competes with Zapier, Make, and Microsoft Power Automate, but it occupies a different segment. Where those platforms target business workflows and bill on task or operation volume, IFTTT targets individuals automating their digital and physical lives, and bills a flat fee on Applet count. For a household connecting smart devices, or an individual automating personal apps, IFTTT is simpler and cheaper than a business platform. For multi-step business processes with audit, error handling, and team management requirements, it is underpowered by design.

Editor's Note: Across ShadowGen engagements we rarely deploy IFTTT for business automation, and that is the honest recommendation rather than a criticism. Its flat per-Applet pricing and consumer device catalogue make it excellent for the job it targets: in one founder's-own-office build we used three IFTTT Applets to tie meeting-room occupancy sensors to lighting and a status display, which a business platform would have billed by the run for no added value. The line we hold: IFTTT for consumer and IoT triggers, a task-billed platform once a workflow needs branching, retries, or more than one person maintaining it. — Rafal Fila, ShadowGen