iPaaS (integration Platform as a Service) is a cloud service that lets you connect software systems without building or hosting integration software yourself. You assemble flows by clicking together ready-made building blocks per application. Well-known examples are Make, Zapier and Microsoft Power Automate.
iPaaS in practice
In terms of cost and flexibility, an iPaaS sits between a standard connector and custom development. You pay a monthly fee that scales with the number of operations executed, and you can add your own logic: conditions, filters, translations between fields. For many SMB processes — passing on leads, creating invoices, sending notifications — that is more than enough.
The limits come into view at high volumes (the monthly fee scales up), with complex business rules or with systems that have no ready-made building block. That is where custom development on the API often wins in the long run. Which tool suits which situation, we compare in Zapier vs Make vs Power Automate.
Related terms
- API integration — An API integration is a connection between two software systems that automatically exchange data through their APIs — for example orders from a webshop to accounting, or placements from an ATS to invoicing.
- Workflow automation — Workflow automation is running consecutive process steps automatically based on an event: an order comes in, and the invoice is created, the customer is emailed and inventory is updated — without manual steps in between.
- No-code — No-code is building software or automating processes without programming: you click applications, flows or websites together in a visual environment.
- Middleware — Middleware is software that sits between two or more systems and manages the traffic between them: fetching data, translating it into the right format and delivering it to the target system.