iPaaS
iPaaS stands for Integration Platform as a Service: a cloud platform on which you connect applications with each other through ready-made building blocks, without programming yourself. Well-known examples are Zapier, Make, n8n in its cloud version and Microsoft Power Automate.
Explanation
An iPaaS platform offers ready-made connections for many applications. You choose a trigger, such as "new row in a spreadsheet", and one or more actions, such as "create a contact in the CRM". The platform runs the workflow, stores credentials and displays errors. Technically, iPaaS is a form of middleware delivered as a subscription.
Billing is usually by usage. Zapier, for example, counts tasks, meaning successfully executed steps of a workflow. Make bills in credits per executed module. The more transactions, the higher the monthly cost. The workflows live in the account with the provider and cannot easily be taken to another service.
Example from everyday integration work
A service provider wants every inquiry from the contact form to end up as a contact in the CRM and the team to receive a chat message. That is a typical case for iPaaS: few steps, low volume, no accounting data. It looks different when hundreds of orders a day with credit notes and partial deliveries are supposed to reach DATEV. Then the building-block approach and the plan hit their limits. For DATEV we also found no ready-made app in Zapier.
How it differs from related terms
- Middleware: the umbrella term. iPaaS is middleware as a cloud service.
- Direct integration: connects two systems without a platform in between, at a fixed price instead of a fee per transaction.
- Vendor lock-in: the dependence that arises when all workflows run on one platform only.
Relevance to our services
For simple workflows iPaaS is often the right choice, and we say so. When a direct integration is cheaper and more reliable is explained in the guide Zapier alternative. You will find the cost calculation over three years under What does an integration cost?
Sources
- Zapier: Pricing, retrieved on 20 Oct 2026
- Zapier Community: Converting data from Xero to DATEV format (post dated 3 May 2023), retrieved on 20 Oct 2026
- Make Help Center: Credits, retrieved on 20 Oct 2026
Related
Zapier alternative
Zapier, Make, n8n and Power Automate put into fair perspective. When a direct integration is the better choice.
Middleware
Middleware is a software layer that mediates between several systems. Explanation, example and when a direct integration is the better choice for you.
Vendor lock-in
Vendor lock-in is dependence on one provider that makes switching expensive or impossible. Explanation, an integration example and how to counter it.
