AI Automation Showdown

🎯 Goal:

Find out which platform is actually worth building your business around — no fluff, no affiliate links, no mercy. Our first showdown will be out Sept. 3, 2025! You can catch it right here or subscribe for free and we’ll send the winners right to your inbox!

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⚔️ Round 1: Head-to-Head Battles

1️⃣ Zapier vs. Pabbly Connect

The OG vs. the underdog

• Zapier: Polished UX, unmatched integration depth, strong AI beta tools
• Pabbly: Budget-friendly, solid basics, growing community
  🔥 Test: Who gives the best “it just works” experience for busy SMBs?

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2️⃣ Make (Integromat) vs. n8n

Visual power vs. open-source flexibility

• Make: Drag-and-drop, great for complex flows, now with GPT support
• n8n: Developer-loved, self-hostable, serious control
  🔥 Test: Which one wins when workflows get weird or deeply customized?

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3️⃣ TaskMagic vs. Bardeen

Next-gen scrapers + browser bots

• TaskMagic: Browser-based automation with repeatable recording
• Bardeen: AI-guided workflows that trigger in your browser
  🔥 Test: Who wins the “no-code web scraping + automation combo”?

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4️⃣ Recast vs. Tallyfy

Prebuilt AI playbooks vs. rule-based workflows

• Recast: AI-first, built for solopreneurs, fast-to-launch templates
• Tallyfy: Process-driven automation with human approvals and steps
  🔥 Test: Speed vs. structure — who delivers ROI faster for lean ops?

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🏆 Semifinals + Finals Schedule

• Round 2 (Semi):
  • Winner of Match 1 vs. Match 2 → July 18
  • Winner of Match 3 vs. Match 4 → August 1
• Finals:
  • The two remaining champions face off → August 15
• Recap Showdown + Crowd Vote:
  • Bonus reader poll + live breakdown → August 29

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🔍 Scoring Framework (Per Platform)

Each tool is tested across 7 real SMB tasks, and rated in these 6 categories (1–10 scale):

Criteria	Description
🧠 Ease of Setup	Can an SMB owner get going without hiring help?
🔌 Integration Support	# of native app connections & how smooth they run
🤖 AI Capabilities	Can it leverage LLMs or smart workflows?
💸 Pricing & Value	Bang for the buck, SMB budget-friendliness
📈 Scalability	Can it grow with your business?
🙋 Support & Community	Docs, help, forums, videos — how helpful is the vibe?

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💥 What You Get (Every Other Week)

🥊 Free Tier (Our Scrappy AIronists):

• ✅ List of everything we tested
• ✅ Who won the match
• ✅ A breakdown on how we decided
• ✅ Who competes next

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🏆 Pro Tier (Our CTRL Freaks):

✅ Full test + video or screenshots
✅ Scorecard (1–5 per category)
✅ Real SMB use case + ROI analysis
✅ Breakdown of where each platform struggled
✅ Final call: Who should use it — and who shouldn’t