IFTTT Free Plan: What You Actually Get Before Paying
The IFTTT free plan costs $0 with 1,000 credits a month, unlimited Applets, and every feature. The catch: each step consumes credits, and Applets pause at zero.
By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-07T15:04:05+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-07T15:04:05+00:00
IFTTT Free Plan: What You Actually Get Before Paying
The IFTTT free plan costs $0 and gives you 1,000 credits a month, unlimited Applets, and every Applet feature on every plan. That is the short answer. The catch is the credits. Each step an Applet runs consumes credits, and when the balance hits zero your Applets pause until the monthly reset. IFTTT changed its model in October 2026, when it rebranded to IFTTT.ai and replaced Applet caps with a monthly credit allowance. Older guides that say the free plan allows two Applets describe the old model. This guide uses the current plans page and help center, checked in November 2026.
IFTTT free plan: what you actually get
| Plan | Monthly price | Annual price | Credits a month | Polling speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 1,000 | Every hour |
| Starter | $2.99 | $2.09 a month ($25.08 a year) | 5,000 | Every 15 minutes |
| Pro | $7.99 | $5.49 a month ($65.88 a year) | 20,000 | Every 5 minutes |
| Pro+ | $19.99 | $13.99 a month ($167.88 a year) | 100,000 | Every 5 minutes |
Every plan includes unlimited Applets, all 1,000-plus services and apps, the Applet composer, published Applets, multi-action Applets, queries, filters, and AI features. The plans differ in credits, speed, accounts, and support. Free gets help-center support only. Starter adds basic email support. Pro adds prioritized support. Pro+ adds multiple accounts per service and dedicated support with live chat.
How credits work
Credits are how IFTTT measures usage. Each step in an Applet uses a set number of credits. A trigger firing uses credits. An action completing uses credits. A query or filter that runs uses credits. You see each step's credit cost in the Applet composer when you build it. Failed steps do not use credits. Only successful steps consume the balance.
Three rules matter. First, credits renew monthly and do not roll over. Unused credits disappear at the reset. Second, when the balance reaches zero, your Applets pause. They do not run events that occur while paused. They resume when credits renew or you upgrade. Third, 1,000 credits is not 1,000 Applet runs. A simple Applet with one trigger and one action can consume roughly 50 credits per run, which means about 20 runs a month on the free plan. Check the per-step cost in the composer before you rely on a free Applet for anything daily.
What the free plan is good for
The free plan fits three uses. First, trying IFTTT. IFTTT no longer offers free trials, so the free plan is how you test it. Build the Applet you plan to rely on, watch its credit cost for a week, and decide from real numbers. Second, a handful of light Applets. A weekly digest, a backup of new photos to cloud storage, or a notification when a favorite account posts will fit inside 1,000 credits. Third, AI features. The AI Agent, Summarizer, and Translator work on the free plan, and IFTTT.ai MCP lets assistants such as Claude, Cursor, and ChatGPT run your Applets. Those AI steps also draw on the same credit balance.
The free plan does not fit high-frequency automation. A sensor that logs every few minutes, a social feed that fires dozens of times a day, or a business workflow with several actions per trigger will burn 1,000 credits in days. Polling also matters: free Applets check for new triggers every hour, so a free Applet can react up to an hour late.
When to pay for Starter, Pro, or Pro+
Starter at $2.99 a month billed monthly, or $2.09 a month billed annually, is the step for five times the credits and 15-minute polling. Pick it when the free plan pauses your Applets before the month ends. Pro at $7.99 a month billed monthly, or $5.49 a month billed annually, is the recommended tier: 20,000 credits, 5-minute polling, and prioritized support. Pick it when automation runs your home or your workday and an hour of delay costs real money. Pro+ at $19.99 a month billed monthly, or $13.99 a month billed annually, adds 100,000 credits and multiple accounts per service. Pick it when you connect a work and a personal account for the same service, or when one Applet family alone needs tens of thousands of credits.
The October 2026 change: from Applet caps to credits
Before October 2026, IFTTT limited how many Applets each plan could hold: two on Free, 20 on Pro, unlimited on Pro+. That model is gone. Since the IFTTT.ai launch on October 28, 2026, every plan allows unlimited Applets and all features. What is rationed now is execution, measured in credits. Existing subscribers kept their prices, and Pro and Pro+ users whose past usage exceeded the new allowances received a one-time credit boost. If a review still quotes the two-Applet limit, it predates the change.
Bottom line
The IFTTT free plan is a real free plan: $0, unlimited Applets, every feature, 1,000 credits a month, hourly polling. It is enough to test IFTTT and to run a few light Applets. It is not enough for daily or high-frequency automation, because credits run out and Applets pause. If your Applets pause before the month ends, Starter at $2.09 a month billed annually is the honest next step. If automation runs your home or business, Pro at $5.49 a month billed annually is the tier to buy.