When to use a rule, when to use an agent

Nine real tasks placed by how repeatable they are and how much judgment they need. Hover any dot.

Judgment required

Rules win here

Agents win here

Same steps every timeDifferent every time

Rule engine (Zapier, n8n, Make) Hybrid: rule triggers, agent decides AI agent

Positions are editorial, not measured. Zapier's own pricing page lists more than 9,000 app integrations and a free tier of 100 tasks a month; its Professional plan is published at $19.99/month billed annually for 750 tasks. Agent costs scale with tokens read and tool calls made, which is why every agent-side task here wants a spending cap.