Case Study: Zapier achieves scalable API-driven growth with ChartMogul

How Zapier, an API SaaS pioneer, views the industry today

Zapier is a workflow automation company founded in 2011 that connects disparate SaaS apps so users can chain actions across tools like Gmail, Slack, Salesforce and ChartMogul. Their core challenge was building value from hundreds of third‑party APIs: early growth required brute‑forcing integrations, managing quality and partner dependencies, and finding a way to demonstrate a non‑visual product’s value and pricing to users.

Zapier solved this by launching a self‑serve developer platform, adopting a freemium model, adding multi‑step “Zaps,” and investing in monitoring, partner outreach and discoverability. The approach made integrations quick to build, drove strong inbound interest from partners, and produced a sticky product that scaled to 800+ integrations, sustainable revenue growth, and a profitable, widely adopted business.

Zapier

Wade Foster

Co-founder and CEO