Cool idea. This is definitely something we should think about. Patreon already has some APIs with basic functionality. I believe that, in order for Patreon to work with IFTTT, we’d need to build a new set of APIs that conform to IFTTT’s specific requirements. We’ll make sure to consider it!
One thing we are actively working on is a Zapier (similar to IFTTT) integration. The beginnings of it are here: https://zapier.com/zapbook/patreon/ and there’s a long way to go (for example, we should enable triggering when pledges delete, which is a no brainer for us).
Zapier built this for us and we’re in the process of transferring ownership to our team and being able to run fast on this. IFTTT makes sense as well.
Do you have any thoughts about the benefits of one over the other from a workflow point of view?
Had never even heard about Zapier! Just looked it up and look up a couple fast-read reviews/comparisons and for professional use, it looks like Patreon + Zapier is the way to go. IFTTT is free, and Zapier allows you to do more complex “Zaps”
I guess it will depend on how complex you want to get, but integration into both could have its perks. IFTTT for simple 1-2 punch automation. Or Zapier for more complex zaps. I can think of only 1-2 punch scenarios. What else could creators do that might require more than a 1-2 step type automation?
Zapier is more focused on the enterprise space, connecting SaaS products together. IFTTT more focused on “creative” remixing of products (e.g. piping FitBit data into a Spreadsheet, or sending push/sms notifications based on events happening elsewhere).
A proper API would be more useful (to me at least), since paying for the privileges of auto-migrating my Patreon data into my CRM or analytics SaaS tools via Zapier isn’t ideal. :-/
Happily! Credit to some very awesome team members, Liran and David, for getting that to where it is, and we’re going to take it much much farther and document it much better in the coming months. Feel free to email me at tal@patreon.com with your ideas and feedback. Would love to know what you’re working on
We use Zapier to connect to a google doc (spreadsheet). It works wonderfully!
When a donor supports us on Patreon, at the end of the year our nonprofit has a handy spreadsheet with everyone’s names and contact info. That way we can calculate up all their donations and use this contact info to send them end-of-the-year tax deductible receipts.
Highly recommend folks try Zapier and Patreon together!
I agree. While IFTTT might be a bit slow at times, it would be wonderful to have the ability to connect Patreon and IFTTT. I use it for for much of my automation.
Zapier works well. You can’t necessarily use it directly within zapier though, you need to create a webhook first within the Patreon API and then use the webhooks feature in Zapier.
Imo, zapier is much much more powerful than IFTTT.
IFTTT is also free and for those wanting to start out and give it a go or for those who can’t yet afford to shell out extra funds for it (maybe they aren’t making enough on their patreon/other platforms just yet) it’s a great option. Zapier, as far as i have tested and discussed with those who have used it, only has a 30 day free trial (am i wrong?), which isn’t always enough time to really delve in. Having both as an option would be superb!
Coming back in here to bump this. I tried Zapier, but they require a paid plan even to just use a single filter on a single zap where as IFTTT allows me to specify things like “Don’t trigger with Retweets or Mentions on twitter” etc., for free. I don’t mind paying if I’m using the platform like a power house, but I’ve got two zaps, now 1 because i cannot activate the one with the filter and it is disastrous without the filter.
IFTTT, while yes is laggier than zap, is so much easier to use to get exactly what you need. (Zap, in my experience has been buggy as heck when I’ve used it. It glitches out and wont trigger when it should and sometimes triggers when it shouldn’t.)
