Before You Pay for an Automation Tool: What You Already Own
We run a site about automation tools. So it might seem odd for us to open a whole series by saying: before you sign up for anything, check what you're already paying for. But that's exactly the point of The Automation Shed — honest advice, even when it means telling you not to spend.
Last checked: September 2026. This is the opening guide in a series on getting more out of the software you already have.
We run a site about automation tools. So it might seem odd for us to open a whole series by saying: before you sign up for anything, check what you're already paying for. But that's exactly the point of The Automation Shed — honest advice, even when it means telling you not to spend.
Here's the uncomfortable truth the tool vendors won't lead with. If your business uses Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, you already own a surprising amount of automation. Most people never touch it. This series is about squeezing the value out of what you've already got, before you ever consider a dedicated tool like Make, n8n, or Zapier.
Why this matters
Every month, businesses sign up for automation platforms to do things their existing software already does for free. Outlook can sort your inbox, send at a scheduled time, and reply with a template. Gmail can filter, label, and auto-respond. Both Microsoft and Google include proper automation builders — Power Automate and Google Apps Script — in plans millions of businesses already pay for.
None of this is hidden, exactly. It's just buried, unmarketed, and rarely explained in plain English. So it goes unused, and people pay again for capability they already have.
The honest limits (the reality check on this whole idea)
We'd be no better than the vendors if we pretended the built-in tools do everything. They don't, and knowing where they stop is the most useful thing in this series.
Built-in tools are great inside their own world, and weaker outside it. Outlook's rules are brilliant for Outlook. Power Automate is generous as long as you're connecting Microsoft apps to each other. The moment you need to connect to something outside the ecosystem — a third-party CRM, an accounting package, a form tool from another company — the built-in options get limited or start costing extra (more on that below).
The free power has a boundary, and it's worth knowing where. Power Automate is included with Microsoft 365, but only for what Microsoft calls "standard connectors" — the ready-made links that let it talk to other apps, and, on the free tier, mainly its own apps. Connect to certain outside services and you cross into "premium" connectors, which need a paid plan. Google Apps Script is genuinely free but needs a little code. We'll be clear, in each guide, about exactly where the free version runs out.
This is where a dedicated tool earns its place. When your automation needs to reach across several different companies' apps, or do something the built-in tools can't, that's when a Make or an n8n stops being an unnecessary expense and starts being worth it. This series isn't anti-tool. It's about making sure you only reach for a paid tool when you've genuinely outgrown the free one — which is the same principle we apply to everything here.
What the series covers
We're running two parallel tracks, so you can follow whichever fits your business:
- The Microsoft 365 track — getting the most from Outlook, and, coming soon, an introduction to Power Automate (which you may already own).
- The Google Workspace track — getting the most from Gmail and Google's built-in tools, and, coming soon, an introduction to Apps Script.
Within each, we'll mix overviews ("what can this software actually do?") with quick wins (10–20 minute jobs you can set up today). We'll signpost clearly whether a guide is for a complete beginner or someone ready to go a bit further.
Where to start
If you're not sure whether you have Power Automate, you probably have a Microsoft 365 business plan, and if so, you very likely do. If you're on Google Workspace, everything in the Google track applies to you already. Either way, the first quick win in each track is designed to give you a result in under twenty minutes, using only what's already on your account.
Start there. Spend nothing. See how far it gets you. If and when you hit a wall, that's the moment to look at a dedicated tool — and our honest comparison of Make, n8n and Zapier is a good place to start.
Official pages to check
This series is independent and drafted with AI, then reviewed and fact-checked against hands-on experience with these tools before publishing (see How we make our guides). Microsoft and Google change what's included in their plans from time to time, and licensing terms in particular move — we date each guide and always point you to the official page for current details before you rely on anything.