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Crunchbase Zapier integrationAutomate Crunchbase with Zapier.

The Crunchbase Zapier integration watches your lists and saved searches and passes what changes to your other tools. It counts 4 triggers, 0 actions and 0 searches, so Crunchbase always starts the Zap and never receives anything back.

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Overview

What the Crunchbase Zapier integration actually does

It connects your Crunchbase account to Zapier so that a change in your prospecting work, a new list, a new saved search or a company landing in one of them, starts an automation in another app. Crunchbase is the source here. It reports, it does not take orders.

Three outcomes cover most setups. First, a live prospect feed: New Company in Saved Search posts each fresh match into a team channel, so nobody has to rerun the search by hand. Second, a shared account list: New Company in List copies every company a rep adds to a list into a spreadsheet or a CRM, where the rest of the team works. Third, a research log: New List and New Saved Search record when someone on the account starts a new piece of prospecting, which helps a manager see what the team is chasing.

Now the limits. Zapier cannot create, edit or delete anything in Crunchbase: the app has no action at all. It cannot look up a company on demand either, because there is no search step. Everything starts from a list or a saved search you built first in Crunchbase. And all four triggers are polling ones, so on the free plan expect up to 15 minutes between the change and the Zap running.

If you are still weighing tools, the n8n vs Zapier comparison and the Zapier review set out the trade-offs before you commit.

Vocabulary

Zapier words in one minute

Eight terms come back throughout this page. Here is what each one means in plain words.

Zap
An automation you build in Zapier: one starting event, then one or more steps that run every time that event happens.
Trigger
The event that starts a Zap. Here it is always something in Crunchbase, like a company appearing in one of your lists.
Action
What the Zap does once it starts: it writes, sends or moves something for you. With Crunchbase, actions live in the other app.
Task
The unit Zapier bills. One task is one action your Zap completes successfully, and your plan caps how many you get.
Polling trigger
A trigger Zapier checks on a timer. It asks Crunchbase for new items at a set interval and keeps only what it has not seen.
Instant trigger
A trigger the app reports itself the moment something happens. Crunchbase has none, which is why timing matters on this page.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap carry on only when what arrived meets a condition you set. Otherwise the run stops there.
Connection
Your Crunchbase account linked to Zapier once, then reused by every Zap that needs it. One sign-in covers all four triggers.
Cost

What a Crunchbase Zap costs you

Crunchbase is not a premium app, so it works on the free plan. The trigger side is free in every case: Zapier checking your lists never costs a task.

  • Trigger checksFree, however often
  • Free plan100 tasks a month
  • Free plan Zap size2 steps
  • Premium appNo

You pay in tasks, and only for actions that succeed in the other app. One Slack message is one task; a failed one counts for nothing. The free plan gives 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps only, one trigger plus one action. Add a filter or a second action and the Zap becomes multi-step, which needs a paid plan. On the timing side, how often Zapier looks at Crunchbase also depends on the plan, as the grid below shows, and paid plans can trigger a check by hand from the editor.

Connect

Connect Crunchbase to Zapier in three steps

  1. 01

    Open your connections

    In your Zapier account, go to the Apps page and click + Add connection. You need a Crunchbase account first, plus access to any list you did not create yourself but want the Zap to watch.

  2. 02

    Pick Crunchbase

    Type Crunchbase in the search box of the dialog, select it, then click Add connection. Zapier then hands you over to Crunchbase so you can sign in there.

  3. 03

    Sign in and allow access

    Log in with the Crunchbase account that owns your lists and saved searches, then grant Zapier access. The connection now shows on the Apps page and every Crunchbase step can reuse it.

First Zap

Your first Zap: new matches straight to Slack

GoalA sales lead wants every company that enters a saved search posted in a Slack channel, but only the ones that pass a quick check.

  1. 01

    Create the Zap and pick the trigger

    Start a new Zap, choose Crunchbase as the app and New Company in Saved Search as the event, then select your Crunchbase connection.

  2. 02

    Choose the saved search

    In the required field, pick the saved search to watch. Run the test: Zapier pulls the three most recent companies from it, so you work on real data.

  3. 03

    Add the filter

    Click the plus icon and add Filter. Pick a value you saw in the test sample, a rule and a comparison value. Use a number rule on numbers and a text rule on text, or it never passes.

  4. 04

    Add the Slack action

    Add Slack with Send Channel Message, choose the channel and drop the company details from the trigger into the message.

  5. 05

    Test, then publish

    Test each step and read what comes back. Then click Publish. Keep in mind that the filter makes this a multi-step Zap, so it runs on a paid plan.

Triggers

The 4 Crunchbase triggers

4 events start a Zap when something happens in Crunchbase. Zapier checks for them at the interval your plan allows.

1

New List

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a user creates a list.”

Fires when someone on the connected account creates a list in Crunchbase. It flags the moment a new piece of prospecting begins, which is useful long before anyone has filled the list.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
a manager who wants a row in a tracking sheet each time a rep opens a new target list.
Watch out
a list created before the Zap was published will never come through, since Zapier only picks up what appears afterwards.
2

New Company in List

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a company is added to a list.”

Runs each time a company is added to one specific list you choose. This is the trigger that turns a hand-picked shortlist into a feed for your CRM, your spreadsheet or your chat tool.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
an account executive who adds companies to a list and wants each one created in the CRM without retyping it.
Watch out
the list to watch is a required field, so the list must already exist in the account you connected, and one Zap watches one list.
3

New Saved Search

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a user creates a saved search.”

Starts the Zap whenever a user saves a new search in Crunchbase. What it reports is the creation of the search: a sign that someone on the team has opened a new angle of research.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
a growth team that logs every new market definition in a shared doc so nobody duplicates someone else's search.
Watch out
to follow the results of that search, you need a second Zap built on New Company in Saved Search.
4

New Company in Saved Search

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a company is added to a saved search.”

Catches every company that starts matching a saved search you pick. It turns a search you set up once into a running prospect alert, without anyone rerunning it.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
a founder tracking competitors or buyers who wants each new match posted in Slack.
Watch out
picking the saved search is mandatory, and a broad search can return a big batch at once, which Zapier may hold back.
When it breaks

When a Crunchbase Zap breaks

Zapier ties no help article to Crunchbase, so the snags below are the general ones, applied to how this app works.

Most surprises come from timing and volume, not from the connection itself. Four cases are worth knowing before you publish. When in doubt, the Zapier troubleshooting page goes through the fixes step by step.

  • Existing companies are ignored

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after you switch it on. Companies already sitting in a list or a saved search stay put; moving that backlog is a separate job.

  • A big batch gets held back

    Widen a saved search or import many companies into a list, and the trigger can suddenly return a huge batch. Zapier's flood protection may then hold those items back.

  • The same company never fires twice

    Zapier remembers what it has already seen on a polling trigger, so a company it has already passed on does not start the same Zap again. That protects you from duplicates.

  • The filter never lets anything through

    Filter rules are typed. A text rule applied to a number, or the reverse, fails every time, so check the rule type before blaming Crunchbase.
Need help

Need help automating Crunchbase with Zapier?

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FAQ

Crunchbase Zapier integration: common questions

01Is the Crunchbase Zapier integration free?
Yes, it works on the free Zapier plan, because Crunchbase is not a premium app. The free plan gives you 100 tasks a month and Zaps of two steps, one trigger and one action. The Crunchbase side never costs anything, since triggers do not use tasks. What you pay for is the action in the other app. As soon as you add a filter or a second action, the Zap becomes multi-step and needs a paid plan. You still need your own Crunchbase account to connect.
02How many tasks does a Crunchbase Zap use?
One task per action that succeeds, and nothing for Crunchbase itself. Every time Zapier checks your lists or saved searches, it costs zero, however often it checks. If a company lands in a saved search and your Zap sends one Slack message, that run costs one task. With two actions it costs two. An action that fails is not counted. On the free plan, that means 100 single-action runs a month before you hit the ceiling, so a busy saved search can eat the allowance fast.
03Does Crunchbase trigger Zaps in real time?
No. All four Crunchbase triggers are polling triggers: Zapier asks Crunchbase for new items at a set interval rather than being notified the moment something changes. On the free plan that interval is 15 minutes. Professional checks every 2 minutes, Team and Enterprise every minute. On paid plans you can also run a check by hand from the editor. The type of trigger comes from the app itself, so there is no setting that turns these into instant triggers.
04What does it take to connect Crunchbase to Zapier?
A Crunchbase account and a Zapier account, nothing more. You open the Apps page in Zapier, click + Add connection, pick Crunchbase, sign in and grant access. If you want a Zap to watch a list or a saved search that someone else created, your account needs access to it. Two of the triggers also require you to choose the list or saved search during setup, so create those in Crunchbase before building the Zap.
05Can Zapier add companies to a Crunchbase list?
No. The Crunchbase integration has no actions, so Zapier can read what happens in your lists and saved searches but cannot write anything back. Adding a company to a list, creating a saved search or editing a record all stay manual in Crunchbase. The integration works in one direction: Crunchbase reports, and the other apps in your Zap do the work. Plan your Zaps with Crunchbase as the first step, never as a later one.
06What if the Crunchbase operation you need is missing?
Then the Zapier integration will not cover it, and no setting adds it. The app offers four triggers around lists and saved searches, with no action and no search step. If you need to look up a company on demand or push data into Crunchbase, that is outside what Zapier provides for this app. The usual route is to rethink the flow so a list or saved search does the selecting, and Zapier carries the result to the tool that needs it.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Crunchbase?
It depends on your criteria, not on a ranking. On the Zapier side, the facts are clear: four polling triggers, no actions, no searches, and it runs on the free plan with a 15 minute check. If your need fits inside those four triggers and you want the simplest setup, that may be enough. If you need to write into Crunchbase or check more often without paying, compare what each tool offers for this app on those exact points before choosing.
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