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Ninox Zapier integrationAutomate Ninox with Zapier.

The Ninox Zapier integration gives you 2 triggers, 4 actions and 1 search to move records in and out of your Ninox tables without copying anything by hand. Here is what each one does, what it costs, and where it trips up.

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Overview

What the Ninox Zapier integration actually does for you

Ninox is a low-code database where a team builds its own small business apps out of tables. Plugging it into Zapier means a change in one of those tables can start work elsewhere, and other tools can write back into Ninox, all without anyone retyping a row.

Three results people usually build first. A record that fills itself in: a form, a CRM or a shop sends its data, and Create Record adds the row to the right table. A record that stays current: Find Record locates the existing row, then Update Record changes only the fields that moved. Documents in the right place: Upload File attaches a contract or an invoice straight to the record it belongs to, and Download File hands a stored file to the next tool.

What Zapier does not do here matters just as much. Both Ninox triggers are checked on a timer, so nothing reacts the very second a row appears. There is no way to delete a record from a Zap, and no trigger for a deleted one either. And a Zap only sees what happens after you switch it on, so the rows already sitting in your tables stay where they are.

If you are weighing tools before you build, the Ninox Make integration covers the same app on Make, and the Make vs Zapier comparison sets the two tools side by side.

Vocabulary

The Zapier words you will meet on this page

Seven terms, one line each. Read them once and the rest of the page reads easily.

Zap
The automation you build on Zapier: one trigger, then one or several actions that run each time the trigger event happens.
Trigger
The event in an app that starts the Zap, like a new Ninox record. Once the Zap is on, Zapier watches for it.
Action
What the Zap does after it starts: the step that writes, sends or moves something for you, such as creating a record.
Task
The unit Zapier bills. One task is one action your Zap completes successfully, and your plan counts those.
Polling vs instant
A polling trigger is checked on a timer by Zapier. An instant one is reported by the app the moment it happens. Ninox only has polling ones.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap continue only when the incoming data meets your condition, and quietly stops it otherwise.
Search step
A step that looks up something already stored in an app, so the steps after it can reuse what it found.
Cost

What a Ninox Zap really costs

Ninox is not a premium app, so it works on the free plan. The bill is counted in tasks, and only finished actions count.

  • Premium appNo, works on the free plan
  • Free plan100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps only
  • Trigger checksFree, never billed
  • Filter or searchMakes the Zap multi-step, paid plan

The trigger never costs a task, and neither does Zapier checking Ninox for new rows, however often it looks. Each action that succeeds is counted on its own: a Zap that creates a record and then uploads a file uses two tasks per run. An action that fails is not counted. The free plan gives you 100 tasks a month and only two-step Zaps, one trigger plus one action. Add a filter, a search or a second action and you have a multi-step Zap, which needs a paid plan.

Connect

Connect your Ninox account in three steps

  1. 01

    Open the connections page

    In your Zapier account, go to Apps and click + Add connection. A connection is your Ninox account linked once, then reused by every step that touches Ninox.

  2. 02

    Find Ninox and start the link

    Type Ninox in the search box of the dialog that appears, pick it from the list, then click Add connection. A new browser tab opens on the Ninox side to finish the link.

  3. 03

    Sign in and grant access

    Log in to Ninox in that tab and allow Zapier to reach your account. You need a Ninox account, plus read or write rights on any database you did not create yourself but want the Zap to touch.

First Zap

Your first Zap: copy confirmed Ninox orders into a delivery table

GoalEvery new order recorded in Ninox with the status Confirmed creates a matching row in the delivery table, so the warehouse works from one list.

  1. 01

    Create the Zap

    In Zapier, start a new Zap from your dashboard. You build it from top to bottom: what starts it, then the checks, then what it does.

  2. 02

    Set the trigger

    Pick Ninox as the app and New Record as the event. Choose your connection, then the database and the orders table to watch.

  3. 03

    Test the trigger

    Run the test. Zapier brings back the three most recent records of that table, so you map fields from a real order, not a blank one.

  4. 04

    Add the filter

    Click the plus icon, pick Filter, then set the field (Status), the text rule and the value Confirmed. This step makes the Zap multi-step, so it needs a paid plan.

  5. 05

    Add the action

    Add a step, pick Ninox again and Create Record. Choose the delivery table and map each field to a value from the order.

  6. 06

    Test, then publish

    Test the action and check that the new row shows up in the delivery table in Ninox. If it looks right, click Publish to switch the Zap on.

Triggers

Ninox triggers

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

1

New Record

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new record is added to a table.”

Starts your Zap each time a row is added to the Ninox table you picked. Every field of that row becomes available to the steps that follow, so the next app receives the full record and not just a notification.

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 sales team logs a new deal in Ninox and wants the account manager pinged in their chat tool, or the deal copied to the invoicing table.
Watch out
if the Zap then creates a record in that same table, it sets itself off again and again.
2

Updated Record

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a record is updated in a table.”

Reacts when an existing row in your chosen table is edited. You get the record as it stands after the change, which is handy when a status field moving from one value to another is what should set things in motion.

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 project lead marks a job as finished in Ninox, and the client should get the closing email without anyone remembering to send it.
Watch out
any edit counts, so pair it with a filter on the status field if only one change should go through.
Actions

Ninox actions

Ninox gives you 4 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Download File

Action

In Zapier“Download file”

Pulls a file stored in Ninox out of the database and passes it to the next step, which can then send it, archive it or share it.

When to use it
an approved invoice in Ninox should be emailed to the accountant as an attachment.
Watch out
on the free plan this Zap stops at two steps, so the sending step needs a paid plan.
2

Create Record

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new record.”

Adds a fresh row to a Ninox table, filled with whatever earlier steps passed along: a form answer, a contact from your CRM, an order from your shop.

When to use it
collecting event registrations in Ninox without exporting a spreadsheet every evening.
Watch out
it always creates, so the same input twice gives you two rows.
3

Update Record

Action

In Zapier“Updates a record.”

Changes the fields of a row that already exists. The Record field is required: you tell the step which row to edit, usually with an ID that a search found just before.

When to use it
moving a lead from contacted to signed once the e-signature tool confirms.
Watch out
without a valid Record, the step fails and nothing is changed.
4

Upload File

Action

In Zapier“Uploads file to a record.”

Attaches a file to a specific Ninox record, so the document sits next to the data it relates to instead of in a separate folder.

When to use it
a signed quote comes back by email and should land on the customer's record in Ninox.
Watch out
you need the target record first, so this step usually follows a create or a search.
Searches

Ninox search

1 search step looks for data that already exists in Ninox, so a later step can use it.

A search step sits at the bottom of the action-event list, under the SEARCH heading. Three settings decide what happens when the result is not a clean single match.

1

Find Record

Search

In Zapier“Finds an existing record in a table.”

Looks up a row that already exists in a Ninox table and hands it to the following steps, including its ID. That ID is what Update Record and Upload File need to target the right row.

When to use it
a payment arrives with an email address and you want the matching customer row before updating its balance.
Watch out
how close the match must be is Ninox's call, not Zapier's, so test with real values.

The three settings every search exposes

  1. Successful if no search results are found?
    Left on its default, a search that finds nothing stops the Zap there and the steps that relied on it are skipped. Switched on, the Zap carries on with nothing in hand.
  2. Create X if it doesn't exist yet?
    Ticking it turns the search into a find-or-create. Ninox offers no such variant on Zapier, so you will not see this box for Find Record.
  3. If multiple search results are found?
    Three ways out when several rows match: keep the first one, which is the default, stop the Zap, or pass all of them along at once.
When it breaks

When a Ninox Zap breaks

Zapier lists no help article and no rate limit of its own for Ninox. The problems you will hit are the general ones, and they show up fast on a database.

Four cases cover most of what goes wrong. If a Zap stays stuck after these, the Zapier troubleshooting guide walks through the rest.

  • Old records are never picked up

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after you switch it on. Rows already in Ninox stay put, and moving that backlog is a separate job.

  • The Zap keeps firing itself

    Watch a table with New Record or Updated Record, then write into that same table, and each run starts the next one. Your tasks drain quickly.

  • A bulk import gets held back

    Import a large batch of rows at once and the trigger suddenly returns a lot. Zapier's flood protection can hold that batch back instead of running it.

  • The same row never runs twice

    Zapier remembers what it has already seen on a polling trigger, so a record that was processed once is ignored on the next check.
Need help

Need help automating Ninox with Zapier?

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FAQ

Ninox Zapier integration: frequent questions

01Is the Ninox Zapier integration free?
Yes, Ninox is not a premium app, so it works on the free Zapier plan. That plan gives you 100 tasks a month and Zaps of two steps only: one trigger and one action. As soon as you add a filter, a search such as Find Record or a second action, the Zap becomes multi-step and needs a paid plan. Plan grids change often, so check the current plans before you commit.
02How many tasks does a Ninox Zap use?
One task per action that succeeds, and nothing else. The trigger is free, and so are the checks Zapier runs on your Ninox tables, however often they happen. A Zap that creates a record uses one task per run; one that creates a record then uploads a file uses two. An action that fails is not billed. The real risk is a loop: a Zap that writes into the table its own trigger watches can burn through the monthly count quickly.
03Does Ninox trigger Zaps in real time?
No. Both Ninox triggers, New Record and Updated Record, are polling triggers: Zapier checks your table at a fixed interval and keeps only what it has not seen yet. On the free plan that check runs every 15 minutes, on Professional every 2 minutes, and on Team and Enterprise every minute. The type comes from the app itself and cannot be changed from the editor. On paid plans you can also run a check by hand while you test.
04What does it take to connect Ninox to Zapier?
A Ninox account, plus read or write rights on any database you did not create yourself and want the Zap to touch. The link is made once from the Apps page of your Zapier account with + Add connection: you search for Ninox, sign in on the tab that opens and grant access. After that, every step that uses Ninox reuses the same connection, so you never sign in again for each new Zap.
05Why does Update Record fail in a Ninox Zap?
Usually because it does not know which row to change. The Record field is required, and it expects the identifier of an existing row. The clean way to get one is a Find Record step placed just before, which looks up the row and passes its ID along. Keep in mind that adding that search makes the Zap multi-step, so it needs a paid plan. Also check that the connected account can write in that table.
06What if the Ninox operation you need is not there?
Then Zapier cannot do it with Ninox today. The editor offers 2 triggers, 4 actions and 1 search for this app, and nothing to delete a record or to react to a deleted one. Older operations that Zapier still keeps in its data are hidden from the editor, so no setting brings them back. In that case, compare what the same app offers on Make or on n8n before building a workaround with several steps.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Ninox?
It depends on what you value most. Zapier is the quickest to learn and its Ninox app works on the free plan, but both triggers are polling and the free plan stops at two steps. Make tends to suit longer scenarios with branches. n8n suits teams that want to host the tool themselves. None of them wins on every criterion, so start from your volume, your budget and who will maintain it.
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