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Orbit Zapier integrationAutomate Orbit with Zapier.

The Orbit Zapier integration gives you 2 triggers, 6 actions and 2 searches. Both triggers are instant, so new members and activities reach your Zap right away, even on the free plan. Here is what each step does, what it costs and where it trips.

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Overview

What the Orbit Zapier integration actually does

The Orbit Zapier integration links your Orbit community workspace to the other tools you run. Zapier builds a Zap, an automation with one starting event and one or more steps that follow. Orbit can start that Zap when someone joins or does something, and it can receive members, notes and activities written by other tools.

Three results people build with it. First, a profile that fills itself: a sign-up in another tool runs Create a Member or Create Activity, and Orbit gets the person without a CSV import. Second, a member history with context: Create a Member Note writes a note on the profile, so the next person who opens it sees why that contact matters. Third, a live feed out of Orbit: New Member and New Activity push fresh events into a chat tool, a spreadsheet or your CRM.

What Zapier does not do for Orbit is just as useful to know. No action deletes a member or an activity. Nothing older than the Zap is picked up either: a Zap only sees what happens after you switch it on. Updating a profile needs the member's ID, which Update Member cannot guess, so a search step usually comes first, and that extra step makes the Zap multi-step, on a paid plan.

If you compare platforms, there is also an Orbit Make integration page.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary in one minute

Seven words come back on every line of this page. Here they are in plain English.

Zap
The automation you build on Zapier: one trigger, then one or more actions that run each time that trigger event happens.
Trigger
The event in an app that starts the Zap. Once the Zap is switched on, Zapier waits for it and does nothing before.
Action
What the Zap does after it starts: the step that writes, sends or moves something for you in an app.
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 by Zapier on a timer. An instant trigger is reported by the app itself the moment the event happens.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap continue only when what arrived meets your condition, and stops it quietly otherwise.
Search step
A step that looks up something that already exists in an app, so later steps can reuse what it found.
Cost

What Orbit costs you on Zapier

Orbit is not a paid-only app on Zapier, so it works on the free plan. The trigger never costs a task, and checking for new data costs nothing either.

  • Free plan100 tasks per month, unlimited Zaps
  • Free plan Zap size2 steps: one trigger, one action
  • Orbit triggers2 instant, 0 polling
  • Paid-only appNo

You pay in tasks: every action that succeeds counts once, and a failed action is not billed. A Zap with three actions burns three times what a one-action Zap does. The catch is the free plan: two steps only, one trigger and one action. Add a filter, a search or a second action and you have a multi-step Zap, which needs a paid plan. The interval grid below concerns polling triggers; both Orbit triggers are instant, so it never slows them down.

Connect

Connect your Orbit account to Zapier

  1. 01

    Open the Apps page

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

  2. 02

    Pick Orbit and add it

    Type Orbit in the search box of the dialog, select it, then click Add connection. You need an Orbit account first, plus access to any workspace you do not own yourself.

  3. 03

    Sign in and grant access

    Sign in to Orbit in the tab that opens, then allow Zapier to reach the account. From then on, every Orbit step in your Zaps can pick this connection from a list.

First Zap

Your first Orbit Zap, step by step

GoalEach new member who is worth a follow-up gets a note on their Orbit profile, without anyone copying it in.

  1. 01

    Build: choose the trigger

    Create a Zap, pick Orbit as the app and New Member as the event. Select the connection you added earlier. New Member is instant, so a lightning bolt shows on the Zap.

  2. 02

    Test the trigger

    Run the test. Zapier brings back the three most recent members of the connected account, so you map the next steps on a real person rather than on blanks.

  3. 03

    Add a filter

    Click the plus icon, choose Filter, then fill the three boxes: the field to read, the rule, the value. Use a text rule on text and a number rule on numbers, or it never passes.

  4. 04

    Add the note action

    Add Orbit again with Create a Member Note. Map the member from the trigger into Member Slug or ID, then write the Note your team should read later.

  5. 05

    Test, then publish

    Test the action once and check the note on the profile. Then click Publish. With a filter, this is a three-step Zap, so it needs a paid plan to run.

Triggers

Orbit triggers on Zapier

2 events start a Zap when something happens in Orbit, and 2 of them are instant: the app calls Zapier straight away, whatever your plan.

1

New Activity

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new activity is created in Orbit”

Starts your Zap whenever an activity is recorded in your Orbit workspace, so a comment, a post or a contribution can travel to another tool on its own. It is the trigger to use when you care about what members do, not only who joins.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan
When to use it
a DevRel team wants every new contribution posted in a team channel for a quick thank-you.
Watch out
activities from your own teammates are left out by default; set Include activities from your teammates? to true if you want them too.
2

New Member

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new member is created in your workspace.”

Fires each time a person is added to your workspace, whatever brought them in. That makes it the natural starting point for any welcome flow or for keeping a second list of members in sync with Orbit.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan
When to use it
a community lead copies every newcomer into a spreadsheet the sales team already reads.
Watch out
Create Activity and Create a Member Note can create a member when none exists, so a Zap that ends with them may start itself again.
Actions

Orbit actions on Zapier

Orbit gives you 6 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Add an Identity to a Member

Action

In Zapier“Adds an Identity on another platform to an Orbit Member profile”

Attaches an account from another platform to an existing Orbit profile, so one person stops showing up as two. It needs the member slug and the name of the source platform.

When to use it
someone links their Discord handle in a form and you want it on the profile you already have.
2

Create Activity

Action

In Zapier“Save an activity to a Member profile in Orbit. If the Member profile does not exist, it will also be created using this Action.”

Logs something a person did on their Orbit profile, with an activity title. If the profile does not exist yet, this same step creates it, which saves a separate member step.

When to use it
a webinar attendance from your event tool should count as engagement in Orbit.
Watch out
mark teammates with Member Teammate, or your own staff inflates the numbers.
3

Create a Member

Action

In Zapier“Add a new member to your Orbit workspace without an associated activity.”

Adds a person to the workspace with no activity attached. Useful when the contact matters before they have done anything, such as a freshly signed partner.

When to use it
a new customer from your billing tool should exist in Orbit from day one.
Watch out
the Teammate option separates staff from the community; leave it off for outside people.
4

Create a Member Note

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new note for a member in your Orbit workspace. If the member cannot be found, then a new member is first created and the note added to the new member.”

Writes a free-text note on a member's profile, found by slug or Orbit ID. If no member matches, Orbit creates one first and attaches the note to it.

When to use it
a support ticket summary lands on the profile so the community team sees the context.
Watch out
a mistyped slug creates a new member instead of failing.
5

Create a Submission to a Program

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new submission to a program in your Orbit workspace.”

Records an application or entry to one of your Orbit programs. It asks for the program's Program Public UUID and the Form Response to store.

When to use it
applications to an ambassador program arrive through an outside form and should end up in Orbit.
Watch out
the program has to exist in the workspace before the Zap can point at it.
6

Update Member

Action

In Zapier“Updates a Member's profile on your Orbit workspace.”

Changes details on an existing profile. It only works with the Member ID, so the usual pattern is a search step first, then this action using what it found.

When to use it
a job title changes in your CRM and the Orbit profile should follow.
Searches

Orbit searches on Zapier

2 search steps look for data that already exists in Orbit, so a later step can use it.

Searches sit at the bottom of the action list in the editor, under SEARCH. They find a member who already exists and pass them on, which is how an update or a note reaches the right profile. Three settings decide what happens next.

1

Get a Member by Orbit ID

Search

In Zapier“Retrieves a Member in a Workspace using their member ID or slug”

Looks up one member from their Orbit ID, which can be the short hash or the slug. Whatever it finds feeds the next steps, including the ID that Update Member requires.

When to use it
your CRM already stores the Orbit slug and you want the full profile before writing to it.
2

Get a Member by Identity

Search

In Zapier“Finds a member in your Orbit workspace using their email address, or Twitter, GitHub, Discord, or LinkedIn username.”

Finds a member from an email address or a username on another platform, such as GitHub, Discord, LinkedIn or Twitter. You tell it the Source to search in.

When to use it
a form only gives you an email, and you need the matching Orbit profile.
Watch out
pick the right source, or a real member stays invisible.

The three settings every search exposes

  1. Successful if no search results are found?
    Left on its default, a search that finds nobody stops the Zap there and skips the steps that relied on it. Switched on, the Zap continues empty-handed.
  2. Create X if it doesn't exist yet?
    This box turns a search into find-or-create. Orbit offers no find-or-create variant on Zapier, so neither search shows it; Create Activity covers part of that need.
  3. If multiple search results are found?
    When several members match, keep the first one (the default), stop the Zap, or pass all of them on together.
When it breaks

When your Orbit Zap breaks

Zapier lists no Orbit-specific help article and no Orbit rate limit. What breaks is the general Zapier behavior, plus one Orbit setting.

  • Old members never show up

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after you switch it on. Members and activities already in Orbit are not picked up; moving that backlog is a separate job.

  • The Zap keeps restarting itself

    A Zap that writes into the place its own trigger watches sets itself off again and again. Creating members from a New Member Zap does exactly that, and drains tasks fast.

  • A bulk import goes quiet

    When a trigger suddenly returns a huge batch, after an import or a migration, Zapier's flood protection can hold it back instead of running everything.

  • Teammate activity is missing

    New Activity skips activities from your teammates by default. Set Include activities from your teammates? to true if staff actions should start the Zap too.
Need help

Need help automating Orbit with Zapier?

A person reads every message.

FAQ

Orbit and Zapier: frequent questions

01Is the Orbit Zapier integration free?
Yes, Orbit runs on the free Zapier plan because Zapier does not reserve it for paid plans. The free plan gives you 100 tasks per month and unlimited Zaps, but each Zap is limited to two steps: one trigger and one action. That covers a Zap such as New Member then Create a Member Note. Once you add a filter, a search or a second action, the Zap becomes multi-step and needs a paid plan. Both Orbit triggers are instant, so the free plan does not slow them down either.
02How many tasks does an Orbit Zap use?
One task per action that completes successfully, and nothing for the trigger. A Zap that starts on New Activity and runs Create a Member Note uses one task each time it runs. Add Update Member after it and the same run costs two. An action that fails is not counted against your plan. Checking for new data never costs anything. The thing to watch is a loop: a Zap that creates members from a New Member trigger can restart itself and spend tasks on every pass.
03Does Orbit trigger Zaps in real time?
Yes. New Activity and New Member are both instant triggers: Orbit itself tells Zapier when the event happens, and the Zap starts right away. The plan intervals of 15 minutes on Free, 2 on Professional and 1 on Team or Enterprise only apply to polling triggers, which Orbit does not use here. In the editor, a Zap built on an instant trigger shows a lightning bolt. That is the quickest way to confirm it before you publish anything.
04What does it take to connect Orbit to Zapier?
An Orbit account, and access to any workspace you do not own yourself but want the Zap to touch. The connection takes three moves: open Apps in Zapier and click + Add connection, search Orbit and click Add connection, then sign in to Orbit in the new tab and grant access. Once done, the connection is reused by every Orbit step in every Zap. Several actions then ask for a member slug or ID, which you find in the URL of the member's Orbit profile.
05Why does New Activity ignore activity from your own team?
Because the trigger leaves out teammate activities by default. Orbit separates staff from the community, and New Activity follows that split unless you change it. In the trigger settings, set Include activities from your teammates? to true and test again. The same logic applies when you write data: Create Activity has a Member Teammate option and Create a Member has a Teammate option. Leave them off for community members, or your engagement figures end up mixing staff and outside people.
06What if the Orbit action you need is not on Zapier?
Then check whether two existing steps get you there. Orbit exposes ten visible operations on Zapier, and nothing outside that list. A search plus Update Member covers most edits on an existing profile. Create Activity also creates the member when the profile is missing, which replaces a separate create step. There is no action to delete a member or an activity. If the job depends on one of those, it has to happen in Orbit itself, outside this integration.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Orbit?
Decide on criteria rather than on a ranking. Start with the operations: on Zapier, Orbit offers 2 triggers, 6 actions and 2 searches, so check that your flow fits inside that list. Next, look at the shape of the flow. A one-trigger, one-action Zap runs on the free plan, while anything with a filter or a search needs a paid plan. Finally, weigh speed: both Orbit triggers are instant on Zapier, so timing does not depend on the plan. Compare the same three points on the other platform before choosing.
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