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Pardot Zapier integrationAutomate Pardot with Zapier.

The Pardot Zapier integration gives you 4 triggers, 6 actions and 1 search to move prospects, lists and list emails between Pardot and the rest of your tools. Pardot is a premium app on Zapier, so plan for a paid plan from day one.

Premium app Zapier reserves this app to its paid plans.

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Overview

What the Pardot Zapier integration actually does for you

The Pardot Zapier integration links your Pardot account to Zapier so that something happening in Pardot (a form submitted, a new prospect, a prospect joining a list) can start work in another tool, and so that other tools can create, update or file prospects in Pardot without anyone copying data by hand.

Three results come up again and again. First, a clean hand-off: New Form Submission starts a Zap and Add Prospect to List files the person on the list your reps work from. Second, one prospect record instead of three: Find Prospect looks the person up by email address, then Update Prospect or Create Prospect writes to the right record. Third, a list email that goes out on cue: Send List Email builds and sends a message to the lists you pick, from a signal that came from somewhere else.

Now for what Zapier does not do with Pardot. None of the four Pardot triggers is instant: Zapier checks Pardot on a timer, so nothing arrives the second it happens. There is no ready-made step to delete a prospect. And the free plan is out of the question, because Pardot is reserved for paid plans and the free trial.

If you are still weighing tools, the Make vs Zapier and n8n vs Zapier pages sit in our labs.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary in one minute

Eight words you will see in the editor. Each one is explained once here, then used as is on the rest of the page.

Zap
The automation you build on Zapier: one trigger, then one or more actions that run each time the trigger event happens.
Trigger
The event in an app that starts the Zap. Once the Zap is switched on, Zapier waits for that event and nothing else.
Action
What the Zap does once it has started: the step that writes, sends or files something for you in an app.
Task
The unit Zapier bills: one action your Zap completes successfully. The number on your plan counts those, nothing else.
Polling trigger
A trigger Zapier checks on a timer: it asks the app for its latest items at a fixed interval and keeps only the new ones.
Instant trigger
A trigger the app reports itself, the moment the event happens. Pardot has none: all four of its triggers are polling.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap go on only when what arrived meets your condition, and quietly stops it the rest of the time.
Search step
A step that looks up something that already exists in an app, so the steps after it can reuse what it found.
Cost

What a Pardot Zap really costs

Zapier bills tasks, and only successful actions count. The trigger is free, and so is every check Zapier runs on Pardot, however often it looks.

  • Trigger checksFree, whatever the frequency
  • Each successful action1 task
  • Failed actionNot counted
  • Pardot on the free planNot available (premium app)

A Zap with three actions eats three tasks per run, one with a single action eats one. An action that fails is not counted. The catch for Pardot: it is a premium app, so the free plan (100 tasks a month, checks every 15 minutes, two-step Zaps only) cannot use it at all. A filter or a search also turns your Zap into a multi-step Zap, which needs a paid plan anyway. Budget for that before you sketch the Zap.

Connect

Connect Pardot to Zapier in three steps

  1. 01

    Open the Apps page

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

  2. 02

    Pick Pardot and start the link

    Type Pardot in the search box of the dialog, select it, then click Add connection. Zapier opens a new tab where Pardot asks you to sign in with your own account.

  3. 03

    Sign in and grant access

    Sign in to Pardot and allow Zapier to reach the account. You need a Pardot account, plus read or write access on any list, prospect or campaign you do not own yourself but want the Zap to touch.

First Zap

Your first Pardot Zap, step by step

GoalEvery new Pardot prospect who matches your rule lands on a nurture list, with nobody sorting by hand.

  1. 01

    Pick the trigger

    Create a Zap, choose Pardot as the app and New Prospect as the event, then select your Pardot connection so every later step reads from your own account.

  2. 02

    Test the trigger

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

  3. 03

    Add the filter

    Add a Filter step from the plus icon, then set the field to look at, the rule and the value. Pick a text rule for text and a number rule for numbers.

  4. 04

    Add the action

    Add Pardot again with Add Prospect to List, choose the list, and map the prospect coming from the trigger into the Prospect field.

  5. 05

    Test, then publish

    Test the action and read what Pardot returned. When it looks right, Publish the Zap to switch it on. Only prospects created after that moment will be handled.

Triggers

Pardot triggers: what can start your Zap

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

1

New Form Submission

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a form is submitted.”

Someone fills in one of your Pardot forms, and the Zap starts with that submission in hand. It is the most direct way to turn a website sign-up into work for another tool, whether that is a sales alert, a row in a sheet or a new deal.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your paid plan: every 2 minutes on Professional, every minute on Team and Enterprise
When to use it
a demo request form whose replies should reach the account executive without anyone exporting a report.
Watch out
a Zap only reacts to submissions made after it is published, so older replies stay where they are.
2

New Prospect

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new Prospect is synced to Pardot.”

Fires on a prospect that has just been synced into Pardot, whatever brought it there: a form, an import or another connected tool. You get the fresh record and can pass it on to your CRM, your chat tool or a spreadsheet the team already reads.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your paid plan: every 2 minutes on Professional, every minute on Team and Enterprise
When to use it
posting each new prospect in a team channel so a rep can pick it up.
Watch out
after a bulk import, a large batch can be held back by Zapier's flood protection.
3

Prospect Added to List

Polling trigger

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

Watches one Pardot list and starts the Zap each time a prospect joins it. Lists are often how marketing signals intent, so this trigger turns a list membership into a concrete next step somewhere else.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your paid plan: every 2 minutes on Professional, every minute on Team and Enterprise
When to use it
a prospect lands on a hot-leads list and a task appears in the sales team's project tool.
Watch out
the List setting takes a single list; watching three lists means three Zaps.
4

New or Updated Prospect

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a Prospect is created or updated in Pardot.”

Broader than New Prospect: it starts the Zap when a prospect is created and again when an existing one changes in Pardot. Use it to keep a second tool in step with what Pardot knows about a person.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your paid plan: every 2 minutes on Professional, every minute on Team and Enterprise
When to use it
mirroring prospect changes into a support or billing tool that should never fall behind.
Watch out
if the same Zap ends with Update Prospect, it changes the record it watches and sets itself off again and again.
Actions

Pardot actions: what your Zap can do

Pardot 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 Prospect to List

Action

In Zapier“Adds an existing prospect to a list.”

Files a prospect that is already in Pardot on the list you choose, which is often enough to start the nurture flow tied to that list.

When to use it
a deal reaches a stage in your CRM and the person joins the matching Pardot list.
Watch out
both the list and the prospect are required; this step will not create a missing prospect.
2

Create Prospect

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new Prospect record within Pardot.”

Writes a brand-new prospect record into Pardot from data that arrived elsewhere: a webinar tool, a payment form, a chatbot.

When to use it
leads captured outside Pardot that should enter your scoring and nurturing.
Watch out
the email address is mandatory, so a source that sometimes lacks one will make the step fail on those runs.
3

Remove Prospect From List

Action

In Zapier“Removes an existing prospect from a list.”

Takes an existing prospect off a list, the mirror of the step above, so people stop receiving what that list sends.

When to use it
a customer signs the contract and should leave the prospect nurture list at once.
Watch out
like the add step, it needs both the list and the prospect, and the prospect has to exist already.
4

Send List Email

Action

In Zapier“Creates and sends a list email.”

Builds a list email and sends it in one go: name, campaign, target lists, sender, subject line and text body all come from the Zap.

When to use it
a short announcement that should go out when a product status changes in another tool.
Watch out
the text body must contain %%unsubscribe%% or %%email_preference_center%%, or the step fails.
5

Update Prospect

Action

In Zapier“Updates an existing prospect.”

Changes a prospect that already exists, for example ticking Do Not Email? or Do Not Call? when someone opts out in another tool.

When to use it
keeping consent in Pardot in line with what the customer told your help desk.
Watch out
you must point to an existing prospect, which is why a Find Prospect step usually sits just before it.
6

API Request (Beta)

Action

In Zapier“This is an advanced action which makes a raw HTTP request that includes this integration's authentication.”

The advanced escape hatch: a raw request to Pardot that reuses the sign-in of your connection, for a need none of the ready-made steps covers.

When to use it
a one-off Pardot operation your developer has already specified.
Watch out
it only reaches domains tied to Pardot, and with Stop on error set to No the Zap carries on even when Pardot refuses.
Searches

The Pardot search, and what happens when it finds nothing

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

Searches sit at the bottom of the action list in the editor, under SEARCH. They cost a step on your Zap and make it multi-step, so they need a paid plan, which Pardot requires anyway.

1

Find Prospect

SearchFind or create

In Zapier“Finds an existing prospect by email address.”

Looks up an existing prospect by email address and hands the record to the steps that follow, so Update Prospect or Add Prospect to List act on the right person.

When to use it
before any step that needs a Pardot prospect when the incoming data only carries an email.
Watch out
Find or Create Prospect in the editor is this same search with the creation box ticked, not a separate step.

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 skips the steps that depended on it. Switched on, the Zap carries on empty-handed.
  2. Create Prospect if it doesn't exist yet?
    Ticking it turns the search into Find or Create Prospect: the setting above disappears and Zapier asks for what it needs to create the missing prospect.
  3. If multiple search results are found?
    Three ways out when several prospects match: keep the first one (the default), stop the Zap, or pass all of them on at once.
When it breaks

When a Pardot Zap breaks

Most broken Pardot Zaps fail for reasons you can spot in the setup, not in Pardot itself.

Zapier links two help articles to this app, Common Problems With Pardot and How to get started with Pardot on Zapier. The cases below cover Zapier's general limits and the required fields of the Pardot steps. For a Zap that already misbehaves, our Zapier troubleshooting page is the place to start.

  • Old prospects are never picked up

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after you publish it. Prospects and submissions that already existed stay put, and moving that backlog is a separate job.

  • The Zap keeps setting itself off

    New or Updated Prospect plus Update Prospect on the same record makes a loop: each update is a change, each change starts the Zap again, and tasks drain fast.

  • A bulk import stalls the trigger

    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.

  • The same prospect never starts it twice

    Zapier remembers what it has already seen on a polling trigger. A prospect that was picked up once will not start the same Zap a second time.

  • Send List Email fails every run

    The text body lacks the unsubscribe or preference-center tag, or a required field such as campaign, lists or sender is left empty in the step.

  • Add or remove finds no one

    The list steps work on prospects that already exist. Feed them an email that Pardot does not know, and there is no record to act on.
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FAQ

Pardot Zapier integration: frequent questions

01Is the Pardot Zapier integration free?
No. Pardot is a premium app on Zapier, which means Zapier reserves it for paid plans and the free trial. The free plan, with its 100 tasks a month and checks every 15 minutes, cannot use Pardot at all, whatever the Zap looks like. No price is quoted here, since plan grids change too often. Count on Professional, Team or Enterprise before you build anything that touches Pardot. The free trial is the one way to test a Pardot Zap before paying.
02How many tasks does a Pardot Zap use?
One task per action that completes successfully, and nothing for the rest. The Pardot trigger costs nothing, and the checks Zapier runs on your account cost nothing either, however often they happen. A Zap made of New Prospect then Add Prospect to List uses one task per prospect. Add Update Prospect after it and you are at two per prospect. An action that fails is not billed, which limits the damage while a setting is still wrong.
03Do Pardot triggers work in real time?
No. All four Pardot triggers are polling triggers: Zapier asks Pardot for new items at a fixed interval rather than being told the moment something happens. On Professional that check runs every 2 minutes, on Team and Enterprise every minute. On paid plans you can also run a check by hand from the editor. The type comes from Pardot's side and cannot be switched in the editor, whatever plan you pay for.
04What does it take to connect Pardot to Zapier?
A Pardot account, a paid Zapier plan, and access to whatever the Zap will touch. From the Apps page in Zapier, you add a connection, pick Pardot, sign in in the tab that opens and grant access. If the Zap reaches lists, campaigns or prospects that someone else owns, your login needs read or write rights on them, otherwise the steps will not see them. The connection is then reused by every Pardot step.
05Why does Send List Email keep failing?
Usually because a required field is empty or the text body lacks the unsubscribe tag. This action needs a name, a campaign, one or more lists, a sender name, a sender email, a subject line and a text body. That body must contain either the unsubscribe tag or the email preference center tag. Check that the campaign and lists exist in Pardot and that your connection can see them, since a list it cannot reach counts as missing.
06What if the Pardot operation you need is not listed?
Start with Find Prospect plus Update Prospect, which cover many cases the list does not name. Beyond that, the advanced raw request action sends a raw request to Pardot with the sign-in of your connection, but it only reaches domains tied to Pardot and is best left to someone technical. Deleting a prospect, for example, has no ready-made step among the eleven operations Zapier offers for Pardot, so plan that part outside the Zap.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Pardot?
Decide on your own criteria rather than on a ranking. On Zapier, Pardot offers 11 ready-made operations, all four triggers are polling, and the app requires a paid plan. So the questions are: is a check every minute or two fast enough for your sales team, do the eleven operations cover your use case, and does a paid plan fit the budget. If any answer is no, compare the same points on the other tools.
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