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Pushbullet Zapier integrationAutomate Pushbullet with Zapier.

The Pushbullet Zapier integration gives you 0 triggers, 2 actions and 0 searches. Another app starts the Zap, and Pushbullet drops either a clickable link or a plain note on your phone and computer. Here is what each one is for, what it costs, and where it goes wrong.

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Overview

What the Pushbullet Zapier integration actually does

It turns an event in another app into a notification on your own devices, phone and computer alike. Zapier, the automation service, watches that other app and, when the event happens, asks Pushbullet to push a note or a link to you. Pushbullet only receives here; it never starts a Zap.

Three results people get from it. A ticket you can open in one tap: a help desk logs an urgent request, and Send a Link puts the ticket address on your screen, so tapping the notification takes you straight to it. An article to read later, on every device: a link saved in a bookmarking tool lands on the laptop and the phone at once. A short status line: a build, a backup or a form answer finishes, and Send a Note tells you in plain text, no link needed.

What Zapier does not do with Pushbullet: nothing that happens inside Pushbullet can start a Zap, because the integration has no trigger. There is no search step either, so a Zap cannot look up past pushes, and there is no action to delete or edit one. Both actions push to you, the account that is connected.

The same app is covered on our Pushbullet n8n integration and Pushbullet Make integration pages, built with the same method, if you want to compare before you commit.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary in one minute

Seven words are enough to follow the rest of the page. Each keeps exactly this meaning afterwards.

Zap
The automation you build on Zapier: one trigger, then one or more actions that run every time the trigger event happens.
Trigger
The event in an app that starts the Zap. Once the Zap is on, Zapier waits for it. Pushbullet offers none.
Action
What the Zap does once started: the step that writes, sends or moves something for you. Both Pushbullet operations are actions.
Task
The unit Zapier bills: one action your Zap completes successfully. Your plan's allowance is counted in tasks.
Polling vs instant
A polling trigger is checked on a timer, at an interval your plan sets. An instant trigger is reported by the app the moment it happens.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap continue only when what arrived meets your condition, and stops it otherwise.
Connection
Your Pushbullet account linked to Zapier once, then reused by every step that pushes through Pushbullet.
Cost

What a Pushbullet push costs in tasks

Every link or note that goes out is one task. The trigger that started the Zap costs nothing, and Zapier checking the other app for new items costs nothing either, however often it looks.

  • Free plan100 tasks a month
  • Steps on the free plan2 (one trigger, one action)
  • Premium appNo
  • One push1 task

A push that fails is not counted. The free plan gives 100 tasks a month, unlimited Zaps, polling every 15 minutes and no premium apps; Pushbullet is not one, so it works for free. The limit nobody mentions: free Zaps have two steps, one trigger and one action. Push both a link and a note from the same event, or add a filter to skip low-priority tickets, and you have a multi-step Zap that needs a paid plan. Paid plans also check polling triggers faster: every 2 minutes on Professional, every minute on Team and Enterprise.

Connect

Connect Pushbullet to Zapier in three steps

  1. 01

    Start from the Apps page

    In Zapier, open Apps and click + Add connection. Search for Pushbullet in the dialog and select it. You do this once; every later Zap that pushes to you reuses the same connection.

  2. 02

    Sign in to Pushbullet

    Click Add connection. Pushbullet opens in a new tab: sign in with the account your phone and computer already use. The pushes go to that account's devices, so a shared or old login sends them somewhere you are not looking.

  3. 03

    Grant access

    Approve the access Zapier requests. Back in Zapier, the Pushbullet connection now sits in your Apps list, ready to be picked in the action step of any Zap.

First Zap

Your first Zap: every urgent ticket, one tap away

GoalPush the link of each new help desk ticket to your devices.

  1. 01

    Create the Zap

    Start a new Zap. For step one, pick your help desk and its new-ticket event, then connect that account the same way you connected Pushbullet.

  2. 02

    Test the trigger

    Run the test. Zapier returns the three most recent tickets of the connected account; choose one with a subject and a link, so the next step is built on a real record.

  3. 03

    Add Send a Link

    Add the action, choose Pushbullet and Send a Link, then your connection. Map the ticket address from step one into URL, the field this action requires.

  4. 04

    Test the action

    Run the action test. The push should appear on your phone and computer. Tap it: if it does not open the ticket, the URL field holds the wrong value.

  5. 05

    Publish

    Click Publish to turn the Zap on. Each new ticket from now on sends one link and uses one task. Tickets opened before publishing are not pushed.

Actions

Pushbullet actions on Zapier

Pushbullet gives you 2 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

2

Send a Note

Action

In Zapier“Send me a text notification.”

Sends a plain text notification to the devices on your Pushbullet account, written from the data of the earlier steps.

When to use it
when the message is the whole point, like a backup that finished or a form answer worth a glance, and nothing needs opening.
Watch out
a note carries no link, so if you will want to act on the item, use the link action instead.
When it breaks

When a Pushbullet Zap breaks

Zapier ties no help article to Pushbullet, so these are the failures every Zap can hit. They still catch people out.

A push Zap that looks broken is usually doing what it was told, with data nobody checked. Four general cases are worth knowing. For anything else, see the Zapier troubleshooting page.

  • Older items never pushed

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after it is published. Tickets or links that already existed are never sent, and the Zap cannot go back for them.
  • A wave of pushes after an import

    When the other app suddenly returns a huge batch, after a bulk import or a migration, Zapier's flood protection can hold it back.
  • One item, one push

    On a polling trigger Zapier keeps track of what it has already seen, so the same ticket does not push twice.
  • A loop that drains tasks

    A Zap that writes into the place its own trigger watches sets itself off again and again, pushing and spending a task each time.
Need help

Need help automating Pushbullet with Zapier?

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FAQ

Pushbullet Zapier integration: common questions

01Is the Pushbullet Zapier integration free?
Yes, on Zapier's side. Pushbullet is not a premium app, so it runs on the free plan, with 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps. What limits you is the shape of the Zap: two steps on the free plan, one trigger and one action. A help desk ticket that pushes a link fits. Sending a link and a note from the same event, or filtering out low-priority items, needs a paid plan. Pushbullet's own account terms are outside Zapier and not covered here.
02How many tasks does a Pushbullet push use?
One per link or note that goes out. The trigger in the other app is free, and so are Zapier's checks for new items. A push that fails is not counted. A Zap that pushes every new ticket uses as many tasks as you get tickets, and a Zap that sends both a link and a note uses two per event. A filter can cut the volume, but a filter turns the Zap multi-step, which means a paid plan.
03Do Pushbullet notifications arrive in real time?
That depends on the app starting the Zap, not on Pushbullet, which has no trigger. If that app has an instant trigger, it tells Zapier the moment the event happens and the push follows straight away, on any plan. If it is a polling trigger, Zapier checks on a timer: every 15 minutes on Free, 2 on Professional, 1 on Team and Enterprise. Each polling trigger shows its free-plan interval on the app's page on Zapier, so it is quick to check.
04What does it take to connect Pushbullet to Zapier?
A Pushbullet account that your phone and computer are signed in to, and a Zapier account. Open Apps, click + Add connection, search for Pushbullet, then sign in in the new tab and grant access. The connection is stored once and reused by every Zap. Use the same account as your devices: pushes go to the connected account, so linking an old or shared login sends them to devices you do not watch.
05Why does a Pushbullet link notification open nothing?
Because the URL field did not get a full web address. Send a Link requires that field, and it only contains what the earlier step hands over. If the earlier step offers an ID or a short reference next to the real link, mapping the wrong one gives a notification that leads nowhere. Run the action test, tap the push on your phone, and if nothing useful opens, map the field that holds the complete address instead.
06What if the Pushbullet operation you want is not there?
Then Zapier does not offer it, and no hidden menu will show it. The integration has two actions, a link and a note, both pushed to the connected account, and nothing that reacts to pushes or reads them back. If the plan was to start a Zap from something sent through Pushbullet, that has to come from another tool. It is worth checking whether another platform covers it for this app before building around the gap.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Pushbullet?
It comes down to the criterion you care about. On Zapier, Pushbullet is two simple actions, free while each Zap stays at two steps. If you need to send both a link and a note per event, compare how each platform counts and bills those extra steps. The comparison pages on this site set those criteria side by side, without a winner, because the right pick depends on volume and team.