Defining Agents: Perspectives on Automation Tools Like Zapier and More

·May 18, 2025 06:39 PM·

I'm curious...how are folks currently defining "agents?" Clearly you can code up you're own agent, but I'm talking more about using one that's already ready as a platform / tool. So where would folks put Make, Zapier, Lindy, Manus, on an "Agent/Not Agent" continuum?

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Nicholas T.
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I think the general understanding - although this may differ depending on who you're talking to - is that something is an agent (or is "agentic") if it makes decisions regarding flow, tool use, output, etc. and doesn't just follow a pre-defined path (then it's just an automation). So, you can make both Agents and Automations in Zapier, Make, Lindy, n8n, etc. Manus is a different beast from the above, and it is definitely agentic. Although I suppose one could use it to make a simple (non-agentic) automation, but that would seem to be overkill.

Nicholas T.
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·
I think the general understanding - although this may differ depending on who you're talking to - is that something is an agent (or is "agentic") if it makes decisions regarding flow, tool use, output, etc. and doesn't just follow a pre-defined path (then it's just an automation). So, you can make both Agents and Automations in Zapier, Make, Lindy, n8n, etc. Manus is a different beast from the above, and it is definitely agentic. Although I suppose one could use it to make a simple (non-agentic) automation, but that would seem to be overkill.