Bardeen: Automate Your Browser Workflows with AI Playbooks
Published on 2025/03/06 by Jasper Sutter
Introduction
Modern professionals spend hours clicking, copying, pasting, and repeating the same actions across browser tabs. Whether it’s pulling leads from LinkedIn, transferring meeting notes into Notion, or updating a Google Sheet from your inbox, these manual tasks eat up valuable time.
Enter Bardeen—a browser-native automation tool that eliminates repetitive tasks through AI-powered playbooks. Think of it as a no-code Zapier that works directly in your browser. You create automations from plain-English commands or customize them using a visual editor—all without switching tabs or writing scripts.
In this review, we explore how Bardeen works, what it excels at, where it falls short, and who should add it to their AI productivity stack.
What is Bardeen?
Bardeen is an AI-enhanced productivity tool designed to automate web-based workflows. It operates as a Chrome extension, integrating with the websites and SaaS tools you already use.
Rather than syncing apps through APIs like Zapier or Make, Bardeen works at the browser level, interacting directly with page content. Its primary toolset includes:
• Prebuilt Playbooks: Automations that complete tasks like scraping data from LinkedIn, scheduling meetings, or cross-posting to Notion.
• AI Command Bar: Type a plain-English request like “Add this email to my CRM” and Bardeen will build the automation.
• Custom Workflow Builder: A visual interface for editing and building multi-step automations, no code required.
The tool focuses on web-first users—people whose workflows live in Chrome, not in backend databases or developer pipelines.
Key Features and UX
🧩 1. Browser-Based Automation
At its core, Bardeen is a Chrome extension that detects the tools and content on the page you’re viewing. This allows you to:
• Highlight LinkedIn profiles and extract data
• Grab email addresses from search results
• Push text from Gmail to Notion
• Schedule meetings based on web content
You can trigger playbooks from the browser sidebar or contextually via right-clicks and hotkeys.
💡 2. AI Playbook Generator
One of Bardeen’s standout features is its AI Command Bar. You type in what you want to automate—like “scrape all job titles from this page and save to Google Sheets”—and it suggests or builds a playbook that does just that.
This massively lowers the learning curve. You don’t need to browse dozens of templates to get started—the AI helps you generate what you need in real time.
🔁 3. Prebuilt Playbook Library
Bardeen offers an extensive catalog of prebuilt playbooks organized by use case and tool. Examples include:
• Save LinkedIn search results to Airtable
• Create a calendar event from highlighted text
• Send follow-up emails from CRM actions
• Auto-fill forms using scraped data
Playbooks are editable and stackable, so you can tailor them to your own stack and workflow.
⚙️ 4. Visual Editor for Customization
For users who want to tweak their workflows, Bardeen includes a drag-and-drop builder. You can sequence multiple steps, use variables, add conditions, and insert prompts or human review steps—all without code.
It’s a bit more advanced but still friendly enough for non-technical users willing to explore.
🛠️ 5. Integrations (Browser-First)
Unlike Zapier or Make, Bardeen doesn’t rely on backend APIs for every integration. Instead, it “sees” what’s on the page and interacts with:
• Notion
• Airtable
• Google Sheets
• Google Calendar
• Gmail
• Slack
• ClickUp
• HubSpot
It works best when these apps are open in your browser, which can be a strength or a limitation depending on your workflow.
Pros
• ✅ Live browser automation with no coding
• ✅ AI command bar turns plain English into usable workflows
• ✅ Large library of prebuilt playbooks for instant use
• ✅ Visual editor enables deeper customization
• ✅ Affordable pricing for freelancers and small teams
• ✅ Excellent for manual-data tasks, scraping, outreach, and task linking between SaaS tools
Cons
• ❌ Only available as a Chrome extension (no Safari, Firefox, or mobile support)
• ❌ May feel overwhelming at first due to the volume of options
• ❌ Limited backend integrations for tools without web interfaces
• ❌ Some actions require apps to be open in browser tabs to work
• ❌ Not ideal for large teams or complex business processes that require audit trails or permissions
Who It’s For
👩💼 Solopreneurs and Founders
Quickly automate tasks like lead scraping, meeting setup, and form entry—without hiring a VA or writing code.
👨💻 Recruiters and SDRs
Pull contact info from LinkedIn, push leads to CRMs, and automate follow-up messages in minutes.
🧠 Knowledge Workers
Save highlights to Notion, log research in Sheets, or sync browser notes with project tools like ClickUp and Airtable.
🚫 Not Ideal For:
• Teams that rely on heavy CRM integrations
• IT departments needing centralized admin control
• Users who don’t work in Chrome or browser-based apps
Pricing Breakdown
Tier | Monthly Price (Billed Annually) | Includes |
Free | $0 | 20 playbook runs/month, access to core templates |
Pro | $20/month | Unlimited runs, AI commands, priority support |
Team/Enterprise | Custom pricing | Team collaboration, SSO, admin controls |
There’s a free tier generous enough to try out the core experience, and the $20 Pro plan is a reasonable step up for most power users.
How Bardeen Compares
Tool | Strengths | Weaknesses |
Bardeen | Browser-based, AI assistant, flexible playbooks | Chrome-only, requires apps to be open |
Zapier | Deep app integrations, backend logic | No UI interaction, requires APIs |
Make | Visual builder, powerful logic tree | Steeper learning curve |
Typedream AI Workflows | Simple setup | Limited scalability |
Bardeen carves out its niche by automating the clicks and inputs that happen in your browser, not just behind the scenes.
Final Verdict
Bardeen is a fast, flexible, and surprisingly powerful tool for anyone who works in the browser all day and is tired of repetitive digital grunt work. Its AI features lower the barrier to automation, and the ability to run workflows contextually (without switching tools) adds real speed to your daily routine.
If you’re a solo founder, creative freelancer, or team member buried in copy-paste chaos, Bardeen is well worth a try.
Key Takeaways
• 🚀 Bardeen automates browser tasks using AI-generated playbooks
• 🧠 Its AI command bar makes creating workflows fast and intuitive
• 💼 Best for freelancers, founders, and ops people working in SaaS tools
• 📎 A great companion to Notion, Airtable, Google Sheets, and CRMs
• 🔒 Chrome-only and best suited to solo or small-team environments
Link
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