Announcing our new product, Stepper. From idea to automation in one conversation.

Introducing Stepper: the AI-native workflow automation builder

/ 3 min read

Sydney, Australia, 29 October 2025 — The team behind Australian form-building platform Paperform today announced the launch of Stepper, an AI-native workflow builder designed to help small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) and solopreneurs automate with clarity, confidence, and control.

For nearly a decade, Paperform has been quietly bootstrapped by founders Dean and Diony McPherson, serving more than 23,000 paying customers around the world. Their new product, Stepper, takes the next logical step: bringing powerful automation within reach of teams who need to scale without adding complexity or cost.

Examples of the Stepper UI

Why Stepper? - Power and clarity with AI that thinks with you

The workflow-automation industry is projected to exceed USD 78 billion by 2030. Yet, with a saturated field of many solid options, SMBs still struggle with ballooning costs and opaque systems. Popular tools such as Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), and n8n have advanced the space. However, there are still trade-offs in affordability, usability, or technical overhead for many.

“Most automation tools make you choose between simplicity and power,” said Dean McPherson, Co-founder and CEO of Stepper. “Stepper gives you both. It’s the first workflow builder that can think with you—using AI to help you design, understand, and improve your automations—while still keeping you in control every step of the way.”

Stepper enters as an AI-native alternative that combines power and clarity without the overhead. Users can build workflows in plain English, reuse modular components across projects, and see exactly how every process runs.

“Stepper is AI-native from the ground up, meaning users can describe what they want to build, and Stepper will generate and configure it—while providing full visibility into every action,” shared Dean McPherson. “Unlike many AI assistants, Stepper keeps users in the loop, showing each step and offering explanations and edits in real time.”

Key features of Stepper

One of the key stand-out features of Stepper is Components. These are reusable modular building blocks you can create once and reuse everywhere. Users can build up their Component library and then drop those Components into as many flows as they want. This also includes support for multiple triggers in the same workflow. This allows users to build related automations together in one place. It also unlocks powerful applications for recurring logic like authentication, approvals, client handoffs, lookups, and common transforms.

Key differentiators include:

  • Conversational AI workflow creation: Go from idea to automation in one conversation. Work step-by-step with AI to build your workflow.
  • Reusable Components: Save any workflow fragment to reuse across automations
  • Secure integrations: Use built-in services or bring your own API keys for total control.
  • Multiple triggers per workflow: Build processes that actually reflect how your business runs.
  • Transparent pricing: Unlimited runs (within fair use) on the Stepper Pro plan for USD $19/month

Stepper: AI intelligence with human direction

Stepper’s product philosophy is “guardrails not guesswork,” blending AI intelligence with human direction. The platform’s conversational builder acts like an implementation specialist, surfacing recommendations while letting users make final decisions.

“Automation should feel like progress, not punishment,” Diony McPherson, Co-Founder of Stepper said. “We built Stepper for the same reasons we built Paperform — to help people spend less time on busywork and more time on the things that matter. We want to give business owners control. We all want visibility, confidence, and speed without the chaos. That design ethos gives business owners the confidence to automate operations without losing oversight. For busy teams, it means faster creation, fewer errors, and less reliance on technical staff.”

Stepper - the new competitive choice for scalable workflows

Stepper is designed for solo-operators, owners, and founders who are scaling lean teams and tired of complex, overpriced tools. Stepper is priced competitively, with unlimited runs on the Pro plan for $19/month, a model designed to stay affordable as teams grow. Built from scratch by a product-driven SaaS company, Stepper continues Paperform’s vision of helping people reclaim their time and cost.

“This launch marks a new phase for the Paperform platform—expanding from form-building into full-stack business automation,” explained Diony McPherson. “We want Stepper to bring undeniable value to our users. We have a deep product roadmap planned out, with ongoing releases that will only make Stepper more powerful. We are excited to see what Stepper unleashes for businesses and solopreneurs.”

Ready to Build Smarter Workflows?

🔗 Learn more at stepper.io

Start your free trial today
Or contact us at support@paperform.co to learn more about Stepper

About Stepper

Stepper is an AI-native workflow automation platform built by the founders of Paperform. It enables SMBs and solopreneurs to go from idea to automation in one conversation — combining reusable components, secure integrations, and transparent pricing to make automation simple, scalable, and sustainable.


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