As someone who has no affiliation with Apilio, I think you are being somewhat harsh and should try it a little longer. After all, alternatives are essentially non-existent, and the Apilio ecosystem is remarkably robust and responsive. Not having access to persistent variables is a huge limitation of IFTTT, so Apilio would be worthwhile even if it was just an add-on to IFTTT that provided a (very responsive) data repository. Indeed, when I first started using Apilio I viewed it as exactly that, working on the basis that I would do most things in IFTTT with some help from Apilio. However, after working with it for a while, I now take essentially the reverse position, with Apilio being the main engine but with IFTTT providing additional functionality where Apilio is lacking.
The other thing that is different about Apilio is that the developers are remarkably open to suggestions – just look at this forum and see how often this happens. Good luck trying to get responses from developers at IFTTT / Smartthings / Google / Alexa / Tuya… I am also a software developer of many years standing, and it is very refreshing to have real developers (such as @pebneter ) take time to respond, as they do here.