The 10 best Relevance AI alternatives are Dock, Gumloop, Zapier Agents, n8n, Microsoft Copilot Studio, CrewAI, Dify, Lindy, Sintra and Clay. Most of them answer a narrow question: which tool should I build my agents in? Relevance AI is an agent builder. You design every agent, wire up their tools, test them and keep them running. That is still operating software. The real choice is between building agents and hiring agents that run the work.
Coding already made this shift. Developers now direct coding agents that write, test and ship the code. Business work is next. On an AI-native platform, agents do the sales, marketing and ops work end to end, and there is very little software left to operate. You set direction. The agents run the work. Relevance AI and the other builders on this list belong to the generation before that, and this post sorts the 10 alternatives by that line.
Why founders look for a Relevance AI alternative
Relevance AI is a serious product. It raised a $24 million Series B led by Bessemer in May 2025, its homepage shows case studies from Canva, Autodesk and Lightspeed, and its Invent tool turns a plain-language description into an agent. The reasons people leave come from Relevance AI's own pages.
You build the agents. The Relevance AI homepage says agents are "Built and customized by your team," and pitches Invent as "Your 24/7 AI solutions engineer." A founder who wanted prospect research done by Monday ends up owning a small software project: prompts, tools, triggers, testing, and fixes when a connected app changes.
The bill counts people. The pricing docs list Pro at $19 a month billed annually ($29 monthly, 2 build users) and Team at $234 a month billed annually ($349 monthly, 5 build users and 45 end users). Plans are sized by how many people build and use agents, not by how much work gets done. The same docs say "The Free plan is retired for new signups and existing accounts." The public pricing page now shows one plan, Enterprise, with a "Talk to sales" button and the line "For companies looking to decouple growth from headcount via an AI Workforce."
Then it counts runs. On top of the plan, Relevance AI meters Actions and Vendor Credits. Its packaging FAQ says "Each time a tool runs, it counts as an action" and "If the Tool fails, this will still count as one Action." Extra Actions cost $80 per 1,000. The same page says model costs pass through with no markup, and you can bring your own model keys to skip Vendor Credits.
Seats for the people who build, a meter for every run, and a team member whose job is to keep the agents working. That is the shape of the old model. Our guide to AI agents for business covers the shift in more detail.
Building agents is still operating software
A builder moves the work from doing the task to building the thing that does the task. Someone still designs the agent step by step, picks the tools, writes the prompts, sets the triggers and keeps the agent working when an app changes its API or a field gets renamed. The canvas is newer. The job is the same one people had with workflow software: operate the tool.
The new model starts from the work instead. You describe the outcome you want, and agents who already know the job do it. You manage direction and quality, not nodes.
Three questions separate the two models quickly:
- Who does the work? You, building and maintaining agents, or agents who arrive knowing the job?
- What does the bill count? People and runs, or the agents working for you?
- Where does the work land? In one builder's account, or in a place the whole team can read?
Our piece on AI-native agents vs agents bolted onto work tools makes the same argument about project boards.
How we picked
We started from the pages ranking for "Relevance AI alternatives" and "Relevance AI competitors" this month, kept the tools a founder would realistically shortlist and added Microsoft Copilot Studio, which comes up whenever a company already runs on Microsoft 365. Relay.app, which still appears on older lists, shut down in September 2026, according to a notice on its homepage, so we left it out.
We checked every price on the vendor's own site on October 17, 2026. Anything we could not confirm there, we left out. Then we sorted the picks into three groups: agents you hire, builders and automation tools you operate, and single-purpose tools.
Relevance AI alternatives compared
| Tool | Model | Price (checked Oct 17, 2026) | Who does the work | Where agents run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dock | Hire agents | $20, $100 or $200 per person per month, with 5, 10 or 20 agents always on | Agents hired from the Agent Marketplace, coordinated by a Chief of Staff | Your Mac or the cloud |
| Gumloop | Builder | Pro from $37/month, 14-day trial | You build and maintain each agent | Gumloop's cloud; VPC optional on Enterprise |
| Zapier Agents | Builder on automation | Agents free on every plan; Pro from $19.99/month billed annually | You design each agent beside your Zaps | Zapier's cloud |
| n8n | Workflow builder | Starter €20, Pro €50, Business €667 per month billed annually; Community Edition self-hosted | You assemble workflows node by node | n8n's cloud or your own servers |
| Microsoft Copilot Studio | Builder | $200 per 25,000 credits a month, or pay as you go | You build agents inside Microsoft 365 | Microsoft's cloud |
| CrewAI | Code framework | Open-source framework is free; hosted Basic free (50 runs/month); Enterprise custom | Your developers write and host the agents | Your code, CrewAI's cloud or your VPC |
| Dify | Builder | Sandbox free; Professional $590 and Team $1,590 per workspace per year | You build each AI app | Dify Cloud or self-hosted |
| Lindy | Assistant per person | Free $50 in credits for 7 days; Team from $49.99 per active user per month | One assistant per person, in Slack and iMessage | Lindy's cloud |
| Sintra | Single-purpose helpers | $15.60/month on a 12-month plan; $48.50 on a 1-month plan | Marketing and admin helpers | Sintra's cloud |
| Clay | Single-purpose data tool | Free; Launch $167/month; Growth $446/month | Prospect research and enrichment | Clay's cloud |
The new model: hire agents that run the work
1. Dock
Dock's homepage headline is "Hire agents for business work," and the product works that way. Your Chief of Staff builds a team of agents for sales, marketing and ops, and you run it from your phone. Where Relevance AI has your team build and customize each agent, Dock has you hire specialists who already know a job. Dock is backed by Y Combinator.
The Dock homepage lists roles you can fill today, including Lead Prospector, Contact Enrichment Specialist, Outbound Campaign Operator, SEO Auditor, Invoice Processor, Payment Reconciliation Specialist and Support Ticket Resolver. You hire them from the Agent Marketplace, which is open to every account. Every account starts with a Chief of Staff who coordinates the other agents, and you can reach them by email and iMessage.
The agents work in shared workspaces alongside the people on your team, so a colleague can open what an agent produced, check it and pick it up. In Dock's words: "An agent works in the workspaces its owner can access inside the same company, at the owner's permission level, plus any workspace it's added to directly. Inheritance never crosses into another company." You choose whether each agent runs on your Mac or in the cloud, and which model they use, from the major labs. Agents reach thousands of platforms on your business credits, so many jobs need no new vendor accounts. Sensitive changes like plan changes, removing people or sending an email campaign wait for a person's approval.
Price: per person per month, per the Dock pricing page. Starter is $20 with 5 always-on agents and 10,000 business credits. Standard is $100 with 10 agents and 20,000 credits. Scale is $200 with 20 agents and 50,000 credits.
Built for: founders and business owners who want recurring work in sales, marketing and ops owned by agents now.
Does well: there is nothing to build. A specialist arrives knowing the job, and the work lands in a workspace the whole team can read, so nothing sits in one builder's account.
The catch: Dock is younger than Relevance AI. Its security page says SOC 2 Type II is "not yet attested," and Dock is not HIPAA-eligible. Local agents need a Mac, so a Windows team should plan on cloud agents.
The old model: agent builders and automation tools
Every tool in this group asks the same thing of you that Relevance AI does: design the agent, connect their tools, test them and keep them working.
2. Gumloop
Gumloop calls itself "the multiplayer AI agent builder. Anyone at a company can build agents with any AI model and any integration, while IT controls access." You describe a task and Gumloop produces an agent that connects to your apps and runs on triggers.
Price: the Gumloop pricing page lists Pro from $37 a month after a 14-day free trial, with 20,000 credits a month, unlimited seats and teams, and bring-your-own model keys. Enterprise is custom.
Does well: unlimited seats mean the bill does not grow as people join, and shared credentials let a team build on the same connected apps.
The catch: it is the closest like-for-like Relevance AI replacement, which means you still build and maintain every agent. Spend is credit-based, so a heavy month costs more than the headline.
3. Zapier Agents
Zapier Agents sits on top of Zapier's automation platform. The Agents page says they can "perform tasks across 9,000+ apps."
Price: per the Zapier pricing page, Agents are free for all users and bill in activities, separate from task usage. Free includes 400 activities a month and Pro 1,500. Zapier Pro starts at $19.99 a month billed annually ($29.99 monthly) for 750 tasks.
Does well: the widest app coverage on this list, and agents can use the connections your Zaps already have.
The catch: you design each agent, and agents sit beside Zaps as a second product to learn. A paid run stops at 40 activities and asks before continuing (10 on Free), so long jobs need a person to keep them going.
4. n8n
n8n is a workflow automation tool with AI agent nodes, popular with technical teams because you can self-host it.
Price: the n8n pricing page lists Starter at €20 a month, Pro at €50 and Business at €667, all billed annually, with 2,500, 10,000 and 40,000 workflow executions. Business is self-hosted only. "All plans include unlimited users & workflows and every integration," and a self-hosted Community Edition is on GitHub.
Does well: a full workflow run counts as one execution however many steps it has, which makes cost easier to predict than per-action billing.
The catch: agents are workflows you assemble node by node, and self-hosting means your team owns updates and uptime. It is the most literal version of operating software on this list.
5. Microsoft Copilot Studio
Copilot Studio is Microsoft's tool for building agents inside Microsoft 365 and beyond.
Price: the Copilot Studio pricing page sells packs of 25,000 Copilot Credits at $200 per pack per month, or pay as you go through an Azure subscription. Users with the Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on ($30 per user per month, paid yearly) can build internal agents within Microsoft 365 at no extra cost.
Does well: agents inherit Microsoft's identity and admin controls, which security reviewers already understand.
The catch: it is a builder, and a Microsoft-shaped one. The bill counts seats, then credit packs, then Azure usage, and agents for outside channels need a standalone plan.
6. CrewAI
CrewAI is "an open-source Python framework" for multi-agent workflows, released under the MIT License, with about 60,000 stars on GitHub.
Price: the framework is free. The CrewAI pricing page lists a hosted Basic plan free with 50 workflow executions a month and a visual editor, and Enterprise at custom pricing.
Does well: full control over how agents reason, hand off and use tools, with no platform meter if you run it yourself.
The catch: developers build, host and maintain everything. For a founder who wanted the work done, this is a software project staffed by engineers.
7. Dify
Dify bills itself as "The Platform for Production-Ready Agentic Workflows," with knowledge pipelines that prepare your files, websites and documents for AI apps to answer from, per the Dify homepage.
Price: the Dify pricing page lists Sandbox free (200 message credits, one time), Professional at $590 per workspace per year (5,000 credits a month, 3 members) and Team at $1,590 per workspace per year (10,000 credits a month, 50 members). The Community Edition is free and self-hosted.
Does well: per-workspace pricing keeps the bill flat as people join.
The catch: you build every app. Dify's own page pitches the Community Edition at "open-source enthusiasts, individual developers, and non-commercial projects," so check its source-available license before running a business on it.
Single-purpose tools and assistants
These three skip most of the building, and each covers one slice of the work.
8. Lindy
Lindy works as a teammate in Slack and as a personal assistant you can text over iMessage. You describe what you want in plain language.
Price: the Lindy pricing page starts you with "$50 in free credits. No credit card required," valid for 7 days. Team costs from $49.99 a month for 5,000 credits, and "Every active user in your workspace is billed." Credits pool across the team and do not roll over; top-ups are $10 per 1,000. Enterprise is custom and adds SSO, SCIM, HIPAA compliance and a signed BAA.
Does well: fast to start, with approvals built in so actions with outside impact wait for a person.
The catch: the bill counts people, then credits. Lindy's own page puts everyday asks at 2 to 250 credits and big builds at 1,000 to 2,500, so monthly spend is hard to predict. It is an assistant for each person, not a team running the business.
9. Sintra
Sintra sells ready-made "AI Employees": 12 named helpers, including Buddy (business development), Emmie (email marketing), Seomi (SEO) and Soshie (social media), per the Sintra homepage.
Price: the Sintra pricing page shows a 12-month plan at $15.60 a month, a 3-month plan at $23.60 and a 1-month plan at $48.50, each with all 12 helpers and 250 monthly credits, plus a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Does well: the cheapest way on this list to get ready-made helpers, with a shared workspace and team invites.
The catch: the plan cards list "15+ integrations" and 250 monthly credits for advanced actions. That covers content and marketing help. It is thin for operational work like reconciling payments or running outbound.
10. Clay
Clay is a go-to-market data platform. Its research agent, Claygent, is described on the Clay pricing page as "Clay's AI agent with access to web research," and it pulls enrichment data from 150+ providers.
Price: the Free plan includes 500 actions and 100 data credits a month. Launch is shown at $167 a month and Growth at $446, built from separately priced actions and data credits. Every plan includes unlimited seats.
Does well: research and enrichment are its core, so data coverage goes deeper than a general builder's.
The catch: it does one job, and you still set it up and run it yourself. Support tickets and invoices need another tool. For the wider sales picture, see our guide to an AI sales agent.
Relevance AI vs Dock: build or hire
Both sell the idea of an AI workforce. They split on who builds it.
With Relevance AI, your team designs each agent, connects its tools, tests it and keeps it working. The plan counts build users and end users, and the meter counts every tool run, failed ones included. That is the old model with a newer canvas.
With Dock, you hire. Specialists from the Agent Marketplace arrive knowing a job, a Chief of Staff coordinates them, and their work lands in shared workspaces your people can read and check. You pay per person, from $20 a month with 5 agents always on. You set direction from your phone. The agents run and grow the business. The argument for hiring over headcount is in hire agents, not headcount.
If you have an engineer who wants to build custom multi-agent systems in code, a builder is the right tool. This post is about who does the work.
How to choose: old model vs new model
| The job | Old model: you build and operate it | New model: you hire agents who run it |
|---|---|---|
| Prospect research and outbound | Build a research agent in Relevance AI or Gumloop, or run enrichment tables in Clay | Hire a Lead Prospector and an Outbound Campaign Operator |
| SEO | Wire a workflow in n8n or Zapier, or use a marketing helper in Sintra | Hire an SEO Auditor |
| Invoices and payment reconciliation | Assemble a workflow in n8n or Copilot Studio | Hire an Invoice Processor and a Payment Reconciliation Specialist |
| Support tickets | Design a Zapier agent or a Dify app for the inbox | Hire a Support Ticket Resolver |
| What the bill counts | Build users and end users, then every run (Relevance AI Actions, Lindy credits, Copilot credit packs) | People on your team, with 5, 10 or 20 agents always on and business credits |
| Who keeps it working | You, every time a connected app changes | The agents do the job; you set direction and review the work |
| Where the work lands | Inside one builder's account | Shared workspaces your whole team can read |
If you are still deciding between rules and agents at all, our piece on AI agents for automation explains where if-then rules keep winning.
FAQ
What is the best Relevance AI alternative?
Dock, if you want agents doing the work instead of a tool to build them in. You hire ready-made specialists for sales, marketing and ops into shared workspaces, coordinated by a Chief of Staff, from $20 per person a month with 5 agents always on. Among builders, Gumloop is the closest like-for-like replacement, and n8n suits a team with an engineer who wants to self-host.
Is Relevance AI free?
No. Relevance AI's documentation says the Free plan is retired for new signups and existing accounts, and its public pricing page shows only Enterprise with a "Talk to sales" button.
How much does Relevance AI cost?
Relevance AI's docs list Pro at $19 a month billed annually or $29 monthly with 2 build users, and Team at $234 a month billed annually or $349 monthly with 5 build users and 45 end users, plus custom Enterprise pricing. Usage is metered in Actions, where every tool run counts even if it fails, and Vendor Credits for model costs. Extra Actions cost $80 per 1,000.
What is the best free or open-source Relevance AI alternative?
n8n, CrewAI and Dify all have free self-hosted versions: n8n's Community Edition, the MIT-licensed CrewAI framework and Dify's source-available Community Edition. All three are builders, so someone technical has to build the agents and host and maintain the software. Clay and Zapier also have free plans with monthly limits.
Relevance AI vs n8n: which is better?
Both are builders, so both leave you operating software. Relevance AI is a hosted, no-code agent builder billed per Action. n8n is a workflow automation tool with AI agent nodes that you can self-host, billed per full workflow run, with unlimited users on every plan. n8n gives an engineer more control; neither does the work for you.
Do I need to build my own agents?
Only if you choose a builder. Relevance AI, Gumloop, n8n, Zapier Agents, CrewAI, Dify and Copilot Studio all expect you to design each agent, wire them to your apps and fix them when something changes, so you are still operating software. With Dock you hire specialists from the Agent Marketplace who already know the job, a Chief of Staff coordinates them, and you set direction and review the results.
If you would rather hire agents that run the work than build them, Dock is ready when you are. Get started.