AI employee platforms at a glance
Prices are the entry plans listed on each vendor's pricing page on November 6, 2026, in US dollars. For what an AI employee is and how it differs from an AI agent, see what is an AI employee.
| Platform | Best for | How work starts | Runs on | Free option | Paid from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lindy | Office work across ~17 functions: inbox, calendar, sales, support, recruiting | Schedules (Routines), Slack and iMessage, phone calls | Lindy's choice of major models | Free: $50 in credits for 7 days | $49.99/mo per user (Team) |
| Sintra | Small businesses: 12+ named helpers for support, copy, SEO, social, sales | You chat with a helper or run a one-click task | Sintra's models (based on Claude Sonnet) | No free plan | $48.50/mo, or less on a yearly plan |
| Marblism | Small businesses: 7 roles from assistant to receptionist and legal | You set a goal; they work toward it daily and ask for approval | Not stated | No free plan | $24/mo yearly, $44 monthly |
| Artisan (Ava) | Outbound sales: an AI business development rep | Autonomous, with approval and escalation rules | Not stated | Not stated | Credit plans; book a demo |
| Ema | Enterprise HR, IT and finance | Teams, Slack or voice; 250+ integrations | Ema's mix of 100+ models | Free trial | Outcome-based; not listed |
| Devin | Software engineering | @mention in Slack or Teams, tickets from Linear or Jira, recurring workflows | Devin's models (several providers) | Free plan with a light quota | $20/mo (Pro) |
| ai-employees (open source) | 8 business roles as folders of scheduled routines | Schedules in each role's SCHEDULE.md | Your own agent: Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and others | Free, MIT license | Free |
| Crewmark | Any role you define, on coding agents: engineering, SEO, marketing, design | A heartbeat wakes each employee during working hours to take the next issue from a board | Your own Claude Code, Codex, DeepSeek Harness or OpenCode subscription | Yes: 1 project, up to 3 employees | $5/month (Pro, coming soon) |
How to choose an AI employee platform
Start from the job, not the tool
Write down one role and the number it should move, such as booked meetings, Search Console clicks or merged pull requests. Platforms built for one job (Artisan for outbound sales, Devin for code) usually beat general ones at that job.
Check how work starts
A chat assistant waits for you; an AI employee starts on its own. Look for schedules, triggers or a heartbeat, and for a place to assign work, such as a board, tickets or a Slack channel.
Check whose models and whose bill
Most platforms resell model usage as credits or seats. If you already pay for Claude Code or Codex, tools that run on that subscription (the open-source ai-employees project, Crewmark) add little or no model cost.
Check how it asks before acting
An employee that sends emails, posts or spends money should ask first. Look for approvals, escalation rules and a log of what it did.
Try one role for two weeks
Use the free plan or trial where there is one, measure the number you wrote down, and only then add roles.
The platforms in more detail
- Lindy: sold as "the teammate that punches above its price". Routines run on a schedule, you can message it in Slack or iMessage, and "Watch and Learn" records a task you show it once. Pricing: lindy.ai/pricing.
- Sintra: 12+ helpers with names, such as Cassie for support, Seomi for SEO and Soshie for social media, each working as a chatbot you talk to. A single helper costs $39/mo. Pricing: sintra.ai/pricing.
- Marblism: seven AI employees (Eva, Sonny, Stan, Walter, Penny, Rachel and Linda) that "work toward it every day, on their own" once you set a goal; plans include 50 hours of AI work a month. Pricing: marblism.com/pricing.
- Artisan: "AI employees for go-to-market teams". Ava finds leads, enriches them, writes outreach, handles replies and books meetings, with human approvals. See artisan.co.
- Ema: a "Universal AI Employee" you configure by describing its goal in plain language, for HR, IT, finance and more. See ema.ai.
- Devin: "your team's autonomous software engineer". Assign it a ticket and get a pull request; Max is $200/mo and Teams $80/mo plus $40 per seat. Pricing: devin.ai/pricing.
- ai-employees: an MIT-licensed GitHub project where "an AI Employee is a folder of scheduled routines that covers one business role", run by the coding agent you already have. See github.com/markfulton/ai-employees.
- Crewmark: turns a Claude Code, Codex, DeepSeek Harness or OpenCode session into an employee with a role, a goal, working hours and a board of issues; it comments on its issues and messages you when it needs a decision. See how to make Claude Code proactive.
New: AI coworker apps, Grok Bot and OpenBot
Two "AI coworker" products have drawn attention since this comparison was first written: xAI's Grok Bot and CopilotKit's open-source OpenBot. Both give each Bot a computer of its own. Facts from each vendor's site, checked on November 13, 2026; side by side in Grok Bot vs Claude Code and OpenBot vs Grok Bot.
More AI coworkers, from Claude Cowork and Copilot Cowork to ChatGPT Work and Andrew Ng's OpenWorker, are in AI coworker tools compared.
| Platform | Best for | How work starts | Runs on | Free option | Paid from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grok Bot | Teams that want hosted AI teammates working in their apps, Slack, Teams and meetings | You message a Bot or hand it work in Slack or Teams; routines on a schedule | Grok (xAI), on a cloud computer per Bot | “Get started for free” on x.ai/bot | Included in Premium at $30/month; Super $100, Ultra $200 |
| OpenBot (open source) | Self-hosted AI coworkers with your own models and agents | Chat, approvals and Routines; your own agents connect through AG-UI | Your choice: OpenAI, Claude, Gemini or open models | Free for personal projects | Business up to $29 per active user/month |
Free AI employees, and open-source ones on GitHub
Free plans exist but are small: Lindy gives $50 in credits for seven days, Devin a light quota, and Ema a trial. The open-source route is free in money and paid in setup time: projects on GitHub such as markfulton/ai-employees run on an agent subscription you already have, and on a Claude Pro or Max plan they use your plan's limits rather than extra dollars.
If you're comparing open-source agent frameworks rather than ready-made employees, see our comparisons with CrewAI, Paperclip and Multica.
AI employees on the coding agent you already pay for
Crewmark is for teams whose work already runs through Claude Code or Codex. Instead of buying a new AI and its credits, you give your existing agent a job.
Pick a role and a goal
Software engineer, SEO specialist, growth marketer or one you write yourself, with a goal written as a number.
Connect a session
Run one setup command in your project; the employee runs in a Claude Code, Codex, DeepSeek Harness or OpenCode session on your machine, on your plan.
Assign issues; the heartbeat does the rest
During working hours the employee wakes every 15, 30 or 60 minutes, takes the next issue, comments as it goes and messages you when it needs a decision.
AI employee platforms FAQ
What is the best AI employee platform?
It depends on the job. For office work across many functions, Lindy; for small-business marketing and support, Sintra or Marblism; for outbound sales, Artisan; for enterprise HR and IT, Ema; for code, Devin; and if you already use Claude Code or Codex, the open-source ai-employees project or Crewmark.
Are there free AI employees?
Some platforms have small free plans or trials: Lindy ($50 in credits for 7 days), Devin (a light quota) and Ema (a trial). Open-source projects such as markfulton/ai-employees are free and run on an agent subscription you already have.
How much does an AI employee cost?
Entry plans on November 6, 2026 ranged from about $20 a month (Devin Pro) to $49.99 per user (Lindy Team), with sales-led pricing for Artisan and Ema. Tools that run on your own Claude Code or Codex plan add little or no model cost.
What's the difference between an AI employee and an AI agent?
An AI agent does a task when asked. An AI employee is an agent given a role, a goal and a schedule, so it starts work on its own and keeps going. More in what is an AI employee.
Can a small business use AI employees?
Yes. Sintra and Marblism are built for small businesses, with named employees for support, social media, SEO and sales, and prices from about $24 to $49 a month.
Are there open-source AI employees on GitHub?
Yes. markfulton/ai-employees (MIT) packages 8 business roles as scheduled routines for Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and other agents; others include OpenCompany and eggent.
How do I hire an AI employee?
Pick one role and a number it should move, choose a platform that starts work on its own and asks before risky actions, run it for two weeks, and keep it only if the number moves.
Checked against each vendor's own website and pricing page on November 6, 2026. Prices change; follow the links for current ones.