Alternatives · prices checked 5 November 2026
Lindy alternatives for AI agents and assistants
Lindy builds AI assistants for email, meetings and scheduling, billed per user. These alternatives fit better if you want agents on WhatsApp, a free plan, or flat pricing.
Quick answer
For flat pricing and agents your customers can reach, CiraIQ: a flat $20 a month, with AI agents on WhatsApp and Telegram that ask before they act.
The 6 alternatives
1. CiraIQ
Our product- Best for
- Businesses in Kenya and Africa that run on M-Pesa and WhatsApp, and anyone who wants AI agents that ask before they act.
- Not great for
- Teams that need thousands of niche app integrations, or must self-host on their own servers.
- Free
- 3 multi-step workflows, free forever
- Paid from
- $20/month (Basic): unlimited workflows, 14-day free trial
Self-host for free: no · M-Pesa, WhatsApp, Telegram, Gmail, Sheets, Shopify, WooCommerce, Paystack and more · pricing checked 5 November 2026
2. Gumloop
- Best for
- AI-heavy workflows for operations and marketing teams.
- Not great for
- Teams that must self-host on their own servers.
- Paid from
- See current pricing
Self-host for free: no · pricing checked 5 November 2026
3. n8n
- Best for
- Technical teams who want to self-host and write code inside workflows.
- Not great for
- Non-technical owners who want ready-made business flows and local payments without setup.
- Free
- Free self-hosted Community Edition; cloud trial with no card
- Paid from
- €20/month billed annually (Starter, 2,500 executions)
Self-host for free: yes · pricing checked 5 November 2026
4. Zapier
- Best for
- Connecting the widest range of SaaS apps, with the least learning.
- Not great for
- High volumes on a small budget: price rises steeply with tasks.
- Free
- 100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps only
- Paid from
- $19.99/month billed annually, or $29.99 monthly (Pro, 750 tasks)
Self-host for free: no · 9,000+ apps · pricing checked 5 November 2026
5. Make
- Best for
- Visual, branching scenarios across many SaaS apps.
- Not great for
- Teams that must self-host on their own servers.
- Free
- 1,000 credits a month
- Paid from
- $9/month (Core, 10,000 credits)
Self-host for free: no · 3,000+ apps · pricing checked 5 November 2026
6. Activepieces
- Best for
- An open-source, self-hostable alternative with a simple editor.
- Not great for
- Larger teams on a budget: the Team plan is $200 a month.
- Free
- 1,000 credits a month, plus a free self-hosted Community Edition
- Paid from
- $20/month (Plus, 10,000 credits)
Self-host for free: yes · pricing checked 5 November 2026
Lindy next to the alternatives
| Fact | Lindy | CiraIQ | Gumloop | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | $50 of credits for 7 days, no card | 3 multi-step workflows, free forever | See current pricing | Free self-hosted Community Edition; cloud trial with no card |
| Paid plans from | $49.99/month per user (Team, 5,000 credits) | $20/month (Basic): unlimited workflows, 14-day free trial | See current pricing | €20/month billed annually (Starter, 2,500 executions) |
| Self-host for free | No | No | No | Yes |
| Apps | See their app directory | M-Pesa, WhatsApp, Telegram, Gmail, Sheets, Shopify, WooCommerce, Paystack and more | See their app directory | See their app directory |
| Best for | AI assistants for email, meetings and scheduling. | Businesses in Kenya and Africa that run on M-Pesa and WhatsApp, and anyone who wants AI agents that ask before they act. | AI-heavy workflows for operations and marketing teams. | Technical teams who want to self-host and write code inside workflows. |
| Not great for | Cost-sensitive teams: billing is per active user. | Teams that need thousands of niche app integrations, or must self-host on their own servers. | Teams that must self-host on their own servers. | Non-technical owners who want ready-made business flows and local payments without setup. |
Where Lindy is the better choice
Lindy is a strong pick for personal AI assistants that handle email and meetings.
What CiraIQ adds
- M-Pesa built in. STK push, Paybill and Till payment triggers, B2C payouts and reversals, with your own Daraja keys. Paystack and Stripe too.
- AI agents on WhatsApp and Telegram. Agents with long-term memory that people talk to, by text or voice.
- Approval before anything irreversible. Sending, posting and spending wait for a person, approved from the app, Telegram or WhatsApp.
- Spend caps and broken-workflow alerts. Set a monthly AI budget per workflow, and workflows that fail 5 times in a row stop and tell you why.
- A marketplace that pays creators. Sell your workflows and keep 70% of each sale, paid to M-Pesa or a bank.
See the apps CiraIQ connects to and ready-made templates.
Questions
- Is there a cheaper Lindy alternative?
- CiraIQ Basic is $20 a month flat, and CiraIQ, Zapier, Make and Activepieces have free plans.
- Which alternative runs AI agents on WhatsApp?
- CiraIQ runs AI agents with memory on WhatsApp and Telegram.
- Can AI agents ask before they act?
- In CiraIQ, sending, posting and spending wait for your approval.
Competitor prices and plans were read from each company's own pricing page on 5 November 2026 and can change; follow the links for today's figures. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
Try CiraIQ on your own workflow
Start free with 3 workflows. No card needed. Install a template or build your own on the canvas.