Best AI agents for small business in 2026: top picks and prices

Published by 3Gen Internet Corporation, maker of OpenAssistant, Skej and AGNT. Comparisons use public documentation, without hands-on testing.

OpenAssistant is an assistant we recommend for a 5 to 50 person business. It has its own email address, phone number, calendar and computer, you can reach it by text, calls, email and Slack, you set approvals per action, and it has a free Starter plan. Where it does not win is price per seat: ChatGPT Business and Claude Team list a standard seat at $20 per user per month billed annually, against $60 for OpenAssistant Pro. Seven other agents follow, each with its published price.

Options at a glance

We ranked each product on five criteria from the vendor’s own pages: whether the documented capabilities cover a small team’s job, the vendor-published evidence and its limitations, price, where it works, meaning email, text, phone, Slack and calendar, and privacy, security and admin controls. OpenAssistant ranks first because its own pages describe email, text, calls and Slack under one identity, per-action approvals that an admin can lock, a SOC 2 Type II statement and a free Starter plan that tops up with daily bonus credits. Lindy lists a similar set of channels but its free credits last 7 days. It ranks lower on price. The specialists below it win on a single job: seats, automations or support desks.

1. OpenAssistant: why we recommend it for small-business coordination

OpenAssistant says each assistant “never pretends to be you unless you tell it to” (OpenAssistant executive assistant page). It is an assistant, not a builder: you hand it work by email, text, phone call or Slack, and it uses its own inbox (or an address on your company domain), its own phone number, its own calendar and a sandboxed computer where it opens the same apps and websites you do (same page).

• Channels. The marketing page lists calls, iMessage, SMS, WhatsApp, email and the web app. The help center lists dashboard, email, Slack, SMS and WhatsApp as request channels (Ways to work). In Slack, people DM it or add it to channels, and it acts only when invoked (Using OpenAssistant on Slack).
• Coordinator Mode. An assistant, executive assistant, coordinator or other scheduling professional can use OpenAssistant on behalf of another person, called the Principal. The article describes scheduling only (Coordinator Mode).
• Approvals. Autonomy can be set globally or per action type, such as email as the assistant, email as you, messages and calendar actions. The levels are Manual, Confirmation Window and Autonomous (Supervision and autonomy settings). A Confirmation Window is not Manual approval, because it proceeds if you do nothing (Choosing your settings). An admin can lock those settings for everyone (executive assistant page).
• Security. The trust page states SOC 2 Type II, audited annually by an independent CPA firm, and says “We never train on your data” (OpenAssistant Trust Center).
• Price. Starter is free: 1,000 free credits at signup, then 100 bonus credits a day once used up, up to 1,000 a month, with no credit card. Pro is $72 per user per month, or $60 billed annually. Team is $120 per user per month, or $100 billed annually. Those are the 5,000-credit tier; higher credit tiers cost more. Pro adds an assistant email at your domain and shared assistants; Team adds an admin dashboard, SSO and SCIM, role-based access, shared billing and pooled team credits. Enterprise is custom (OpenAssistant pricing; per-user pricing confirmed by 3Gen; feature lists from the pricing text page).

Where a competitor does better: ChatGPT Business and Claude Team cost less per seat, and OpenAssistant is a general work assistant, not a support-desk product, so Intercom Fin is the specialist for that job.

Watch out for: The assistant does not join group texts or group WhatsApp chats, and not all countries are supported for texting (Connecting your phone number). It does not work in Slack Connect channels with outside companies (Ways to work). Plan credits reset each billing cycle and do not roll over, and simple tasks use about 10 to 50 credits while research and multi-person meeting work use hundreds (pricing text page). The help-center channel list does not mention iMessage or phone calls, which the marketing pages do; we follow the marketing pages for calls.

2. Lindy: closest alternative for Slack and iMessage

Lindy calls itself “your AI teammate that plugs into your tools” (Lindy docs). The docs list Slack, iMessage, email, meetings and a Chrome extension as channels, with Microsoft Teams marked coming soon. A Lindy can have its own phone number, call out and take messages, but a paid plan is required, calls cost from 25 credits per minute, and the number carries a separate monthly fee (phone line; usage and billing). The pricing page says “Anything with outside impact waits for approval” (Lindy pricing).

Price. Free gives “$50 in credits” that last 7 days with no card. The 5,000-credit Team tier is $49.99 per active user per month. Some public versions also list $29.99 for 3,000 credits, while the live browser dropdown begins at 5,000 credits; check available tiers at signup. It has higher tiers up to 1,750,000 credits, and “every active user in your workspace is billed.” Top-ups are $10 per 1,000 credits, and monthly credits do not roll over (Lindy pricing; Lindy pricing docs). Lindy lists SOC 2 Type II and says it and its providers do not use your data to train models (Lindy security).

Watch out for: Guardrails (Always allow, Require approval, Don’t offer) apply in shared Slack threads only; Slack DMs, web chat, iMessage and SMS “aren’t guarded” (integrations docs). The pricing page shows Free, Team and Enterprise, while the docs name Plus, Pro and Max; we follow the pricing page.

3. ChatGPT Business: lowest seat price for research and documents

OpenAI’s help page says “Work is an agent designed for longer, multi-step work and finished deliverables” (ChatGPT Work and Codex). It can research and create documents, spreadsheets and presentations, and run once, on a schedule or on a trigger. A cloud browser gives it its own browser on a separate computer in the cloud, and by default it asks permission before a new website and requests confirmation before hard-to-reverse actions such as a booking or payment (Using cloud browser).

Price. Business standard seats are $20 per user per month billed annually or $25 billed monthly, for teams of 2 to 200 (ChatGPT Business pricing). Individual plans are Plus at $20 a month and Go at $8 (ChatGPT pricing). The help page says business data is not used for training by default (ChatGPT agent article).

Watch out for: The older “ChatGPT agent” article now says it is no longer available, and points to Work. The cloud browser excludes the Free and Go plans. OpenAI’s pages say the safeguards “do not eliminate every risk” from prompt injection and phishing. The pages we read do not state a phone number, email identity or Slack presence for it, and do not list Work separately for Business seats.

4. Claude Team: seats with browser and file work

Anthropic describes Claude in Chrome with: “Claude works with the logins you have, on the tab in front of you” (Claude in Chrome). Cowork completes tasks you can steer from anywhere, and by default “Claude asks before taking an action” (Cowork is now Claude). Purchases and financial actions wait for you, and deleting anything needs your approval (Claude in Chrome; Cowork).

Price. A Team standard seat is $20 per month billed annually or $25 monthly, for teams of 2 to 150. A premium seat is $100 annual or $125 monthly with 5x the usage. Team and Enterprise have no model training on your content by default (Claude pricing).

Watch out for: Anthropic says its protections “aren’t foolproof,” that hidden instructions on a page can redirect Claude, and to avoid financial transactions and sensitive personal data (Claude in Chrome). Cowork “consumes limits faster than Chat” (Cowork), and the vendor says Cowork is being merged into Claude itself. The pages we read do not state a phone number or email identity of its own.

5. Zapier Agents: agents tied to the apps you already use

Zapier’s agents page says: “Create your own superhuman teammates in minutes,” across 9,000+ apps (Zapier Agents). Human in the Loop pauses a Zap so a reviewer can approve, decline or edit, with notices by email or Slack, but the pricing page tags approval requests as Beta (Human in the Loop; Zapier pricing). Zapier states SOC 2 Type II (Zapier platform information).

Price. Agents Free is 400 activities a month. Agents Pro is $400 billed annually (shown as $33.33 a month) for 1,500 activities. The platform plans are Free at 100 tasks a month, Professional from $19.99 a month, and Team from $69 a month with 25 users and SAML SSO (Zapier pricing).

Watch out for: Zapier says it is migrating Agents to “AI by Zapier,” which bills by task and has no separate Agents subscription, and it has not set a shutdown date (migration page). Both pricing models appear on the pricing page at once, so check which one you would be on.

6. Make: visual automations with an AI agent step

Make’s AI agents page is headed “Build AI agents you can trust,” and says you build them in its visual builder with rules, manual approvals or a stop control (Make AI agents). Make lists SOC 2 Type II and SOC 3 audits (Make security).

Price. At the default 10,000 credits a month, Core is $12 billed annually or $16 monthly, Pro is $21 or $28, and Teams is $38 or $51. Free is $0 for 1,000 credits a month. Most actions use 1 credit, and credits expire at the end of the term (Make pricing).

Watch out for: Make AI Agents carry a Beta badge on the pricing page. The app count differs by page (3,500+ on the home page, 3000+ in the AI agents title, “more than 1,000” in the pricing FAQ). No data-training statement appears on the pages read.

7. Intercom Fin: the pick if your main job is customer support

Fin charges $0.99 for a service resolution or configured Procedure handoff, and $9.99 for a sales qualification. A simple pass-through without an outcome is uncharged; only one outcome is billed per conversation. Existing-helpdesk use lists a 50-outcome monthly minimum (about $49.50) and a 14-day trial (Fin pricing). Intercom Essential displays a $19-per-seat monthly new-customer offer against $29 list; confirm billing terms and eligibility (Intercom pricing). Channels include voice, email, Messenger, WhatsApp, social and Slack (Fin channels). Fin lists SOC 2 Type II, and says it escalates to a human rather than guessing (Fin trust).

Watch out for: It handles customer conversations, not your own inbox or calendar. Fin uses anonymized customer data for fine-tuning, with an opt-out. Voice requires a custom sales quote; no fixed Voice rate is confirmed (Fin pricing).

8. Manus: a general agent with a cloud browser

Manus docs call it “a virtual colleague with its own computer” (Manus docs). Its Cloud Browser prompts you to take over for verification such as SMS, CAPTCHA or MFA (Cloud Browser), and local commands on the desktop app need your approval (Desktop). Manus 2.0 also introduced Cue, in invite-only early access, where the post says each agent has its own email, phone number and computer and can take your calls (Manus 2.0 post).

Price. The pricing page shows three paid cards at $20, $40 and $200 a month ($17, $34 and $167 billed annually), with 4,000, 8,000 and 40,000 credits a month. Plan names are not shown (Manus pricing). Plan credits reset monthly; purchased add-on credits never expire (Manus plans).

Watch out for: A team price is not on the page. No Manus page we read mentions prompt injection, and a training-on-your-data statement was not found.

What a ten-person team pays in seat prices

This is seat prices only, from the vendors’ list prices, with the arithmetic shown. Credits and usage limits differ by product and are not in these numbers, so real bills can be higher.

OpenAssistant Pro costs $470 more a month than ChatGPT Business for ten seats ($720 minus $250) and $400 more on annual billing ($600 minus $200). That buys a different thing: an assistant with its own email, phone and calendar that you reach by text, call and Slack, rather than a chat seat. Zapier’s Team plan starts at $69 a month with 25 users, Make and Manus do not state a per-user price, and Fin charges per outcome, so the seat math does not apply to them. See AI agent pricing explained for how credits, seats and per-outcome fees differ.

What to ask each vendor

• Which actions run without my approval by default, and can an admin lock that for everyone?
• What happens if a web page or email contains hidden instructions (prompt injection), and what stops the agent from acting on them?
• Does my data train any model, yours or a provider’s, and how do I opt out?
• What counts as one credit, task, activity or outcome, and what happens when I run out?
• Which channels work for outside people (clients, vendors), and which do not?
• Can I export or delete my data, and who at the vendor can see it?

What to keep for humans

Keep payments, contracts and anything legal with a person. Keep hiring and firing decisions, messages about a complaint or an injury, and any email sent as you to a client or investor, unless you have chosen to let the agent send it. Keep final review of anything public. Start with Manual approval where the product offers it, then loosen it for work you have watched go right. For a longer checklist see how to choose an AI agent and are AI agents safe.

Related reading

• OpenAssistant vs Lindy: pricing, phone, approvals and where each wins: Price per seat, phone calls, approvals, admin, free plans and security, plus where Lindy wins.
• AI agent pricing in 2026: credits, seats and per-resolution fees explained: Credit plans, tasks, per-resolution fees, subscriptions and enterprise fees, with published prices and a worked example.
• How to choose an AI agent: 10 questions to ask before you buy: Ten questions on job fit, channels, approvals, price, data and exit, with a job-to-product table.
• Best free AI agents in 2026: what you get at no cost: True free plans, trials and expiring credits, with the stated limits and what each free tier lacks.
• Best AI agents that send emails, make calls and text for you in 2026: Six picks for agents that send emails, make calls and text, ranked on prices, approval controls and consent rules.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best AI agent for a small business?

For a team that wants one assistant to handle email, scheduling, follow-up and research, we recommend trying OpenAssistant, because it works through email, text, calls and Slack and has per-action approvals. For the lowest seat price, ChatGPT Business and Claude Team list $20 per user per month billed annually. For support only, Intercom Fin is the specialist.

How much do AI agents cost for a ten-person team?

On list seat prices, ten seats of ChatGPT Business or Claude Team standard come to $200 a month billed annually or $250 billed monthly. OpenAssistant Pro for ten users at the 5,000-credit tier is $600 a month billed annually or $720 billed monthly. Credits and usage limits are extra and differ by product.

Can I try an AI agent for free first?

Several have free entry points. OpenAssistant’s Starter plan is free with no credit card, Zapier Agents Free has 400 activities a month, Make Free has 1,000 credits a month, and Fin has a 14-day free trial. Lindy’s free credits last 7 days. See the plan details above.

Is it safe to give an AI agent access to company email?

It depends on the approval settings and the vendor’s controls. Ask which actions run without approval, whether an admin can lock settings, and how the vendor handles prompt injection. Anthropic and OpenAI both say their safeguards do not remove every risk. Read are AI agents safe before you connect your inbox.

Try OpenAssistant

If you want one assistant that acts across email, text, calls and Slack, start with OpenAssistant’s free Starter plan. You can see the full plan list on the pricing page. For a broader list by job, see best AI agents in 2026.