Automation is billed by executions, not by time, so the invoice follows load rather than headcount. One of the tools here runs on your own server for nothing at all.
Search that shows where the answer came from
Puts a link against every claim in the answer, so it can be checked line by line instead of taken on trust
Links to sources in the answer · Multi-step deep research · Reads files you upload · Phone app · Has an API
An agent that carries a task through to a result
Runs its own browser and file system: it opens sites, fills forms and comes back with a finished file rather than instructions
Agent runs unattended · Phone app · Has a free tier · Paid $12–25/mo
Block-built flows you can move onto your own server
The open edition installs on your own server and runs with no execution cap and no payment at all — the only case of its kind here
Visual flow builder · Ready-made integrations · Agent runs unattended · Runs on your own server · Has an API
Research that assembles into a page, not a reply
A hundred free credits a day with no card — the most open entry in a job where the rest put deep research behind a paywall
Links to sources in the answer · Multi-step deep research · Builds the result into a sheet · Reads files you upload · Phone app
An inbox already triaged by the time you open it
Triages the inbox before you open it — sorted, noise set aside, replies drafted — and has no free tier at all
Works through your inbox · Phone app · Single sign-on · Desktop app · No free tier
