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Comparison, verified November 2026

Lindy alternative: Machine-like vs. Lindy

Lindy is self-serve software: an AI employee your team sets up, directs and checks, from $29.99 per user per month plus usage credits. Machine-like is a managed service that builds, runs and fixes custom AI agents for one defined job, at $297 per workload per month. Choose Lindy to do it yourself for less. Choose Machine-like to hand the job off.

Published by Machine-like. Pricing and features were verified against each company's public pages on . This page does not report a hands-on test of Lindy.

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At a glance

How do Machine-like and Lindy compare?

Each row states what each company publishes. Rows where Lindy has the advantage say so.

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Machine-like vs. Lindy: service model, pricing and terms, verified November 12, 2026
TopicMachine-likeLindy
What it isA managed service. Machine-like designs, builds and runs custom AI agents for a small business. M2Self-serve software. Lindy describes itself as an AI employee that plugs into your tools. L1
Who sets it upMachine-like. You describe the job in one call of about 30 minutes and authorize your tools. M1Your team. Lindy lists setup at about two minutes; the Team plan includes live onboarding. L1 L2
Who checks the work and fixes failuresMachine-like. Monitoring, maintenance, fixes and upgrades are included. M1Your team. Lindy logs every action and monitors its own platform. L3
Best atOne recurring job with a clear finish, run from start to end. M1Many everyday tasks across a team: daily briefs, inbox, meetings, follow-ups, reports. L1
Requests on the flyNot offered. Agents do the agreed job only. M1Yes, in Slack, email, text and calendar. Advantage: Lindy. L1
Starting price$297 per workload per month. M1$29.99 per active user per month, with 3,000 credits. Advantage: Lindy. L2
Volume pricing$197 per workload per month at four or five workloads. Six or more are quoted. M1Larger monthly credit amounts, up to custom Enterprise billing. L2
Usage limitsNo seats, no meters, no platform fee. Scope is agreed before the build. M1Credits. Monthly credits do not roll over. When they run out, Lindy pauses until the next cycle or a top-up at $10 per 1,000 credits. L2
Free to startSigning up is free. Each worker agent has a 14-day evaluation that starts when the agent goes live. No card required. M1$50 in free credits that last 7 days. L2
Time to first workAbout 72 hours to build and test, by published estimate. M1Minutes. Advantage: Lindy. L1
ApprovalsYou define what needs approval and when to pause. Every run is reviewable in the Terminal. M1Anything with outside impact waits for approval. L2
IntegrationsConnects to the tools you already use. Unlimited connectors are included. M13,000+ integrations plus MCP. Advantage: Lindy. L1
CancellingPause or cancel anytime. Completed work stays with you. M1The workspace stays active through the paid cycle, with no proration. L2

Verified .

Pricing

How much does Lindy cost compared with Machine-like?

Lindy charges per active user and per credit. Machine-like charges a flat monthly price per workload. The fair comparison is one job, run at the same volume, on both.

Lindy pricing

Lindy's Team plan starts at $29.99 per active user per month and includes 3,000 credits. Credits measure the work Lindy does. Lindy publishes three ranges. L2

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Lindy credits per task, by type of work
Work typeCredits per taskLindy's examples
Everyday asks2 to 250Answers, summaries, lookups, drafting a reply
Deep work250 to 1,000Researching a competitor and writing the report, triaging a day's support queue
Big builds1,000 to 2,500Dashboards, internal tools, heavy scheduled workflows

Monthly credits do not roll over. When credits run out, Lindy pauses credit-using actions until the next billing cycle. Top-ups cost $10 per 1,000 credits. L2

Machine-like pricing

Machine-like costs $297 per workload per month for one to three workloads, and $197 each for four or five. Building, hosting, monitoring, maintenance and fixes are included. There are no seats, meters or platform fees. M1

One daily job, priced on both

Example: a support queue triaged once every business day.

  • Lindy: Lindy lists triaging a day's support queue as deep work, at 250 to 1,000 credits per run. Across 22 business days that is 5,500 to 22,000 credits a month. On Lindy's published credit amounts, one seat at that volume costs between $59.99 a month (6,000 credits) and $199.99 a month (35,000 credits). L2
  • Machine-like: One workload, $297 a month. M1

Lindy is cheaper in software cost. The difference is labor. Lindy's price covers the software; setting up the routine, reviewing the output and correcting it are your team's work. Machine-like's price includes that work.

This is arithmetic from published prices, not a measured bill. Verified .

The two companies

What is Lindy?

Lindy is AI software that a team uses directly. Lindy describes itself as an AI employee that plugs into your tools, learns how you work and takes work off your plate. It works in Slack, email, text and calendar, runs recurring tasks on schedules or triggers, and waits for approval before anything with outside impact. L1 L2 L4

Lindy is self-serve. A team connects its own tools, teaches Lindy its routines and reviews what Lindy produces. Lindy is billed per active user, with usage measured in credits. L2

What is Machine-like?

Machine-like is the Managed Agent Operations platform that designs, deploys and runs custom AI agents for small businesses. A customer hands Machine-like a defined job, called a workload. Machine-like builds agents for that job, connects them to the customer's existing tools and keeps them working. M1 M2

Machine-like is a service, not a builder. The customer sets the rules and approvals and reviews completed work in the Terminal. Monitoring, maintenance, fixes and upgrades are Machine-like's responsibility. M1

The pick

Which is the better fit: Machine-like or Lindy?

The deciding question is who should own the work around the agent: your team, or the provider.

Choose Machine-like when

  • You want to hand off one recurring job completely, including responsibility for keeping it running.
  • The job has a clear finish: a ticket resolved, a report delivered, an invoice chased.
  • Nobody on your team has time to set up, supervise and repair an AI tool.
  • You want a flat monthly price that does not move with usage.

What you take on with Machine-like

  • A higher starting price than Lindy.
  • A short scoping call, and about 72 hours before the agent is live.
  • Agents that do the agreed job only. A different recurring job is a new workload.

Choose Lindy when

  • You want an AI employee the whole team can message for everyday tasks.
  • You want to start today, at a low price, without talking to anyone.
  • Someone on your team can set up routines, check the output and fix what breaks.

What you take on with Lindy

  • Setup, supervision and upkeep stay with your team.
  • Cost moves with usage, and work pauses when credits run out.
  • Every person who uses Lindy is a billed seat.

The managed model

How does Machine-like run a job for you?

Read how Managed Agent Operations works

  1. Define the job. You describe the work, the tools, the rules and the approvals.

  2. Machine-like builds and tests. Agents are built around your process and tested before they touch live work.

  3. The agent goes live. The 14-day evaluation starts here. Machine-like monitors every run, fixes failures and updates the agents when your process changes.

Customer proof

fitDEGREE automated 82% of Tier 1 support tickets with Machine-like

fitDEGREE, a B2B software company, needed relief from repetitive support work. Machine-like connected fitDEGREE's existing support workflow to customer context, billing and product documentation. Agents classified tickets, prepared approved responses, updated records and handed complex cases to people with the context attached. M3

This is a customer result documented in a public case study.

Read the fitDEGREE case study

FAQ

Lindy and Machine-like: common questions

Is Machine-like a good alternative to Lindy?

Machine-like is a good alternative to Lindy when the goal is to hand off one recurring job completely. Lindy is software your team sets up and supervises. Machine-like is a managed service: Machine-like builds the agents, monitors every run and fixes failures, for $297 per workload per month. Teams that want a low-cost, self-serve AI employee for everyday tasks are better served by Lindy.

How much does Lindy cost?

Lindy's Team plan starts at $29.99 per active user per month and includes 3,000 credits. Larger monthly credit amounts cost more, for example 15,000 credits for $99.99 and 35,000 credits for $199.99. Top-ups cost $10 per 1,000 credits. Enterprise pricing is custom. Prices were verified on Lindy's pricing page on November 12, 2026. L2

What happens when Lindy credits run out?

Lindy pauses credit-using actions until credits reset at the start of the next billing cycle. Monthly credits do not roll over. An admin can top up at $10 per 1,000 credits or move to a larger monthly amount. Lindy states that there is no surprise bill. L2

Does Lindy have a free plan?

Lindy offers $50 in free credits that last 7 days. After that, paid usage starts at $29.99 per user per month. L2

How much does Machine-like cost?

Machine-like costs $297 per workload per month for one to three workloads. Four or five workloads cost $197 each per month, including the first three. Six or more are quoted. Building, hosting, monitoring, maintenance and fixes are included, with no per-seat or platform fee. M1

Does Machine-like have a free trial?

Yes. Every Machine-like worker agent comes with a 14-day evaluation that starts when the agent goes live on real work, not at sign-up. No credit card is required, and signing up is free. M1

Is Lindy or Machine-like cheaper?

Lindy is cheaper in software cost. One daily job on Lindy works out to roughly $60 to $200 per month for one seat, based on Lindy's published credit ranges. The same job on Machine-like is $297 per month. Lindy's price does not include the time your team spends setting up, reviewing and fixing the work. Machine-like's price does. L2 M1

Can Lindy run recurring work on a schedule?

Yes. Lindy documents scheduled routines and recurring tasks that run on schedules or triggers. The difference from Machine-like is who owns the routine. With Lindy, your team sets it up, reviews the output and corrects it. With Machine-like, that operating work is part of the service. L2 L4

What does my team still do with Machine-like?

Your team describes the job, authorizes access to the tools involved and decides which actions need approval. Once the agent is live, your team handles those approvals and any exceptions that need judgment. Machine-like handles agent operations, monitoring and fixes. M1

How current is this comparison?

Every price and feature on this page was verified against Lindy's and Machine-like's public pages on November 12, 2026. The comparison is based on published information and does not report a hands-on test of Lindy. Check each company's pricing page before buying.

Sources

Sources for this comparison

Public pages checked on . Product claims are as each vendor describes them.

  1. M1

    Machine-like: pricing and included services

    Price, volume pricing, what every workload includes, evaluation terms

  2. M2

    Machine-like: Managed Agent Operations

    Service model and operating responsibility

  3. M3

    Machine-like: fitDEGREE case study

    Customer result

  4. L1

    Lindy: product overview

    Positioning, channels, setup time, integrations

  5. L2

    Lindy: pricing and billing FAQ

    Plans, credits, free credits, approvals, cancellation

  6. L3

    Lindy: security

    Action logging, platform monitoring

  7. L4

    Lindy: Enterprise

    Scheduled and triggered tasks, named approvers, enterprise controls

Keep comparing

More Machine-like comparisons

Hand off one job. Judge the finished work.

Sign up free and describe the job. Machine-like builds and tests your agent in about 72 hours. The 14-day evaluation starts when the agent goes live. No card required.

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