Relay.app announced that free accounts shut down on August 15, 2026 and paid accounts shut down on September 14, 2026. This page is a replacement guide, not a normal feature contest. Workforce AI fits former Relay users whose real job is connected client email, supported Zoom, follow-up, tasks, and memory.
Former Relay users whose exported workflow represents recurring client communication and owner-reviewed follow-up.
No new buyer. Existing customers should export workflows, sequences, prompts, MCP JSON, run history, and tables before their shutdown date.
Workforce AI is not a drop-in replacement for every Relay automation. It is a strong replacement when the important outcome is a connected small-business client workflow. General automation exports may belong in another builder.
A check means supported. A dash means partial or conditional. A question mark means the vendor did not publish enough to decide.
AI employees are configured around recurring work for small professional-services and local-business teams.
New signups and upgrades are off because the service is shutting down.
Connects Gmail or Outlook and prepares drafts from the actual thread and account context.
Existing workflows may still run until the applicable shutdown date.
Client-facing email remains a draft for owner review and sending.
Relay was known for human-in-the-loop workflows, but the service is being retired.
Can join supported Zoom meetings with the owner or from a supplied brief.
Do not rely on a retiring platform for a new meeting workflow.
Turns supported meeting context into a write-up, draft, and explicit next steps inside the same work trail.
Existing follow-up workflows should be exported and replaced.
Supports recurring tasks, scheduling context, reminders, and connected next steps.
Schedules and sequences must be migrated before shutdown.
Keeps account-scoped context across connected email, meetings, chat, SMS, WhatsApp, tasks, and uploaded knowledge.
Export run history and tables needed for continuity.
The account owner can work with the AI employee through supported SMS and WhatsApp channels.
Connected workflow channels should be inventoried before access ends.
Workforce AI configures roles and workflows, but it is not sold as a general-purpose agent development platform.
The builder is no longer a viable new deployment target.
The current product is owner-side. Browser voice is available, but autonomous customer phone answering and customer-facing website support are outside the current product boundary.
A retiring service should not become a new customer-facing dependency.
Industry configurations support common workflows, while licensed professional judgment and specialist systems stay with the firm.
No new vertical deployment is appropriate.
The email drafter is free and full AI employee plans start at $99 per user per month.
New upgrades are unavailable as part of the shutdown.
These are real Workforce AI product views. The point is continuity: useful context enters once, then carries into the draft, follow-up, or next task.
Export the source material, identify the business outcome, and rebuild only what still matters. Use Workforce AI when that outcome is the small firm's client communication loop.
Connect the owner's supported email, calendar context, and other selected tools.
Export workflows, sequences, prompts, MCP JSON, run history, and tables from Relay.
Give the AI employee a recurring job, a real thread, or a supported Zoom meeting.
Inventory credentials, triggers, destinations, approval steps, and failure paths.
Review the prepared email, meeting write-up, task, or sensitive next step.
Choose Workforce AI for supported client-operations jobs or another builder for general automation.
Carry the approved context into the next client touch instead of rebuilding it from scratch.
Run old and new paths in parallel only long enough to verify the replacement.
Do not score a demo on the first answer. Score the complete job, the manual handoffs, the review point, and what survives into the next interaction.
Has every workflow and dependent table been exported?
Which triggers or credentials exist only inside Relay?
Which jobs map to Workforce AI and which require a general builder?
What is the final safe date for disabling each old workflow?
Reviewed August 26, 2026.
Only when the job matches. Relay.app is the better choice for no new buyer. Existing customers should export workflows, sequences, prompts, MCP JSON, run history, and tables before their shutdown date. Workforce AI is the better choice when connected email, supported Zoom, reviewed follow-up, tasks, scheduling context, and client memory need to move together.
Workforce AI is packaged for small firms and publishes a free email drafter plus paid AI employee plans. Relay.app may be easy to start when its specialist job is exactly what the business needs, but broader platforms usually require more workflow design or implementation.
Yes. Keep Relay.app for the specialist or platform job it handles best, and use Workforce AI for the owner-side client communication and follow-through around it. Define separate triggers and systems of record so the tools do not duplicate actions.
Workforce AI offers a free email drafter and paid AI employee plans starting at $99 per user per month. Confirm Relay.app's current commercial terms, usage charges, implementation, integrations, and support before purchase.
The comparison uses official product, documentation, help-center, and pricing sources listed on this page. Facts were reviewed on August 26, 2026. A missing public claim is marked as not publicly documented instead of being treated as a missing feature.
A feature table is useful. A real inbox, meeting, or follow-up process makes the difference obvious.
