GetEnergy Alternatives: 6 AI Workspaces Compared
First, a disambiguation, because two unrelated companies answer to this name.
getenergy.com is Energy, an AI workspace where named assistants do work across your browser, inbox, files, and connected tools. That is the product this page covers. getenergy.io is GETenergy, a London renewable-electricity trading platform. If you landed here looking for solar quotes or a green tariff, you want the second one, and nothing below will help.
What Energy actually is
Energy is a desktop app, described on its own homepage as working “at the speed of thought.” You describe an outcome in a sentence, and it gathers context from your email, files, conversations, and connected tools, does the steps, and hands back a result to review.
The organizing idea is named assistants rather than one chat window. The product’s own screenshots show assistants called Launch coordinator, Sales Master, Customer researcher, Inbox manager, and Travel planner, each with a running task list. Instead of one thread where you re-explain context every time, you set up a specialist once and hand it work.
A few things worth knowing before you evaluate it:
- It connects to Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Slack, and Outlook. Both mail sides are covered, which is more than most assistants in this category manage.
- You choose the model. Energy’s pitch against Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Work is explicitly that you can run any model rather than being locked to one vendor’s.
- It is a download. The macOS build is shipping; Windows has been running behind a waitlist.
- It does not train on your content, and every step it takes is written to an audit trail you can review.
Energy pricing
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Uses the ChatGPT plan you already pay for, all tools and integrations, browser and file automation |
| Plus | $50/month | Any model, everyday capacity for individual work, extra usage available |
| Pro | $200/month | Any model, 4× the monthly usage of Plus |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom usage and billing, security and rollout planning |
The free tier is the interesting one, and also the catch: it is free because you are supplying your own ChatGPT subscription. If you are not already paying OpenAI, the real entry price is $50/month.
Where people start looking elsewhere
Three limits send people to this page.
It is an app you sit in. Energy runs on your desktop and works while you are there. If what you want is something that fires at 6am because an email arrived, a desktop workspace is the wrong shape.
There is no scheduling layer. It reads your calendar, but booking pages, availability polls, and the back-and-forth of getting a meeting on the books are not what it does.
The jump from free to serious is steep. $50, then $200. If your actual need is “handle my inbox and my calendar,” that is a lot of workspace to buy.
The best GetEnergy alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Best for | Starting price |
|---|---|---|
| Carly | Email, calendar, and scheduling that runs without you present | AI agents from $35/month |
| Claude Cowork | Deep document and analysis work inside Anthropic’s stack | Paid Claude plans |
| ChatGPT Work | Teams already standardized on OpenAI | Paid ChatGPT plans |
| Lindy | Prebuilt AI-EA automations with a large template library | Plus $29.99/month |
| Instinct | An always-on assistant you text or call | Invite-only |
| Relevance AI | Companies standing up a governed AI workforce | Enterprise, talk to sales |
1. Carly
Energy and Carly are chasing the same outcome from opposite ends. Energy gives you a workspace and specialist assistants inside it. Carly removes the workspace: you reach it over email, text, or chat, and it works in the background whether or not you have an app open.
That difference decides most of the comparison.
Where Carly wins:
- It runs on triggers, not on your attention. An email lands, a meeting gets booked, a form comes in, and the workflow fires. Energy waits for you to open it and ask.
- Scheduling is a first-class job. Booking pages, group availability polls, timezone-aware rescheduling, and calendar management, not just calendar reading. Energy has no equivalent.
- Nothing to download. Carly works from any device because the interface is your inbox and your phone. No macOS build, no Windows waitlist.
- Both mail sides, properly. Gmail and Outlook, with multiple accounts of each connected at once.
- The free tier does not require another subscription. Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month. Energy’s free plan needs you to already be paying OpenAI.
- Reach beyond the native list. Around 260 native connectors across 45+ categories at carlyassistant.com/integrations, plus anything with a public API through your own key.
Tradeoff: Carly is not a desktop workspace with a browser-automation surface. If you specifically want an assistant clicking around inside a browser window on your machine while you watch, Energy does that and Carly does not.
Best for: Founders, operators, and executives whose real pile is email, calendar, and follow-through.
2. Claude Cowork
Anthropic’s agentic workspace, and the product Energy names directly when it explains what makes it different. Cowork is strong where the work is document-shaped: reading long material, analysis, drafting, and working across connected tools inside Claude.
Why pick it over Energy: If you already pay for Claude and your work is research and writing rather than browser clicking, you get most of the value without a second subscription. See what Claude Cowork connects to.
Tradeoff: You are on Anthropic’s models by definition. Energy’s whole “use any model” pitch is aimed at exactly this.
Best for: People whose work lives in documents and analysis.
3. ChatGPT Work
The OpenAI equivalent, and the other product Energy positions against. If your company has standardized on ChatGPT, connectors and company knowledge land inside the tool people already open.
Why pick it over Energy: No extra vendor, no extra bill, and the assistant is already in everyone’s browser. Details in our ChatGPT Cowork rundown.
Tradeoff: OpenAI’s models only, and the surface has been changing fast enough that capabilities are worth re-checking before you build a process on one.
Best for: Teams that are already all-in on OpenAI.
4. Lindy
The most established AI executive assistant on this list, with a large library of prebuilt automations covering email, calendar, and meeting workflows.
Why pick it over Energy: Years of templates, and a 7-day trial so you can test before paying. See our Lindy AI review and Lindy alternatives.
Tradeoff: No free plan, it is credit-metered, and Plus starts at $29.99/month, so it is not the cheap option either.
Best for: People who want a mature AI EA with automations already built.
5. Instinct
The opposite design philosophy: no workspace at all. You text or call Instinct, and it works across your screen, messages, and devices.
Why pick it over Energy: There is genuinely no interface to learn, and the personal-logistics use cases (arranging a ride, booking a handyman) are ones a desktop workspace never touches.
Tradeoff: It is invite-only, and its terms take a perpetual, irrevocable license to train on what it captures, including screen captures and keystrokes. Energy commits to the opposite in writing. Worth reading our breakdown of what Instinct’s terms allow before you connect anything.
Best for: People who want an assistant reachable by text and are comfortable with the data posture.
6. Relevance AI
A builder platform rather than a finished assistant, now positioned around what it calls an “AI Workforce”: custom agents and tools assembled per business function, with SSO, RBAC, and audit logs.
Why pick it over Energy: Far more control over what each agent does, and real governance features if several people will be running agents.
Tradeoff: It has moved upmarket. There is no public pricing and no self-serve tier any more, only a sales conversation, so it is not something you try on a Tuesday afternoon.
Best for: Companies rolling agents out across functions with someone to own them.
Which one is actually right
Sort by where the work happens.
If the work happens in a browser on your machine while you watch, Energy is well designed for that and the alternatives mostly are not.
If the work happens in your inbox and on your calendar, including when you are asleep, start with Carly. Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month.
If the work is documents and analysis, use whichever frontier assistant you already pay for, Cowork or ChatGPT Work.
If you want automations already built, Lindy. If you are rolling agents out across a company under central governance, Relevance AI, budget and sales cycle included.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is GetEnergy?
Two things, which is the source of most confusion. Energy at getenergy.com is an AI workspace where named assistants complete work across your browser, inbox, files, and connected tools, sold as a desktop app with plans at $0, $50, and $200 per month. GETenergy at getenergy.io is an unrelated London-based renewable electricity trading platform.
How much does Energy cost?
Free with your own ChatGPT plan, $50/month for Plus, $200/month for Pro with 4× the Plus usage, and custom pricing for Enterprise. The free tier assumes you already pay OpenAI separately.
Does Energy work with Outlook?
Yes. Energy lists Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Slack, and Outlook among its connections, and you choose which ones to connect and what each can access.
What is the best GetEnergy alternative?
It depends on where your work sits. For email, calendar, and scheduling that continues without you present, Carly is the closest thing to what most people actually want from the category. For document and analysis work, Claude Cowork or ChatGPT Work. For prebuilt automations, Lindy.
Does Energy train on your data?
Energy states that it does not train on your content and that every step it takes is recorded in a reviewable audit trail. That puts it in the better half of this category. Not every assistant makes the same commitment, which is worth checking individually before connecting a mailbox.
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On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
