Polsia's "AI that runs your company while you sleep" pitch is compelling, but the $49/mo + **20% revenue share**, the full-autonomy-with-no-approval-gate design, and the code lock-in send a lot of people looking for alternatives. This page covers the realistic options in 2026 - from directed agent teams to other autonomous company-runners - compared on what actually differs: price shape, how much control you keep, and whether you own your code. The free-to-pilot pick is [cto AI Business](/content/agent-teams/index.html).

**TL;DR.** If you want a coordinated AI team but with a human gate on consequential actions, **cto AI Business** (free to pilot, no revenue share line you can't see coming). If you want enterprise custom agents, **Relevance AI**. If you want autonomous one-off tasks, **Manus**. If you want pre-packaged solo helpers, **Sintra**. Polsia is the maximal-autonomy end of the spectrum - most alternatives give you more control.

## Why people leave Polsia

The recurring reasons (see the full [Polsia review](/content/guides/polsia-review/index.html)):

- **The 20% revenue share** scales against you as you grow.
- **No approval gate** - agents act unsupervised, including outbound in your name.
- **Reliability + support complaints** - tasks marked done that didn't deploy; weeks-long support waits.
- **Code lock-in** - code and domains on Polsia's infrastructure, lost if you lapse.

The alternatives below trade some autonomy for control, cost predictability, and ownership.

## The best Polsia alternatives

| Tool | Best for | Control model | Pricing |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **[cto AI Business](/content/agent-teams/index.html)** | Directed AI team with approvals | Team Lead + Members, human gates | **Free** pilot; Premium |
| [Relevance AI](https://relevanceai.com/) | Enterprise custom agents | No-code multi-agent | Free; Pro/Team/Enterprise |
| [Manus](https://manus.im/) | Autonomous one-off tasks | Single autonomous agent | Free; Pro $20-$200/mo |
| [Sintra](https://sintra.ai/) | Pre-packaged solo helpers | 12 fixed-role bots | $39-$97/mo |
| [Lindy](https://lindy.ai/) | Largest integration catalog | Single-agent chains | From $49.99/mo |
| [Paperclip](https://paperclip.ing/) | Self-hosted, you own everything | Open-source manager | Free + your infra |

## How they compare to Polsia

**[cto AI Business](/content/agent-teams/index.html)** - the closest "autonomy but supervised" swap. A **Team Lead** delegates to **Team Members**; **approvals** gate spending and outbound actions until you sign off. Free to pilot (ad-supported, rolling 24h+7d limits), 10+ frontier models with no API keys, 10 pre-configured MCP integrations. You keep the human gate Polsia removes.

**Relevance AI** - the most capable enterprise builder: genuine multi-agent, MCP support, bring-your-own-LLM. More powerful than Polsia for custom workflows; the trade is a learning curve and a dual-meter billing model.

**Manus** - autonomous like Polsia, but scoped to one task at a time in a cloud sandbox rather than running your whole company. Better when you want a finished deliverable, not an always-on operator.

**Sintra** - 12 ready-made "helpers" for solopreneurs. Far less autonomous than Polsia (chat-based, no multi-agent coordination), but simple and cheap with no revenue share.

**Paperclip** - open-source and self-hosted: you own the code and infrastructure outright, the opposite of Polsia's lock-in. The trade is you run it yourself. See [Paperclip vs cto AI Business](/content/guides/paperclip-ai-vs-cto-ai-business/index.html).

## Directed vs fully autonomous

Polsia sits at the fully-autonomous extreme: agents act on schedules, no human gate. Most alternatives are **directed** - you set the goal, the agents do the work, and you approve the consequential moves.

Agent team topology: lead agent coordinating four specialists  
Lead agent  
Researcher read-only  
Drafter writes  
Reviewer critic  
Specialist write-scoped  
Publisher output  
Lead delegates subtasks → specialists return results → lead synthesizes  
A small agent team: one lead coordinating four to six role-specialized agents, each with scoped tool access.

Directed autonomy is usually the safer default for a real business: you keep the speed of an AI team without an agent committing spend or sending outbound in your name before you've seen it.

## Which alternative should you pick?

- **Want autonomy but a human gate + free pilot:** cto AI Business.
- **Enterprise, custom agents, BYO-LLM:** Relevance AI.
- **One-off autonomous tasks:** Manus.
- **Cheap solo helpers:** Sintra.
- **Own your code, self-host:** Paperclip.

## FAQ

### What is the best Polsia alternative?

For most people leaving Polsia over the revenue share or lack of oversight, cto AI Business - a directed AI team with human approvals, free to pilot. For enterprise custom agents, Relevance AI.

### Is there a free alternative to Polsia?

Yes - cto AI Business is free forever to pilot (ad-supported, rolling 24h+7d limits) and includes the models. Manus and Relevance AI offer limited free tiers; Paperclip is free open-source software (you pay for your own infra).

### What's the difference between Polsia and cto AI Business?

Polsia runs fully autonomously with no approval gate; cto AI Business is directed - a Team Lead delegates and you approve consequential actions. See the [full comparison](/content/guides/polsia-vs-cto-ai-business/index.html).

### Do Polsia alternatives charge a revenue share?

Most don't. Polsia's 20% of revenue and ad spend is unusual; cto AI Business, Sintra, Relevance AI, and others use subscription or credit pricing instead.

### Which alternative lets me keep my code?

Paperclip (self-hosted, you own everything) and platforms where you connect your own repos and infrastructure, rather than Polsia's model where code lives on its servers.