Comparison · August 2026
Relay.app alternative: where the approval step goes now
How Relay.app and Rills differ on AI oversight, pricing, and mobile approvals.
Relay added human-in-the-loop steps to a web builder. Rills was built around the approval itself: confidence scoring that learns your judgment, and a mobile queue you clear in seconds rather than a step buried in a flow.
- Relay bolted a human step onto a web flow; Rills is built around the approval
- Relay metered steps and AI credits; Rills keeps logic and approvals free
- Relay closes September 14, 2026; nothing imports its format, so we rebuild your workflows free
Pick Rills if you want confidence-scored AI with a learning loop and a mobile-first approval queue as a core product surface.
Pick Relay.app if you are reading this before your account's deletion date and only need Relay to keep running until then. Past September 14, 2026 it is not an option, and the real question is which replacement keeps the approval step.
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78% → 91% over last 12 approvals
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Why operators choose Rills over Relay.app
- Approval is a feature in Relay, not the foundation. Rills is built around the decision, with confidence scoring tied to every approval.
- AI credits meter every model call. Rills separates workflow credits from AI credits and never charges for logic or approvals.
- The queue is mobile-first. Clear approvals from your phone in seconds; Relay's human steps live inside a web flow.
- Autonomy is earned per run. As confidence proves out per execution, Rills reduces how often it has to ask you at all.
Bring your Linear, Attio, and Calendly flows. Rills builds the whole product around the approval, with confidence scoring that learns your judgment.
Full comparison
Pricing model
- Rills
- Base subscription from $19/month plus included workflow & AI credits; logic & approvals free
- Relay.app
- Shutting down: new signups and upgrades are off, annual customers get prorated refunds. Last published pricing (June 2026) was step + AI credit metering: Professional $38/mo monthly ($19 annual, 750 steps + 2,000 AI credits, 1 user), Team $118/mo monthly ($59 annual, 1,500 steps, 10 users)
Free / entry
- Rills
- Free trial; paid plans from Starter tier (see rills.ai/pricing for tiers and included credits)
- Relay.app
- Free accounts closed August 15, 2026; paid accounts close September 14, 2026
AI capabilities
- Rills
- Native AI agents with confidence scoring that learns from approvals
- Relay.app
- Built-in AI credits for GPT / Claude / Gemini; can connect your own model billing
Human oversight
- Rills
- Built-in mobile approval queue; $0 while paused for review
- Relay.app
- Human-in-the-loop steps (approvals, tasks, manual inputs) live inside a web flow; not a confidence-scored, phone-first queue built around the decision
Integrations
- Rills
- Growing catalog (focused on common business tools)
- Relay.app
- 100+ apps; credentials and OAuth tokens are deleted with the account
Mobile experience
- Rills
- Approval queue designed for mobile review
- Relay.app
- Web-first; human steps supported but not a dedicated mobile approval queue
Best for
- Rills
- Teams that want AI to propose actions but humans to stay in the loop
- Relay.app
- No longer adoptable; existing users need a migration plan before their deletion date
| Compare | RillsAI automation with human oversight | Relay.appShutting down September 14, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Base subscription from $19/month plus included workflow & AI credits; logic & approvals free | Shutting down: new signups and upgrades are off, annual customers get prorated refunds. Last published pricing (June 2026) was step + AI credit metering: Professional $38/mo monthly ($19 annual, 750 steps + 2,000 AI credits, 1 user), Team $118/mo monthly ($59 annual, 1,500 steps, 10 users) |
| Free / entry | Free trial; paid plans from Starter tier (see rills.ai/pricing for tiers and included credits) | Free accounts closed August 15, 2026; paid accounts close September 14, 2026 |
| AI capabilities | Native AI agents with confidence scoring that learns from approvals | Built-in AI credits for GPT / Claude / Gemini; can connect your own model billing |
| Human oversight | Built-in mobile approval queue; $0 while paused for review | Human-in-the-loop steps (approvals, tasks, manual inputs) live inside a web flow; not a confidence-scored, phone-first queue built around the decision |
| Integrations | Growing catalog (focused on common business tools) | 100+ apps; credentials and OAuth tokens are deleted with the account |
| Mobile experience | Approval queue designed for mobile review | Web-first; human steps supported but not a dedicated mobile approval queue |
| Best for | Teams that want AI to propose actions but humans to stay in the loop | No longer adoptable; existing users need a migration plan before their deletion date |
When to choose Rills
- You want confidence-scored AI proposals with a learning loop tied to your approvals
- You want a mobile-first approval queue as a core surface, not only desktop flows
- You prefer separate workflow + AI credit pools with free logic and $0 paused workflows
- You want honest governance for lean teams (see pricing)
When to choose Relay.app
- You can't, past September 14, 2026. Relay deletes each account and its data at the end of the wind-down, so the choice now is where to land
- If breadth of connectors is what you need, Zapier's catalog is larger than either (its approval step starts on the Pro plan and bills a task per decision)
- If you self-host or want per-execution pricing, n8n gives you approvals free on every plan, with no inbox and a record that expires with the execution log
- If your scenarios were elaborate and mostly ran unattended, Make is a strong home for the logic, though its native approval app runs on Enterprise only
Pricing comparison
Rills
Base subscription from $19/month plus included workflow & AI credits; logic & approvals free
- Starter $19/month: 5,000 workflow credits & 200 AI credits/mo (included)
- Professional $99/month: 50,000 workflow & 1,500 AI credits/mo
- Business $349/month: 250,000 workflow & 5,000 AI credits/mo
- Human approvals and workflow logic never consume credits
- $0 while workflows are paused awaiting approval
- Enterprise: custom pricing and credit pools (see /pricing)
Relay.app
Shutting down: new signups and upgrades are off, annual customers get prorated refunds. Last published pricing (June 2026) was step + AI credit metering: Professional $38/mo monthly ($19 annual, 750 steps + 2,000 AI credits, 1 user), Team $118/mo monthly ($59 annual, 1,500 steps, 10 users)
- Free: 200 steps/mo, 500 AI credits/mo, 1 user (relay.app/pricing)
- Professional: $38/mo monthly or $19/mo billed annually; 750 steps + 2,000 AI credits/mo, 1 user
- Team: $118/mo monthly or $59/mo billed annually; 1,500 steps/mo, 10 users, shared workflows
- Steps meter every action; the slider runs to 1M steps ($889/mo Professional, $919 Team, annual)
On Relay every step and every AI credit meters, so a flow that calls a model and then takes three actions spends on all four. Rills keeps workflow credits and AI credits in separate pools and never charges for the approval or the logic around it.
Calculate your own numbers — compare plans at your volume →
Sources, verified August 2026: Rills pricing · Relay.app pricing
In Rills the approval is the product, not a step you add. The approval and the logic around it never cost credits, a paused workflow sits at $0, and confidence scoring learns per execution so the queue you clear from your phone keeps getting shorter.
Frequently asked questions
Is Rills a good Relay.app alternative?
Relay and Rills are the closest match on the thing Relay users came for: both blend AI with human-in-the-loop steps. Rills differs by building the product around the approval itself, with confidence scoring that learns per execution and a mobile-first queue, rather than treating approval as one step inside a web flow.
If you want the wider field rather than a head-to-head, five Relay.app alternatives ranked scores each one on how well it keeps that approval step.
What's the real difference between Rills and Relay?
In Relay, a human step is something you add to a flow. In Rills, the approval is the foundation: every consequential action proposes and waits, confidence scoring tracks which calls you trust, and runs that clear your confidence threshold go through on their own.
What happens to my Relay.app workflows after September 14, 2026?
They are permanently deleted along with the account. Free accounts closed August 15, 2026 and paid accounts close September 14, 2026, with no grace period and no archive Relay can restore. Relay also deletes its stored credentials and OAuth tokens for your connected apps, so it loses access to those apps too.
Export your workflows, run history, and tables before your date. How to export your Relay.app data walks through what to take and in what order.
Can I import my Relay.app workflows into Rills?
Not as a file import. No platform reads Relay's export format, so every workflow is rebuilt rather than imported. Relay's AI-prompt export is the transferable piece, because it describes each workflow in plain language.
You don't have to do that rebuild yourself. Send your export to migrations@rills.ai and a person rebuilds it on Rills for you at no cost, then sends back a private link plus a video walkthrough, usually within two business days. You can watch your own workflow run before creating an account. See the full switching guide.
How does Rills pricing compare to Relay's credits?
Relay metered steps and AI credits, so logic, actions, and model calls all drew down. Rills separates workflow credits from AI credits and never charges for logic or approvals, and a paused workflow costs $0. If the reason you ran an approval layer was to review risky actions, a meter that charged per review worked against you.
Run your own volume through the automation pricing calculator at rills.ai/tools/automation-pricing-calculator, or see rills.ai/pricing for current tiers.
Does Rills have a mobile approval queue?
Yes, the mobile approval queue is the core of Rills. You review and approve proposed actions from your phone in about five seconds. Relay supports human steps but is web-first rather than queue-first.
Does Rills bundle access to GPT and Claude like Relay?
Rills runs AI agents with included AI credits on paid plans. If your priority is bundled, out-of-the-box access to several major LLMs inside a single builder, Relay's AI credit model may suit that better; if your priority is supervised execution with a learning loop, Rills is the closer fit.
Approve from your phone. Pause without paying.
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Last updated: August 2026
Relay.app is a trademark of its respective owners. Rills is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of these companies. Product information was accurate as of the date shown and may have changed. Visit each product's website for current pricing and features.