What is an AI agent, and how should you use this selection?
An AI agent is software that can take actions towards a task, rather than only produce an answer. Its usefulness depends on the tools, information and permissions available to it. Assess the work it can complete within agreed limits.
This selection of top AI agent companies and tools is grouped by job, not ranked. It covers general work, building agents, customer service, coding and digital work. Each provider’s stated role is not evidence of independently tested performance. “Best for” means a use case to consider, not a claim of superiority. Prices were checked on the stated date. For the underlying concept, read what is agentic AI.
General work agents: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot and Manus
General work tools are a starting point when the job spans projects, tasks and team activity. OpenAI describes ChatGPT Work around projects, tasks and teams. Anthropic offers Claude and describes itself as an AI safety and research company. Google Gemini Enterprise lets businesses discover, create, share and run agents on one platform.
Microsoft offers Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot, while Copilot Studio creates agents, workflows and apps. Manus describes itself as an action engine that executes tasks and automates workflows. These tools do not necessarily have identical capabilities. Define a sample task before comparing them. Check which product and plan the quoted price covers. A team subscription, an agent platform and a bundled business subscription are not interchangeable purchases.
| Agent | Company | Type | Best for | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Work | OpenAI | General work | Projects, tasks and teams | Business, USD: $20 per user/month annual, $25 monthly; checked 6 October 2026 |
| Claude | Anthropic | General work | Evaluating Claude for team work | Team, USD: Standard seat $20/seat/month annual ($25 monthly); checked 6 October 2026 |
| Gemini Enterprise | Work and agent platform | Discovering, creating and sharing agents | USD: Business edition $21 per seat/month; Standard / Plus $30 per seat/month; checked 6 October 2026 | |
| Microsoft Copilot / Copilot Studio | Microsoft | Work tools and agent builder | Microsoft work tools; creating agents | Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot: USD 23.50 user/month, paid yearly; excludes tax; checked 6 October 2026. Copilot Studio: see site |
| Manus | Manus | Action engine | Executing tasks and automating workflows | see site |
Agent platforms: Build and govern your own workflows
Buying an agent platform is a different decision from choosing a ready-to-use work tool. Start with the workflow you want to build and the systems it must reach. Salesforce describes Agentforce as a platform for autonomous employee and customer agents in its ecosystem. AWS describes Bedrock AgentCore as a service to build and run agents. IBM watsonx Orchestrate brings agents together across apps and workflows with centralised governance.
UiPath describes orchestration involving agents, robots and people. Automation Anywhere describes agentic process automation combining AI, automation and RPA. Kore.ai focuses on enterprise agents for customer service and employee productivity. Glean combines agents, an assistant and search over company data. ServiceNow AI Agents is another option to evaluate. Ask each provider to demonstrate your workflow rather than infer features from the platform label.
| Agent | Company | Type | Best for | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agentforce | Salesforce | Agent platform | Employee and customer agents in Salesforce | see site |
| ServiceNow AI Agents | ServiceNow | AI agents | Evaluating ServiceNow's agent offering | see site |
| Bedrock AgentCore | AWS | Agent platform | Building and running agents | see site |
| watsonx Orchestrate | IBM | Orchestration | Cross-app workflows and centralised governance | see site |
| UiPath | UiPath | Automation platform | Orchestrating agents, robots and people | see site |
| Automation Anywhere | Automation Anywhere | Process automation | Combining AI, automation and RPA | see site |
| Kore.ai | Kore.ai | Enterprise agent platform | Customer service and employee productivity | see site |
| Glean | Glean | Enterprise AI platform | Agents and search over company data | see site |
Customer-service agents: Compare the conversation and handover
Assess customer-service agents against the enquiries your team receives and the actions needed to resolve them. Intercom describes Fin as a customer agent. Zendesk offers AI agents. Sierra describes AI customer experiences through customer-service agents. Decagon focuses on building, optimising and scaling customer-service agents, using the description “AI concierge”. Yellow.ai describes enterprise agents for customer and employee experience.
WIZ.AI focuses on enterprise voice AI agents for customer operations. Do not treat voice and other service workflows as equivalent. Prepare representative enquiries, including cases that need a person. Ask providers to show how an agent uses approved information, handles uncertainty and passes work back to staff. Check these controls rather than assume every product offers them.
| Agent | Company | Type | Best for | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fin | Intercom | Customer agent | Customer-service enquiries | see site |
| Zendesk AI agents | Zendesk | Service agents | Evaluating AI-assisted customer resolution | see site |
| Sierra | Sierra | Service agents | AI customer experiences | see site |
| Decagon | Decagon | Service agents | Building and scaling customer-service agents | see site |
| Yellow.ai | Yellow.ai | Enterprise agents | Customer and employee experience | see site |
| WIZ.AI | WIZ.AI | Voice agents | Voice-based customer operations | see site |
Coding agents: Compare the task, not just the label
Coding agents need a separate shortlist because their work concerns software changes rather than general business administration. Anthropic describes Claude Code as an agentic coding tool. Cognition describes Devin as an autonomous software engineer. Cursor is an AI coding agent. GitHub Copilot is a coding agent with an issue-to-pull-request workflow.
These roles are a starting point, not evidence that the tools produce equivalent results. Choose a representative software task. Define the expected change, review process and acceptance conditions. Ask how the tool fits your team's working practices and what a person must approve. Keep code review and testing in the evaluation. Judge the best AI agents for a development team against its own tasks, rather than a general business shortlist.
| Agent | Company | Type | Best for | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | Anthropic | Coding agent | Agentic coding tasks | see site |
| Devin | Cognition | Autonomous software engineer | Software engineering work | see site |
| Cursor | Cursor | Coding agent | AI-supported coding | see site |
| GitHub Copilot | GitHub | Coding agent | Issue-to-pull-request work | see site |
Digital workers: An invitation-only option from our company
Terabot (our product), by AITG (our company), provides AI digital workers for businesses. Each worker gets its own computer, a private virtual machine, and works around the clock in apps a team already uses. These include CRM, email, WhatsApp Web, spreadsheets and web apps. Worker types cover sales, support, back office, computer use and WhatsApp.
The product is in private preview and is invitation only. Monthly Basic, Pro, Max and Enterprise plans include unlimited digital workers, with differences in AI and computer usage. Prices are announced at launch. For WhatsApp, workers reply through WhatsApp Web, not the official WhatsApp Business API, and never send bulk messages. WhatsApp's terms restrict automated use; a WhatsApp Business number and opt-in contacts are recommended. To explore an agent that does the work, request an invitation.
| Agent | Company | Type | Best for | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital workers (our product) | AITG (our company) | Computer-based AI workers | Work in existing business apps | see site |
How to choose AI agent tools for your business
Start with a job, not a provider. Write down the input, required action and acceptable result. Name the tools the agent must use, then separate essential access from optional convenience. Ask for a demonstration that follows the task through to completion, including exceptions.
Next, define approvals. Decide which actions can proceed automatically and which need a person. Set data boundaries, including what the agent may read, change or share. Ask for evidence of those controls rather than assuming them from an enterprise label. Finally, compare pricing models against the workload: per-seat charges, usage charges or a plan with defined allowances. The top AI agents for business will vary with these requirements. Smaller teams can use AI agents for small business as a focused starting point.
What do business AI agents cost?
Published prices are starting points for comparison, not a complete project budget. The tables show USD figures and identify the subscription being priced. ChatGPT Business and Claude Team use seat pricing in these offers. Gemini Enterprise also publishes seat prices. The Microsoft figure is a business subscription bundle, not a Copilot Studio quote.
Ask what is included, which billing commitment applies and whether additional usage is charged. Claude Enterprise combines a seat charge with usage at API rates, so a seat price alone may not settle the comparison. Where the table says “see site”, no verified USD figure is shown; it does not mean the product is free. Compare scope alongside price and consult AI tools for business pricing for related buying guidance.
Key takeaways
- This selection is grouped by job, not ranked.
- Compare agent tools against a defined task and the apps they must use.
- Check approvals, data boundaries and exception handling before deployment.
- Compare billing models and included scope, not headline prices alone.
Sources
Written by the Terabot team from the official pages listed above, checked on 6 October 2026. Companies are grouped by what they do, not ranked, and each description comes from the company's own website. Terabot and Teragrid are products of AITG, which publishes this site. Product names belong to their owners; check each company's site before you buy.