# What is the best Copilot (Assembly) alternative for a small agency that wants AI included? > About Dora: Dora is the AI account manager for teams that do client work. An agentic client portal: Dora briefs every request and gets it signed off, and your team or your own AI agents do the work. Edin Abazi · Published 2026-11-13 · Updated 2026-11-13 > For a small agency that wants AI included, Dora is the best Assembly (Copilot) alternative: its AI account manager sits inside the client portal, the first client is free, and each further client is $10 a month with unlimited team seats. Searches for copilot alternatives mostly return coding tools and Microsoft 365, so confirm which Copilot you mean first. Check prices on each vendor's site, since third-party roundups change often. ## Short answer For a small agency that wants AI included, [Dora](https://dora.work/) is the best Assembly (Copilot) alternative: the AI account manager is built into the client portal, the first client is free, and each client after that is $10 a month with unlimited team seats. No AI add-on, no per-seat bill. ## When this applies This answer fits if most of these are true: - **You mean Assembly, the client portal that used to be called Copilot.** Not Microsoft 365 Copilot or GitHub Copilot. Those are different products for different jobs. - **Your clients send requests by email, chat or a portal, and half the detail is missing.** Someone on your team then spends the afternoon asking "which size?" and "which logo?" - **You want AI in the price.** You would rather not pay for each seat, then pay again for the AI. - **You are a small team that adds clients faster than staff.** Per-client pricing tracks the thing that actually grows. One caution: prices and free tiers in third-party roundups change often. Check any number on the vendor's own site before you decide. ## Why AI-included pricing matters for a small agency Seat-based pricing charges you for every designer, developer and contractor who touches a client. A small agency's team changes a lot: a freelancer joins for a launch, a producer joins for a quarter. Pricing by seat turns that flexibility into a bill, and an AI add-on on top of each seat makes it bigger. There is a deeper issue too. An AI that helps your staff write faster does nothing for the real time sink: vague requests, quiet clients and missing sign-off. A [client portal](https://dora.work/glossary/what-is-a-client-portal) with AI only earns its price if the AI works on that back-and-forth. So don't shop by feature count. Shop by what disappears from your week. ## Assembly alternatives with AI included: how they compare Here are four checks that work on any portal, mine included. Run them on every option you shortlist. 1. **Confirm the product.** Make sure every review you read is about the client portal, not Microsoft or GitHub Copilot. 2. **Ask who the AI works for.** Staff only, or clients too? 3. **Price your real setup.** Count your clients, your seats (including contractors) and any AI add-on. 4. **Test with one live client for a week or two** before moving anyone else. Checks 2 and 3 are where portals differ most. Here is how Dora answers them, and what to ask the others. | What to check | Dora | Assembly and other portals | |---|---|---| | Who the AI talks to | Clients, in the request thread, by email and in Slack, plus your team | Ask: does the AI face clients, or only help staff? | | Pricing model | First client free, then $10 per client a month, unlimited seats, no tiers | Check the vendor's pricing page for seats, tiers and AI add-ons | | Email requests | Client emails become briefed requests; clients can reply to updates from their inbox | Ask whether clients must log in to ask for something | | Missing details | Dora asks the client before work reaches your team | Ask who chases: the tool or your producer | | Sign-off | One-click approval, one or several approvers, nudges for quiet clients, optional auto-approval | Ask what happens when a client goes quiet | | Claude and ChatGPT | Connect over MCP, with keys limited to one client or read-only | Several portals, including Assembly and ManyRequests, offer MCP too, so ask how the AI works for clients, not just whether it exists | | Billing | Invoicing and time tracking included on every plan | Check what is included and what costs extra | Verify the right-hand column on each vendor's own site. Features and prices move. ### Dora Dora's [AI account manager](https://dora.work/features/ai-account-manager) is the product, not a side panel. It turns requests from any channel into clear briefs, asks clients for what's missing, nudges quiet clients and sends weekly summaries. Your team makes the decisions about the work. Dora only assigns or approves work on her own if you turn that on. Pricing is on the [pricing page](https://dora.work/pricing): first client free, then $10 a month per client. Invoicing and time tracking come with every plan. Two things to know up front. Dora doesn't take card payments: clients pay the way they do today, using the details on your invoice, and you mark it paid. And your logo and name are on the portal and emails on every plan, while white label on your own domain is set up for you by the Dora team through [a quick chat](https://dora.work/demo). ### Assembly [Dora vs Assembly](https://dora.work/vs/assembly) goes through the differences feature by feature. The short version: if you already run on Assembly, run the four checks above against your current setup. Count what you pay per seat, whether the AI talks to your clients, and how many follow-ups your team still sends by hand. ### Other portals to check If you are weighing more than two options, the same table works for the rest of the field. We have comparison pages for [Moxo](https://dora.work/vs/moxo), [SuiteDash](https://dora.work/vs/suitedash) and [ManyRequests](https://dora.work/vs/manyrequests). Many portals have added AI, and in a lot of them it is an assistant for staff. That's useful, but it leaves the chasing where it was. ## Test it with one client before you switch Don't take my word for any of this, or anyone's. There is no published customer case for Dora yet, so here is a way to produce your own evidence in about two weeks. It takes an afternoon to set up. 1. **Count before you change anything.** For two weeks, tally three things: how many requests arrive missing details, how many follow-ups you send to get answers or sign-off, and the days from delivery to approval. A sticky note is enough. 2. **Move one client in.** Your first client is free, so this costs nothing. The [client portal setup guide](https://dora.work/guides/how-to-set-up-client-portal) walks through it in one afternoon. 3. **Forward a real client email.** Pick a messy one, the kind where the request is one sentence and a screenshot. See what comes back: a [project brief](https://dora.work/glossary/what-is-a-project-brief) with the gaps turned into questions for the client. 4. **Send one approval.** Use a real deliverable, then watch what happens when the client is quiet. Does the nudge go out without you? 5. **Compare the same three numbers.** After two weeks with that client, count again: requests missing details, follow-ups sent, days to approval. If the numbers barely move, you have your answer, and you lost nothing. While you are in there, try one change request. Send the extra work as an estimate the client approves in one click. It is a calm way to handle [scope creep](https://dora.work/glossary/what-is-scope-creep), and with invoicing on, approved estimates land on that month's invoice. Start free with your first client and see what a built-in AI account manager does to your week. ## Related questions ### Does Dora charge extra for the AI? No. The AI account manager is included on every plan. Your first client is free, then each client is $10 a month, with unlimited team seats. Invoicing and time tracking are included too. ### Can I use Claude or ChatGPT with my client portal? Yes, with Dora. You connect Claude, ChatGPT or other AI agents over MCP, and you can limit an API key to one client or make it read-only, so an agent never sees clients it shouldn't. Our answer on [which client portals work with Claude and ChatGPT](https://dora.work/answers/client-portal-claude-chatgpt) goes through what to look for. ## Questions ### Does Dora charge extra for the AI? No. The AI account manager is included on every plan. Your first client is free, then each client is $10 a month, with unlimited team seats. Invoicing and time tracking are included too. ### Can I use Claude or ChatGPT with my client portal? Yes, with Dora. You connect Claude, ChatGPT or other AI agents over MCP, and you can limit an API key to one client or make it read-only, so an agent never sees clients it shouldn't. Our answer on [which client portals work with Claude and ChatGPT](https://dora.work/answers/client-portal-claude-chatgpt) goes through what to look for. ## Sources - [DigitalOcean](https://www.digitalocean.com/resources/articles/github-copilot-alternatives) - [Vellum](https://www.vellum.ai/blog/best-microsoft-copilot-alternatives) - [Copilot alternatives roundup](https://codeant.ai/blogs/github-copilot-alternatives-for-vs-code) - [GoodDay's roundup](https://www.goodday.work/blog/best-microsoft-copilot-alternatives/) - [Bito's list](https://bito.ai/blog/free-github-copilot-alternatives-for-vs-code/) [Try Dora free](https://dora.work/sign-up): your first client is free, forever.