The open-source alternative to Artisan
Looking for something like Artisan, but open source and free to start? Alfera is the AI coworker your whole team shares: a company brain that syncs your apps, connections shared per person or per team, permissions on every action, and Slack, WhatsApp and email. Self-host it in one click, or start on Alfera Cloud.
In one line: Alfera is open source with a company brain, vs a closed AI BDR that books meetings.
| ArtisanAI sales agent (AI BDR) | Open source, or Alfera Cloud | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Ava, an AI BDR that finds B2B leads, writes and sends outreach, handles replies, and books meetings for sales reps. | The AI coworker your whole team shares, with a company brain that syncs your apps. Open source. | |
| Open source | No | Yes, AGPL-3.0 | |
| Self-host | Not published | Yes: one click on DigitalOcean or AWS, or one command on any server | |
| Price | Free: $0/mo, 300 credits/mo. Intern: $280/mo billed monthly, 10K credits/mo ($250/mo billed annually) | Free to start: open source to self-host, and Alfera Cloud starts with $10 of free AI usage | |
| Where it works | Web app, Email, Social, Phone dialer (calls queued for reps), Slack (notifications) | Slack, WhatsApp, email from its own address, the web app, a Mac app, the API and MCP | |
| Team use | One ops team launches campaigns for the whole org; Ava sends as each rep. Team and workspace permissions, workspace isolation per brand. | Multiplayer: one coworker for the whole team. It knows who is asking, and each connection is shared with everyone, one project, or one person | |
| Permissions | Approval mode per campaign (Ava drafts and waits for a click, or sends), escalation rules, exclusion and DNC lists, role-based access, audit log. | Allow, ask first, or never, per connection and per action. Approvals in Slack, email or the app, and every action logged | |
| Starts on its own | Intent signals (funding rounds, leadership hires), website visitors and product data tell Ava when to act. Custom webhooks bring in your own data. | On a schedule, from a webhook, or on 600+ app events | |
| Models | Not published | 230+ models: Claude, GPT, Gemini, open models, your ChatGPT plan, or your own |
Where Artisan is the better choice
Go-to-market teams, from startups to enterprise, that want outbound run end to end without adding headcount.
- Built-in database of 250M+ verified B2B contacts, enriched from 22+ data sources
- Deliverability tools included: self-healing mailboxes, bounce testing before every send, per-mailbox limits
- 20+ ready-to-run sales campaign types, with automatic testing of message variations
Everything Alfera does
- A company brain that syncs your apps. Connect Google Drive, Notion, Slack and the rest. Documents sync on their own, keep every version, and every answer draws on them.
- One coworker for the whole team. It knows who is asking. Many people, many tasks at once, each with their own chats and connections, and shared chats when you want.
- 3,000+ app connections, shared the way you choose. Each connection is open to everyone, one project, or one person. A personal mailbox stays personal; the support inbox is the team’s.
- Permissions on every action. Allow, ask first, or never, per connection and per action. Approvals land in Slack, email or the app, and every action is logged.
- Where your team already is. Slack, WhatsApp, email from its own address, the web app, a Mac app, and your own code through the API and MCP.
- It starts work by itself. On a schedule, from a webhook, or on 600+ app events in Gmail, HubSpot, Stripe and more.
- Its own computer. Every chat runs in a sandbox with a terminal and a browser, and its files stay from one chat to the next.
- Any model. 230+ models: Claude, GPT, Gemini, open models, your ChatGPT plan, or a model you run yourself.
- Open source, and free to start. AGPL-3.0. Self-host it in one click on DigitalOcean or AWS, or start on Alfera Cloud with $10 of free AI usage.
Artisan and Alfera
Alfera. Alfera is the AI coworker your whole team shares. It has a company brain that syncs your apps, 3,000+ app connections shared per person or per team, permissions on every action, and it works in Slack, WhatsApp, email and the web app. It starts work by itself, runs on any model, and it is open source: self-host it in one click or start free on Alfera Cloud. Artisan is not open source.
If you want something like Artisan, but open source and free to start, with a company brain that syncs your apps, connections shared per person or per team, and permissions on every action, pick Alfera. It works in Slack, WhatsApp and email, starts work by itself, and runs on any model.
Artisan: Free: $0/mo, 300 credits/mo. Intern: $280/mo billed monthly, 10K credits/mo ($250/mo billed annually). Alfera: Free to start: open source to self-host, and Alfera Cloud starts with $10 of free AI usage.
Artisan: Not published. Alfera: Yes: one click on DigitalOcean or AWS, or one command on any server.
Go-to-market teams, from startups to enterprise, that want outbound run end to end without adding headcount. Built-in database of 250M+ verified B2B contacts, enriched from 22+ data sources. Deliverability tools included: self-healing mailboxes, bounce testing before every send, per-mailbox limits. 20+ ready-to-run sales campaign types, with automatic testing of message variations.
Sources
Facts about Artisan come from its own pages, read on 16 October 2026. Something out of date? Write to hello@alfera.ai and we will fix it.
- home page: product, channels, guardrails, triggers, security
- pricing page: Free and Intern tiers (Startups tab), Team/Scale/Enterprise talk to sales, FAQ on approvals and integrations
- Ava 2.0 launch post: approval gates, team and workspace permissions, central ops team
- startups page: positioning and deliverability