Orbit vs Copper
Copper is a Google-Workspace-native CRM for small businesses: it sits beside Gmail and Calendar and captures contacts from your email automatically, priced per seat. Orbit is a free CRM for one person with 16 AI agents that prospect, call leads back in about 90 seconds, and chase proposals and invoices, with every action approved by you first. Copper organizes what your inbox already knows. Orbit goes and creates the next conversation.
What is Copper great at?
Copper made one bet early and stuck with it: build the CRM into Google Workspace instead of next to it. The side panel puts the CRM inside Gmail, emails and contacts log themselves, and Calendar events and Drive files attach to the right records without anyone copying and pasting. Its long-standing recommended-for-Google-Workspace positioning is rare and real.
That makes it a quietly excellent relationship CRM for small teams that already run on Google: agencies, consultancies, and professional services where most deals start as an email thread. Data entry, the thing that kills most small CRMs, mostly takes care of itself. Pricing is per seat. Check their site for current plans.
Orbit vs Copper at a glance
Auto-logging the past versus staffing the follow-up. Here is the honest split.
| Orbit | Copper | |
|---|---|---|
| Built-in AI agents that work the pipeline | 16 named agents with approval cards | No agent team |
| AI voice calls and speed-to-lead | Remy calls new form leads back in about 90 seconds | No AI calling |
| Human approval gates on AI output | Approve, edit, or dismiss everything | Not applicable |
| Built for one person | Yes, solo-first | Small teams on Google Workspace |
| Invoices, proposals, and booking pages included | Included on the free plan | No, pair with other tools |
| On-device meeting transcription | Free, audio never leaves your machine | |
| MCP server to connect Claude | Check their site | |
| Free plan | Free forever, no credit card | Free trial only, check their site |
| Pricing model | Free plan, your own API keys at provider cost, Pro coming soon | Per seat, check their site |
Where does Orbit fit instead?
Fair warning before the pitch: Copper's Google-native auto-capture is its superpower, and Orbit's own Gmail inbox and two-way Google Calendar sync belong to the upcoming Pro plan, not the free one. If automatic email logging on day one is your single must-have, Copper does that, at per-seat prices. What Copper does not do is work the pipeline for you.
Orbit's free plan ships with the staff. Niko finds leads that match your ideal client and drafts the outreach. Remy calls new form leads back in about 90 seconds on your own Vapi number and books meetings with invites sent. Wes nudges unsigned proposals on day 3 and day 7. Ray reminds overdue invoices politely on day 3 and firmly on day 14. Sam sweeps the database weekly for duplicates, dead numbers, and stale deals.
Pick Orbit if you are a one-person shop that needs conversations started, not just filed. Every agent output is a card you approve, edit, or dismiss, nothing auto-sends, and the plan stays free forever with your own AI key billed at provider cost.
Pick Copper if
- Your team lives in Google Workspace and wants email and contacts logged automatically.
- You want the CRM visible in a Gmail side panel while you write.
- You run a small relationship-driven firm with a few paid seats.
- Minimal data entry matters more to you than automated outreach.
- You want Calendar and Drive context attached to every record, check their site for plans.
Copper writes down what happened in your inbox. Orbit makes the next thing happen.
Keep exploring
Frequently asked questions
Is Orbit a good Copper alternative for one person?+
Yes, if your bottleneck is follow-up rather than filing. Orbit is free and its 16 AI agents prospect, call new leads back in about 90 seconds, and chase proposals and invoices with your approval. Copper is the better pick if automatic Gmail and Calendar logging for a small team is your main requirement.
Does Orbit sync with Gmail and Google Calendar?+
Not on the free plan. Orbit's Gmail inbox with open and click tracking and its two-way Google Calendar sync are part of the upcoming Pro plan. The free plan includes the 16 agents, contacts, pipelines, tasks, booking pages, invoices, proposals, and the on-device meeting recorder.
Does Copper have a free plan?+
Copper is known for per-seat paid plans with a free trial rather than a free tier. Check their site for current pricing. Orbit's base plan is free forever with no credit card required.
How do Orbit's agents know who to call?+
You stay in control of the list. Remy responds to new form leads, Dex works a calling list you tag, and Piper calls quiet deals carrying a brief you wrote. Voice agents are off by default, call only inside hours you set, respect a daily cap of 25 by default, and run on your own Vapi number.
Is there a contact limit on Orbit's free plan?+
No. The free plan includes unlimited contacts, tasks, and notes, along with 1 pipeline, 1 booking page, 5 landing pages, 3 forms, 10 invoices, 10 proposals, and 50 MB of storage. MCP access and webhooks are part of the upcoming Pro plan.
Start conversations, not just records
Free forever, no credit card. Turn on the agents you want and approve every card before anything reaches a client.
Free forever plan. No credit card. No spam.