FRONT OFFICE AI FOR AGENCIES — THE COMPARISON

Compare us to anything an agency is offered.

Agencies are sold one of two models: relationship software your account team operates between client meetings, or AI agents you assemble and configure per channel — often the same tooling you install for your own clients. No logos needed, because the same packaging habits dominate the market. Front Office was built on three different principles — and every answer to a prospect comes from your approved credentials only; scope, fees and creative judgment stay with your people.

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Try it free 7 days on your own business · no credit card · per company, never per seat

REAL AI - the whole Front Office is AI, not old software with an AI button. Give it your website: it learns your company, works from your approved knowledge and gets better with every answer you approve.

Live on this site right now — the assistant in the corner is the product · Award-winning AI — CES · ISE · TMCnet

Zanus Front Office dashboard — the AI at work

One dashboard doing the jobs the others only track.

Three habits of the market — three different principles here

1 · Pricing scales per seat

Across most of the market, every hire raises the software bill — the price follows your headcount, not the work getting done.

2 · The AI is often metered on top

Credits, "AI actions", per-conversation fees, usage tiers. On many platforms the AI arrives as a second bill on top of the seats.

3 · Most AI was built to assist teams

Enrich, draft, score, summarize, coach — designed to make YOUR people faster. Newer autonomous agents go further, but are typically configured per channel and priced per usage.

Front Office was designed from the start on three different principles: one integrated product, priced by plan — not by seat-math · the AI performs complete front-office workflows, not only assists them · every answer grounded in your approved knowledge, with Protection capping the spend.

The scoreboard: how each model delivers the job

Fourteen agency jobs, three delivery models. The difference isn’t whether a capability exists somewhere — it’s what you must assemble, license and operate to get it. Descriptions reflect typical published product models, Aug 2026.

The job	Traditional CRM model	Agent & copilot platforms	Zanus Front Office
Answer the agency phone while the team is in client work	Whoever is at a desk answers, with a CRM and a phone system	Configure a voice agent, channels and usage separately	✓ Built in — your services, credentials and where retainers start, 40 languages, launch nights included
Answer “who have you worked with in our category?”	A partner digs out the credentials deck and replies tomorrow	An agent you train and maintain per channel	✓ Grounded in your approved case studies, with the figures you chose; no source, no claim
Present the credentials	A deck emailed, or a chemistry meeting in business hours	Assembled from agents and workflows you configure	✓ Interactive, voice-narrated presentation the prospect can interrupt with questions — any hour, discovery call booked at the end
Work the new-business inquiry	Lands in a shared inbox; a partner replies after the client day	Enriched and scored, then handed to a person	✓ Answered in minutes: qualified on budget range, timing and category, credentials sent, discovery call booked
Take the RFP invitation	Sits unread; the RFI facts are typed again from scratch	Document agents you configure; the go/no-go still yours to find	✓ Acknowledged within the hour: deadline, scope and incumbent extracted, RFI facts drafted from approved credentials, go/no-go on a person’s desk
Keep scope, fees and conflicts with your people	Depends on who picks up	Best effort, disclaimers apply	✓ Your rules: fees outside the rate card, custom scope, creative judgment and category conflicts routed to a partner, every time
Send the proposal	Built from scratch in a document tool; sent once	Agent invokes processes you configure	✓ Native: from your rate card and productized menu, one-click acceptance, custom scopes drafted for a partner’s click
Book the discovery call	Scheduling links and a five-email thread	Agent invokes calendar actions you connect	✓ Booked inside the conversation, right partner for the discipline, no calls over client workshops; calendars synced
Follow up the proposal, the past client, the lost pitch	A partner remembering	AI drafts; sending policies vary	✓ Sequences you approve — after the credentials, after the proposal, six months after the project — stopped when someone replies
Handle client requests and change orders	Five channels, tracked in none; status questions interrupt the studio	Support agents configured separately	✓ Filed complete — changes, assets, invoices, urgent press — routed to the account lead, status sent to the client
Brief the owner every morning	Dashboards you open between client meetings	A to-do list for the team	✓ A did-it-for-you list: overnight inquiries handled, proposals opened, the client going quiet, the three calls needing you
Train the new account manager	Shadowing for weeks	Not the product’s job	✓ Role-play on your own process, rate card and each client’s brand rules — productive in days
Call your clients before they call you	Reminder calls made by staff when there is time; otherwise a text	Build an outbound flow, connect telephony, meter the minutes	✓ Auto-Call: an event, a funnel or a list triggers the call; the AI announces or converses, on your rules — Hi Chloe, this is Northlight Creative: your campaign proofs are ready for approval in the shared workspace — we need a yes by Wednesday to hit the launch date.
The bill	Per seat; grows with every hire — and a marketing add-on on top	Per seat and/or per usage: credits, actions, conversations	✓ One plan, chosen by outcome — your prospects and clients are never counted or charged

Already running a big CRM suite? Read the story: the old way vs the AI way — keep the CRM, add the AI Front Office → And the chat below will compare us to any product you name, from its published pages.

Comparing something specific? Ask the Zanus AI below — it compares us to any vendor you name, point by point, from their published pages. Our plans are public: see pricing → Then do your own math →

The one question that cuts through every comparison: after you pay, who answers the prospect while your team is in client work? With Front Office the answer is: the AI does — from your approved credentials — and your partners take the handshake, the scope and every creative call.

Questions, answered

Why don’t you name the other products?

Because the comparison is about the model, not the logo. Software your account team operates plus metered AI is the norm across the market — agencies often install it for their own clients and know the packaging well. Naming brands adds nothing. If you are evaluating a specific product, ask the chat — it compares us to any vendor you name, point by point, from their published pages.

Is this comparison fair to the tools agencies already use?

Every description of other models comes from typical published product pages, read August 2026, and describes what an agency must assemble, license and operate to get the job done. Where a vendor differs, the chat will show you.

Do we have to replace our project-management tool or CRM?

No. Your project-management, time-tracking and billing tools stay the record of the work; the Front Office is the system of work in front of them. Calendars sync natively; connectors, webhooks and a read-only API feed what you authorize. Agencies that want to operate the Front Office for their clients apply to the reseller / integrator program — each client on its own environment, nothing crossing between clients.

Try it free on your own agency. 7 days. No credit card.

Give it your website. It learns your company. Then call it, chat with it, e-mail it — and decide. Nothing to install, nothing to cancel.

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