Standup Jack vs Steady (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Standup Jack grades higher than Steady: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Standup Jack grades higher on value for money. Steady grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Standup Jack
Slack bot that runs daily standups by direct message
Steady
Async check-ins, goal updates and digests for people and AI agents
Which one is for you
Pick Standup Jack if
- Fits if your team lives in Slack and wants a written daily update
- Works for remote teams spread across time zones
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you do not use Slack, as no other chat system is supported
- Tight if you want a free plan, since the bot hibernates after 14 days
- Too light for anything beyond standups, with no tasks or goals
- Watch out: setup and changes happen by chatting with the bot, not in a dashboard
Pick Steady if
- Fits if your distributed team wants written updates in place of daily standups
- Works for teams that run AI coding agents and want them reporting next to people
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a bill you can predict per seat: each check-in costs a credit per recipient, and Goal Story and Echo posts cost 5
- Pricey if you just want standups, as eight people checking in daily need roughly $100 a month, against $2.50 a head for Geekbot
- Not for you if you want a chat app, as it delivers into Slack, Microsoft Teams or email
- Tight if credits run low, since deliveries stop until you add more, though updates are kept for 7 days
- Watch out: there's no free plan and no native phone app, as iPhone and Android get a progressive web app
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAStandup JackFair | 2.0GPASteadyFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A$1 a user a month, under 60% of the $3 the cheaper quarter of team chat tools charge. | DThe smallest pack is $25 a month for 500 credits, and credits burn per recipient: one check-in sent to 5 people costs 5. A team of eight checking in daily chews through roughly a $100 pack. Against Geekbot at $2.50 a head and Dailybot at $2.40, that's the dear way to do standups. |
| Free plan and trial | C14 days free, then the bot stops until you upgrade. No free plan. The listing does not say whether a card is needed. | CNo free plan. You get some starting credits plus 100 more for each person you add, then a credit subscription is required. When credits run out deliveries stop, though it keeps collecting updates for 7 days. |
| Features | DOne narrow job, standups, and it needs Slack to run at all. Custom questions, time zones and vacations are covered. | CFor its own job it covers check-ins with AI drafts and work attached from GitHub or Jira, Goal Stories keeping a running record per goal, a personal daily digest, Echoes answering a standing question on a schedule, and AI agents checking in like teammates. That job is a slice of this category, not the whole of it. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. You add the bot to Slack and set it up by chatting with it. | CNo rating on record. There's the usual setting up, connecting tools and choosing check-in days and goals, and then the credits to get your head round: what each delivery costs and how many you'll need in a month. |
| Platforms and integrations | CSlack only. The FAQ says other chat systems are not supported yet. | BNative apps for Mac and Windows plus the web, and on iPhone and Android it's a progressive web app rather than a real one. Slack, Microsoft Teams, GitHub, Jira, Linear, Asana, Google Calendar and Zoom connect, with an MCP server, a REST API and a CLI behind them. |
| Best for | daily standups inside Slack | keeping several teams lined up on shared goals |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Standup Jack and Steady. How we grade
Price against what you get
Standup Jack starts at $1 a month for each person and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Steady starts at $25 a month and scores 2.3.
Steady scores higher, and starts $24 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other team communication apps on the chart, 12 score higher than Standup Jack for less, and 28 score higher than Steady for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Standup Jack also covers workflow automation and team chat.
- Steady also covers goals and AI agents.
At a glance
| Standup Jack | Steady | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $1 per user / month after a 14-day trial | $25 per month for 500 credits, with unlimited users |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14 days free; after that the bot hibernates until you upgrade or remove it. | Free starting credits plus 100 credits for each user added; a credit subscription is needed once they run out |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Made by | Standup Jack | Steady Space Corp |
| Price read from | standupjack.com | runsteady.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Standup Jack
- Works only inside Slack; the FAQ says other chat systems are not supported yet.
- There is no free plan: after 14 days the bot stops until you upgrade.
- Set up and changes happen by chatting with the bot, not through a separate dashboard.
Steady
- Cost follows usage: a check-in delivered to 5 people spends 5 credits, and Goal Story updates and Echo answers cost 5 credits per recipient.
- When credits run out Steady stops deliveries until more are added, though it keeps collecting updates for 7 days.
- On iOS and Android Steady runs as a progressive web app; the native apps are for Mac and Windows only.
Key features
Standup Jack
- Daily update prompts
- Jack messages each person at the time they picked and asks a few questions about their day.
- Team post
- On weekdays Jack posts everyone's responses to the Slack channel chosen for the standup, including private groups after an invite.
- Custom questions and schedule
- Add, change or delete questions, pick weekdays, and change the update time or standup channel by messaging Jack.
- Time zone support
- Jack reads the time zone in each person's Slack profile so a 10am prompt is not sent in the middle of the night.
- Vacation handling
- Setting a Slack status such as OOO, PTO or sick stops prompts while the person is away.
- Multiple standups per team
- Create separate standups with their own participants, questions and posting channel.
Steady
- Smart Check-ins
- Teammates share plans and progress on the days their team chooses, with AI drafts and reminders, and work from connected apps is attached automatically.
- Goal Stories
- Each goal gets a running record of who is doing what and where things stand, and goal updates are delivered to the people following it.
- Daily Digest
- A personalized digest of check-ins, goal updates and activity, delivered where people work: Slack, Microsoft Teams, email or the Steady apps.
- Echoes
- AI agents that answer a recurring question on a schedule, such as which goals are slipping, drawing on check-ins, goals and connected tools.
- Agent teammates, MCP and API
- AI agents can join teams, check in and update goals like people. An MCP server connects Claude and ChatGPT, and a REST API and CLI are available.
- Insights and admin controls
- Insights charts teamwork trends such as progress on goals. SSO, SAML and SCIM are available, and the vendor reports SOC 2 Type 2 audits.
Plans
Standup Jack
Standup Jack$1
per user / month
One plan after the 14-day trial: multiple standups per team, custom questions, time zones and vacation handling.
Steady
500 credits$25
per month
Smallest credit pack, with unlimited users and all features. Packs of 1,000 and 2,000 credits cost $50 and $100 a month.
4,000 credits$200
per month
Includes a 5% credit bonus, as does the 8,000-credit pack at $400 a month.
15,000 credits$750
per month
Includes a 10% credit bonus, as does the 25,000-credit pack at $1,250 a month.
35,000 credits$1,750
per month
Includes a 15% credit bonus.
50,000+ creditsCustom
Custom pricing for workspaces that need 50,000 credits a month or more.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Standup Jack or Steady?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Standup Jack starts at $1 per user / month after a 14-day trial, and Steady starts at $25 per month for 500 credits, with unlimited users. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Standup Jack or Steady?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Standup Jack nor Steady has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Standup Jack and Steady run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Steady lists macOS and Windows apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.