Motion vs Cicada
Motion is a work suite (tasks, projects, calendar and docs) with auto-scheduling, a notetaker and AI built in, for teams that move their work into it. Cicada works in the apps you already use, 1,000+ of them, and answers in iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack and email, in group chats and in your meetings.
Pick Cicada if you want agents that work in the apps and chats your team already uses, texted on iMessage or WhatsApp, without moving your work into a new suite. Pick Motion if you want one place to plan projects and your calendar, with auto-scheduling and a notetaker built in.
What Cicada does that Motion doesn't.
No new suite to move into
Cicada works where your work already is: your inbox, CRM, shared drive, store and 1,000+ other apps, plus any MCP server. Motion asks you to run tasks, projects, calendar and docs in Motion, with eight native integrations, Zapier and an API for the rest.
Text it, in groups too
Text Cicada on iMessage or WhatsApp, or add it to the group with your site team, where it keeps every photo and PDF anyone posts and, when the drawings promised for Friday don't arrive, reminds the person who promised them. Motion works in its own apps and turns Slack and Teams messages into tasks; we couldn't find texting.
Sites with no app
When a portal has no integration, Cicada uses its own browser, signs in with the logins in your vault, and you can watch it and take over. We couldn't find a browser in Motion.
Pay for the work, not the seats
Motion charges $19 or $29 for every seat each month. Cicada starts free with 300 credits, then $25 for 200 credits or plans from $99 a month, with credits shared across the workspace and rolled over.
- What it is
- A work suite (tasks, projects, calendar, docs and a notetaker) that auto-schedules your day, with AI employees that work inside it. Made by Motion.
- Where it works
- Motion's web, desktop and mobile apps; forwarded emails, and Slack or Teams messages, become tasks
- What it costs
- Pro AI $19 and Business AI $29 a seat a month, with monthly credits; free trial
- Worth knowing
- Your work moves into Motion, it isn't something you text that we could find, and every seat is paid after the trial.
Checked against Motion's own pages on 31 October 2026. See every Motion alternative.
A team of agents for a team of people.
Motion's workspaces have owners, admins and members, and its AI works inside Motion. Cicada's agents work as a team across your own apps.
Agents for every person
Each person in your workspace gets their own agents. The apps the team shares are connected once; personal ones, like your inbox, stay under your own login.
A coordinator and specialists
A big job is split between specialists that work at the same time, and you get one answer back from the agent you asked.
Agents that work together
Teammates' agents know what each other covers, use each other's fresh figures and check with each other through the apps you share, never through anyone's private notes. Ask yours to message someone who uses Cicada, at your company or another, and their answer comes back to you.
Know-how the whole team shares
What one agent learns about the business, every agent in the workspace knows, and a skill one agent proves is shared with the rest.
Cicada and Motion, feature by feature.
| Feature | Cicada | Motion |
|---|---|---|
| Agents across your team | Every person gets their own agents, a coordinator running specialists, and they work together across the team | AI built into a Motion workspace: task planner, project manager, notetaker, workflow builder and a personal assistant |
| Where you use it | iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack, email and a web app | Motion's web, desktop and mobile apps; Slack and Teams messages can become tasks |
| Text it from your phone's messages | Yes, iMessage and WhatsApp, including group chats | Not that we could find |
| Works on its own | Schedules, app events and proactive checks | Auto-schedules tasks and meetings, and AI workflows for repeatable projects |
| Joins your meetings | Yes, Meet, Zoom, Teams and Webex, notes by text | Yes, a notetaker on Zoom, Meet and Teams; action items become tasks |
| Connected apps | 1,000+, plus any MCP server | Eight native integrations, plus Zapier and a public API |
| Sites with no app | Its own browser with logins from your vault, which you can take over | Not that we could find |
| Permissions | Per app: Full, Ask first or Read-only, plus the autonomy level you set | AI Chat drafts tasks, emails and updates, and sends nothing until you approve |
| Access and price | 300 free credits to start with a card at sign-up, then $25 for 200 credits when you run low, or plans from $99 a month. Credits are shared across the workspace and roll over. | Pro AI $19 and Business AI $29 a seat a month, with monthly credits; free trial |
Motion details checked against its own site and docs on 31 October 2026. Products change fast; see the sources below.
A new suite, or the tools you have
Motion asks your team to run its work in Motion: tasks, projects, calendar and docs, with AI that acts inside it. Cicada works in the tools you already use, 1,000+ of them, and reports back in iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack and email.
Agents that act on their own
Cicada's agents run on a schedule ("every weekday at 8"), react when something lands in an app, and check proactively, with background runs free. Motion's strength is planning your time: it auto-schedules tasks and meetings and re-plans when things move.
Control on every app
In Cicada any member can set each connected app to Full, Ask first or Read-only for every agent, messages to other people wait for a 👍 in the chat, and every run's steps are in the Activity tab.
Where Cicada is stronger
- Every person on the team gets their own agents, and they work together.
- You text it on iMessage or WhatsApp, including in group chats, and it works in Slack threads.
- Works in the 1,000+ apps you already use, with a Read-only or Ask-first lock on each.
- Runs on a schedule and reacts to app events on its own.
- Its own browser for sites with no app, which you can watch and take over.
- What one agent learns about the business, every agent in the workspace knows.
Choose Cicada if you want agents in the apps and chats your team already uses, texted on iMessage or WhatsApp, with no new suite to move into.
Where Motion fits
- A proven auto-scheduling calendar with team capacity planning.
- A full project-management system (Gantt, dashboards, docs, time tracking) in one product.
- A notetaker whose action items become scheduled tasks automatically.
Motion may suit you if you want one place to plan projects and your calendar, with auto-scheduling at its heart.
Motion vs Cicada, answered.
Is Cicada a Motion alternative?
For AI agents, yes. Motion is a work suite with AI built into it; Cicada gives every person on a team agents that work in the apps and messages they already use. Some teams use Motion for planning and Cicada for the work around it.
Can I text Motion?
Not that we could find: its AI works inside Motion's apps, and Slack and Teams messages can be turned into tasks. Cicada answers on iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack and email, in group chats too.
What happened to Motion's AI employees?
Motion launched named AI employees in 2025. As of 31 October 2026 its site describes AI built into the suite instead (a task planner, project manager, notetaker, workflow builder and personal assistant), and its AI employees help pages are no longer live.
Do both join meetings?
Yes. Motion's notetaker joins Zoom, Meet and Teams and turns action items into tasks. Cicada joins Meet, Zoom, Teams and Webex and texts you the notes.
Does Motion auto-schedule my calendar? Does Cicada?
Motion auto-schedules tasks and meetings around your priorities; that is its core. Cicada books and moves meetings when you ask and protects focus time you set, but it isn't an auto-scheduling calendar.
Sources, checked 31 October 2026
- Motion homepage
- Motion pricing
- Motion AI meeting notetaker
- Motion integrations
- Motion AI Chat
- Motion AI employees help (no longer live, 31 Oct 2026)
- Motion raises $60M (Motion, 8 Sep 2025)
Spotted something out of date? Tell us at support@cicadalabs.io and we'll fix it.
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