AutoTraction vs Cantrip
One of these tells you what to do about your first 100 users. The other does it. The prices look the same and buy completely different things.
The verdict first. Cantrip is the better buy if what you are missing is a decision: who your buyer is, which channel is worth a quarter, what to say. AutoTraction is the better buy if you already know roughly what should happen and it is not happening, because nobody has the hours. Most founders need one of them badly and the other not at all. Everything about Cantrip below comes from cantrip.ai on the day we checked.
The difference in one paragraph
Cantrip builds a Context Graph, a structured map of your business, customers, competitors and channels, then runs research and strategy on top of it and hands you prioritised actions. Its own example ends with a list for the week: post in a subreddit, message ten clinic owners on LinkedIn, write a blog post. AutoTraction does work of that kind every day: video with voiceover, carousels and founder posts published to TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and Facebook, leads sourced weekly and written to by email and LinkedIn from your own accounts, replies drafted for Reddit, X and LinkedIn, journalists pitched, ads run under a cap. Cantrip ends where the list is written. We start there.
The price ladder is a coincidence
Cantrip sells $19, $49, $99 and $299. We sell $19, $39, $99 and $249. Same shelf, different goods. Cantrip's are one off credit packs: $19 buys 200 credits, $49 buys 650, $99 buys 1,550 and $299 buys 5,750, with bonus credits on the top three and a per credit rate that falls as you go up. Its own FAQ says a typical first session uses around 150 to 180 credits, and packs expire 12 months from purchase. No free trial, deliberately.
Ours are monthly subscriptions at 250, 520, 1,500 and 4,000 credits a month, unused ones rolling over, and every plan runs the whole platform. So $19 against $19 is a plan you read once against a platform that runs every day. Which is better value depends entirely on which one you are short of.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Cantrip | AutoTraction |
|---|---|---|
| ICP and positioning | Yes, the Context Graph | Yes, from your website |
| Deep market research | Yes, 50 credits a run | Not sold separately |
| Channel strategy | Yes, the core product | Yes, and it runs them |
| Written GTM playbook | Yes, 100 credits | A briefing, then it acts |
| Content made for you | A social graphic, 10 credits | Video, carousels, founder posts |
| Publishing to your accounts | No | Daily, five networks |
| Lead sourcing | It tells you where they are | Yes, every week |
| Email and LinkedIn outreach | No | Yes, from your own accounts |
| Replies in other people's threads | No | Drafted, you paste |
| Press releases and pitches | No | Yes |
| Ads | No | Yes, Meta and TikTok |
| Runs inside Claude Code | Yes, MCP server | No |
Pricing
| Plan | Cantrip | AutoTraction |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | One off packs | Monthly subscription |
| Entry | $19, 200 credits | $19, 250 credits |
| Second tier | $49, 650 credits | $39, 520 credits |
| Third tier | $99, 1,550 credits | $99, 1,500 credits |
| Top tier | $299, 5,750 credits | $249, 4,000 credits |
| Free | None, by design | Setup and the grader |
| Expiry | 12 months from purchase | Rolls over a month |
Choose Cantrip if
- You do not know who your buyer is yet. Automating outreach to the wrong person is worse than doing nothing, and Cantrip's job is answering that first.
- You want to own the strategy. Some founders need to understand the market themselves before anyone acts on it. That is judgement, not stubbornness.
- You are pre launch or between channels, and need a map rather than a machine.
- You work in Claude Code. Its MCP server puts the advice next to the code, which nothing of ours does.
- You would rather buy once than subscribe.
Choose AutoTraction if
- You already know roughly what to do and it is not getting done. A better list does not fix a time problem.
- You want the work on your own accounts. Posts go through official APIs, outreach leaves your own mailbox and LinkedIn, and replies in other people's threads are drafted for you to paste.
- You want the whole surface: content, daily publishing, weekly leads, email and LinkedIn, drafted replies, press and ads.
- You want something that learns which posts bring signups rather than views.
- Four minutes a day of approvals sounds like the right amount of involvement.
The honest summary
Almost nothing these two do overlaps, which makes the choice unusually clean. Buy Cantrip expecting it to post, send or advertise and you will be disappointed, because it does not claim to. Buy us expecting a research department and a strategy you can defend in a board meeting and you will be disappointed too. Cantrip also says it is very early days and wants early adopters who can handle rough edges. Take it at its word both ways.
The longer write up is on the Cantrip alternative page. Our plans are on the pricing page and the site grader is free. The advice half of this, costing nothing, is how to get your first 100 users. For another advisor rather than a doer, see FounderPal.
Which one is cheaper?
Neither, honestly. Cantrip's $19 is a one off 200 credit pack and its FAQ says a first session uses around 150 to 180 of them. Ours is $19 every month. If you want one plan and then silence, Cantrip is cheaper. If you want work happening daily, it is not the same purchase.
Does Cantrip do anything AutoTraction does not?
Yes. Deep research on demand, a persistent Context Graph you can explore, competitive analysis you can read, and an MCP server that puts all of it inside Claude Code. We do not sell research and we do not live in your editor.
Can I use both?
Yes, and it is the cleanest pairing we know of. Use a pack to settle who you are for and where they are, then hand those channels to us. Only one of the two sends anything.
Competitor details checked on 13 September 2026 from the vendor's site.