Relay Shuts Down as Chrome Becomes Automation Layer

Relay.app is shutting down on September 14, 2026. Free users have already been disconnected, and paying customers have a 60-day wind-down window to export their workflows and data.

The company's own shutdown notice emphasizes the importance of taking action by the deadline, with free accounts and associated data deleted after August 15. Relay was founded by Jacob Bank, who previously sold Timeful to Google in 2015 and worked on several other Google products.

Despite raising $8.1 million in funding from investors like Khosla Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, the company's product struggled to compete with browser-based automation tools, such as Chrome's Gemini feature, which gained agentic browsing abilities last year.