Grok Bot vs Meta Muse vs OpenAI Dots vs Claude Duet: Which Always-On AI Agent Is Worth Paying For?

Only one of these four always-on agents is free to start, and the dearest entry route costs $100 a month. Each gets its own cloud computer and keeps working after you close the app, so the choice comes down to what you already pay for and where you want the agent to live.

They arrived 71 days apart, from Grok Bot's beta on 11 August 2026 to Claude Duet's research preview on 21 October.

Hokai timeline of the four always-on agent launches, from each vendor's own announcement.

Muse or Grok Bot: where the two differ

Muse is one assistant that keeps side chats under a single context. Grok Bot is a set of named Bots, each with its own job, files and memory, and since 2 November a shared team version can be asked in Slack, per xAI's post read on 9 November 2026.

The plainest gap is the entry price. Muse has a free tier with a limit that refreshes, per Meta's subscriptions help page read on 3 November 2026. Grok Bot has no free route: it starts with xAI's Premium plan at $30 a month, per xAI's plans page read on 9 November 2026.

No Code MBA ran both side by side in a hands-on walkthrough updated on 20 October 2026. Its author found Muse easier to start personal tasks with, through suggested Ideas and goals, while Grok Bot made it easier to split work into separate Bots with their own context. Neither interface showed a model selector. That is one reviewer's look at the two interfaces, not a test of how often either agent finishes a job.

What changed since the last review

Re-checked on 13 November 2026 against each vendor's pages: the lineup holds, and three facts moved.

What the four agents cost per month

The Grok Bot rows come from xAI's plan list. The bundle, which xAI calls The X Subscription, puts chat, coding and the Bot on one plan, and its two cheapest tiers leave the Bot out.

Duet has no price of its own. It rides inside a paid Claude plan, and Pro drops to $17 a month on annual billing, per Anthropic's pricing page read on 9 November 2026.

The dots rows come from OpenAI's Pro tiers help article and its business pricing page, both read on 9 November 2026. Enterprise workspaces can preview dots free until 18 November, when billing starts, and OpenAI says extra dots will be sold later.

The cheapest way into each one

Counted from the plan pages above, the lowest monthly bill that gets you each agent today:

• Muse$0 Leader
• Claude Duet$20
• Grok Bot$30
• OpenAI dots$100

Muse Free, Claude Pro, xAI Premium and ChatGPT Pro 100, from each vendor's plan page.

The real cost is what you add. If you already pay for one of these plans to chat or code, the agent costs nothing extra, but it draws on the same allowance.

A busy week of agent work leaves a developer less to code with, and Anthropic says Duet's background checks count toward the same limits as Claude Code. On Muse, Maximum costs 5 times Power and buys 6 times the weekly tokens, so the top tier is the better rate per token; pay only when you hit the free limit.

How setup works on day one

Grok Bot starts with a desktop download for macOS or Windows and a Bot you create and name. You log it into your apps once, then message it like a teammate from the desktop or iOS. xAI says it can learn a routine by watching you do a task once.

Muse starts with a Meta account. You connect the apps you want, such as email and calendar, and choose what Muse can see and do. It also answers inside WhatsApp.

A dot starts in ChatGPT on web, mobile or desktop. It takes context from your ChatGPT memory, then uses Codex and your connected tools, per OpenAI's dots page.

Duet starts with a waitlist. Once invited, you open the phone app, or claude.ai on a computer. Anthropic says it carries over your memory, skills and connected apps from your Claude account.

Each agent wants real logins on day one, so start with a read-only mailbox, not your bank.

What each agent can touch, and when it has to ask

Approvals are the part of the spec worth reading closely. On each vendor's own description:

Grok Bot is the loosest on paper. xAI's FAQ says every Bot on your account shares one persistent computer, with files, browser and logins in common, so isolation is per user, not per Bot. An ask-first rule pauses an action you choose.

Duet is the strictest on paper. Anthropic says it shows exactly what it is about to do before it sends a message, makes a payment, signs a document or deletes anything, and some actions stay off limits even with approval, such as trading securities.

Meta says Muse checks with you before sending an email or making a purchase, pays with a one-time card, and runs a separate checking agent over anything that reaches the internet. OpenAI says dots let you set rules that allow, require approval for or block specific actions.

Where each one reaches you

Muse also answers inside WhatsApp, and no other agent here is sold outside North America. Meta announced the Singapore launch on 27 October with local connector partners.

Dots sit inside ChatGPT and reach Slack, and OpenAI's launch post also names Teams. Texting is a beta for a limited number of US Pro users, sent through a third-party provider, so those texts are not end-to-end encrypted.

Where each one is strongest

Every capability claim in this section comes from the vendor, and no independent test compares how often these four finish a job.

Claude Duet: the small-company back office. Anthropic says it built Duet for professionals and small business owners, and its examples read like an operations list: run payroll, send agreements for signature, post a job and manage an online store. Anthropic says the agent never sees your passwords or sign-in tokens.

Grok Bot: X users and teams of Bots. No other agent here describes several Bots working in a group chat and passing work between themselves, and its changelog says a Bot can search X with date and engagement filters. The Premium plan that unlocks it also carries X Premium, and xAI says a Bot can work in apps that have no clean API.

Muse: cost of entry and Meta sellers. For a shop selling on Meta's apps, the small-business skills read its social insights, pages and ad accounts alongside store and bookkeeping apps. Meta told analysts on 21 October that more than 10 million people had set up an agent, per CNBC. Our Meta strategy piece covers why Meta is pushing it.

Dots: teams already on ChatGPT. The launch examples are engineering and sales jobs, such as checking an RFP against product docs. A dot can hand coding work to OpenAI Codex or ChatGPT Work; talking to a dot does not count toward ChatGPT limits, but the tasks it starts there do.

Sponsor spot open

Other always-on agents worth a look

Weighing xAI's agent against Manus? The difference is the shape of the work: Manus takes a multi-step job from a single prompt and can now run it on a schedule, while each named Bot holds a standing role and routines it learns by watching you. Our guide to what Manus is for covers it. The self-hosted pair trade the managed computer for control, and our OpenClaw playbook shows what that setup costs in time.

What happens to your data

Those are the vendors' own descriptions. Our autonomy test of agents with real money shows why this deserves care.

Your mail, files and calendar stay in the apps you connected, so leaving one of these agents costs its learned context (routines, preferences, feedback history), not your data.

The strongest case against this verdict

Fit-by-reader is a soft rule. It tells you which agent suits your situation, not which one finishes the most work, and no published test measures completion for these four, so a cheaper agent that needs more rescues may not save you time.

The little outside evidence there is cuts against the strictest pick. In Every's early test, Dan Shipper found dots wrote better email drafts than Duet, and Anthropic itself warns Duet can misread a thread or misjudge urgency.

What would change this verdict

• An independent completion test of all four would let us rank them on results, not fit; no vendor publishes a completion rate.
• Meta publishing Muse's free allowance would show how far the $0 route really goes.
• Duet opening beyond the US waitlist or to Team plans would widen who it fits.
• OpenAI selling extra dots would change the cost picture for teams that need more than one.

Which one to choose

Let your existing subscription and your country decide. Start free on Muse if Meta sells it where you live and you want errands or a shop handled.

Take Grok Bot if a plan you already pay for covers it, or you want several Bots with separate jobs. Add a dot or Duet only if you already pay for the plan it rides on, and pick Duet if you want the agent whose maker says it waits for your approval before every send, payment and signature. If you are unsure which jobs to hand over, Smart Match can narrow the shortlist.

For the wider field, see the best AI agents of 2026 or the best agentic AI.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Grok Bot cost now?

Grok Bot is not sold alone. xAI bundles it with Grok, Cursor and X Premium in The X Subscription: Premium at $30 a month, Super at $100, Ultra at $200 and Teams from $30 per user. The Free and $8 Plus tiers leave it out, and Bot work shares one weekly usage pool with Grok and Cursor.

How much does Meta Muse cost?

Muse is free with a usage limit. Meta's help page lists Power at $20 a month for 500M tokens a week and Maximum at $100 a month for 3B tokens a week. Meta does not publish the size of the free allowance.

Is Claude Duet included in a Claude subscription?

Yes. During the research preview Duet comes with Claude Pro ($20), Max ($100) and Ultra ($200) at no extra charge, for US subscribers who clear the waitlist. It shares the plan's usage limits with chat and Claude Code. Team and Enterprise workspaces are not in the preview yet.

Do OpenAI dots cost extra?

No, the first dot is included. It comes with ChatGPT Pro, sold as Pro 100, Pro 200 and Pro 500 at $100, $200 and $500 a month, and with a Business Premium seat at $125, or $100 on annual billing. OpenAI says extra dots will be sold later.

Is Muse available outside the US?

Yes. Meta opened Muse in Japan on 23 October 2026 and in Singapore on 27 October, after the US and Canada launch on 8 September. Its small-business skills are still listed for adults in the US and Canada only.

Covered in this guide

• Grok Bot: xAI's always-on AI agents that sign into your existing apps and finish multi-step jobs, included from the Premium tier up of xAI's combined subscription.
• Claude Duet: Anthropic's research-preview agent on Claude Opus 5.5 watches your connected apps, messages you first, and waits for your OK before it sends, pays or signs.
• Muse: Meta's AI agent runs tasks in its own cloud computer; open in the US, Canada, Japan and Singapore, with small-business skills for Shopify, QuickBooks and Meta ads in the US and Canada.
• OpenAI dots: OpenAI's always-on agent in ChatGPT has its own cloud computer, runs on GPT-6 Astra, and asks approval before consequential actions. A first dot is included with ChatGPT Pro and Business Premium.
• Alexa+: Amazon's LLM-based Alexa that books tables, orders food and runs your home, live in the US since February 2026 and launched in 12 countries.
• Anthropic: Anthropic is a Public Benefit Corporation started by 7 ex-OpenAI researchers. It builds the Claude model family and counts Amazon and Google among its largest backers.
• ChatGPT: ChatGPT is OpenAI's AI assistant, with 1.2 billion weekly users by OpenAI's count, the GPT-6 model family and plans that run from a free tier to a premium Pro tier.
• ChatGPT Work: OpenAI's ChatGPT Work agent plans and finishes multi-step projects across connected apps and files. It launched on 9 July 2026 and now reaches every ChatGPT plan, with limits.
• Claude: Claude is Anthropic's AI assistant, with a free tier, Pro, Max and Ultra personal plans, and Team and Enterprise seats. Opus access starts at Pro.
• Cue: Invite-only Manus app that gives each personal agent four things of its own: a phone line, an inbox, a wallet and a computer.
• Cursor: Cursor is an AI code editor built on VS Code, widely adopted across large enterprise engineering teams, with Agent Mode, Tab completion, and Cloud Agents.
• Hermes Agent: Hermes Agent is Nous Research's MIT-licensed, self-hosted AI agent, past 260,000 GitHub stars. Model-agnostic, with optional Portal plans and cloud hosting.
• Manus: Autonomous AI agent that plans and executes multi-step work from one prompt: research, documents, apps and video. The September 2026 release adds Cascade, Automations and Studio. Free tier available.
• OpenAI Codex: Clones a GitHub repo into a sandbox, writes and tests code, then opens a pull request; included in every ChatGPT plan, with the newest GPT-6 models from Plus.
• OpenClaw: OpenClaw is a free, MIT-licensed agent gateway: one self-hosted process connects your chat apps to the AI model you choose, with the OpenClaw Foundation as steward.
• Perplexity Computer: Perplexity's autonomous worker runs research, documents and email tasks in a cloud sandbox, with a Mac and Windows app that adds your local files.
• Poke: Text-first personal agent in Apple Messages, WhatsApp and Telegram that handles email and reminders, now part of Cognition (since 23 July 2026).
• xAI: Elon Musk's AI lab behind the Grok models, now run inside SpaceX under the SpaceXSI name alongside Cursor, with a free-to-premium subscription that shares one usage pool.

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