WorkBuddy review, pricing and limits

A work agent for people who live in Chinese chat apps or already use CodeBuddy. Tencent documents setup for 8 messaging platforms, but never names the models behind it. Try the Free plan on a low-stakes folder first, and note the landing page is China-only.

WorkBuddy is Tencent's desktop AI agent for office work, built by the CodeBuddy team and labelled a public beta on its China site. It plans a task from one sentence, edits files in folders you authorise, and takes commands from chat apps including WeChat. Its changelog reached version 5.8.4 on macOS and Windows.

Maker: Tencent · Autonomy: semi autonomous · Maturity: BETA

Underlying models: Auto-routed built-in models (not named by Tencent), Custom provider or Ollama models

About WorkBuddy

WorkBuddy is the desktop work agent from Tencent, built by the team behind CodeBuddy and marked as a public beta on Tencent's China site, where it also goes by the Chinese name Tencent Lobster. You describe an outcome in a sentence, and with your authorisation it plans the steps, reads and edits files in folders you grant it, and returns documents, spreadsheets and slide decks. Tencent's own documentation draws the line with ordinary AI chat this way: a chat window gives suggestions, while WorkBuddy carries out multi-step tasks on local files and hands back results you can check. That planning and execution loop is what makes it an agent rather than an assistant that only answers.

Tencent does not name the models behind it. Its docs describe an Auto setting that chooses among built-in models, say the roster shifts with version and account type, and allow a self-supplied provider key or a local Ollama server. The China page claims more than 100 domain experts that work in parallel as a virtual team, and the docs list MCP connectors and Skills for extension. Those are vendor claims, and we have not tested them. Compare the approach with Manus, which also runs tasks in parallel, or with OpenClaw, which you host yourself.

The desktop app installs on macOS 12 or later and Windows 10 or later, with domestic Linux systems served through their app stores. Tencent publishes setup guides for driving it from eight messaging platforms, from WeChat and WeCom to Slack and Discord. The WeChat guide says commands run on your own computer, which must stay on and connected. The changelog shows steady shipping, from Computer Use and media generation through a Library and Gmail connector to remote control of phones from a PC.

Pricing depends on which site you use. The international site lists a Free plan and a paid Pro plan, and its credits are shared with CodeBuddy; the exact tiers are in the pricing FAQ. The China site sells separate plans in yuan. Availability matters: the WorkBuddy landing page is on the China site, while English documentation and pricing sit on the international one, so check which edition your account uses before you rely on it.

Tencent is separately testing an assistant called Xiaowei inside WeChat, according to press coverage. That is a different product, and it gets no record here until Tencent makes it public. If you want other personal agents to compare, see dots, Muse, Cue, Grok Bot, Hermes Agent, Gemini Spark, ChatGPT Work and, from other Chinese vendors, QwenWork (built on the Qwen family) and Doubao Phone Assistant (from the Doubao team). The AI Agent Approval guide covers the review habits that apply to all of them, and Smart Match can narrow the choice.

Pricing

International site (codebuddy.ai, read 24 October 2026): Free $0 with 100 credits a month, 250 sign-up credits valid for 14 days, and a limited-time daily reward of 30 credits. Pro $10 a month or $96 a year ($8 a month), 2,000 credits a month (1,000 base plus 1,000 bonus), with a $7 first-month offer for new subscribers. Credits are shared with CodeBuddy, and Tencent says users subscribed before 7 August 2026 keep a $9.95 price while auto-renewal stays on. A Team plan is mentioned but no price was published. China site (codebuddy.cn, same date), in yuan with USD estimates at 23 October 2026 rates, not vendor prices: free trial plan with 500 credits a month; Standard 99 yuan a month list (70 yuan on continuous monthly billing, about $14.80 and $10.50) with 2,000 credits; Advanced 199 yuan (140 yuan, about $29.75 and $20.90) with 4,000 credits; Flagship 999 yuan (700 yuan, about $149 and $105) with 20,000 credits. Tencent has not published credits per task.

Key Features

• One-sentence task planning: You state an outcome and WorkBuddy breaks it into steps, runs them and returns documents, spreadsheets or slide decks you can check.
• Local file operations: After you authorise a folder it reads and edits the files in it, including batch renaming, sorting and format conversion.
• Chat-app remote control: Setup guides cover eight messaging platforms, so a task typed on your phone can run on the desktop.
• Model choice: Auto mode picks a built-in model per task, and a self-supplied provider key or local Ollama server also works.
• Connectors and Skills: The docs list MCP connectors, a Skills market and an expert center, with a Gmail connector added in version 5.7.6.
• Computer Use and built-in browser: Computer Use arrived in an early 5.x release, and a built-in browser with multi-tab navigation followed.

Strengths

• The international Free plan gives a monthly credit allowance plus sign-up credits valid for 14 days, enough to test a few real tasks before paying.
• Pro is priced in dollars on the international site and shares its credit pool with CodeBuddy, so one subscription covers both.
• Documented setup guides for eight messaging platforms mean tasks can start from the app you already have open.
• The changelog shows three feature releases in a row, adding Computer Use, a Library and phone control from a PC.

Weaknesses

• Tencent does not name the models behind Auto mode, and the list varies by version and account type, so you cannot judge quality from the spec.
• The marketing page for WorkBuddy exists only in Chinese; the English site has docs and pricing but no product page we could open.
• Cost per task is not published, so monthly credits are hard to translate into finished jobs.
• Remote control through WeChat needs your computer to stay on, awake and connected.

Visit WorkBuddy Official Site