# AI Assistants Compared (2026): Instinct, Muse, Cue, Grok Bot, Claude Cowork, ChatGPT

Facts last verified 2026-10-03. Machine-readable version: https://openassistant.us/data/ai-assistants.json

One matrix comparing nine AI assistants and agents: own phone number and email, team features, workflows, privacy, security, availability, and price. Sourced and updated weekly.

Key: Built in, Partial, Not offered or not found (we looked and did not find it in public documentation), Not verified.

| | OpenAssistant | Instinct | Meta Muse | Cue by Manus | Grok Bot | Poke | Town | Claude Cowork | ChatGPT for Work |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Built for** | Professionals and teams whose work runs through colleagues, clients, and vendors | Individuals: trips, bookings, groceries, subscriptions, life admin | Consumers: shopping, travel, errands, health, smart home | An individual's personal agent | A persistent agent working inside your own accounts | Individuals: a text-based assistant in your messaging apps | Professionals, solo founders, operators, and teams | Knowledge work with your files and apps | Company-wide AI: chat, agents, and company knowledge |
| **Where you use it** | Phone calls, iMessage, SMS, WhatsApp, email, and web | Text and phone calls; web settings | muse.ai, iOS, Android, and WhatsApp (US only at launch) | Web, desktop, and mobile apps | Desktop apps (macOS, Windows, Linux) plus iOS and Android apps | iMessage, SMS, WhatsApp, and Telegram; no separate app | Its own email address, Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram, web, and desktop and iPhone apps | Desktop app, web, mobile, and a Chrome extension | Web, iOS, Android, and an agents app in team chat |
| **Its own phone number** | Built in: Its own number, for calls and texts | Built in: Per press coverage | Not offered or not found: None found | Built in: Also answers incoming calls | Not offered or not found: None documented; it acts inside your logins | Partial: A number you text; no calling or separate identity found | Not offered or not found: No dedicated phone number found | Not offered or not found: None found; it acts as you through connectors | Not offered or not found: None found; agents act through connected accounts |
| **Its own email address** | Built in: Including one on your company domain | Built in: Launched its own email addresses in September 2026, per press coverage | Partial: Announced as coming soon | Built in: Its own address | Not offered or not found: None documented | Not offered or not found: None found | Built in: Each Townie has its own @town.com address | Not offered or not found: None found | Not offered or not found: None found |
| **Its own computer** | Built in: Its own secure computer | Built in: A persistent cloud computer | Built in: A secure virtual machine with its own browser | Built in: A dedicated cloud computer | Built in: A persistent cloud VM | Not verified: Not verified | Not verified: Not verified | Partial: Cloud sandbox; local files need the desktop app | Not verified: Not verified |
| **Contacts people on your behalf** | Built in: Runs the whole exchange; the people it deals with never need an account | Built in: Makes calls and sends emails for you | Built in: Sends email and negotiates for you | Partial: Sends messages and answers calls; outbound calls not verified | Partial: Sends as you, from your accounts, with approval | Not offered or not found: Not found in public documentation | Partial: Drafts and sends email and invites in your voice, with approval by default | Partial: Acts as you through connectors; autonomous outreach not verified | Partial: Sends email and messages through connected accounts |
| **Multi-person threads and hand-offs** | Built in: Many people on one thread, with hand-offs, approvals, and follow-ups | Partial: Links to friends' agents who also use it | Not offered or not found: One owner per agent; none found | Partial: Agents share a group chat and split a job | Partial: Several bots can coordinate in group chat | Not verified: Group-chat use reported by a secondary source; not verified | Partial: Team Townies with shared routines and integrations | Partial: Claude Tag (beta) is a shared agent in team chat channels | Partial: Shared projects and workspace agents |
| **Shared tasks, files, and workflows** | Built in: Inside your company and across companies | Not offered or not found: None found; appears single-user | Not offered or not found: None found | Not offered or not found: No multi-human sharing documented | Not offered or not found: No multi-user features documented | Not offered or not found: Individual accounts; not designed for team use | Partial: Team plans with shared routines, integrations, and pooled credits | Partial: Individual sessions; artifacts can be shared | Partial: Inside a workspace |
| **Recurring and triggered work** | Built in: Plain-English workflows on demand, on a schedule, or on a trigger | Partial: Proactive nudges; no workflow builder documented | Partial: Background tasks in its secure VM | Built in: Automations on events, plus scheduled tasks | Built in: Routines on a schedule or on events, up to 50 per bot | Partial: Proactive alerts, reminders, and background automations on Pro | Built in: Routines on a schedule or a trigger | Partial: Cloud scheduled tasks; no event triggers found | Built in: Scheduled tasks, and agents that run on a schedule or by API |
| **Your say before it acts** | Built in: Per-action autonomy you set; an admin can lock it team-wide | Not verified: Not documented | Built in: Permission checks for emails and purchases sit outside the model | Partial: A user-set spending budget; approval flow not verified | Built in: Asks before sending, publishing, buying, or deleting | Not verified: Not documented | Built in: Sends and invites need approval unless you grant broader permissions; audit log | Partial: Shows each step as it works | Partial: Admin and spend controls |
| **No training on your data by default** | Built in: Never trains on customer data | Not offered or not found: On by default; opt out in settings | Not offered or not found: On by default; opt out in settings | Not verified: Not documented | Partial: Stated for the Business and Enterprise plans | Not offered or not found: May train on your data unless you choose Maximum Privacy | Built in: Training off by default; opt-in only | Partial: Team and Enterprise plans | Partial: Business plans |
| **Security certifications** | Built in: SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, CCPA; encryption in transit and at rest | Not offered or not found: None found on its site | Not offered or not found: None found | Not offered or not found: None found | Partial: SOC 2 Type II reported; ISO 27001 and 42001 in progress | Not verified: SOC 2 Type II reported by a secondary source; not verified | Built in: SOC 2 Type II | Built in: SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 42001 | Built in: SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 cited |
| **SSO, SCIM, roles, and audit logs** | Built in: SAML SSO, SCIM, and RBAC on Team plans; audit logs on Enterprise | Not offered or not found: None found | Not offered or not found: None found | Not offered or not found: None found | Partial: Described for xAI's Enterprise plan | Not offered or not found: None found | Partial: Team and Enterprise plans with org analytics; Town says SSO and SCIM are not currently available | Built in: On Enterprise, with a Compliance API | Built in: SCIM, RBAC, and a Compliance API on Enterprise |
| **Availability** | Private beta; request access | Invite-only private beta | Public in the US | Early access with an invite code | Beta | Public with a free tier; acquired by Cognition (announced July 2026), and TechCrunch says nothing changes immediately through the end of the year | Out of beta in June 2026; self-serve with a free tier | Generally available | Generally available |
| **Price** | Paid plans per seat | Free during the beta; pricing not published | Free tier; $20 and $100 per month plans | Free during early access; later pricing not disclosed | Via SuperGrok Heavy or Cursor plans; figures vary by source | Free; Pro $19; Ultra $199 per month | Free; Starter $15 billed monthly; Pro $49 to Power Plus $199 per user billed annually; credit-metered; Team plans | Pro $20 per month; Team from $20 per seat | Business about $20 per user per month; Enterprise on request |

## One-on-one comparisons

- [OpenAssistant vs Instinct](https://openassistant.us/vs/instinct)
- [OpenAssistant vs Meta Muse](https://openassistant.us/vs/meta-muse)
- [OpenAssistant vs Cue by Manus](https://openassistant.us/vs/cue-by-manus)
- [OpenAssistant vs Grok Bot](https://openassistant.us/vs/grok-bot)
- [OpenAssistant vs Poke](https://openassistant.us/vs/poke)
- [OpenAssistant vs Town](https://openassistant.us/vs/town)
- [OpenAssistant vs Claude Cowork](https://openassistant.us/vs/claude-cowork)
- [OpenAssistant vs ChatGPT for Work](https://openassistant.us/vs/chatgpt-for-work)
- [Best AI personal assistants in 2026](https://openassistant.us/blog/best-ai-personal-assistants-2026)

## Sources

- OpenAssistant: [OpenAssistant Trust Center](https://openassistant.us/trust)
- Instinct: [Instinct terms of service](https://instinct.com/terms)
- Instinct: [Digital Today: Instinct launches dedicated email (Sep 2026)](https://www.digitaltoday.co.kr/en/view/101851/instinct-ai-assistant-launches-dedicated-email-to-handle-sign-ups-and-inquiries-directly)
- Instinct: [TechCrunch: Instinct raises $1B Series C (Sep 28, 2026)](https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/28/viral-ai-agent-instinct-raises-1b-series-c-at-a-10b-valuation/)
- Meta Muse: [Meta: Introducing Muse](https://about.fb.com/news/2026/09/introducing-muse-personal-ai-agent/)
- Meta Muse: [Meta help center: Muse and your data](https://www.meta.com/help/artificial-intelligence/1047255454427887/)
- Cue by Manus: [Manus: Introducing Manus 2.0 and Cue](https://manus.im/blog/introducing-manus-2-0)
- Cue by Manus: [The Next Web: Manus 2.0 and Cue](https://thenextweb.com/news/manus-2-0-cue-ai-agents-email-phone-wallet)
- Grok Bot: [xAI docs: Grok Bot](https://docs.x.ai/grok-bot)
- Grok Bot: [xAI: Grok Business and Enterprise](https://x.ai/news/grok-business)
- Poke: [Poke](https://poke.com)
- Poke: [Poke privacy policy](https://poke.com/privacy)
- Poke: [TechCrunch: Why Cognition bought Poke (Jul 24, 2026)](https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/24/why-cognition-bought-poke-ai-personality-is-becoming-a-competitive-advantage/)
- Town: [Town](https://www.town.com)
- Town: [Town pricing](https://www.town.com/pricing)
- Town: [Town Series A announcement](https://www.town.com/press/series-a)
- Claude Cowork: [Claude Cowork](https://claude.com/product/cowork)
- Claude Cowork: [Claude pricing](https://claude.com/pricing)
- ChatGPT for Work: [OpenAI: What is ChatGPT Business](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8792828-what-is-chatgpt-business)
- ChatGPT for Work: [OpenAI: Business data](https://openai.com/business-data/)