{
  "title": "AI assistants and agents compared",
  "url": "https://openassistant.us/ai-assistants-compared",
  "lastVerified": "2026-10-03",
  "note": "'none' means not found in public documentation, not that it cannot exist. 'unknown' means we could not verify either way. Attribution to openassistant.us is appreciated.",
  "products": [
    {
      "id": "openassistant",
      "name": "OpenAssistant",
      "maker": "OpenAssistant",
      "tagline": "An executive assistant for work that involves other people",
      "strengths": [],
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "OpenAssistant Trust Center",
          "url": "https://openassistant.us/trust"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "instinct",
      "name": "Instinct",
      "maker": "Spear Street Technology, Inc.",
      "tagline": "A proactive personal assistant you text",
      "strengths": [
        "Proactive: it starts the conversation when something needs doing, like a flight check-in",
        "Finishes errands end to end, including calls, bookings, and cancellations",
        "Zero install: you start by texting it"
      ],
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "Instinct terms of service",
          "url": "https://instinct.com/terms"
        },
        {
          "label": "Digital Today: Instinct launches dedicated email (Sep 2026)",
          "url": "https://www.digitaltoday.co.kr/en/view/101851/instinct-ai-assistant-launches-dedicated-email-to-handle-sign-ups-and-inquiries-directly"
        },
        {
          "label": "TechCrunch: Instinct raises $1B Series C (Sep 28, 2026)",
          "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/28/viral-ai-agent-instinct-raises-1b-series-c-at-a-10b-valuation/"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "muse",
      "name": "Meta Muse",
      "maker": "Meta",
      "tagline": "Meta's personal AI agent, free to start",
      "strengths": [
        "Easy to try: a free tier, and it works inside WhatsApp and the Meta AI app",
        "Broad action surface: email, travel, forms, shopping, and payments through Stripe and PayPal",
        "Permission checks for emails and purchases are enforced outside the model"
      ],
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "Meta: Introducing Muse",
          "url": "https://about.fb.com/news/2026/09/introducing-muse-personal-ai-agent/"
        },
        {
          "label": "Meta help center: Muse and your data",
          "url": "https://www.meta.com/help/artificial-intelligence/1047255454427887/"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "cue",
      "name": "Cue by Manus",
      "maker": "Manus",
      "tagline": "A personal agent with its own email, phone number, wallet, and computer",
      "strengths": [
        "The full identity bundle in one product: email, phone number, wallet, and its own computer",
        "Event-triggered automations and scheduled tasks",
        "Agents can share a group chat and split up a job"
      ],
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "Manus: Introducing Manus 2.0 and Cue",
          "url": "https://manus.im/blog/introducing-manus-2-0"
        },
        {
          "label": "The Next Web: Manus 2.0 and Cue",
          "url": "https://thenextweb.com/news/manus-2-0-cue-ai-agents-email-phone-wallet"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "grok-bot",
      "name": "Grok Bot",
      "maker": "xAI",
      "tagline": "A persistent agent that works inside your own accounts",
      "strengths": [
        "Works through software with no API, using a browser and computer-use fallback",
        "Learns a skill from a short browser demonstration",
        "Parallel bots and routines on a schedule or on events"
      ],
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "xAI docs: Grok Bot",
          "url": "https://docs.x.ai/grok-bot"
        },
        {
          "label": "xAI: Grok Business and Enterprise",
          "url": "https://x.ai/news/grok-business"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "poke",
      "name": "Poke",
      "maker": "The Interaction Company (joining Cognition)",
      "tagline": "A text-based assistant in iMessage, SMS, WhatsApp, and Telegram",
      "strengths": [
        "Fast setup: you start by texting a number, with no app to install",
        "Proactive alerts for meetings and flight changes, plus reminders and automations",
        "30+ integrations and custom MCP server support"
      ],
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "Poke",
          "url": "https://poke.com"
        },
        {
          "label": "Poke privacy policy",
          "url": "https://poke.com/privacy"
        },
        {
          "label": "TechCrunch: Why Cognition bought Poke (Jul 24, 2026)",
          "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/24/why-cognition-bought-poke-ai-personality-is-becoming-a-competitive-advantage/"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "town",
      "name": "Town",
      "maker": "Town",
      "tagline": "A personal assistant ('Townie') with its own email address, routines, and team plans",
      "strengths": [
        "Its own @town.com email address, so people can cc or forward to it",
        "Routines that run on a schedule or a trigger",
        "Approvals by default, an audit log, SOC 2 Type II, and training off by default"
      ],
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "Town",
          "url": "https://www.town.com"
        },
        {
          "label": "Town pricing",
          "url": "https://www.town.com/pricing"
        },
        {
          "label": "Town Series A announcement",
          "url": "https://www.town.com/press/series-a"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "claude-cowork",
      "name": "Claude Cowork",
      "maker": "Anthropic",
      "tagline": "Anthropic's agent for knowledge work with your files and apps",
      "strengths": [
        "Plans, splits work into subtasks, runs code, and produces real files, with each step visible",
        "Cloud scheduled tasks and a large connector and plugin ecosystem",
        "Deep governance and compliance on Enterprise plans"
      ],
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "Claude Cowork",
          "url": "https://claude.com/product/cowork"
        },
        {
          "label": "Claude pricing",
          "url": "https://claude.com/pricing"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "chatgpt",
      "name": "ChatGPT for Work",
      "maker": "OpenAI",
      "tagline": "OpenAI's company-wide AI: ChatGPT Business and Enterprise, with agents",
      "strengths": [
        "Company knowledge that searches your connected apps and respects each person's permissions",
        "Workspace agents teams can build, share, and run on a schedule or by API",
        "A mature enterprise stack: SCIM, RBAC, Compliance API, and data residency options"
      ],
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "OpenAI: What is ChatGPT Business",
          "url": "https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8792828-what-is-chatgpt-business"
        },
        {
          "label": "OpenAI: Business data",
          "url": "https://openai.com/business-data/"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "features": [
    {
      "id": "built-for",
      "group": "Who it is for",
      "label": "Built for",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Professionals and teams whose work runs through colleagues, clients, and vendors"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Individuals: trips, bookings, groceries, subscriptions, life admin"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Consumers: shopping, travel, errands, health, smart home"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "An individual's personal agent"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "A persistent agent working inside your own accounts"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Individuals: a text-based assistant in your messaging apps"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Professionals, solo founders, operators, and teams"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Knowledge work with your files and apps"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Company-wide AI: chat, agents, and company knowledge"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "where",
      "group": "Presence",
      "label": "Where you use it",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Phone calls, iMessage, SMS, WhatsApp, email, and web"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Text and phone calls; web settings"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "muse.ai, iOS, Android, and WhatsApp (US only at launch)"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Web, desktop, and mobile apps"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Desktop apps (macOS, Windows, Linux) plus iOS and Android apps"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "iMessage, SMS, WhatsApp, and Telegram; no separate app"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Its own email address, Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram, web, and desktop and iPhone apps"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Desktop app, web, mobile, and a Chrome extension"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Web, iOS, Android, and an agents app in team chat"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "phone",
      "group": "Presence",
      "label": "Its own phone number",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Its own number, for calls and texts"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Per press coverage"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Also answers incoming calls"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None documented; it acts inside your logins"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "A number you text; no calling or separate identity found"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "No dedicated phone number found"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found; it acts as you through connectors"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found; agents act through connected accounts"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "email",
      "group": "Presence",
      "label": "Its own email address",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Including one on your company domain"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Launched its own email addresses in September 2026, per press coverage"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Announced as coming soon"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Its own address"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None documented"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Each Townie has its own @town.com address"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "computer",
      "group": "Presence",
      "label": "Its own computer",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Its own secure computer"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "A persistent cloud computer"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "A secure virtual machine with its own browser"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "A dedicated cloud computer"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "A persistent cloud VM"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": "unknown",
          "note": "Not verified"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": "unknown",
          "note": "Not verified"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Cloud sandbox; local files need the desktop app"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": "unknown",
          "note": "Not verified"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "contacts-people",
      "group": "Working with people",
      "label": "Contacts people on your behalf",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Runs the whole exchange; the people it deals with never need an account"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Makes calls and sends emails for you"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Sends email and negotiates for you"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Sends messages and answers calls; outbound calls not verified"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Sends as you, from your accounts, with approval"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "Not found in public documentation"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Drafts and sends email and invites in your voice, with approval by default"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Acts as you through connectors; autonomous outreach not verified"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Sends email and messages through connected accounts"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "multi-person",
      "group": "Working with people",
      "label": "Multi-person threads and hand-offs",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Many people on one thread, with hand-offs, approvals, and follow-ups"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Links to friends' agents who also use it"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "One owner per agent; none found"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Agents share a group chat and split a job"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Several bots can coordinate in group chat"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": "unknown",
          "note": "Group-chat use reported by a secondary source; not verified"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Team Townies with shared routines and integrations"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Claude Tag (beta) is a shared agent in team chat channels"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Shared projects and workspace agents"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "shared-work",
      "group": "Working with people",
      "label": "Shared tasks, files, and workflows",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Inside your company and across companies"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found; appears single-user"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "No multi-human sharing documented"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "No multi-user features documented"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "Individual accounts; not designed for team use"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Team plans with shared routines, integrations, and pooled credits"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Individual sessions; artifacts can be shared"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Inside a workspace"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "recurring",
      "group": "Getting work done",
      "label": "Recurring and triggered work",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Plain-English workflows on demand, on a schedule, or on a trigger"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Proactive nudges; no workflow builder documented"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Background tasks in its secure VM"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Automations on events, plus scheduled tasks"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Routines on a schedule or on events, up to 50 per bot"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Proactive alerts, reminders, and background automations on Pro"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Routines on a schedule or a trigger"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Cloud scheduled tasks; no event triggers found"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Scheduled tasks, and agents that run on a schedule or by API"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "approval",
      "group": "Trust and control",
      "label": "Your say before it acts",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Per-action autonomy you set; an admin can lock it team-wide"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": "unknown",
          "note": "Not documented"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Permission checks for emails and purchases sit outside the model"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "A user-set spending budget; approval flow not verified"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Asks before sending, publishing, buying, or deleting"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": "unknown",
          "note": "Not documented"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Sends and invites need approval unless you grant broader permissions; audit log"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Shows each step as it works"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Admin and spend controls"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "training",
      "group": "Trust and control",
      "label": "No training on your data by default",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Never trains on customer data"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "On by default; opt out in settings"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "On by default; opt out in settings"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": "unknown",
          "note": "Not documented"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Stated for the Business and Enterprise plans"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "May train on your data unless you choose Maximum Privacy"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "Training off by default; opt-in only"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Team and Enterprise plans"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Business plans"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "compliance",
      "group": "Security and admin",
      "label": "Security certifications",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, CCPA; encryption in transit and at rest"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found on its site"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "SOC 2 Type II reported; ISO 27001 and 42001 in progress"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": "unknown",
          "note": "SOC 2 Type II reported by a secondary source; not verified"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "SOC 2 Type II"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 42001"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 cited"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "admin",
      "group": "Security and admin",
      "label": "SSO, SCIM, roles, and audit logs",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "SAML SSO, SCIM, and RBAC on Team plans; audit logs on Enterprise"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Described for xAI's Enterprise plan"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": "none",
          "note": "None found"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": "partial",
          "note": "Team and Enterprise plans with org analytics; Town says SSO and SCIM are not currently available"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "On Enterprise, with a Compliance API"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": "yes",
          "note": "SCIM, RBAC, and a Compliance API on Enterprise"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "availability",
      "group": "Availability",
      "label": "Availability",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Private beta; request access"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Invite-only private beta"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Public in the US"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Early access with an invite code"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Beta"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Public with a free tier; acquired by Cognition (announced July 2026), and TechCrunch says nothing changes immediately through the end of the year"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Out of beta in June 2026; self-serve with a free tier"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Generally available"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Generally available"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "price",
      "group": "Availability",
      "label": "Price",
      "values": {
        "openassistant": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Paid plans per seat"
        },
        "instinct": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Free during the beta; pricing not published"
        },
        "muse": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Free tier; $20 and $100 per month plans"
        },
        "cue": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Free during early access; later pricing not disclosed"
        },
        "grok-bot": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Via SuperGrok Heavy or Cursor plans; figures vary by source"
        },
        "poke": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Free; Pro $19; Ultra $199 per month"
        },
        "town": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Free; Starter $15 billed monthly; Pro $49 to Power Plus $199 per user billed annually; credit-metered; Team plans"
        },
        "claude-cowork": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Pro $20 per month; Team from $20 per seat"
        },
        "chatgpt": {
          "state": null,
          "note": "Business about $20 per user per month; Enterprise on request"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}