3-Line TL;DR
- Claude Duet, out October 21 on a waitlist for US Pro and Max subscribers, is a Claude assistant app that comes to you first
- Dots, Muse and Grok Bot also keep working on their own cloud computers
- The difference is how much they do alone: Duet asks before every sensitive step, while Muse and Grok Bot offer "always allow"
I tried dots and found it underwhelming
- I tried OpenAI's dots a while back and came away a bit disappointed
- Scheduled tasks already existed, and it didn't seem to take much initiative
- The docs explain part of it: the "proactive research" a dot does while idle is read-only (OpenAI docs)
- It can't send messages or change apps there; it can only bring back a suggestion or a question
- Connecting Slack alone doesn't create a monitoring task; you have to name the events to watch
- ChatGPT has had scheduled tasks since January 2025 (release notes)
- Claude Pro already includes task delegation and scheduling (Claude pricing)
- Meta's Muse, by contrast, feels freer, as if you can hand it things like payments (my impression)
Made by HSL from OpenAI release notes, the Grok Bot announcement, the Meta Muse announcement, the dots announcement, Claude scheduled tasks help and the Claude Duet announcement
- Scheduled tasks have been around for a while; the four always-on assistants all arrived within ten weeks of August 11
What's different about Claude Duet?
- Each morning it sends a short brief on the most important items across your connected apps (Anthropic announcement)
- During the day it checks your connected accounts every few hours and messages you only when something needs you
- Anthropic says checking nonstop would burn through plan limits much faster, hence the interval
- It runs on a virtual machine with its own browser, so your phone or laptop can be off
- It brings over your Claude memory, skills and connected apps, so there is little to set up
- It is built around Claude Opus 5.5 and can use more than 6,000 connectors and plugins
- During the preview it is included in Pro and Max but shares your usage limits with the rest of Claude (product page)
- Claude Pro is $20 a month ($17 a month billed annually), and Max starts at $100 (Claude pricing)
Source: Claude Duet announcement, our own capture of the original text; red outline added by HSL
- Before it sends a message, pays, signs a document or deletes anything, it shows exactly what it will do and waits for your OK
- Trading securities and moving money between accounts are off-limits even with your approval
- Payments go through Stripe Link, which asks you to approve the spend and pays with a virtual card; Shop Pay works too
- A dedicated classifier refuses to share things like card numbers and government IDs
- Anthropic admits it may misread a thread or misjudge what's urgent
- Personal errands such as booking tickets are weaker for now, and it can't show you its browser yet
Four assistants: who acts alone and who asks?
| Claude Duet | ChatGPT dots | Meta Muse | Grok Bot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | Oct 21 preview | Sep 29 | Sep 8 | Aug 11 beta |
| Plans | US Pro and Max | Pro ($100, $200, $500), Business Premium | Free tier, paid plans | The X Subscription from $30 |
| Model | Claude Opus 5.5 | GPT-6 Astra | Muse Spark | Mix chosen by Cursor |
| Where you talk | Own app, claude.ai | ChatGPT, Slack, Teams | Own app, WhatsApp | Desktop and mobile apps |
| What it does first | Morning brief, checks every few hours | Read-only proactive research | Suggestions around your goals and schedule | Routines on schedules or events |
Sources: Claude Duet, dots pricing, dots docs, Meta Muse announcement, Grok Bot pricing, Grok Bot security docs; checked Oct 24, USD before tax
Made by HSL from the Duet announcement, the dots safety FAQ, the Muse FAQ and the Grok Bot approvals docs
- All four ask before sending messages and paying by default
- The difference is "always allow": Muse lets you allow once, always allow or deny, with default permissions per connection (Muse FAQ)
- Grok Bot saves "Always allow" as a rule too (Grok Bot docs)
- For things like financial transfers, Grok Bot asks you to set the boundary in your request
- Dots uses custom rules to allow, require approval for or block actions (OpenAI Help)
- Recurring messages or a specific purchase can be approved in advance, but transfers and password changes are handed back to you
- Duet's announcement mentions no standing permission; it just waits at each sensitive step
- That "always allow" may be why Muse felt freer to me (my reading)
So how will Claude Duet turn out?
- I haven't used Duet; it's a US Pro and Max waitlist for now, so it's out of reach from Korea
- On paper it reaches out more than dots, and holds back more than Muse or Grok Bot
- Anthropic notes it can miss something that arrives between check-ins (product page FAQ)
- Every check uses your limits, so a Pro plan could run dry quickly (no measurements)
- Whether Duet fixes the lack of initiative I felt with dots, I'll only know once I try it
| Your situation | What to check first |
|---|---|
| US user already on Claude Pro or Max | The Duet waitlist and how much the background checks use |
| You want to hand off payments and orders | How far "always allow" goes in Muse or Grok Bot, and what happens on a mistake |
| You want it in your company Slack or Teams | Dots' Slack and Teams support and its plans |
| You want several bots working as a team | Grok Bot's multiple bots and group chats |
Community Reactions
- oZiix reports that summarizing the same 20 emails took Duet under one minute and Dot two minutes, with both flagging the same emails (Reddit)
- After extensive Duet testing, u22024 says excessive approval requests and failure to follow existing Claude web memory and rules were disappointing (Reddit)
- UserName029, on a $100 ChatGPT plan, complains that Dots is slow, repeatedly loses permissions, and shows no proactive behavior (Reddit)
- Testing Muse alongside Dots, HeavyMetal_Protein says Dots traced a collections notice better while Muse proactively supplied local, sports, and concert updates (Reddit)
Q&A (Field Notes)
- Q. Can I use Claude Duet outside the US?
- For now it starts with a waitlist for US Pro and Max subscribers
- Q. Does Duet cost extra?
- It's included in Pro and Max during the preview, but it shares your limits with the rest of Claude
- Q. How is it different from scheduled tasks?
- A scheduled task runs saved instructions at set times; Duet keeps context in one thread and reaches out when something needs you
- Q. If it pays for me, does my card number get shared?
- Duet and Muse both say they pay with Stripe Link virtual cards, so your real card number isn't passed on