Muse vs Dots vs Grok Bot, plus Alexa+, Claude Duet, Comet, Copilot Cowork, Gemini and more

The short answer

• Try one for free: Muse is free with a usage limit^[5] and offered in North America, Japan and Singapore^[3][4]. Manus gives 300 free credits a day^[45], Claude has a Free plan^[20], ChatGPT Work is free in the desktop app^[16], and Comet is a free browser with an assistant built in^[27].
• You have Amazon Prime: Alexa+ is included in the US and can order takeout, book tables and rides^[41]. Amazon lists it in 10 more countries, most through Early Access, plus Early Access in India and Japan^[42].
• You pay for Google AI Pro or Ultra: Gemini tasks keep working in the background^[38], outside the EEA, Nigeria, Switzerland and the UK^[37].
• You pay for Microsoft 365 Premium or Pro: Copilot Cowork is in preview for you; Personal and Family plans lose access^[35].
• You pay for Claude in the US: join the Claude Duet waitlist for an assistant that checks in with you^[25].
• You already pay for ChatGPT Pro: your first dot is included^[8], and ChatGPT Work is too^[17].
• You want several agents sharing one workspace: Grok Bot Bots can use a persistent cloud computer, connected tools, websites and files^[14], from $30/mo^[12].
• A team assistant with a hard spending stop: Lindy^[49]. Planning your week: Motion^[51].

What users complain about (opinion): allowances that run out fast come up for ChatGPT Work, Grok Bot and Manus, repeated approval prompts for Dots, and CAPTCHAs or logins that stop tasks for Grok Bot and Muse. See community sentiment.

Plans, metering and platforms

Which Muse, which Dots, which Claude?

Muse here means Meta's personal AI agent at ai.meta.com/muse, used in the Muse app on mobile and Mac or in WhatsApp^[1]. It is not Meta's Muse Spark or Muse Wonder AI models (Meta says Muse runs on Muse Spark^[2]), and not Microsoft's Muse game model or the Muse writing and note apps.

Dots means OpenAI's dots, announced Sept 29, 2026: always on agents in ChatGPT, Slack and Teams^[7]. OpenAI writes the name in lower case. It is not the dots.ocr model.

Claude is Anthropic's main app, which now includes what used to be Cowork^[21]. Claude Duet is a separate proactive agent app in research preview^[25], announced Oct 21, 2026^[24]. Claude Tag is a Slack teammate for Claude Team and Enterprise customers^[26], so it is not covered here as a personal assistant.

Copilot Cowork is Microsoft's agent in Microsoft 365, not Anthropic's former Claude Cowork. Microsoft is moving Copilot Tasks into Cowork for personal plans^[32], and Personal and Family subscribers lose access to Cowork^[35]. Comet is Perplexity's browser^[27], not the Comet machine learning platform. Gemini here means tasks in the Gemini app^[37] and auto browse in Gemini in Chrome^[40].

Approvals and control

• Claude: Auto mode is the default on Pro, Max, Ultra and Team plans and runs automated safety checks before Claude takes an action; Manual mode, the default on Enterprise, asks before each action^[23]. We mark this as Partly, because on most personal plans it does not ask first unless you switch to Manual.
• ChatGPT Work: in Plan mode you can suggest changes or approve the plan before the work starts^[16]. We mark this as Partly, because the page describes approving a plan rather than each action.
• Claude Duet: asks before sensitive operations like sending messages or paying, and you can see what it is doing and steer it^[25].
• Comet: if Comet needs access to another service like Gmail, Perplexity says it always asks for approval first, and that Comet never has access to your passwords or payment data^[31]. We mark this as Partly, because it covers connecting services.
• Copilot Cowork: you review and approve sensitive actions^[32]. For Copilot Tasks, Microsoft lists purchases, submitting personal information and actions involving other people among the steps that need approval^[33].
• Dots: per action rules let it act, act only when asked, ask first or hand off to you; some steps, like changing a password, always stay with you^[8].
• Gemini: for certain actions it asks you to take over the task^[37]; in Chrome you review and confirm sensitive steps^[40].
• Grok Bot: Auto Review checks sensitive actions, and approval requests from work that started without you expire after about 10 minutes^[15].
• Lindy: anything with outside impact, like sending an email, waits for approval^[49].
• Muse: you review and approve actions before they happen, like sending emails and making purchases, and can see a complete audit trail^[1]. Meta says nothing Muse does reaches the internet unless a separate Sentinel approves it, and that it asks you for permission when needed^[2].
• The pages we checked for Alexa+, Manus and Motion do not describe an approval step, so we do not claim one either way. ChatGPT Work replaced the retired ChatGPT agent mode^[18].

Data and model training

Where official pages disagree

• Gemini tasks plans: Google's help article says tasks need Google AI Pro or Ultra^[37], while the subscriptions page lists "first access to advanced features like Tasks in Gemini" under Ultra^[39]. We follow the help article.
• Grok Bot usage multipliers: the Grok Bot page describes Super as 3.5x and Ultra as 12x Premium usage^[11], while the pricing page lists Premium at 4x, Super at 15x and Ultra at 50x Plus usage^[12]. We quote prices only.
• Grok Bot platforms: the product page lists macOS, Windows and iOS^[11]; the docs also list Linux and Android^[14]. We use the docs.
• Lindy plans: the feature list mentions computer use "on Pro and Max", but the plan table shows Free, Team and Enterprise^[49].

Verdicts

Best for, avoid if and one thing to know come from vendor pages. The last line in each, marked People say, is community opinion summarized from the section below, not a fact we checked.

Community sentiment (opinion, not vendor facts)

What experts are saying

Dated, linked takes from people who write about AI tools, with their affiliations. These are their opinions. We found no expert takes in the window on Alexa+, ChatGPT Work as a standalone product, Comet, Copilot Cowork, Gemini tasks, Lindy, Manus or Motion.

• Ethan Mollick, Professor at Wharton who writes the One Useful Thing newsletter · One Useful Thing, Oct 1, 2026

  I think the more important thing is what you no longer have to tell them.

  On judging dots and Muse by how much context they pick up on their own, rather than by a list of tasks.

  Disclosure: No vendor affiliation stated in the post.

• Ethan Mollick, Professor at Wharton · X, Oct 13, 2026

  a perfectly legal distributed denial of service attack on customer service departments

  On what happens when agents like Muse and dots can make unlimited refund requests and negotiate deals.

  Disclosure: No vendor affiliation stated in the post.

• Dan Shipper, CEO of Every · X, Oct 7, 2026

  Permissions are still frustrating. I have to approve the same basic thing multiple times

  Also: “If you use ChatGPT, I recommend trying one.”

  Disclosure: Every publishes its own coverage and comparisons of AI agents.

• Dan Shipper, CEO of Every · X, Oct 21, 2026

  It’s the first personal agent I’d call a pro tool.

  He also writes that it is “not a chief of staff yet” and that its email drafts are worse than dots’.

  Disclosure: Says his team tested Claude Duet for two weeks before launch.

• Allie K. Miller, AI advisor; her profile lists former roles at Amazon and IBM · X, Oct 13, 2026

  Muse - best one for your parents

  She calls Dots “best for OpenAI users” and adds that Muse “made several basic mistakes” and forgot things after a while.

  Disclosure: Former Amazon employee; says she is a heavy user of Instinct, an assistant not covered here.

• Allie K. Miller, AI advisor · X, Oct 20, 2026

  Because Dots can’t purchase natively

  She says buying things is one area where Muse and Instinct are “clear winners”.

  Disclosure: Former Amazon employee.

• Peter Yang, Creator of AI tutorials and interviews · X, Sep 30, 2026

  These are really two separate races.

  He puts dots and Grok Bot in a work race and Muse in a personal one, and calls cramming Codex, Work, dots and more into ChatGPT “overwhelming”.

  Disclosure: xAI gave him Grok Bot codes to give away (Aug 30, 2026), and he had early access to Claude Duet.

• Peter Yang, Creator of AI tutorials and interviews · X, Oct 21, 2026

  Email feature doesn't really work.

  His con for Grok Bot. For dots: “Much better than at launch but still buggy.” For Claude Duet: missing features in research preview, like driving its browser. For Muse: “Free, best consumer UX”.

  Disclosure: Same as above.

• Claire Vo, Founder of ChatPRD and host of How I AI · Lenny's Newsletter, Oct 21, 2026

  But polish isn’t enough when you’re competing with every other personal agent for attention.

  She calls it the most polished agent launch she has seen, and lists cons including not being proactive enough, latency and no desktop app.

  Disclosure: No Anthropic affiliation stated in the post.

How these takes shape the verdicts

They do not change any vendor fact or price. They shape what we flag: the repeated approval prompts that Dan Shipper and users describe for Dots, the email and memory gaps Peter Yang and Allie K. Miller note across agents, and Claude Duet's polish and early state as described by early reviewers, two of whom had early access. Where an expert has a tie to a vendor, the disclosure sits next to the take.

Keep comparing

Alternatives pages: ChatGPT Work alternatives, Claude alternatives, Manus alternatives and Muse alternatives. Researching from your own documents rather than handing off tasks? See Gemini Notebook, also from Google.

How we put this together

We read each vendor's pricing page, product page, docs and help center from Oct 22 to Nov 3, 2026, wrote the comparison from those pages only, then fetched every source again to check each claim, and ran a third, independent sweep of every link and number. Where a page would not load or a claim could not be confirmed, we left it out. The community and expert sections are separate: we searched X and Reddit for posts from the last 60 days, kept only themes raised by at least two different people, linked every post, and labeled all of it as opinion. We have not used these assistants for this comparison, so there are no test results, scores or ratings here. Prices are in US dollars and exclude tax. More in our methodology.

Sources

1. Meta: Muse product page (ai.meta.com/muse/, checked 2026-10-22)
2. Meta newsroom: Introducing Muse (Sept 8, 2026) (about.fb.com/news/2026/09/introducing-muse-personal-ai-agent/, checked 2026-10-22)
3. Meta newsroom (Japan): Muse launches in Japan (Oct 23, 2026) (about.fb.com/ja/news/2026/10/muse-personal-ai-agent-launches-in-japan/, checked 2026-10-23)
4. Meta newsroom: Muse is now available in Singapore (Oct 27, 2026) (about.fb.com/news/2026/10/muse-is-now-available-in-singapore-the-worlds-first-personal-ai-agent-built-for-everyone/, checked 2026-10-28)
5. Meta help center: Muse subscription plans (www.meta.com/help/subscriptions/1021145227643680/, checked 2026-10-22)
6. Meta help center: Muse usage and additional tokens (www.meta.com/help/subscriptions/28153473374286914/, checked 2026-10-22)
7. OpenAI: Introducing dots (Sept 29, 2026) (openai.com/index/introducing-dots/, checked 2026-10-22)
8. OpenAI help center: Getting started with your dot (help.openai.com/en/articles/20001530-getting-started-with-your-dot, checked 2026-10-22)
9. OpenAI help center: ChatGPT Pro tiers (help.openai.com/en/articles/9793128-about-chatgpt-pro-tiers, checked 2026-10-22)
10. OpenAI: ChatGPT Business pricing (openai.com/business/pricing/, checked 2026-10-22)
11. xAI: Grok Bot page (x.ai/bot, checked 2026-10-22)
12. xAI: pricing (x.ai/pricing, checked 2026-10-22)
13. xAI docs: Grok Bot in The X Subscription (docs.x.ai/x-subscription/grok-bot, checked 2026-10-22)
14. xAI docs: Grok Bot FAQ (docs.x.ai/grok-bot/faq, checked 2026-10-22)
15. xAI docs: Approvals, security and privacy (docs.x.ai/grok-bot/approvals-security-and-privacy, checked 2026-10-22)
16. OpenAI: ChatGPT Work (openai.com/chatgpt-work/, checked 2026-10-22)
17. OpenAI docs: ChatGPT Work and Codex pricing (learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing, checked 2026-10-22)
18. OpenAI help center: ChatGPT agent (help.openai.com/en/articles/11752874-agent, checked 2026-10-22)
19. OpenAI help center: What is ChatGPT Plus (help.openai.com/en/articles/6950777-what-is-chatgpt-plus, checked 2026-10-22)
20. Anthropic: Claude pricing (claude.com/pricing, checked 2026-11-03)
21. Anthropic: Cowork is now Claude (Sept 16, 2026) (claude.com/resources/articles/cowork-is-now-claude, checked 2026-10-31)
22. Anthropic help center: What is the Ultra plan? (support.claude.com/en/articles/17728952-what-is-the-ultra-plan, checked 2026-10-31)
23. Anthropic help center: Claude tasks and computer use (support.claude.com/en/articles/16761823, checked 2026-10-31)
24. Anthropic: Claude Duet research preview (Oct 21, 2026) (claude.com/resources/articles/claude-duet, checked 2026-10-31)
25. Anthropic: Claude Duet product page (claude.com/product/claude-duet, checked 2026-10-31)
26. Anthropic: Claude Tag product page (claude.com/product/tag, checked 2026-10-22)
27. Perplexity: Comet (www.perplexity.ai/comet, checked 2026-10-22)
28. Perplexity: pricing (www.perplexity.ai/hub/pricing, checked 2026-10-22)
29. Perplexity help center: Perplexity Max (www.perplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/11680686-perplexity-max, checked 2026-10-22)
30. Perplexity help center: How credits work on Perplexity (www.perplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/13838041-how-credits-work-on-perplexity, checked 2026-10-22)
31. Perplexity help center: Control what Comet Assistant can use (www.perplexity.ai/help-center/comet/en/articles/12658082-control-what-comet-assistant-can-use, checked 2026-10-22)
32. Microsoft Support: Get started with Cowork (support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/get-started-with-cowork, checked 2026-10-22)
33. Microsoft Support: Using Copilot Tasks (support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/using-copilot-tasks, checked 2026-10-22)
34. Microsoft: Microsoft 365 plans and pricing (www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/premium, checked 2026-10-22)
35. Microsoft Support: Copilot app updates for personal, work, and school accounts (support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/learning/changes-microsoft-copilot-app, checked 2026-10-22)
36. Microsoft: Microsoft 365 Pro (www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/p/microsoft-365-pro/cfq7ttbzzcmc, checked 2026-10-22)
37. Google help center: Get started with tasks in Gemini Apps (support.google.com/gemini/answer/17094507, checked 2026-10-22)
38. Google blog: Gemini 4 Argon comes to the Gemini app (Oct 13, 2026) (blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/gemini-app/gemini-4-argon-availability/, checked 2026-10-22)
39. Google: Gemini subscriptions (gemini.google/subscriptions/, checked 2026-10-22)
40. Google help center: auto browse in Gemini in Chrome (support.google.com/gemini/answer/16821166, checked 2026-10-22)
41. Amazon: Alexa+ available to everyone in the US (www.aboutamazon.com/news/devices/alexa-plus-available-free-prime-members-us, checked 2026-10-22)
42. Amazon: Alexa+ international launch (updated Oct 28, 2026) (www.aboutamazon.com/news/devices/alexa-plus-international-launch, checked 2026-10-29)
43. Amazon: Alexa+ plans (www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCCNHWV5, checked 2026-10-22)
44. Manus: pricing (manus.im/pricing, checked 2026-10-22)
45. Manus help center: daily refresh credits (help.manus.im/en/articles/11711121, checked 2026-10-22)
46. Manus help center: how credits work (help.manus.im/en/articles/11711097, checked 2026-10-22)
47. Manus help center: cancelling a subscription (help.manus.im/en/articles/12268225, checked 2026-10-22)
48. Manus: privacy policy (updated Sept 28, 2026) (manus.im/privacy, checked 2026-10-22)
49. Lindy: pricing and FAQ (www.lindy.ai/pricing, checked 2026-11-03)
50. Motion: pricing (www.usemotion.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-22)
51. Motion help center: onboarding, seats and AI credits (www.usemotion.com/help/motions-onboarding-process, checked 2026-10-22)
52. Motion: terms of service (www.usemotion.com/legal/terms-of-service, checked 2026-10-22)
53. Motion: privacy notice (www.usemotion.com/legal/privacy-policy, checked 2026-10-22)