A plain guide to the always-on AI agents of 2026: ChatGPT dots, Grok Bot, Meta Muse, OpenBot, OpenDots, Claude Cowork, Manus and Saanora Moons. What each one is, how it handles computers and approvals, what it costs and where it runs.
An always-on agent is an AI that takes a job and keeps working on it after you close the chat. It has a computer to work on, it can run on a schedule or when something happens, and it checks back with you before the steps that matter.
Several companies ship one in 2026. They differ in the details that decide whether one fits you: whose computer it works on, when it asks first, what it costs, and where you can use it. This guide covers seven of them, plus Saanora's own, Moons. Every fact about another product comes from its maker's public pages, and where a maker doesn't say, neither do we. Each section links to a side-by-side page with the sources.
ChatGPT dots (OpenAI)
Dots are OpenAI's always-on agents inside ChatGPT. You name your dot and pick its look. Each dot has its own cloud computer and browser: open it to watch, take over, then return control. It can also use your own computer if you allow it, and it connects to the plugins you use in ChatGPT. An automatic review checks actions that touch your accounts or share information, and custom rules can set an action to go ahead, wait for your say-so, ask first, or hand off to you.
Your first dot comes with ChatGPT Pro ($100, $200 or $500 a month) or a Business Premium seat ($125 a month, or $100 billed yearly); it isn't on Free, Go or Plus, and it's one dot for now. You reach it in ChatGPT's desktop app, on desktop web and in the mobile apps, plus Slack, Microsoft Teams and calls. Pro access is 18+ and excludes the EEA, the UK and Switzerland.
Grok Bot (xAI)
Grok Bot is xAI's desktop and mobile app for teams of always-on agents called Bots. All of an account's Bots share one cloud computer: each gets its own screen, while files, browser sign-ins and credentials are shared, and you can watch and take over. Approval cards show an action and its inputs with Allow once, Always allow or Deny, and optional Auto-review rules can ask first or allow automatically. Bots message each other, group chats hold two to six of them, and a Team Bot can be shared with your team and added to Slack.
For new customers it comes with The X Subscription, from Premium at $30 a month, with Super at $100 and Ultra at $200. It has desktop apps for macOS, Windows and Linux, and apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. Its cloud computers run in the United States.
Muse (Meta)
Muse is Meta's personal agent. It does tasks such as emails and bookings in the background and checks back when it needs your sign-off. It works on a dedicated cloud computer for you and your Muse, where you can watch its browser and take over any time, and with your permission the Mac app can use apps on your Mac. It asks before sensitive actions such as sending an email or buying something, purchases ask every time, and you choose how much access each connected app gets.
There's a free tier with a usage limit; Power is $20 a month and Max is $100 a month. Meta says Muse is in limited testing and not available everywhere. It's on iOS, Android, muse.ai on the web, WhatsApp and a Mac app. It launched in the US, and press reported it in Canada from September 2026.
OpenBot (Synthetify Labs)
OpenBot is a desktop app for running a team of persistent agents on your own computer, or on a server you host or rent. Its makers call it a development preview. Each agent has its own name, instructions and workspace, runs on AI tools you already pay for or a local model, and gets a built-in browser you can take over. Agents message each other and hand off tasks. After a consent screen on first launch, they edit files, run commands and use the network without asking each time.
The app costs nothing, and you pay your AI provider separately. Optional hosted servers cost $25, $60 or $120 a month, and run in the EU. It's on macOS 13+, Windows 10+ and Linux, with an iPhone app in TestFlight beta, Android, and a web client.
OpenDots (CopilotKit)
OpenDots is an open-source template, under the MIT license, for always-on agents called Dots that you host and run yourself. Its makers label it alpha. Each Dot can have its own container computer with a browser, files and a terminal you can take control of; computer access is off by default. Saving a page, and using any app tool that isn't read-only, waits for your Approve card.
You pay for hosting and your model, and conversations need CopilotKit Intelligence: a free Developer plan, Pro at $39 a month, or Team at $100 a seat a month. It's a web app you run yourself, for computer and phone browsers, plus voice calls and Slack.
Claude Cowork (Anthropic)
Claude Cowork is Anthropic's agent for knowledge work: you describe an outcome, and Claude plans and carries out the steps, then hands back finished work. Tasks run in an isolated cloud environment, and through the desktop app it can also use folders, apps and a built-in browser on your computer, which needs to stay open. You choose Manual (it asks before actions), Auto (it reviews each action for safety) or Skip (no pauses), and permanently deleting files always needs your Allow.
It comes with Claude's Pro ($20 a month, or $17 billed yearly), Max ($100 or $200 a month), Team ($25 a seat a month, or $20 billed yearly) and Enterprise plans, and uses limits faster than chat. It's in Claude desktop for macOS and Windows, on claude.ai, in the iOS and Android apps, and in Claude in Chrome.
Manus
Manus is a general AI agent, made by the company of the same name, that researches, builds and acts for you in the cloud. Tasks use a cloud browser you can watch and take over. A dedicated, always-on Cloud Computer is a paid extra, and the desktop app can work on your own computer, where every command needs Allow Once or Always Allow. Automations run on a schedule or when something happens in a connected app. Its separate Cue app offers personal agents with their own email, phone number, wallet and computer.
There's a free tier with 300 credits a day; Pro starts at $20 a month, and Team at $20 a seat. Cue is in invite-only early access. Manus is on the web, on desktop for macOS and Windows, and on iOS and Android.
How to choose
None of these is right for everyone. A quick way to narrow it down:
- You already pay for ChatGPT Pro or Business Premium, and work in ChatGPT, Slack or Teams: a dot is already there.
- You want many named agents at once, and native apps on macOS, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android: Grok Bot is built for that.
- You want a personal agent you can reach on WhatsApp, with a free tier: Muse, where it's available.
- You'd rather run agents on your own computer with AI subscriptions you already pay for: OpenBot, whose source is public.
- You want to host and change the code yourself: OpenDots, an MIT-licensed template.
- You're on a paid Claude plan and want an agent that works in your own folders and apps: Cowork comes with it.
- You want automations that start from events, or a large batch job spread across many agents: Manus does both.
- You want several agents on any plan, each on a cloud desktop of its own with its own access level, in the browser with nothing to install: Moons.
Where Saanora Moons fits
Moons are Saanora's always-on agents, powered by Mark, and part of one AI for everything. Each moon takes a job and keeps working on its own, then checks back. Each has its own desktop in the cloud: watch it live, take over any time, and hand it back.
You pick Careful, Trusted or Full access for each moon, and sending, posting, changing, deleting and spending ask first unless you say otherwise. Passwords and codes are always handed to you, and a code you type on a moon's card goes straight into the page, never to the moon.
Pippin wants to email Ana
Needs your OKAbout Thursday's deck
Hi Ana, Thursday at 10 works. I'll bring the pilot numbers. See you then!
Your rule: ask before sending emails
Asks before it sends, posts, changes or deletes anything. Hands spending to you. New moons start here.
Moons come with every Saanora plan: Wibble plus 1 more on Free, 3 on Lite and 10 on Spark, with 1, 2 or 5 computers at once. They use your plan's weekly usage, computer time included, up to 70% of it by default. They're on the web, in any modern browser on a computer or a phone, and not in the desktop or mobile apps yet. See how Moons work, or put them side by side with each of the products above on the comparison pages.
About this guide
Facts checked on 14 October 2026, from each maker's public pages; the comparison pages list every source. These products change quickly, so check the maker's own pages before you decide.
Saanora isn't affiliated with OpenAI, xAI, Meta, Synthetify Labs, CopilotKit, Anthropic or Manus. The product names belong to their owners and are used here only to say what's being compared.