Meta Muse vs. ChatGPT Dots: what each one costs

Meta released Muse on Sept. 8. OpenAI's always-on agents, called Dots, arrived inside ChatGPT three weeks later, Engadget reports. Both are built to keep working after you close the laptop: each has its own cloud computer and a link to outside services.

The pitch is that you hand over a task and stop refreshing. Engadget reports Muse can send emails, fill in forms, plan travel, shop and watch prices. Dots can carry on research, move between connected apps and repeat a job on a schedule, and OpenAI is tying them into ChatGPT, Work and Codex.

What each one can reach

Muse gets a Secure VM of its own, with a browser inside it, and Engadget reports Meta designed the thing to feel like messaging another person. You reach it through Muse's apps, the web or WhatsApp, then connect services such as email and your calendar once you want it to do more. In Engadget's hands-on test, Muse sorted saved Instagram and Facebook posts into collections of recipes and restaurants.

Dot lives inside ChatGPT and runs on GPT-6 Astra. Every Dot gets its own cloud computer and can call on connected plugins. It holds onto relevant context, and it can run scheduled or repeating jobs. A Dot can also be let onto your local computer to fetch files or browse the web, and OpenAI plans to let people run several of them at once.

Both still need supervision

Meta said a Muse will ask first before it sends an email or buys something. OpenAI said permissions, Custom Rules and Auto-review govern what a Dot is allowed to do. Both companies say their agents can make mistakes. Access runs out at the edge of the agent too: **Reported**, by Engadget, that Amazon will not let Muse shop on its site.

Engadget found the model-improvement setting on by default in Muse, and its default permission option asks only about some actions. Meta said conversations and data inside its VM are not shared with its advertising systems, and that people can opt out of having their interactions used to improve Meta's AI models. OpenAI said the ChatGPT setting you choose decides whether Dots on personal plans feed its model training. By default, it does not train on Business and Enterprise data. OpenAI also said a Dot's proactive research is read-only until a later action passes the usual permission checks.

What they cost

Muse has a free tier with a cap on how much you can use it. Power costs $20 a month and Maximum costs $100 a month. Individual users pay more for Dots: the cheapest option is Pro 100, at $100 a month. Business Premium seats run $100 per user each month on annual billing, or $125 per user each month if you pay monthly. OpenAI said the only Dot work that counts against your usage limits is what it does inside ChatGPT Work or Codex.

Where you can get them

Muse is sold in the US and Canada. Dots are reaching eligible Pro users, but not in the UK, Switzerland or the European Economic Area. Business Premium users can get them in supported ChatGPT regions, and Enterprise access remains in beta.

What to do with this

If you are in the US or Canada and curious, the capped free Muse tier is the cheap way to find out whether an agent that runs errands earns its place. Skip the paid Dots unless your employer pays. At $100 a month for the cheapest individual plan, you are adding a subscription the size of a phone bill for a tool that both companies say can get things wrong.

Then think about the connections, because that is what changes your exposure. The more accounts you connect, the more capable the agent becomes, and that can mean handing over access to email, calendar, files and browser sessions. Link what the job needs and nothing else. If you set up Muse, find the model-improvement setting Engadget found switched on, and the permission option that asks about only some actions.

The useful question is not which agent is smarter. It is which one you would let act without asking.

A fair way to read the comparison

Neither one is an assistant you can leave alone for a week. Both run in the cloud, both want the keys to your accounts, and both bill by the month. Muse is cheaper to try and locked to two countries. Dots are the ones your employer can buy you. Treat the free tier as the test, and the $100 plans as a work purchase rather than a personal one.

• AI agents
• ChatGPT
• Meta Muse
• OpenAI
• subscriptions