# Claude Duet starts at $20 a month, Dots at $100

> Claude Duet comes with Claude Pro and Max but spends the same limits as your other Claude work. OpenAI Dots needs ChatGPT Pro or Business Premium, and conversations with it don't count against ChatGPT limits. Compare usage, approvals, visibility, and regions as of October 21, 2026.

- Published: 2026-10-21
- Last reviewed: 2026-10-21
- Data as of: 2026-10-21
- Article slug: claude-duet-vs-dots
- Author: [Glevd](https://x.com/glevd)
- Reading time: 6 minutes
- Topics: claude, openai, dots, ai-agents, pricing, permissions
- Data policy: Dated analysis; static benchmark claims are retained.
- Canonical URL: https://benchlm.ai/blog/posts/claude-duet-vs-dots

Claude Duet comes with a $20 Claude Pro plan. OpenAI Dots starts with ChatGPT Pro 100 at $100 a month. That price gap is real, but it doesn't tell you which one gives you more agent work, because the two count usage differently.

Anthropic opened Duet as a waitlisted research preview on October 21, 2026, for US Pro and Max subscribers. OpenAI started rolling out Dots on September 29.

We read both companies' current pages on October 21. We haven't run either agent, and neither company publishes a figure for how much work a plan buys.

## The $80 gap buys a separate allowance

Duet has no separate price during the preview. It's included in Pro and in Max, which starts at $100 a month, and its [FAQ](https://claude.com/resources/articles/claude-duet) says it draws on the same plan limits as everything else you do with Claude. The background checks it runs every few hours count against them, and so do larger jobs like a deck or a financial model.

OpenAI does it the other way. The [Dots launch post](https://openai.com/index/introducing-dots/) says conversations with your dot don't count toward ChatGPT usage limits. The plan also includes a separate allowance for deeper work, with extended limits for the first month after launch. Tasks your dot hands off to Codex or ChatGPT Work count against your usage as usual. OpenAI doesn't say how large the deeper-work allowance is.

That makes the cheaper entry point a weaker guide than it looks.

A Claude Pro subscriber who already runs into limits through Claude Code will be sharing that same pool with Duet's scheduled checks. A ChatGPT Pro subscriber pays five times as much but keeps their dot's conversations off the regular meter. If you were already going to pay $100, compare Claude Max 5x with ChatGPT Pro 100 instead, since both include an agent at that price.

Business buyers have one more condition. Dots comes with a Business Premium seat, which costs $125 per user per month, or $100 billed annually, and a workspace needs at least two seats, according to OpenAI's [Business overview](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8792828-chatgpt-business-overview). Duet doesn't cover Claude Team or Enterprise yet.

## Dots lets you watch its computer, and Duet can't yet

Both agents work on a cloud computer with their own browser while your devices are off. The difference is how much of that work you can see. OpenAI's [setup guide](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001530-getting-started-with-your-dot) lets you open your dot's computer from its profile, take over, and hand control back. Anthropic lists the opposite among Duet's preview gaps: it can't yet show you its browser.

Approvals are set up differently too. Duet's launch article says it shows you the action and waits before sending, paying, signing, or deleting, and that trading securities or moving money between accounts stays blocked even with approval. Dots starts from built-in rules, and its Custom Rules let you pick one of four behaviors for an action: take it without asking, take it if pre-approved, ask first, or hand it off to you. Pre-approved means you asked for that exact action in your prompt. OpenAI adds that asking for a draft doesn't authorize sending it, and some steps, such as changing a password, always stay with you.

The unprompted work differs as well. OpenAI says a dot's background "proactive research" runs through connected apps with read-only tools, so it can't send messages, change app content, or control a computer while it's looking around. Duet's unprompted work is a morning brief and account checks every few hours, with a message when something needs you. Anthropic says Duet can miss something that arrives between checks.

Dots also reaches further outside the cloud. With your permission it can use your own laptop, and it takes messages in ChatGPT, Slack, and Teams, plus a texting beta for some US Pro users. Duet is a separate iOS and Android app with web access at claude.ai.

## Where you live may settle it before price does

| Check before connecting accounts | Claude Duet | OpenAI Dots |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Plans and entry price | Claude Pro at $20 a month or Max from $100, US only, by waitlist.<br><br>[Launch](https://claude.com/resources/articles/claude-duet)<br><br>,<br><br>[Pro](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8325606-what-is-the-pro-plan) | ChatGPT Pro 100, 200, or 500 at $100, $200, or $500 a month; Business Premium seat.<br><br>[Pro tiers](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9793128-about-chatgpt-pro-tiers) |
| Regions | US only during the preview.<br><br>[Launch](https://claude.com/resources/articles/claude-duet) | Pro outside the EEA, Switzerland, and the UK, age 18+; Business Premium in supported ChatGPT regions.<br><br>[Setup](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001530-getting-started-with-your-dot) |
| Usage | Shares Claude plan limits; background checks count.<br><br>[FAQ](https://claude.com/resources/articles/claude-duet) | Conversations outside ChatGPT limits; deeper-work allowance; Codex and Work tasks count as usual.<br><br>[Launch](https://openai.com/index/introducing-dots/) |
| Model | [Claude Opus 5.5](/models/claude-opus-5-5) | [GPT-6 Astra](/models/gpt-6-astra) |
| Where you reach it | iOS and Android app; web at claude.ai.<br><br>[Product](https://claude.com/product/claude-duet) | ChatGPT on desktop, web, and mobile; Slack, Teams, and voice calls.<br><br>[Launch](https://openai.com/index/introducing-dots/) |
| Approvals | Waits before sending, paying, signing, or deleting; securities trades and account transfers blocked. | Custom Rules with four behaviors; password changes stay with you.<br><br>[Setup](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001530-getting-started-with-your-dot) |
| Apps | More than 6,000 connectors and plugins.<br><br>[Product](https://claude.com/product/claude-duet) | More than 4,000 apps through plugins.<br><br>[Launch](https://openai.com/index/introducing-dots/) |
| Not yet measured | Completed tasks, missed alerts, usage per job | Completed tasks, missed alerts, usage per job |

For most readers outside the US, Duet isn't an option yet, and for a ChatGPT Pro subscriber in the UK or the EEA, Dots isn't either. There, only Business Premium and Enterprise workspaces have a route to Dots. If you're in the US and have both accounts, the deciding question is where your work already lives. Duet carries over the memory, skills, and connectors from your Claude account, and a dot starts from your ChatGPT memory and the apps you connect.

Duet is the wrong pick if you need to watch the agent work, connect your own laptop, or keep its usage away from heavy Claude Code sessions. Dots is the wrong pick if $100 a month is more than the job is worth, if you're on ChatGPT Plus, or if you want a hard block on moving money rather than a rule you configure. One more caution for Dots: disconnecting an app doesn't delete what your dot already learned from it, and only resetting the dot removes those memories.

Both companies describe a morning look at your schedule, so that makes a fair first test. Ask each one to review tomorrow's events, flag conflicts, and propose fixes without sending anything. That's a trial we'd suggest, not one we've run. Record your usage before and after, and see whether each agent asks before it touches an invite.

Our [personal AI agents table](/ai-agents) has both products next to Muse, Hark Pro, and the self-hosted options, with each cell dated. [Claude Duet vs Muse](/blog/posts/claude-duet-vs-muse) covers Meta's standing permissions, and our [Dots guide](/blog/posts/openai-dots-guide) walks through setup and plans.

## Questions

### Can I get Dots on ChatGPT Plus or Claude Duet on the Free plan?

Neither, based on the pages we read on October 21, 2026. OpenAI lists Dots for Pro, Business Premium, and Enterprise workspaces whose admin turns on the beta. Anthropic opened Duet to US Pro and Max subscribers through a waitlist and doesn't mention Free. OpenAI says it plans to bring Dots to more users, and Anthropic describes the waitlist as starting with those plans.

### Can either agent work on my own laptop?

Dots can, if you allow it. Local access starts off, and you turn it on from the ChatGPT desktop app on that computer, which then has to stay online with the app open. Duet's launch pages describe only its cloud virtual machine and its own browser. They don't document a way to connect your computer.

### Which model runs each agent?

Anthropic names Claude Opus 5.5 for Duet, and OpenAI names GPT-6 Astra for Dots. Neither page documents a model picker for the agent or a way to bring your own API key. A model's benchmark results describe the model under a test harness, not how the agent schedules work or handles approvals.