English · 12 min read
ChatGPT dots vs Grok Bot vs Meta Muse: which always-on AI agent should a small business use?
OpenAI's dots, xAI's Grok Bot and Meta's Muse each give an AI agent its own cloud computer. Muse is free to start and connects Instagram, Facebook Pages and Meta ads; Grok Bot comes with Cursor Pro at $20; dots start with ChatGPT Pro at $100. Which fits your business, by type and budget.
By Dapols ·
The short answer: for a shop, restaurant, salon, gym, maker or creator in the US or Canada, start with Meta Muse. It is free to start, you can message it in WhatsApp, and since 29 September it connects to your Instagram professional analytics, Facebook Pages and Meta ad accounts. For a developer or a software team, Grok Bot comes with Cursor Pro at $20 a month, runs many Bots at once and has a shared Team Bots beta. For a team that already works in Slack or Microsoft Teams and pays for ChatGPT Pro or Business Premium, a dot runs on GPT-6 Astra and has the most detailed approval rules of the three. ChatGPT Plus does not include dots, and on Pro they are not offered in the UK, the EEA or Switzerland. All three are new, so start each one on a small, low-risk job.
Every fact below comes from OpenAI's, xAI's and Meta's own announcement, help and pricing pages, linked where it is used. Cursor's $20 price is from the Dapols tool catalog. None of the three companies has published test scores for these agents, so this compares what they do, where you get them, what they cost and how they protect you, not how well they perform. Checked on 1 October 2026.
What these agents are
All three are "always-on" agents. Each gets its own computer in the cloud, signs into the tools you allow, keeps working after you close the app and messages you like a colleague when it needs a decision.
- ChatGPT dots (OpenAI) were announced at DevDay on 29 September 2026. Each dot has its own cloud computer and browser, learns from your feedback, works around the clock and connects to more than 4,000 apps through plugins (OpenAI).
- Grok Bot (xAI) launched on 11 August 2026 (xAI), and shared Team Bots followed on 28 September (xAI). Background: Grok Bot explained.
- Meta Muse is a personal agent that launched on 8 September 2026 (Meta). On 29 September Meta added Muse for Small Business, a set of skills and connectors "to help people run their businesses" (Meta).
For the older, single-session kind of agent, see our ChatGPT desktop agent guide.
The three side by side
| ChatGPT dots | Grok Bot | Meta Muse | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | OpenAI | xAI, which now brands itself SpaceXAI | Meta |
| Launched | Announced 29 September 2026, rolling out | 11 August 2026; Team Bots public beta 28 September 2026 | 8 September 2026; Muse for Small Business 29 September 2026 |
| Model powering it | GPT-6 Astra | Not stated by xAI | Muse Spark, Meta's own model |
| Messaging channels | ChatGPT on desktop, web and mobile, Slack and Microsoft Teams; voice calls in ChatGPT; texting is a limited US-only beta for some Pro users | Grok Bot apps for macOS and iOS; a Team Bot gets its own handle in Slack | Muse app on iOS, Android and the web at muse.ai, or directly in WhatsApp; AI glasses "coming soon" |
| Business connectors | More than 4,000 apps through plugins | Signs into your apps, including sites with no API or MCP; Team Bots add plugins such as Salesforce, Notion and GitHub, plus credentials for other APIs | Instagram professional account analytics, Facebook Pages and Meta ad accounts; Canva and "dozens of tools" listed in the app's settings; custom connectors |
| Its own computer | Cloud computer and browser; can also connect to your own computer, off by default | Cloud computer with a browser and a terminal | Muse Secure VM, a dedicated cloud virtual machine that holds the agent and your data |
| Payments and purchases | No payment feature described; Custom Rules decide which actions it may take alone | Not covered in the xAI posts we checked | Checks out with Link by Stripe using a one-time-use card; asks you before a purchase; Shop Pay and 1Password "coming soon" |
| Privacy and training | Business, Enterprise and Edu content not used for training by default; personal plans can opt out; saved passwords used without showing them to the model | Not covered in the xAI posts we checked | Training opt-out; Meta says Muse does not share conversations or VM data with its ad systems; Muse cannot see your passwords or payment methods |
| Safety and approvals | Custom Rules per kind of action, auto-review of risky actions, Pause and Reset, read-only proactive research | Bots come back when something needs approval; in a Team Bot each person's conversations stay private | A separate Sentinel agent must approve anything Muse sends to the internet; asks before sending an email or buying; full audit trail; you set each app's access level |
| Many agents, team sharing | First dot included; more dots "in the future", no price yet; specialist dots in enterprise pilots | Many Bots at once, in a group chat; Team Bots shared by a team, in public beta on Teams and Enterprise plans | A personal agent; Meta's posts we checked describe no shared team agent. Larger firms get Meta Enterprise Platform, launched 28 September |
| Free tier | No: not on Free, Go or Plus | No: needs a paid Grok or Cursor plan | Yes, with a usage limit |
| Regions | On Pro, not offered in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Business Premium: all supported ChatGPT regions | Not covered in the xAI posts we checked | US and Canada; Meta's help centre says it is in limited testing and not in all locations yet; 18 or over |
Sources: OpenAI dots announcement, OpenAI help: getting started with your dot, ChatGPT Pro tiers, xAI: Grok Bot on more plans, xAI pricing, Meta: introducing Muse, Meta: Muse for Small Business, Meta help: Muse subscriptions.
What it costs to get each one
| Route | Price a month | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Meta Muse, free | $0 | Muse with a usage limit; Meta calls it "free for most of what people need" |
| Meta Muse Power | $20 | 500M Muse tokens a week |
| Meta Muse Max | $100 | 3B Muse tokens a week |
| Grok Bot via Cursor Pro | $20 | Grok Bot with its own usage, separate from your Cursor plan |
| Grok Bot via SuperGrok | $30 | Grok Bot with its own usage, separate from your Grok plan; SuperGrok Plus is $100 |
| Dots via ChatGPT Pro 100 | $100 | Your first dot at no extra cost, plus an allowance for deeper work; monthly only |
| Dots via ChatGPT Business Premium | $125 per seat, or $100 per seat billed annually | Your first dot, in all supported ChatGPT regions; Business plans need at least two paid seats |
Muse subscriptions renew monthly (Meta help). Grok Bot "comes with its own usage, separate from your Grok and Cursor plans" (xAI). Business Premium prices are from OpenAI's billing help page. No company publishes a price per extra agent yet.
What dots are good at
OpenAI's pitch is one agent that learns from your feedback and lives where your team already talks. You create your dot on the ChatGPT desktop app or on the web from a computer, not on a phone. After that you can message it on mobile, in Slack or in Microsoft Teams, or "hop on a voice call" with it in ChatGPT. It cannot call you itself at launch (OpenAI help).
The controls are the strong part. With Custom Rules you decide, per kind of action, whether the dot acts without asking, acts if pre-approved, asks first, or hands the task to you. Sensitive jobs such as changing a password always stay with you. Auto-review checks risky actions, and Pause and Reset let you halt it or start over. When it researches on its own initiative it uses read-only tools, so it cannot send messages, change your apps or control your computer in that mode.
Our read, not OpenAI's list: that suits ongoing work across apps your team already connects, such as checking what changed overnight and lining up drafts for approval. Talking to your dot does not count toward your ChatGPT usage limits, but tasks it starts in Codex or ChatGPT Work do.
What Grok Bot is good at
Grok Bot wins on breadth and on running many agents. Each Bot has a cloud computer with a browser and a terminal, and it can sign into your apps, including sites with no API or MCP connector, which matters if your supplier portal or booking system has no integration. You can "show a Bot how it's done" and it saves the workflow as a routine, and you can run many Bots in parallel in a group chat (xAI).
The jobs xAI points at, listed in our launch explainer: researching target accounts overnight and drafting outreach for a person to approve, pulling recurring numbers from a CRM, turning call notes into follow-up emails, watching a competitor's pricing page, and assembling an onboarding packet.
Team Bots are Bots a whole team shares. Each carries Context (files, instructions and skills), Plugins such as Salesforce, Notion and GitHub, Credentials for APIs without a plugin, and Memories. Each person's conversations stay private, and xAI offers pre-built Team Bots for sales, product and engineering, marketing and data (xAI). At launch Grok Bot sat only in top-tier plans; on 26 August xAI widened it to more plans, and on 3 September it added Grok Bot for Enterprise.
What Meta Muse is good at
Muse is the only one of the three wired into Instagram, Facebook and Meta ads, and the only one with a free tier. You talk to it the way you message a person, in the Muse app or straight from WhatsApp. It sends emails, books travel, opens a browser, fills in forms and negotiates, keeps working after you close the app, and comes back when it needs your approval, for example before it sends an email or buys something (Meta).
With Muse for Small Business you can connect your Instagram professional account analytics, your Facebook Pages and your Meta ad accounts "in a few clicks", plus Canva and dozens of other tools listed in the app's settings, and add custom connectors. The jobs Meta itself suggests (Meta):
- Analyse this year's sales, campaigns and social posts, and turn them into a growth plan.
- Triage your email and calendar.
- Analyse your ads and content, then draft next week's campaign.
- Review monthly financial performance and flag odd expenses.
It also flags emails that need a reply on its own initiative and writes first drafts.
The safety design is the most explained of the three. Muse runs on Muse Secure VM, a cloud virtual machine dedicated to your agent and your data. A separate agent called Sentinel, on the same machine, must approve anything Muse sends to the internet and asks you when needed. You get a full audit trail of what it did and plans to do, and you choose each app's access, for example reading mail only or also sending it. It pays with a one-time-use card through Link by Stripe, and Meta says Muse cannot see your passwords or payment methods. Meta also promises a Muse Confidential VM, encrypted with a key only you hold, "later this year".
What none of them can do yet
- All three are new. Dots were announced two days before this check and are still rolling out, Team Bots are a public beta, and Muse for Small Business is two days old. Expect rough edges.
- No price per agent. OpenAI promises more dots "in the future" with no price. xAI sells Grok Bot only inside other plans. Muse prices usage in tokens per week, not per agent. You budget for a plan.
- Your first month on dots is not typical. OpenAI extends the limits for the first month, so do not judge normal usage from it.
- Approvals are your job. An agent with your logins can make a mistake at speed. Set the rules before you connect anything that sends messages, posts to your Page or spends money.
- Regions differ. Dots on Pro skip the UK, the EEA and Switzerland. Muse is in the US and Canada and still in limited testing. We found no region statement in xAI's Grok Bot posts.
- Grok Bot says least about privacy. The xAI posts we checked do not describe training settings or how credentials are stored, so read xAI's terms before connecting customer data.
Which one to pick, by business type
| Your business | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant, salon, gym, shop, maker or creator in the US or Canada | Meta Muse | Free to start, runs in WhatsApp, and connects Instagram analytics, Facebook Pages and Meta ads, where many of these businesses find customers |
| Social media manager handling Instagram and Facebook accounts | Meta Muse | The only one with Meta's own business connectors; drafts next week's campaign from your ads and content |
| Software studio or solo developer already on Cursor Pro | Grok Bot | Already in your plan, with its own usage pool and a terminal on its cloud computer |
| A team that wants one shared bot | Grok Team Bots | Built for sharing, with private conversations per person and a Slack handle |
| A team in Slack or Microsoft Teams already paying for ChatGPT Pro or Business Premium | Dots | Your first dot costs nothing extra, it works inside Slack and Teams, and Custom Rules control each kind of action |
| Any business in the UK or the EU | Dots on Business Premium | The only route here with stated coverage of your region; Muse is US and Canada only, and xAI states no regions, so check Grok Bot at sign-up |
| Tightest budget | Muse free, in the US or Canada | $0 with a usage limit; elsewhere, Grok Bot through Cursor Pro at $20 is the cheapest paid route |
How to start safely in week one
- Pick one boring, repeating job. Sorting the inbox, a weekly ad summary or a supplier price check. Not anything that pays, posts or signs.
- Connect the fewest apps, read-only first. Muse lets you choose read-only access per app; a dot's proactive research is read-only by design.
- Set approvals before anything that sends or spends. Write a dot's Custom Rules, keep Muse's ask-before-sending and ask-before-buying on, and approve every Grok Bot request yourself.
- Switch off training where you can. Muse and personal ChatGPT plans both let you opt out.
- Never hand over a real card. Muse pays with a one-time-use card through Link by Stripe; for the others, keep purchases with a person.
- Read what it did each evening. Muse keeps a full audit trail; for a dot or a Bot, check the drafts and actions it reports.
- Measure at the end of the week. Hours saved against the plan price. If it saved nothing, pause it before you pay for a second month.
Our AI agents for business page lists the approval steps that should stay with you. To have the agent chosen for your own workflow, that is what a Business AI Plan does; the free 2-minute AI plan finder is the quick first step.
Frequently asked questions
Are ChatGPT dots included in ChatGPT Plus? No. ChatGPT Plus does not include dots, and neither do Free or Go. Dots are rolling out to Pro and Business Premium, and to Enterprise, Edu and Healthcare as a beta.
Which of the three is cheapest? Meta Muse, which is free with a usage limit; Power is $20 a month and Max $100. Grok Bot starts at $20 through Cursor Pro or $30 through SuperGrok. Dots start at $100 through ChatGPT Pro 100.
Is Meta Muse available outside the US? Meta's 29 September post says Muse is available in the US and Canada. Meta's help centre adds that it is in limited testing and not available in all locations yet, and that subscribers must be 18 or the age of majority.
Can I use dots in the UK or the EU? Not on ChatGPT Pro, which excludes the EEA, Switzerland and the UK. Business Premium offers dots in all supported ChatGPT regions, at $125 per seat a month or $100 billed annually.
Which agent works with Instagram and Facebook? Meta Muse. Muse for Small Business connects Instagram professional account analytics, Facebook Pages and Meta ad accounts directly.
Which AI model runs each agent? OpenAI says dots run on GPT-6 Astra, and Meta says Muse runs on Muse Spark. xAI does not say which Grok model powers Grok Bot.
Can these agents spend my money? Only as far as you allow. Muse pays with a one-time-use card through Link by Stripe and asks before buying. A dot follows the Custom Rules you set. Grok Bot comes back to you when something needs approval.
Can my whole team share one agent? Grok Team Bots are built for that, in public beta on Teams and Enterprise plans. OpenAI's specialist dots for organisations are in enterprise pilots, and Muse is a personal agent.
Sources: OpenAI — introducing dots, OpenAI help — getting started with your dot, OpenAI — DevDay 2026 recap, OpenAI help — ChatGPT Pro tiers, OpenAI help — ChatGPT Business billing and seats, xAI — introducing Grok Bot, xAI — Grok Bot on more plans, xAI — Grok Bot for Enterprise, xAI — Team Bots, xAI pricing, Meta — introducing Muse, Meta — Muse for Small Business, Meta help — Muse subscriptions. Checked 1 October 2026.