# Boba vs nanobot > nanobot scores 62.4 (B) to Boba's 10.3 (F) for assistants reached by message. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-nanobot - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-nanobot.md (~3,300 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-nanobot.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-nanobot.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json) - Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt) - API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json - Updated: 2026-10-13 nanobot scores 62.4 (B) on agent readiness against Boba's 10.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistants reached by message. - Boba: grade F, 10.3/100, rank #1004 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/boba.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/boba.json - nanobot: grade B, 62.4/100, rank #446 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanobot.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanobot.json - Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md - All 834 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md ## Which one, for what ### Boba (F) Good for: Groups who want a free assistant inside a shared chat for planning, drafting and images. Also in its favour: - Free to start without a card - No incidents deducted, where nanobot loses 6 points for them Watch for: No API, MCP server or A2A endpoint for an outside agent. ### nanobot (B) Good for: A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine across many chat apps, with file-based memory and a free choice of model. Ahead on: - Reliability, 70 against 15 - Schema & documentation, 77 against 0 - Agent ergonomics, 74 against 0 - Security & auth, 63 against 0 - Payments & pricing, 60 against 30 - Maintenance & community, 82 against 2 - Transparency & trust, 48 against 39 Also in its favour: - No key needed to call it - Open source Watch for: No per-action approval was found in the docs or source. The agent sends messages, runs shell commands and edits files without asking ## Score by category | Category | Weight | Boba | nanobot | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 15 | 70 | nanobot +55 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 77 | nanobot +77 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 74 | nanobot +74 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 0 | 63 | nanobot +63 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 60 | nanobot +30 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 2 | 82 | nanobot +80 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 39 | 48 | nanobot +9 | | Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -6 | | | **Total** | | **10.3 · F** | **62.4 · B** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | Boba | nanobot | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Platform | Agent harness | | Vendor | humans& ai, inc. | HKUDS | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) | | Transports | | | | Auth | OAuth or key | None | | Pricing | Free | Free | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | Closed service under Boba's Terms of Service (humans& ai, inc., last updated 5 October 2026). | MIT | | Read-only variant documented | no | no | | llms.txt | no | yes | | Last release | none | 2026-09-15 | | Terms last updated | | no document linked | | Privacy policy last updated | | no document linked | | Customer content may train models | | | | Terms restrict automated access | | | | Terms restrict benchmarking | | | | Terms or service can change without notice | | | | Arbitration or class-action waiver | | | | Popularity | none | 49k stars | ## Verdicts **Boba.** Boba is a free texting assistant for one-to-one and group chats over iMessage, RCS and SMS, started by sending one message with no card or app. No outside agent can call it, its privacy notice uses inputs and outputs to train its models with no opt-out found, and no status page or security contact was found. **nanobot.** nanobot runs on the owner's machine under the MIT licence, with no telemetry found in its source and memory kept as files the owner can read and restore. No per-action approval step was found, and the shell sandbox and workspace restriction are off by default. Five security advisories were published between March and September 2026, all with fixes. ## Before you call either ### Boba 1. Don't plan to call Boba from another agent. It answers only text messages in the Messages app. 2. Tell people in a group chat that messages sent to Boba may be used to train its models. ### nanobot 1. Set `tools.restrictToWorkspace` to true and `tools.exec.sandbox` to `bwrap` or `seatbelt` before giving it real accounts. Both are off by default 2. Run 0.3.0 or later. Earlier versions carry the published SSRF flaw in web fetch (GHSA-vc5v-6vwm-wf9m) 3. Keep `allowFrom` narrow on every channel and never set `["*"]` on Email, which has no pairing 4. Write secrets as `${VAR}` references in `~/.nanobot/config.json`. Plain values are stored in clear text 5. Use `nanobot -m "..."` for a one-shot run, and keep `nanobot gateway` running for channels, schedules and heartbeat ## Questions ### Which is better for AI agents, Boba or nanobot? nanobot scores 62.4 (B) on agent readiness against Boba's 10.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. ### Are Boba and nanobot open source? No open-source release is listed for Boba. nanobot is open source (MIT). ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-nanobot.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-nanobot.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "boba", "b": "nanobot"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare boba nanobot` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/boba.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanobot.json ## Other comparisons with Boba or nanobot - [asaply vs Boba](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-boba.md) - [asaply vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-nanobot.md) - [Asmi vs Boba](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-boba.md) - [Asmi vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-nanobot.md) - [AstrBot vs Boba](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-boba.md) - [Boba vs Boski](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-boski.md) - [Boba vs Brea](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-brea.md) - [Boba vs Caddy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-caddy-app.md) - [Boba vs CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-cowagent.md) - [Boba vs Del](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-del.md) - [Boba vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-folk-nozomio.md) - [Boba vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-gaia.md) - [Boba vs Grok Bot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-grok-bot.md) - [Boba vs Haven](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-haven.md) - [Boba vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [Boba vs HireAlpha](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-hirealpha.md) - [Boba vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-instinct.md) - [Boba vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Boba vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-lindy.md) - [Boba vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Boba vs Natura tinyNature](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-natura.md) - [Boba vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openai-dots.md) - [Boba vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openclaw.md) - [Boba vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openinstinct.md) - [Boba vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-orbits.md) - [Boba vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Boba vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-pally.md) - [Boba vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-picoclaw.md) - [Boba vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-poke.md) - [Boba vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [Boba vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-szn.md) - [Boba vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-tab-bot.md) - [Boba vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-tomo.md) - [Boba vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-town.md) - [Boba vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zapia.md) - [Boba vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [Boba vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zo-computer.md) - [Brea vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-nanobot.md) - [Del vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-nanobot.md) - [HireAlpha vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-nanobot.md) - [nanobot vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openinstinct.md) - [nanobot vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-orbits.md) - [nanobot vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [nanobot vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-szn.md) - [nanobot vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-tab-bot.md) - [nanobot vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zapia.md) - [AstrBot vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-nanobot.md) - [Boski vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-nanobot.md) - [Caddy vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-nanobot.md) - [CowAgent vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-nanobot.md) - [folk vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-nanobot.md) - [GAIA vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanobot.md) - [Gemini Spark vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-nanobot.md) - [Grok Bot vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-nanobot.md) - [Haven vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-nanobot.md) - [Hermes Agent vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanobot.md) - [Instinct vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanobot.md) - [IronClaw vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanobot.md) - [Leon vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-nanobot.md) - [Lindy vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-nanobot.md) - [nanobot vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [nanobot vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openai-dots.md) - [nanobot vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openclaw.md) - [nanobot vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-picoclaw.md) - [nanobot vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-poke.md) - [nanobot vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [nanobot vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-town.md) - [nanobot vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [nanobot vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zo-computer.md) - [nanobot vs Natura tinyNature](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-natura.md) - [nanobot vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-pally.md) - [nanobot vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-tomo.md) - [nanobot vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-wajo.md) - [Boba vs Gemini Spark](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-gemini-spark.md) - [Boba vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-leon.md) - [Boba vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-talorys.md) - [Boba vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-wajo.md) - [nanobot vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-talorys.md) ## Disclosure - Boba competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds. It's graded by the same published checklist as every listing, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed instead of keeping either award by default.