# Brea vs CowAgent > CowAgent scores 58.5 (C) to Brea's 12.9 (F) for assistants reached by message. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-cowagent - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-cowagent.md (~3,300 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-cowagent.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-cowagent.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 CowAgent scores 58.5 (C) on agent readiness against Brea's 12.9 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do assistants reached by message. - Brea: grade F, 12.9/100, rank #1001 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/brea.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/brea.json - CowAgent: grade C, 58.5/100, rank #592 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cowagent.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cowagent.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 ### Brea (F) Good for: An iPhone user who wants an assistant across many apps and websites with per-action approval. Also in its favour: - No incidents deducted, where CowAgent loses 5 points for them Watch for: No API, MCP server or A2A endpoint for an outside agent. ### CowAgent (C) Good for: One technical owner who wants an assistant on WeChat, Feishu, DingTalk, Telegram, Slack or Discord with memory in local files and a choice of Chinese and Western model providers. Ahead on: - Reliability, 84 against 15 - Schema & documentation, 67 against 10 - Agent ergonomics, 59 against 0 - Security & auth, 43 against 7 - Payments & pricing, 60 against 20 - Maintenance & community, 83 against 4 Also in its favour: - Open source Watch for: Source and Docker installs default to full-access, and no mode asks the owner before a shell command, a file send or an MCP call ## Score by category | Category | Weight | Brea | CowAgent | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 15 | 84 | CowAgent +69 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 10 | 67 | CowAgent +57 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 59 | CowAgent +59 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 7 | 43 | CowAgent +36 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 60 | CowAgent +40 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 4 | 83 | CowAgent +79 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 48 | 45 | Brea +3 | | Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -5 | | | **Total** | | **12.9 · F** | **58.5 · C** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | Brea | CowAgent | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Platform | Agent harness | | Vendor | Brea AI LLC | zhayujie | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) | | Transports | | HTTP | | Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key | | Pricing | Freemium | Free | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | Closed service under Brea's terms (Brea AI LLC, last updated 2 July 2026). | MIT | | Read-only variant documented | no | yes | | llms.txt | yes | yes | | Last release | none | 2026-09-30 | | 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 | 47k stars | ## Verdicts **Brea.** Brea is an iMessage assistant with a free plan that needs no card, approval by reply before it sends, deletes or pays, and one-time Link cards for purchases. No outside agent can call it, paid prices sit inside the app, and no changelog or subprocessor list was found. **CowAgent.** MIT software with seven releases in 90 days, memory kept as plain files in the owner's workspace and three per-session permission modes. Source and Docker installs default to full-access, no action asks for approval, and an open report of 31 July 2026 says group members could reach the owner's files through the bot. ## Before you call either ### Brea 1. Don't plan to call Brea from another agent. It answers only the owner's iMessage thread. 2. Tell the owner that replying ALWAYS stops Brea asking again for that action. ### CowAgent 1. Set `agent_permission_mode` to `workspace-write` or `read-only` before connecting any channel. Source and Docker installs default to `full-access` 2. Keep the bot out of group chats that include other people. Any member who mentions it reaches the same tools as the owner 3. Set `web_password` before changing `web_host` to `0.0.0.0`. The password is empty by default 4. Set `external_api_token` to enable `POST /v1/chat/completions`, and send `conversation_id` to keep one session. The `model` field does not select a model 5. Run it in a container for a hard boundary. The docs and the source both say the permission modes are not isolation ## Questions ### Which is better for AI agents, Brea or CowAgent? CowAgent scores 58.5 (C) on agent readiness against Brea's 12.9 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. ### Are Brea and CowAgent open source? No open-source release is listed for Brea. CowAgent is open source (MIT). ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-cowagent.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-cowagent.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "brea", "b": "cowagent"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare brea cowagent` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/brea.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cowagent.json ## Other comparisons with Brea or CowAgent - [asaply vs Brea](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-brea.md) - [asaply vs CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-cowagent.md) - [Asmi vs Brea](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-brea.md) - [Asmi vs CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-cowagent.md) - [AstrBot vs Brea](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-brea.md) - [Boba vs Brea](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-brea.md) - [Boba vs CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-cowagent.md) - [Boski vs Brea](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-brea.md) - [Brea vs Caddy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-caddy-app.md) - [Brea vs Del](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-del.md) - [Brea vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-folk-nozomio.md) - [Brea vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-gaia.md) - [Brea vs Grok Bot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-grok-bot.md) - [Brea vs Haven](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-haven.md) - [Brea vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [Brea vs HireAlpha](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-hirealpha.md) - [Brea vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-instinct.md) - [Brea vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Brea vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-lindy.md) - [Brea vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-nanobot.md) - [Brea vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Brea vs Natura tinyNature](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-natura.md) - [Brea vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-openai-dots.md) - [Brea vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-openclaw.md) - [Brea vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-openinstinct.md) - [Brea vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-orbits.md) - [Brea vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Brea vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-pally.md) - [Brea vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-picoclaw.md) - [Brea vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-poke.md) - [Brea vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [Brea vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-szn.md) - [Brea vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-tab-bot.md) - [Brea vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-tomo.md) - [Brea vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-town.md) - [Brea vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-zapia.md) - [Brea vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [Brea vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-zo-computer.md) - [CowAgent vs Del](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-del.md) - [CowAgent vs HireAlpha](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-hirealpha.md) - [CowAgent vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openinstinct.md) - [CowAgent vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-orbits.md) - [CowAgent vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [CowAgent vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-szn.md) - [CowAgent vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-tab-bot.md) - [CowAgent vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-zapia.md) - [AstrBot vs CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-cowagent.md) - [Boski vs CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-cowagent.md) - [Caddy vs CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-cowagent.md) - [CowAgent vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-folk-nozomio.md) - [CowAgent vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-gaia.md) - [CowAgent vs Gemini Spark](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-gemini-spark.md) - [CowAgent vs Grok Bot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-grok-bot.md) - [CowAgent vs Haven](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-haven.md) - [CowAgent vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [CowAgent vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-instinct.md) - [CowAgent vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-ironclaw.md) - [CowAgent vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-leon.md) - [CowAgent vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-lindy.md) - [CowAgent vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-nanobot.md) - [CowAgent vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [CowAgent vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openai-dots.md) - [CowAgent vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openclaw.md) - [CowAgent vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-picoclaw.md) - [CowAgent vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-poke.md) - [CowAgent vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [CowAgent vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-town.md) - [CowAgent vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [CowAgent vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-zo-computer.md) - [Brea vs Gemini Spark](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-gemini-spark.md) - [Brea vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-leon.md) - [Brea vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-wajo.md) - [CowAgent vs Natura tinyNature](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-natura.md) - [CowAgent vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-pally.md) - [CowAgent vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-tomo.md) - [CowAgent vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-wajo.md) - [Brea vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-talorys.md) - [CowAgent vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-talorys.md) ## Disclosure - Brea 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.