# Brea vs GAIA > GAIA scores 49.5 (D) 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-gaia - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-gaia.md (~3,200 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-gaia.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-gaia.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 GAIA scores 49.5 (D) 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 - GAIA: grade D, 49.5/100, rank #816 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gaia.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gaia.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: - Free to start without a card - No incidents deducted, where GAIA loses 5 points for them Watch for: No API, MCP server or A2A endpoint for an outside agent. ### GAIA (D) Good for: It suits one person who wants mail triage, meeting briefs, todos and scheduled workflows from one assistant reachable on WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord or iMessage, and who wants to read the source. Ahead on: - Reliability, 67 against 15 - Schema & documentation, 51 against 10 - Agent ergonomics, 54 against 0 - Security & auth, 54 against 7 - Maintenance & community, 78 against 4 - Transparency & trust, 60 against 48 Watch for: The default approval mode in the source is `always_allow`, commented as nothing gated, while the privacy policy and the 26 August release notes say destructive actions wait for approval. ## Score by category | Category | Weight | Brea | GAIA | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 15 | 67 | GAIA +52 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 10 | 51 | GAIA +41 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 54 | GAIA +54 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 7 | 54 | GAIA +47 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 20 | even | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 4 | 78 | GAIA +74 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 48 | 60 | GAIA +12 | | Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -5 | | | **Total** | | **12.9 · F** | **49.5 · D** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | Brea | GAIA | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Platform | Platform | | Vendor | Brea AI LLC | The Experience Company | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) | | Transports | | | | Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth | | Pricing | Freemium | Paid | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | Closed service under Brea's terms (Brea AI LLC, last updated 2 July 2026). | PolyForm-Noncommercial-1.0.0 | | Read-only variant documented | no | no | | llms.txt | yes | yes | | Last release | none | 2026-09-14 | | Terms last updated | | 2026-08-14 | | Privacy policy last updated | | 2026-08-07 | | Customer content may train models | | not found in the text | | Terms restrict automated access | | yes | | Terms restrict benchmarking | | not found in the text | | Terms or service can change without notice | | yes | | Arbitration or class-action waiver | | yes | | Popularity | none | 308 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. **GAIA.** GAIA's source is public, so its approval gate, memory store and token handling can be read. Three approval modes and per-tool overrides exist, but the default mode in the source runs every action unasked, which the privacy policy and release notes do not say. Pro costs $30 a month and self-hosting is limited to noncommercial use. ## 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. ### GAIA 1. Set Settings > Approvals to Always ask or Auto before connecting mail. The default in the source runs every action, including send and delete, without asking. 2. Expect no public API on the hosted service. The backend turns off its OpenAPI document in production, so reach GAIA through its apps, bots or CLI. 3. Check the plan before relying on the hosted service. The README and docs describe a Free plan, and the pricing page says GAIA is a paid product. 4. For self-hosting, prepare Docker, Node.js 20, a WorkOS account and a model key first, and confirm the use is noncommercial under the licence. 5. Add outside tools as MCP servers by URL on the Integrations page. GAIA asks before adding a server in every approval mode. ## Questions ### Which is better for AI agents, Brea or GAIA? GAIA scores 49.5 (D) on agent readiness against Brea's 12.9 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-gaia.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-gaia.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "brea", "b": "gaia"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare brea gaia` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/brea.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gaia.json ## Other comparisons with Brea or GAIA - [asaply vs Brea](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-brea.md) - [asaply vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-gaia.md) - [Asmi vs Brea](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-brea.md) - [Asmi vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-gaia.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 GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-gaia.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 CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-cowagent.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 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) - [Del vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-gaia.md) - [GAIA vs HireAlpha](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-hirealpha.md) - [GAIA vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openinstinct.md) - [GAIA vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-orbits.md) - [GAIA vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [GAIA vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-szn.md) - [GAIA vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-tab-bot.md) - [GAIA vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zapia.md) - [AstrBot vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-gaia.md) - [Boski vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-gaia.md) - [Caddy vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-gaia.md) - [CowAgent vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-gaia.md) - [folk vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-gaia.md) - [GAIA vs Gemini Spark](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-gemini-spark.md) - [GAIA vs Grok Bot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-grok-bot.md) - [GAIA vs Haven](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-haven.md) - [GAIA vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [GAIA vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct.md) - [GAIA vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-ironclaw.md) - [GAIA vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-leon.md) - [GAIA vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-lindy.md) - [GAIA vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanobot.md) - [GAIA vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [GAIA vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openai-dots.md) - [GAIA vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openclaw.md) - [GAIA vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-picoclaw.md) - [GAIA vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-poke.md) - [GAIA vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [GAIA vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-town.md) - [GAIA vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [GAIA vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-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) - [GAIA vs Natura tinyNature](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-natura.md) - [GAIA vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-pally.md) - [GAIA vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-tomo.md) - [GAIA vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-wajo.md) - [Brea vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-talorys.md) - [GAIA vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-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.