# CowAgent vs Haven

> CowAgent scores 58.5 (C) to Haven's 22.2 (F) for assistant proactive. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-haven
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-haven.md (~2,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-haven.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-haven.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: 2026-10-12

CowAgent scores 58.5 (C) on agent readiness against Haven's 22.2 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Haven leads on transparency & trust. Both do assistant proactive.

- CowAgent: grade C, 58.5/100, rank #591 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cowagent.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cowagent.json
- Haven: grade F, 22.2/100, rank #977 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/haven.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/haven.json
- Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md
- All 190 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md

## Which one, for what

### 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 35
- Schema & documentation, 67 against 4
- Agent ergonomics, 59 against 6
- Security & auth, 43 against 13
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 83 against 35

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card
- 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

### Haven (F)

Good for: A consumer assistant for one person who wants to phone, text or email it and have it remember them.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 51 against 45

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where CowAgent loses 5 points for them

Watch for: No approval setting or list of actions that need confirmation was found on the public pages. The terms say it sends emails, SMS and calls following the user's instructions.


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | CowAgent | Haven | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 84 | 35 | CowAgent +49 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 4 | CowAgent +63 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 59 | 6 | CowAgent +53 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 43 | 13 | CowAgent +30 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 30 | CowAgent +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 35 | CowAgent +48 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 45 | 51 | Haven +6 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -5 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **58.5 · C** | **22.2 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | CowAgent | Haven |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Platform |
| Vendor | zhayujie | Hello Haven, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Proprietary service under Hello Haven's Terms of Service |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-09-30 | 2026-09-17 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-07-24 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-07-24 |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 47k stars | none |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Haven.** Haven answers by phone call, text, email and app, is free in beta with no card, and publishes a status page with dated incidents. No public page read says which actions need approval, which accounts it connects or how their tokens are kept, and it names no model provider or sub-processor.

## Before you call either

### 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

### Haven

1. Haven has no documented API or MCP server. An outside agent can reach it only through the owner's channels (call, SMS, email, app).
2. Do not assume an approval step before Haven sends mail, texts or calls. None is documented on the public pages.
3. Email Haven sends to other people names Hello Haven as sender and says it was sent on the user's behalf, per the terms.
4. Chat messages, history, profile context and uploaded files go to third-party AI model providers that the vendor does not name.
5. Check status.hellohaven.ai before relying on phone or voice. All four published incidents affected those channels.

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, CowAgent or Haven?

CowAgent scores 58.5 (C) on agent readiness against Haven's 22.2 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Haven leads on transparency & trust.

### Are CowAgent and Haven open source?

CowAgent is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Haven.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-haven.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-haven.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "cowagent", "b": "haven"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cowagent haven`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cowagent.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/haven.json

## Other comparisons with CowAgent or Haven

- [AstrBot vs CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-cowagent.md)
- [AstrBot vs Haven](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-haven.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 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 ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [CowAgent vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-zo-computer.md)
- [GAIA vs Haven](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-haven.md)
- [Gemini Spark vs Haven](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-haven.md)
- [Grok Bot vs Haven](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-haven.md)
- [Haven vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-hermes-agent.md)
- [Haven vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-instinct.md)
- [Haven vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-ironclaw.md)
- [Haven vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-leon.md)
- [Haven vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-lindy.md)
- [Haven vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-nanobot.md)
- [Haven vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-nanoclaw.md)
- [Haven vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openai-dots.md)
- [Haven vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openclaw.md)
- [Haven vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-picoclaw.md)
- [Haven vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-poke.md)
- [Haven vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-qwenpaw.md)
- [Haven vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Haven vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-zo-computer.md)