# CowAgent vs Dots

> CowAgent scores 58.5 (C) to Dots's 28.3 (F) for assistant proactive. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openai-dots
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openai-dots.md (~2,600 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openai-dots.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openai-dots.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 Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Dots leads on security & auth. 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
- Dots: grade F, 28.3/100, rank #973 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-dots.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 3
- Schema & documentation, 67 against 41
- Agent ergonomics, 59 against 22
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 83 against 38
- Transparency & trust, 45 against 31

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

### Dots (F)

Good for: A ChatGPT Pro or Enterprise user who wants ongoing work tracked across mail, documents, code and Slack with approval before sends.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 58 against 43

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

Watch for: Beta. The admin setting is labelled Use dots (Beta), access is rolling out gradually, and Teams access is an invite-only alpha


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | CowAgent | Dots | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 84 | 3 | CowAgent +81 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 41 | CowAgent +26 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 59 | 22 | CowAgent +37 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 43 | 58 | Dots +15 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 10 | CowAgent +50 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 38 | CowAgent +45 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 45 | 31 | CowAgent +14 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -5 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **58.5 · C** | **28.3 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | CowAgent | Dots |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Platform |
| Vendor | zhayujie | OpenAI |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Proprietary hosted service. The governing terms were not read |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-30 | 2026-10-09 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 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 | 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.

**Dots.** Actions that affect accounts or share information pass an automatic review, and custom rules can require approval or a hand-off. Dots is a beta on Pro plans from $100 a month, and no status page, terms, privacy policy or way to delete individual saved notes was found in the pages we could read.

## 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

### Dots

1. Say what may be sent. Asking a dot to draft replies does not permit sending them, and an action outside a stated scope needs another decision
2. Stop three things separately. Pause stops the main task only, delegated tasks stop in Activity and recurring tasks in Scheduled, and completed actions are not undone
3. Connect each thing separately. A messaging channel grants no access to an inbox, an app or a computer
4. Sign out of websites and disconnect apps yourself when removing access. Revoking dots access or disconnecting an app does not delete information already obtained
5. Keep the connected computer online with the ChatGPT app open for local work. Only one personal computer can be connected at a time

## Questions

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

CowAgent scores 58.5 (C) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Dots leads on security & auth.

### Are CowAgent and Dots open source?

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


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with CowAgent or Dots

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