# CowAgent vs Orbits > CowAgent scores 58.5 (C) to Orbits's 15.6 (F) for assistants reached by message. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-orbits - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-orbits.md (~3,350 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-orbits.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-orbits.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 Orbits's 15.6 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistants reached by message. - 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 - Orbits: grade F, 15.6/100, rank #997 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/orbits.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/orbits.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 ### 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 0 - Payments & pricing, 60 against 20 - Maintenance & community, 83 against 54 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 ### Orbits (F) Good for: Families who want one shared assistant for calendars, lists, meals, chores and household email. Also in its favour: - No incidents deducted, where CowAgent loses 5 points for them Watch for: No public agent API, as llms.txt states. ## Score by category | Category | Weight | CowAgent | Orbits | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 84 | 15 | CowAgent +69 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 10 | CowAgent +57 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 59 | 0 | CowAgent +59 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 43 | 0 | CowAgent +43 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 20 | CowAgent +40 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 54 | CowAgent +29 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 45 | 43 | CowAgent +2 | | Negative events | ≤15 | -5 | 0 | | | **Total** | | **58.5 · C** | **15.6 · F** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | CowAgent | Orbits | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Agent harness | Platform | | Vendor | zhayujie | Nemus AI, Inc. | | 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 | Closed service under the Orbits Terms of Service (Nemus AI, Inc.). | | Read-only variant documented | yes | no | | llms.txt | yes | yes | | Last release | 2026-09-30 | 2026-10-13 | | 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 | 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. **Orbits.** Orbits is a family household app whose assistant, Bit, runs shared calendars, lists and meals, reads household email and places restaurant calls after approval, with iOS releases every week or two. No outside agent can call it, prices appear only as App Store in-app purchases, and no status page, security contact or named subprocessors were found. ## 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 ### Orbits 1. Don't plan to call Orbits from another agent. llms.txt says no public agent API is offered. 2. Tell the owner the assistant needs an Orbits subscription bought in the app, and that any trial appears only at purchase. ## Questions ### Which is better for AI agents, CowAgent or Orbits? CowAgent scores 58.5 (C) on agent readiness against Orbits's 15.6 (F), and leads in every scored category. ### Are CowAgent and Orbits open source? CowAgent is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Orbits. ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-orbits.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-orbits.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "cowagent", "b": "orbits"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cowagent orbits` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cowagent.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/orbits.json ## Other comparisons with CowAgent or Orbits - [asaply vs CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-cowagent.md) - [asaply vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-orbits.md) - [Asmi vs CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-cowagent.md) - [Asmi vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-orbits.md) - [AstrBot vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-orbits.md) - [Boba vs CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-cowagent.md) - [Boba vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-orbits.md) - [Boski vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-orbits.md) - [Brea vs CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-cowagent.md) - [Brea vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-orbits.md) - [Caddy vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-orbits.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 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) - [Del vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-orbits.md) - [folk vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-orbits.md) - [GAIA vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-orbits.md) - [Grok Bot vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-orbits.md) - [Haven vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-orbits.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-orbits.md) - [HireAlpha vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-orbits.md) - [Instinct vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-orbits.md) - [IronClaw vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-orbits.md) - [Lindy vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-orbits.md) - [nanobot vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-orbits.md) - [NanoClaw vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-orbits.md) - [Dots vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-orbits.md) - [OpenClaw vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-orbits.md) - [OpenInstinct vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-orbits.md) - [Orbits vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Orbits vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-pally.md) - [Orbits vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-picoclaw.md) - [Orbits vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-poke.md) - [Orbits vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [Orbits vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-szn.md) - [Orbits vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-tab-bot.md) - [Orbits vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-tomo.md) - [Orbits vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-town.md) - [Orbits vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-zapia.md) - [Orbits vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [Orbits vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-zo-computer.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) - [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) - [Gemini Spark vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-orbits.md) - [Leon vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-orbits.md) - [Natura tinyNature vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-orbits.md) - [Orbits vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-wajo.md) - [CowAgent vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-talorys.md) - [Orbits vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-talorys.md) ## Disclosure - Orbits 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.