{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "gaia", "name": "GAIA", "vendor": "The Experience Company", "vendorUrl": "https://heygaia.io", "kind": "platform", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "GAIA is a personal AI assistant from The Experience Company for email, calendar, todos and scheduled workflows. It runs as a hosted service at heygaia.io with messaging bots, and its source is published for noncommercial self-hosting.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gaia", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gaia.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gaia.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gaia.json", "repo": "https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia", "license": "PolyForm-Noncommercial-1.0.0", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@heygaia/cli" } ], "auth": "oauth", "authNotes": "People sign in to the hosted app in a browser, and the backend uses WorkOS for sign-in. Integrations connect by OAuth on the provider's consent screen, through Composio for built-in ones, and Gmail asks for the `gmail.modify` scope. Custom MCP servers take no auth, a bearer token or OAuth 2.1 with PKCE and dynamic client registration, with tokens Fernet-encrypted in PostgreSQL. Bot users link a chat identity with `/auth`. No API key for outside callers was found (https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia/blob/master/apps/api/app/config/oauth_config.py; https://docs.heygaia.io/guides/adding-mcp-integrations).", "pricing": "paid", "pricingNotes": "Pro is $30 a month on the pricing page, the only plan shown there, and its FAQ says GAIA is a paid product. The README and docs also describe a Free plan with daily caps and an Enterprise plan by contact, so whether a new account can use the hosted service without paying was not established. Payments run through Dodo Payments. Self-hosting is free for noncommercial use, plus model usage and a WorkOS account (https://heygaia.io/pricing; https://docs.heygaia.io/guides/usage-subscription; checked 2026-10-12).", "priceSummary": "$30 / mo", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or the backend source (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 308, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.heygaia.io", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.heygaia.io/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.messaging", "assistant.accounts", "assistant.memory", "assistant.self-hosted", "agent.mcp-client" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "source-available", "noncommercial-licence", "self-hosted", "messaging", "imessage", "whatsapp", "telegram", "slack", "discord", "gmail", "mcp-client", "status-page", "llms-txt", "approval-off-by-default" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-14", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 49.5, "grade": "D", "agentReady": false, "rank": 813, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 10, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 54, "maintenance": 78, "payments": 20, "reliability": 67, "schema": 51, "security": 54, "transparency": 60 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": -5, "negativeNotes": [ "-3. The release notes of 26 August 2026 say GAIA pauses and asks before a tool that deletes, sends or overwrites, the privacy policy (7 August 2026) says destructive actions require explicit approval, and the pricing page says anything outward-facing waits for the owner's OK. The source at `api-v0.24.0` (14 September 2026) and on master sets the default mode to `always_allow`, commented as nothing gated until flipped after launch. Read from source, not from a live account. https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia/blob/master/apps/api/app/models/hil_models.py", "-2. The pricing page FAQ, read on 12 October 2026, says GAIA never shares data with model providers. Section 3.1 of the privacy policy says content, files and data from connected accounts are shared with third-party AI model providers. https://heygaia.io/pricing and https://heygaia.io/privacy" ], "verdict": "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.", "bestFor": "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.", "strengths": [ "The whole product is in a public repository under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0, including the approval gate, memory engine and five messaging bots.", "Approval settings have three modes and per-tool overrides, and adding an MCP server, pairing a device or disconnecting an account asks in every mode.", "Memory is visible in Settings as facts, a journal, four documents and a graph, and each item can be edited or deleted, with a clear-all control.", "A BetterStack status page covers the API, web app and four bots, and lists no incident in the 90 days to 12 October 2026.", "Three sets of tagged releases in the 90 days to 12 October 2026, the latest on 14 September, with 91 commits on master in the last 30 days." ], "weaknesses": [ "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.", "The pricing page FAQ says data is never shared with model providers. The privacy policy says content, including data from connected accounts, is shared with them.", "The README lists a Free plan at $0 forever, while the pricing page shows only Pro and says GAIA is a paid product.", "Gmail connects with the `gmail.modify` scope, and built-in integrations run through Composio, so a third party holds those OAuth connections.", "No security.txt, bug bounty, certification, subprocessor list or DPA was found, and self-hosting needs a WorkOS account and five data services.", "The Terms of Service forbid automated systems accessing the Service. Recorded as a fact, and it matters before any probe is run." ], "agentNotes": [ "Set Settings \u003e Approvals to Always ask or Auto before connecting mail. The default in the source runs every action, including send and delete, without asking.", "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.", "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.", "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.", "Add outside tools as MCP servers by URL on the Integrations page. GAIA asks before adding a server in every approval mode." ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "D", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 49.5 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 54, "maintenance": 78, "payments": 20, "reliability": 67, "schema": 51, "security": 54, "transparency": 50 }, "provenanceScore": 70 }, "connect": { "install": "npm install -g @heygaia/cli \u0026\u0026 gaia init # choose Self-Host (Docker), then open http://localhost:3000" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/gaia" }, "area": "frameworks", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Pro", "unit": "month", "usd": 30, "note": "billed monthly, with usage limits the pricing page does not state" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "The Experience Company, Inc.", "domain": "heygaia.io", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://heygaia.io/terms", "privacy": "https://heygaia.io/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.heygaia.io", "changelog": "https://docs.heygaia.io/release-notes", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "The Terms of Service (effective 14 August 2026) name The Experience Company, Inc., a Delaware corporation. Neither the terms nor the privacy policy gives a postal address.", "The privacy policy (effective 7 August 2026) gives support@heygaia.so as its contact, a different domain from heygaia.io, where the README's security and contact addresses sit.", "heygaia.io/.well-known/security.txt returned 404 on 12 October 2026. The repository's SECURITY.md gives an email address for reports.", "The status page lists api.heygaia.io as the backend. We sent nothing to that host.", "heygaia.io's robots.txt allows every path and names ClaudeBot, Claude-Web and anthropic-ai with Allow. docs.heygaia.io carries Content-Signal ai-input=yes. status.heygaia.io returned an empty robots.txt.", "The domain's registration date was not looked up." ], "score": 70 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gaia.json", "live": { "slug": "gaia", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.heygaia.io", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-12T17:28:08.466725732Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-12T17:28:08.466725732Z" } }, "answer": "GAIA scores 49.5 (D) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "b": { "slug": "instinct", "name": "Instinct", "vendor": "Spear Street Technology, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://instinct.com", "kind": "platform", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "Hosted personal assistant from Spear Street Technology, Inc., trading as Instinct, that a person texts or calls. It acts in connected accounts such as Google Workspace and on websites, including purchases and bookings.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instinct", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instinct.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instinct.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/instinct.json", "license": "Proprietary service under Instinct's Terms of Service, which grant personal use only", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "A person signs in at app.instinct.com with a phone number and a one-time passcode sent by text. The terms also allow an account linked to Apple, Facebook or Google. Google Workspace is connected through Google's APIs and can be revoked in settings or by asking the assistant. The owner may also give the assistant usernames and passwords for other sites. No API key, token or other credential for a program was found (https://instinct.com/legal/sms-terms.html; https://instinct.com/terms; https://instinct.com/privacy-policy).", "pricing": "paid", "pricingNotes": "No price is published. The terms say fees may apply to certain functions, are charged in US dollars to a card through a payment processor and are non-refundable. Whether any use is free was not established, and sign-up may put a person on a waiting list (https://instinct.com/terms, section 4; https://instinct.com/legal/sms-terms.html, checked 2026-10-12).", "priceSummary": "Paid", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 on the home page, terms or privacy policy, and no API was found (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.messaging", "assistant.accounts", "assistant.memory" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "closed-source", "sms", "voice-call", "google-workspace", "computer-use", "waitlist", "no-public-pricing", "no-api", "security-txt", "trains-on-data-by-default" ], "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 11.4, "grade": "F", "agentReady": false, "rank": 984, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 20, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 5, "maintenance": 3, "payments": 0, "reliability": 5, "schema": 3, "security": 25, "transparency": 51 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "low", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "The terms and privacy policy are specific about connected accounts, model training and the risks of autonomous actions, and security.txt is valid. No price, documentation, status page, changelog or programmatic interface is published, and customer content trains AI models unless the owner opts out.", "bestFor": "A consumer assistant for one adult who wants errands done by text or phone call, such as bill disputes, gifts, groceries, appointments and travel, and who accepts that it acts and spends as their agent.", "strengths": [ "The privacy policy lists the Google Workspace products accessed and says that data is not used to train or improve AI models", "Training on customer content has an opt-out at app.instinct.com/settings, and material placed in the Vault is excluded from training", "Indexed data from connected services can be deleted at app.instinct.com/workspace, and Google access revoked in settings or by asking the assistant", "security.txt is valid until 18 February 2027 and names a contact address", "The privacy policy states the risks of unintended payments, unintended messages and misleading instructions from third parties" ], "weaknesses": [ "No price is published. The terms say fees may apply to certain functions, are charged in US dollars and are non-refundable", "No documentation, API, MCP server, status page or changelog was found on instinct.com", "Customer content trains the vendor's AI models by default, and content flagged for safety review may be used after an opt-out", "The terms appoint the assistant as the owner's agent to make purchases and accept third-party terms, and leave responsibility for every action with the owner", "The owner may hand over usernames, passwords and card details. Where they are stored is not stated", "The terms forbid bots, scrapers and benchmarking, and limit the service to personal use" ], "agentNotes": [ "Do not plan on calling Instinct from a program. No API, MCP server or key was found, and the terms forbid automation software and benchmarking", "A person signs in at app.instinct.com with a phone number and a one-time code by text, and may wait for a place when the service is at capacity", "Tell the owner to opt out of model training at app.instinct.com/settings before connecting mail or files, since training is on by default", "Disconnecting an account does not delete what was indexed from it. Delete that data at app.instinct.com/workspace", "Treat purchases and bookings as final. The terms say actions may not be reversible and that confirmation controls are not guaranteed" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "low", "grade": "F", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 11.4 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 5, "maintenance": 3, "payments": 0, "reliability": 5, "schema": 3, "security": 25, "transparency": 30 }, "provenanceScore": 72 }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/instinct" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Spear Street Technology, Inc. d/b/a Instinct", "domain": "instinct.com", "domainRegistered": "1997-05-20", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://instinct.com/terms", "privacy": "https://instinct.com/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "The Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, both last revised 26 August 2026, name Spear Street Technology, Inc. d/b/a Instinct. No postal address is given on the pages read. The terms are governed by California law with San Francisco courts.", "The terms cover the website, its subdomains and the apps, so they govern the assistant itself and are not website-only terms. An Acceptable Use Policy (20 August 2026), SMS/Text Messaging Terms (17 August 2026) and an SMS/Text Messaging Privacy Statement (6 July 2026) supplement them.", "instinct.com/.well-known/security.txt gives Contact support@instinct.com, Expires 2027-02-18 and a Canonical line. It has no Policy line.", "RDAP at Verisign gives a registration date of 1997-05-20 for instinct.com, NameCheap, Inc. as registrar and a last change on 2 September 2026. The domain is older than the product's 2026 legal documents, so its age says little about the vendor.", "No status page and no changelog are linked from the home page, the terms or the privacy policy.", "The sign-in and the web app are at app.instinct.com, on the vendor's domain. The home page gives comms[at]instinct[dot]com as a contact." ], "score": 72 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instinct.json" }, "facts": [ { "a": "Platform", "b": "Platform", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "The Experience Company", "b": "Spear Street Technology, Inc.", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Paid", "b": "Paid", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "PolyForm-Noncommercial-1.0.0", "b": "Proprietary service under Instinct's Terms of Service, which grant personal use only", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "no", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-09-14", "b": "none", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2026-08-14", "b": "2026-08-26", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-08-07", "b": "2026-08-26", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "yes, with an opt-out", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "308 stars", "b": "none", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "GAIA scores 49.5 (D) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, GAIA or Instinct?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 67 against 5", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 51 against 3", "Agent ergonomics, 54 against 5", "Security \u0026 auth, 54 against 25", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 20 against 0", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 78 against 3", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 60 against 51" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "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.", "slug": "gaia", "watchFor": "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." }, { "aheadOn": null, "also": [ "No incidents deducted, where GAIA loses 5 points for them" ], "goodFor": "A consumer assistant for one adult who wants errands done by text or phone call, such as bill disputes, gifts, groceries, appointments and travel, and who accepts that it acts and spends as their agent.", "slug": "instinct", "watchFor": "No price is published. The terms say fees may apply to certain functions, are charged in US dollars and are non-refundable" } ], "job": { "capability": "assistant.proactive", "name": "Assistant proactive" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-gaia.json", "title": "AstrBot vs GAIA", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-gaia" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-instinct.json", "title": "AstrBot vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-instinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-gaia.json", "title": "CowAgent vs GAIA", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-gaia" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-instinct.json", "title": "CowAgent vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-instinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-gemini-spark.json", "title": "GAIA vs Gemini Spark", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-gemini-spark" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-grok-bot.json", "title": "GAIA vs Grok Bot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-grok-bot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-haven.json", "title": "GAIA vs Haven", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-haven" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-hermes-agent.json", "title": "GAIA vs Hermes Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-hermes-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-ironclaw.json", "title": "GAIA vs IronClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-ironclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-leon.json", "title": "GAIA vs Leon", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-leon" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-lindy.json", "title": "GAIA vs Lindy", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-lindy" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanobot.json", "title": "GAIA vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanobot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "GAIA vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "GAIA vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openclaw.json", "title": "GAIA vs OpenClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "GAIA vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-poke.json", "title": "GAIA vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "GAIA vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "GAIA vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "GAIA vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zo-computer" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-instinct.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-instinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-instinct.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-instinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-instinct.json", "title": "Haven vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-instinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-instinct.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-instinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-ironclaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs IronClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-ironclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-leon.json", "title": "Instinct vs Leon", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-leon" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-lindy.json", "title": "Instinct vs Lindy", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-lindy" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanobot.json", "title": "Instinct vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanobot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Instinct vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openclaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs OpenClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-poke.json", "title": "Instinct vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "Instinct vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zo-computer" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 62, "edge": "gaia", "gaia": 67, "instinct": 5, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 48, "edge": "gaia", "gaia": 51, "instinct": 3, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 49, "edge": "gaia", "gaia": 54, "instinct": 5, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 29, "edge": "gaia", "gaia": 54, "instinct": 25, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "by": 20, "edge": "gaia", "gaia": 20, "instinct": 0, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 75, "edge": "gaia", "gaia": 78, "instinct": 3, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "by": 9, "edge": "gaia", "gaia": 60, "instinct": 51, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "GAIA scores 49.5 (D) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistant proactive.", "verdicts": { "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.", "instinct": "The terms and privacy policy are specific about connected accounts, model training and the risks of autonomous actions, and security.txt is valid. No price, documentation, status page, changelog or programmatic interface is published, and customer content trains AI models unless the owner opts out." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct.min.md" }, "markdown": "GAIA scores 49.5 (D) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistant proactive.\n\n- GAIA: grade D, 49.5/100, rank #813 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gaia.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gaia.json\n- Instinct: grade F, 11.4/100, rank #984 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instinct.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/instinct.json\n- Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md\n- All 190 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### GAIA (D)\n\nGood 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.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 67 against 5\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 51 against 3\n- Agent ergonomics, 54 against 5\n- Security \u0026 auth, 54 against 25\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 20 against 0\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 78 against 3\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 60 against 51\n\nWatch 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.\n\n### Instinct (F)\n\nGood for: A consumer assistant for one adult who wants errands done by text or phone call, such as bill disputes, gifts, groceries, appointments and travel, and who accepts that it acts and spends as their agent.\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No incidents deducted, where GAIA loses 5 points for them\n\nWatch for: No price is published. The terms say fees may apply to certain functions, are charged in US dollars and are non-refundable\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | GAIA | Instinct | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 67 | 5 | GAIA +62 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 51 | 3 | GAIA +48 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 54 | 5 | GAIA +49 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 54 | 25 | GAIA +29 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 0 | GAIA +20 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 78 | 3 | GAIA +75 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 60 | 51 | GAIA +9 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -5 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **49.5 · D** | **11.4 · F** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | GAIA | Instinct |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Platform | Platform |\n| Vendor | The Experience Company | Spear Street Technology, Inc. |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | | |\n| Auth | OAuth | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Paid | Paid |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | PolyForm-Noncommercial-1.0.0 | Proprietary service under Instinct's Terms of Service, which grant personal use only |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | no |\n| Last release | 2026-09-14 | none |\n| Terms last updated | 2026-08-14 | 2026-08-26 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-07 | 2026-08-26 |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes, with an opt-out |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | yes |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |\n| Popularity | 308 stars | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**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.\n\n**Instinct.** The terms and privacy policy are specific about connected accounts, model training and the risks of autonomous actions, and security.txt is valid. No price, documentation, status page, changelog or programmatic interface is published, and customer content trains AI models unless the owner opts out.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### GAIA\n\n1. Set Settings \u003e Approvals to Always ask or Auto before connecting mail. The default in the source runs every action, including send and delete, without asking.\n2. 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.\n3. 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.\n4. 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.\n5. Add outside tools as MCP servers by URL on the Integrations page. GAIA asks before adding a server in every approval mode.\n\n### Instinct\n\n1. Do not plan on calling Instinct from a program. No API, MCP server or key was found, and the terms forbid automation software and benchmarking\n2. A person signs in at app.instinct.com with a phone number and a one-time code by text, and may wait for a place when the service is at capacity\n3. Tell the owner to opt out of model training at app.instinct.com/settings before connecting mail or files, since training is on by default\n4. Disconnecting an account does not delete what was indexed from it. Delete that data at app.instinct.com/workspace\n5. Treat purchases and bookings as final. The terms say actions may not be reversible and that confirmation controls are not guaranteed\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, GAIA or Instinct?\n\nGAIA scores 49.5 (D) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"gaia\", \"b\": \"instinct\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare gaia instinct`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gaia.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/instinct.json\n\n## Other comparisons with GAIA or Instinct\n\n- [AstrBot vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-gaia.md)\n- [AstrBot vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-instinct.md)\n- [CowAgent vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-gaia.md)\n- [CowAgent vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-instinct.md)\n- [GAIA vs Gemini Spark](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-gemini-spark.md)\n- [GAIA vs Grok Bot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-grok-bot.md)\n- [GAIA vs Haven](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-haven.md)\n- [GAIA vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [GAIA vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-ironclaw.md)\n- [GAIA vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-leon.md)\n- [GAIA vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-lindy.md)\n- [GAIA vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanobot.md)\n- [GAIA vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [GAIA vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [GAIA vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openclaw.md)\n- [GAIA vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [GAIA vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-poke.md)\n- [GAIA vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [GAIA vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [GAIA vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zo-computer.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-instinct.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-instinct.md)\n- [Haven vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-instinct.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-instinct.md)\n- [Instinct vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-ironclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-leon.md)\n- [Instinct vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-lindy.md)\n- [Instinct vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanobot.md)\n- [Instinct vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Instinct vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-poke.md)\n- [Instinct vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zo-computer.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-12", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "GAIA vs Instinct", "url": "" } ], "description": "GAIA scores 49.5 (D) to Instinct's 11.4 (F) for assistant proactive. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "GAIA D 49.5", "Instinct F 11.4", "scores" ], "h1": "GAIA vs Instinct", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-gaia-vs-instinct.png", "path": "/compare/gaia-vs-instinct", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "GAIA vs Instinct for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-12", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2550, "slim": 630 }, "version": 1 }