{ "data": { "a": { "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" }, "answer": "NanoClaw scores 68.3 (B) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "b": { "slug": "nanoclaw", "name": "NanoClaw", "vendor": "NanoCo, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://nanoclaw.dev", "kind": "harness", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "Open-source personal assistant that the owner runs on their own machine. It answers on messaging apps, runs each agent session in a Docker container, keeps Markdown memory on disk and runs scheduled tasks.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanoclaw", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanoclaw.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanoclaw.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanoclaw.json", "repo": "https://github.com/nanocoai/nanoclaw", "license": "MIT", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account is needed to run it. Owners and admins are rows in a local `user_roles` table, and strangers are handled by each chat's `unknown_sender_policy` (https://docs.nanoclaw.dev/concepts/security). Model and service credentials are registered with a credential gateway on the host, OneCLI Agent Vault by default, which adds them to outbound HTTPS requests. Containers receive placeholders such as `onecli-managed` (https://docs.nanoclaw.dev/operate/credentials). Channel tokens stay in the host's `.env`. An optional free NanoClaw account, used for a prebuilt agent image and a managed Slack app, keeps its token in `~/.config/nanoclaw/account.json` with mode 0600 (https://github.com/nanocoai/nanoclaw/blob/main/README.md).", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free under the MIT licence, with nothing on sale. The optional NanoClaw account, the Echo image and the managed Slack app are free of charge per the terms of 31 July 2026 (https://nanoclaw.dev/terms). The owner pays the model provider through a Claude subscription, an API key or another provider, and any service a channel or tool uses, such as Dial. Since 2.4.0 Claude groups default to Opus 5.5 (checked 2026-10-12).", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or the source (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 30929, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.nanoclaw.dev", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.nanoclaw.dev/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.messaging", "assistant.memory", "assistant.self-hosted", "agent.mcp-client", "assistant.accounts" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "local", "free", "no-card", "docker", "llms-txt" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-09", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 68.3, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 229, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 2, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 70, "maintenance": 78, "payments": 60, "reliability": 78, "schema": 82, "security": 74, "transparency": 65 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": -5, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-10-09. Release 2026.10.0 fixed four symlink flaws through which a manipulated agent could make the host read, write or delete files outside its folders, plus an admin-command bypass, a cross-group read through `ncl` and a command injection in Mattermost setup. Fixed and described in the changelog within the week, but the advisories it links (GHSA-frvf-5rf5-89fq and seven others) were not public on 12 October 2026. -5. https://github.com/nanocoai/nanoclaw/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md" ], "verdict": "Each session runs in an unprivileged Docker container and API keys stay in a credential gateway on the host, so a manipulated agent cannot read them. Inside the container the agent runs with permission prompts off, network egress is open by default, and it can message any chat it is wired to without approval.", "bestFor": "A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine, reachable from chat apps, with container isolation and scheduled tasks, and who is willing to keep a fork.", "strengths": [ "Each session runs in a non-root Docker container with all capabilities dropped, and the project root and `.env` are never mounted", "API keys sit in a credential gateway on the host, which adds them to outbound requests, so the container holds only placeholders", "Installing packages, adding an MCP server and admitting a new chat each wait for an admin's approval, and no reachable approver means denial", "Memory is plain Markdown under `groups/\u003cfolder\u003e/memory/`, which the owner can read, edit or delete on the host", "The security page states what the design does not stop, including messages to wired chats and spending through granted credentials" ], "weaknesses": [ "The Claude provider runs with `permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions'`, so shell, file and web tools run inside the container with no prompt", "Egress lockdown is off by default, so a container can reach the internet directly unless `NANOCLAW_EGRESS_LOCKDOWN=true` is set", "The 2026.10.0 changelog links eight advisories on the repository, and on 12 October 2026 the advisories page listed none and one linked advisory returned 404", "Setup sends events to PostHog unless `NANOCLAW_NO_DIAGNOSTICS=1` is set, and the privacy policy does not mention them", "The docs say trunk has no Gmail or Google Calendar integration, while the GitHub repository description still names Gmail", "294 open issues and 750 open pull requests on 12 October 2026, and 10 of the 12 newest open issues had no reply" ], "agentNotes": [ "Install with `git clone` and `bash nanoclaw.sh`. There is no registry package, and setup needs Docker, Node 22 or later and a Claude or Codex credential", "Set `NANOCLAW_EGRESS_LOCKDOWN=true` before giving an agent credentials or an audience of strangers. The default leaves egress open", "Put chats with different audiences in separate agent groups. Every session of a group shares one read-write workspace and memory tree", "Turn on per-request approval for a secret in the gateway when its use should wait for a person. It is off unless configured", "On OneCLI installs, move the gateway to 1.42.0 by the upgrade guide before updating to 2026.10.0. The updater stops until that is done" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 68.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 70, "maintenance": 78, "payments": 60, "reliability": 78, "schema": 82, "security": 74, "transparency": 77 }, "provenanceScore": 53 }, "connect": { "install": "git clone https://github.com/nanocoai/nanoclaw.git nanoclaw-v2 \u0026\u0026 cd nanoclaw-v2 \u0026\u0026 bash nanoclaw.sh" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/nanoclaw" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "NanoCo, Inc.", "domain": "nanoclaw.dev", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/nanocoai/nanoclaw/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "The terms and privacy policy at nanoclaw.dev name NanoCo, Inc. and Delaware law. Both say they cover the website and the optional account, not the software, so neither is linked and the MIT licence stands in.", "nanoclaw.dev/.well-known/security.txt returned 404 on 12 October 2026. The repository's SECURITY.md points to GitHub private vulnerability reporting.", "There is no hosted endpoint. The assistant runs on the owner's machine, and the optional account service is at portal.nanoclaw.dev, which we did not open.", "The registration date of nanoclaw.dev was not checked." ], "score": 53 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanoclaw.json" }, "facts": [ { "a": "Platform", "b": "Agent harness", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Spear Street Technology, Inc.", "b": "NanoCo, Inc.", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "None", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Paid", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under Instinct's Terms of Service, which grant personal use only", "b": "MIT", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "none", "b": "2026-10-09", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2026-08-26", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-08-26", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "yes, with an opt-out", "b": "", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "none", "b": "31k stars", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "NanoClaw scores 68.3 (B) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Instinct or NanoClaw?" }, { "answer": "No open-source release is listed for Instinct. NanoClaw is open source (MIT).", "question": "Are Instinct and NanoClaw open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": null, "also": [ "No incidents deducted, where NanoClaw 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" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 78 against 5", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 82 against 3", "Agent ergonomics, 70 against 5", "Security \u0026 auth, 74 against 25", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 0", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 78 against 3", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 65 against 51" ], "also": [ "No key needed to call it", "Free to start without a card", "Open source" ], "goodFor": "A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine, reachable from chat apps, with container isolation and scheduled tasks, and who is willing to keep a fork.", "slug": "nanoclaw", "watchFor": "The Claude provider runs with `permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions'`, so shell, file and web tools run inside the container with no prompt" } ], "job": { "capability": "assistant.proactive", "name": "Assistant proactive" }, "others": [ { "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/astrbot-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "AstrBot vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "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/cowagent-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "CowAgent vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct.json", "title": "GAIA vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct" }, { "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/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/gemini-spark-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "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/grok-bot-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "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/haven-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Haven vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "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/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "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-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" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "IronClaw vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Leon vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Lindy vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "nanobot vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openclaw.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs OpenClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-poke.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zo-computer" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 73, "edge": "nanoclaw", "instinct": 5, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "nanoclaw": 78, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 79, "edge": "nanoclaw", "instinct": 3, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "nanoclaw": 82, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 65, "edge": "nanoclaw", "instinct": 5, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "nanoclaw": 70, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 49, "edge": "nanoclaw", "instinct": 25, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "nanoclaw": 74, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 60, "edge": "nanoclaw", "instinct": 0, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "nanoclaw": 60, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 75, "edge": "nanoclaw", "instinct": 3, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "nanoclaw": 78, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 14, "edge": "nanoclaw", "instinct": 51, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "nanoclaw": 65, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "NanoClaw scores 68.3 (B) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistant proactive.", "verdicts": { "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.", "nanoclaw": "Each session runs in an unprivileged Docker container and API keys stay in a credential gateway on the host, so a manipulated agent cannot read them. Inside the container the agent runs with permission prompts off, network egress is open by default, and it can message any chat it is wired to without approval." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw.min.md" }, "markdown": "NanoClaw scores 68.3 (B) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistant proactive.\n\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- NanoClaw: grade B, 68.3/100, rank #229 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanoclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanoclaw.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### 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 NanoClaw 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### NanoClaw (B)\n\nGood for: A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine, reachable from chat apps, with container isolation and scheduled tasks, and who is willing to keep a fork.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 78 against 5\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 82 against 3\n- Agent ergonomics, 70 against 5\n- Security \u0026 auth, 74 against 25\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 0\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 78 against 3\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 65 against 51\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n- Free to start without a card\n- Open source\n\nWatch for: The Claude provider runs with `permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions'`, so shell, file and web tools run inside the container with no prompt\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Instinct | NanoClaw | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 5 | 78 | NanoClaw +73 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 3 | 82 | NanoClaw +79 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 5 | 70 | NanoClaw +65 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 25 | 74 | NanoClaw +49 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 60 | NanoClaw +60 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 3 | 78 | NanoClaw +75 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 51 | 65 | NanoClaw +14 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -5 | |\n| **Total** | | **11.4 · F** | **68.3 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Instinct | NanoClaw |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Platform | Agent harness |\n| Vendor | Spear Street Technology, Inc. | NanoCo, Inc. |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | | |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | None |\n| Pricing | Paid | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under Instinct's Terms of Service, which grant personal use only | MIT |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | no | yes |\n| Last release | none | 2026-10-09 |\n| Terms last updated | 2026-08-26 | no document linked |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-26 | no document linked |\n| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | |\n| Popularity | none | 31k stars |\n\n## Verdicts\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**NanoClaw.** Each session runs in an unprivileged Docker container and API keys stay in a credential gateway on the host, so a manipulated agent cannot read them. Inside the container the agent runs with permission prompts off, network egress is open by default, and it can message any chat it is wired to without approval.\n\n## Before you call either\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### NanoClaw\n\n1. Install with `git clone` and `bash nanoclaw.sh`. There is no registry package, and setup needs Docker, Node 22 or later and a Claude or Codex credential\n2. Set `NANOCLAW_EGRESS_LOCKDOWN=true` before giving an agent credentials or an audience of strangers. The default leaves egress open\n3. Put chats with different audiences in separate agent groups. Every session of a group shares one read-write workspace and memory tree\n4. Turn on per-request approval for a secret in the gateway when its use should wait for a person. It is off unless configured\n5. On OneCLI installs, move the gateway to 1.42.0 by the upgrade guide before updating to 2026.10.0. The updater stops until that is done\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Instinct or NanoClaw?\n\nNanoClaw scores 68.3 (B) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.\n\n### Are Instinct and NanoClaw open source?\n\nNo open-source release is listed for Instinct. NanoClaw is open source (MIT).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"instinct\", \"b\": \"nanoclaw\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare instinct nanoclaw`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/instinct.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanoclaw.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Instinct or NanoClaw\n\n- [AstrBot vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-instinct.md)\n- [AstrBot vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [CowAgent vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-instinct.md)\n- [CowAgent vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [GAIA vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct.md)\n- [GAIA vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-instinct.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-instinct.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [Haven vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-instinct.md)\n- [Haven vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-instinct.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw.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 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- [IronClaw vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [Leon vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [Lindy vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [nanobot vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openclaw.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-poke.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-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": "Instinct vs NanoClaw", "url": "" } ], "description": "NanoClaw scores 68.3 (B) to Instinct's 11.4 (F) for assistant proactive. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Instinct F 11.4", "NanoClaw B 68.3", "scores" ], "h1": "Instinct vs NanoClaw", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-instinct-vs-nanoclaw.png", "path": "/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Instinct vs NanoClaw for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-12", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2600, "slim": 680 }, "version": 1 }